Holly Perkins - Womens Health Lift to Get Lean: A Beginners Guide to Fitness & Strength Training in 3 Simple Steps

To Trampas and Josey, for loving me long before I truly knew how to love myself

Contents

Introduction

Change Your Body, Change Your Life

Psst! Holly Perkins here and I have a confession to make right off the bat. Its about the cover of this book, Womens Health Lift to Get Lean. Well, you see, that title is only a little bit true.

If I had my way, a far more accurate title would be Womens Health Lift to Get Lean... and Strong... and Healthy... and Confident... and Happy... and Energetic... and Fearless... and Capable of Achieving Everything You Put Your Mind To.

Unfortunately my editor nixed that onesomething about lack of cover space or the price of ink nowadaysbut you get the idea. This book and my Lift to Get Lean plan will change much more than your body. They will change your life.

I know it seems like a list of bold promises, but I believe in every one of them completely and wholeheartedly because I have experienced them myself, and I know you can, too. This book will give you the exact tools you need to develop the lean, toned body of your dreams. And it will help you tap into your personal strength.

This book is about you using the practice of strength training to become strong in every aspect of your life. Therefore, going forward, I have made a very intentional decision to refer to this practice as strength training rather than weight lifting or even resistance training. The strength that you will cultivate is physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual. Word choice may seem inconsequential to some, but I feel that the language we use on a regular basis has a great impact on our lives. Start your morning saying, Im going to have a great day today, and chances are its going to turn out pretty good. So when you exercise, you will strength train. Use the words strength and strong and youll make it happen. I truly believe that.

For the past 20 years, I have been a sought-after personal trainer, working daily with Hollywoods elite: actors, models, producers, business owners, professional athletes, executives, moms, and politicians. And all of my experience has taught me one thing: In order to help you become lean, I need to help you become strong. The path to becoming the lean, gorgeous, confident machine that youre meant to be is through strength training.

So welcome to my sphere of strength! In my world, working out is a metaphor for life. And the gym is a playground where you will discover your abilities, achieve what you thought was impossible, and push through the weight of your world. In this playground, you can define who you are, what you want, and how you want to live.

Busting the Bulky Myth

Now, before we head off on this journey, I want to address a common female concern about this particular playground. Despite the information age that we live in, many women still harbor unfounded fears of bulking up from lifting weights. They feeland maybe you do, toothat exercising with barbells, dumbbells, and strength-training machines will make them muscle-bound and masculine. At the same time, most women also have a deep desire to feel tight, lean, and fit but have never experienced what it feels like to move through a normal day in a body that is strong and resilient. Its an amazing feeling, and I want you to experience it. But the only way to get there is to defeat this fear of the bulking-up boogieman and start strength training in earnest.

Because of the misinformation in the fitness industry, many women have thrown up their hands in a gesture of I give up. They have abandoned their goals of being fit and lean because they are confused and afraid. They have come to believe that their bodies dont respond to toning exercises because they havent found a system that works.

Can you relate?

Research proves that it is physiologically impossible for women to bulk up (a process called hypertrophy) in the first 6 weeks of a strength-training program. As a woman, you simply do not have enough testosterone (the so-called male hormone) coursing through your body to pack on big muscle that quickly the way your boyfriend can. Whats more, the way you will be training on my program will create beautiful muscle tone, not Incredible Hulk bulk (nor green skin)! And you will experience recognizable changes in your body in the first 6 weeks. This is the critical time in a program when many women get scared and abandon their goals of becoming strong. But you wont.

I have created a system that ensures you develop functional strength without adding muscle size unless you really want to. Every day I hear clients say that they actually feel good and enjoy their time spent in the gym for once in their lives. This book will inspire you to adopt a new approach to fitness; to think differently about strength training; and to quit worrying, once and for all, that you will bulk up from lifting weights.

The Biggest Problem in Womens Fitness Today

This book is an introduction to proper strength training for women. After many years of close examination, I realized that the biggest problem with the current landscape of womens fitness is that men have dictated the rules in the gym. Weight-lifting and gym workouts are the hallmark of athletes and sports teams in a male-dominated industry. Until now, women have looked to men for workouts, exercises, and general weight-lifting information.

There is a problem with this standard, though: Womens bodies are different from mens bodies.

> Because of hormonal differences, women respond differently to strength training.

> Because of structural differences, women will add muscle in different places than men.

> Women have very different functional and aesthetic preferences compared to men.

> Women have very different motivators.

These factors alone mean that a womans body will respond in a unique way to her strength-training workouts. And, as youll learn, the female body responds exceptionally well to strength training.

The WholeBody Health Solution

I know without a doubt that strength training will change your body in profound ways. In fact, I will go so far as to say that strength training is as critical to your health as Pap tests, mammograms, and annual visits to your doctor. Strength training is one of the most powerful tools you can use to directly influence your overall health and general sense of well-being. Ill give you scientific proof about the benefits of strength training in , but heres a quick preview to whet your appetite. These are the rewards you can expect to gain by strength training the Lift to Get Lean way.

> Strength training will trim your body faster than any other exercise.

> Strength training will recharge your resting metabolism so youll burn more calories, even while asleep, and it will help you maintain your weight loss.

> Strength training will protect you from osteoporosis (brittle bones) as you get older by boosting your bone mineral density.