A strong future: as she turns 30, one woman decides to put more muscle into her workout

Muscle & Fitness/Hers, March, 2004 by Grace DeSimone

jERSEY GIRL MICHELLE SOTO recently turned 30. As her birthday approached, she began to formulate a plan. "I want to prove to myself that I can do anything and that 30 is an age to be celebrated," she says.

Soto has always been in good shape, but she's using this age milestone to become even more fit. She currently does three weight-training workouts and four cardio workouts a week--and she's definitely ready for more. "I'd like to create some serious muscle definition and increase strength," she says. "I'd like to achieve more symmetry between my upper and lower body."

California-based certified personal trainer and amateur bodybuilder Lisa Brinton specializes in body transformation. She notes that turning 30 shouldn't by any means stop Soto from being able to realize major physical changes. "If she works hard enough and wants it enough, she can do anything," Brinton says.

Soto's current weight-training routine is a full-body circuit done on machines at the gym. She uses moderately heavy weights and jumps quickly from exercise to exercise with little rest between sets. "I like to keep it moving and work up a good sweat," she says. Her cardio routine isn't quite as focused or intense; each week she does two kickboxing classes and two 30-minute walks on the treadmill.

Brinton says that while Soto's existing program is fine for general fitness, it won't be enough if she's going after a seriously sculpted body. "She needs to do more exercises for each muscle group," says Brinton. "And she has to push the cardio to lose some fat."

THE MAKEOVER

Each strength workout will consist of a weight-training routine focusing on one or two muscle groups. Soto will do two chest/triceps routines a week and two back/biceps routines a week and work her shoulders and legs once a week. Brinton suggests finishing off each workout with ab exercises such as crunches and oblique twists on a stability ball or Pilates-based exercises such as hovers and side bridges. "Use different ab exercises each day, but if you're sore from the day before, skip it. Every other day for abs is fine if you're truly working them hard enough," says Brinton.

Brinton advises Soto to move off the machines and hit the free weights, doing three to five sets for each muscle group. Nuts-and-bolts moves like dumbbell rows, flyes, military presses, bar curls and bench dips will add a new dimension to Soto's routine, Brinton says, because her muscles will learn balance and coordination while they gain strength. "Free weights work deeper muscle fibers that don't necessarily get worked when you do machines."

Since Soto's upper body has to catch up with her lower body. Brinton says she should do the maximum number of sets for chest and back to give her some more width and increase her size slightly. "This will help her achieve that physique balance she's looking for."

Brinton emphasizes that Soto needs to work with weights that fully fatigue her within eight to 12 repetitions. Once those final reps seem easy, she needs to up the ante. She can slow down her repetitions and take 30- to 60-second rests between sets so she can fully recover and give her all on each and every set. "Slow and controlled are words to live by," Brinton says. "Focus on form, making a mind/muscle connection."

Every weight workout should be followed by a 30- to 45-minute cardio routine. Weights come before cardio, Brinton says, so Soto is fresh and has plenty of energy to devote to working as hard as she can in the weight room. "Warm up and hit your weights. You don't want to be wiped out from cardio and then try to lift."

Brinton advises Soto to move beyond casual walking on the treadmill. "She's either got to do some running or, at the very least, some power walking. Her kickboxing classes can stay if they challenge her. If not, she should consider an advanced spin or step class." Brinton also says that a once-a-week interval training session with a mix of short spurts of high intensity cardio and spurts of moderately intense cardio would help Soto get more calorie-burning bang for her cardio buck.

In fact, Brinton says that Soto needs to push slightly beyond her comfort zone when she's doing both cardio and weights. Brinton defines this as "comfortably uncomfortable." "The trick is to place enough demand on your body to make a change but not push so hard you get injured or burned out," Brinton says.

Finally, Brinton notes that nutrition plays a strong hand in any body-reshaping project. "What matters most is what you do with the other 23 hours of the day that you're not at the gym." she says.

She recommends that Soto eat about five small meals a day to avoid getting overly hungry and to keep her energy level steady, and she strongly advises that Soto work with a registered dietitian to come up with an eating plan that makes sense for her personally. "An intense exercise regime without a smart eating program to back it up is like beating your head against the wall," Brinton says. "Because there is no quick fix to getting fit, this must be a lifetime lifestyle change."