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Home: Weightlifting and Body Mass IndexBMI Weight Status Below 18.5 Underweight 18.5 -24.9 Normal 25 - 29.9 Overweight 30 & Above Obese Now while it is true that professional weightlifters and especially professional bodybuilders whose regimen and diet is specifically programmed to increase lean muscle for "show" and eliminate as much body fat as possible - can have an inaccurate reading on their BMI. A competitive body builder for example has on average only 4% body fat! But for most of us, if you have not already picked up the sport of weight lifting - and you hit in the 25 or over range on that chart, the truth is there is no better way to lower that BMI and get in shape the weightlifting. Weightlifting eliminates most of the problems of yo- yo dieting by building lean muscle mass and increasing metabolism. Especially for ageing baby boomers who see those BMI number creeping up and want to do something about it - weight lifting is the way to go. For weight control it is best to combine weightlifting with cardiovascular workouts, and of course healthy eating. Foods rich in fiber and whole grains and low in fat are the keys to effective weight loss when combined with weight training and exercise. And don't forget to also drink a lot of water. It is important if yo really want to lower your BMI and get in better shape that you combine your weight lifting with cardio work outs. In the first place you should never lift weight without doing some kind of cardio warm up first - just to get the heat and lungs pumping. Also if you are really weightlifting to sculpt a defined and toned body - you need the cardio to burn calories and fat. In developing a weightlifting routine designed t maximize health, strength, build muscle and reduce your BMI - it is important not to overtrain. That means rotate you muscle groups. And you also need to be aware of primary and secondary muscle groups. What that means is that there are weightlifting exercises that are designed to work a primary muscle group, but since almost all muscles are interconnected they also will train a secondary muscle group. This is the very reason why weightlifting gives you so much "bang for the buck" and a total body work out. For example just about every lift to build chest and shoulders also works the triceps. So if you do triceps on one day, followed by chest the next, and the shoulders the following you will overwork and overtrain the triceps. A good rotation is or split would be: Monday - Chest/Triceps, Tuesday - Break, Wednesday - Back/Biceps, Thursday - Break, Friday - Legs/Shoulders, Saturday & Sunday Break..
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