The answers are endless to the question of how do I lose weight; one proven way is to lift weights, yes strength train. There are many misconceptions about lifting weights; one being that if you are very muscular you are the epitome of fitness, not true. I've seen many body builders who are extremely lean and muscular but cannot do 5 minutes on a treadmill, but at the same time, I have seen women who are 250 pounds go uphill at 3 miles an hour on a tread mill for an hour continuously.

The difference is cardio endurance: the person who has the muscle has muscle endurance; the 250lb person on the treadmill has cardio endurance. But what many people don't realize is you really do need both, and that will make the pounds drop faster than any high protein, low fat, or what ever type of diet that is the current fad.

If you are starting out as a beginner who is obese, believe me this is the way to go. You need to eat better but strength training will do more for you body wise concerning body image, as well as strength wise.

Strength training is as essential to well being just as much as cardio is essential to well being, and if you are skimping on one or the other you are cheating yourself. Although we have heard for years that it takes a lot of weight and time in the gym to look like the muscle bound women we see in the magazines, women still aren't reaping the benefits that are found in a combination of a strength and cardio program, and not to mention the flexibility training. All this is fine and dandy, but what it boils down to is how is this a benefit to me, and why should I care about lifting weights, gaining muscle strength and endurance.

Why do we need muscular strength and endurance? Muscle strength is the amount of force that can be exerted by a muscle group for one movement or repetition. Muscle endurance is the ability of the muscle group to maintain a continuous contraction or repetition over a period of time. You may not even realize just how vital muscle strength and endurance are to your daily life until loose it, or let it slowly fade away. Then one day you go to stand up and it is hard putting one foot in front of the other and you find that it's hard to walk even half a block. Your legs hurt, you're out of breath and wondering what happened.

Unimaginable for some, but a reality for others. I know because there was a point in my life where it just happened. There was no strength or muscle endurance in my legs, it was very hard for my legs to carry a body that had lost so much strength and muscle and had instead been replaced with a load of fat. Add to that the fact that I had stopped living my life as in playing in the yard with the kids and walking to the store instead of driving the six blocks.

So pressed for time I would drive my kids the 4 blocks to school instead of walking them. Yes, it's so easy to lose it, once it was gone and it hit me that I was really out of shape I felt doomed. I became aware that it was very hard to walk up a flight of stairs without having to pause every few steps or even being able to enjoy a trip to the zoo because I just didn't have the strength to make it or the cardio endurance to keep up. I realized a little late that becoming sedentary (stop being active), I lost the strength. Combine that with the high fat sugar-laden food I was consuming, and yes I had gotten fat.

I am not alone in this and I found a comfort in that, but a little disappointment because we are missing so much in our lives. I refuse to see this come full circle, miss out on my kids life, not having the energy to play kick ball in the yard, take them to the park and swing them instead of sitting on the bench watching while they swing one another.

Because my mother was so obese she didn't have the strength in her body to do those things with me, I can remember her not coming to my high school graduation because she couldn't walk up all the flights of stairs, and was to embarrassed and caring too much about what other people thought to go and take her time going up the stairs as slowly as she needed to go. I refuse to let that become a full circle in my life for my kids, the cycle has to be broken somewhere and I decided it would start with me.

I changed my cardio endurance level from a non-existent one to somewhere in between I can sort of keep up and have energy to make it through the day. See, one great thing about getting fit is the more you use a muscle the stronger it gets and the easier it is to use. By doing cardio and strength training, I am working the most important muscles in my body, including my heart. "Don't lose hope," I tell myself because nothing is as hard as the first time I took a long walk or the first time I lifted weights; my body has never been so sore.

However, you must start, you must start at the beginning. Make the beginning the way you grow, learn, and develop into the person you know you can be, and I know it can be done with the right information. Knowledge is power and when you have the power to change, there is nothing greater.

Read The Basics of Strength Training as a stepping stone to fitness.

© 2003 by Shawn Hamilton