Pump It Up!

In recovering from my previously mentioned surgery, I lost some serious muscle mass. I used to have thighs of steel (they were seriously dreamy), but my thighs and other cute body parts were getting pretty flabby by the time I made it back to the gym.

I'm normally a BODY ATTACK kind of girl, but I decided to try out BODY PUMP at Gold’s. It’s an hour long strength training class (and it’s my new addiction). I think some serious strength training has helped me get back into the game much faster than I might have with it. It only took me about a week or two to get back to my regular work out, and I think it’ll only be another week or so before I’m pushing myself as hard as I used to.

Strength training in general is pretty important to your regular workout. This nifty article from the Mayo Clinic goes into depth on the importance of strength training, but here are my favorite reasons:

· Fight Osteoporosis – Your bones are densest where your muscles attach to the bone. When you regularly stress your muscles (and therefore stress your bones), your body adds density to your bones where you need it most. What does this mean? Women with nice strong guns also have nice strong bones.

· Weight Control – This one everyone probably already knows (but doesn’t do anything about). The more muscle your body has, the more efficiently it burns calories.

Strength training reduces your risk to injuries, gives you stamina, produces a fantastic looking butt, as well as other benefits. So grab a 5-pounder and start pumping some iron today! Or, find a BODY PUMP class near you.