But won't I look like a female wrestler?

3 Myths about lifting weights, BUSTED! (My own nod to Adam and Jamie from the fascinating "did they really just recreate the Hindenburg" show Mythbusters on the Discovery Channel )

Myth #1: Lifting weights makes you look like the Hulk, minus the green skin and unfortunate cutoff purple shorts. BUSTED! Unless you do steroids (a la ARod and Barry "my head was always 36 inches around" Bonds) you will not bulk up. Lifting weights makes your muscles stronger but you have to take supplements and do very specific workouts to add bulk.

Myth #2: Cardio is the best way to lose weight. BUSTED! While cardio is an essential part of a well rounded workout plan, combining cardio and weights is the best way to lose weight. Lifting weights increases your muscle mass and muscles burn more calories at rest than fat. Thus, (I love this part!) if you have more muscle mass you burn more calories just hanging out watching TV:)

Myth #3: Lifting weights doesn't burn that many calories. I'm not getting that much out of my gym time if I just lift weights. BUSTED! Lifting weights has the great benefit of a high after burn. After burn is the calories you burn after you are done working out. If you lift weights for an hour, you will burn an extra 100 calories or so over the next 24 hours. That means three weightlifting sessions in a week equals 300 extra calories which is about what you would burn running three miles!

Try This: Running Stairs

Want to burn extra calories and add some awesome butt and thigh work to your workout? Try running some stairs. Make sure that you find long rows of stairs to get the most out of the workout. You can sprint up the stairs, run every other, hop with both feet and run sideways. Mix it up and that lower body will be feeling it the next day!

Workout of the Day! INTERVALS!!

This workout can be done outside either running or walking, or on any cardio equipment in the gym or in your living room with a jump rope. (OK, so jump roping realistically depends on whether or not you have downstairs neighbors and substantial floors. My upstairs neighbors seem to pour large amounts of water and drop bowling balls at 11pm every night. It is very very strange and no one wants their downstairs neighbors wondering why there is thumping upstairs for half an hour:)

All right intervals are awesome! They are calorie blasters and you get more done is less time! Here's the workout.

• 33 minute total workout
• 10 minute warmup
• 1 minute hard followed by 2 minutes easy recovery (repeat 6x)
• 5 minute cool down

Got a Cold? When to start working out again.

I've had a cold for what feels like an eternity which means I haven't worked out in weeks. I'm finally feeling better and it got me thinking, what is the best way to get back into a workout routine after being sick. Once you get sick and you take a few days off, it's easy to fall off the exercise bandwagon especially if you just started working out. Here is how I get started again after being sick.

1. First, I always take time off when I'm sick. My body is working hard to get better so a run might just increase the duration of my cold.


2. Once I feel better, I don't do any exercise for the first day or two.


3. Then for the first week, I cut the duration, intensity and number of workouts that I would do in a week in half. So if I workout for an average of 45 minutes six days a week, I only workout three days for about 20-30 minutes at lower intensity.


4. I find this way I can start working out again and I don't have a cold relapse.