Battle of the Sexes’ Magazines

Posted: May 01 in Weight Loss Blog by Staff

What can men and women learn from each other’s exercise routines?

Next time you’re near a magazine rack, pick up a copy of a women’s health magazine and a men’s health magazine and take a look at both of them side by side. The differences may make you think they were written for entirely different species, but are the fitness needs of men and women really all that different? Whether you’re a man or a woman, chances are you want your body to function as a well-oiled machine of perfect health, with washboard abs, well-toned muscles and all the implicit health benefits of looking and feeling great.

Gender-specific health magazines can have some great tips, but each sex is given significantly different advice. There are many things that men and women can learn from each other’s favorite fitness magazine and if you only subscribe to one or the other you may not be getting the whole story. Of course, if you’re a patient of bariatric surgery, you should check with your weight loss surgeon Dr. Bass before jumping into any strenuous activity, but here are some tips that each sex can learn from the other to help build a healthier human race.

For the ladies, from the gents:

Play more! Men are more likely to get a workout by casually playing a sport, as they tend to think of themselves more as athletes than women do. Just because you aren’t on a team doesn’t mean you can’t play a sport. Try organizing a pick-up game of soccer, basketball or volleyball—any sport is sure to be more social and entertaining than just pounding away at the treadmill.

Build muscles! Too many women live in fear of strength training, worried that bulking up by building muscle will result in the complete opposite of their weight loss goals. Though it’s true that you might add a little weight in the form of muscle mass, you need to focus more on the many long-term advantages of strength training, such as:

• A higher metabolism, increasing the number of calories you burn all day long.
• Toning and tightening all over your body.
• Improved coordination and balance.
• Strengthened bones and higher endurance, helping you avoid injuries.

For the gents, from the ladies:

Work your whole body! Too many guys focus almost exclusively on just pumping iron to build their biceps or chests. Though focusing on these “mirror muscles” may help you win the ladies over with your bodybuilder physique, it tends to cause you to ignore many of your body’s other muscles. Take a cue from the girls here and focus more on a full-body workout, which will give you a more balanced build and contribute to your overall health.

Take a class! Few men choose to take classes in yoga and Pilates, writing them off as purely feminine fitness. However, these kinds of exercise can build muscles you didn’t know were even there, liven up your workout routine and increase your flexibility– helping you get a balanced and beneficial full-body workout regardless of gender.