Frequently Asked Questions
Click on one of the questions below for more information...
Q: Am I too old to strength train?
Q: Should children strength train?
Q: Will women become over muscular if they strength train?
Q: Will strength training remove cellulite?
Q: Can I reduce fat in specific areas through excercise?
Q: Should I strength train if I’m pregnant?
Q: Will I work to high intensity from my first session?
Q: Why don’t I perform multiple sets like at other gyms?
Q: Don’t I have to do aerobics to burn fat?
Q: If I stop training, will my muscles turn to fat?
Q: What do I have to bring with me to sessions?
Q:Can I eat before training?
Q: What are the fees?
Q: Is there parking?
Q: Am I too old to strength train?
A: No. Strength training benefits people of all ages. It slows down the degenerative processes that accelerate with age, thus allowing regenerative processes to flourish. Strength training promotes the restructuring of bone tissue. My oldest client is in his 80’s.
Q: Should children strength train?
A: Children can and should strength train. With adult supervision, proper equipment and realistic expectations, strength training is safe and effective for children. However, a child’s attention span can be limited and programmes are designed to cater for the child’s needs. Ultimate Strength provides strength training for children from the age of twelve. The parent or guardian of the child will need to be present for the duration of the training session.
Q: Will women become over muscular if they strength train?
A: Benefits of strength training for women are well documented. However, many women still fear that it will make them look masculine and unattractive. These fears are unjustified. Men are able to build substantial muscles because they produce large amounts of the hormone, testosterone, in their bodies. It is impossible for women to naturally produce the same levels as men. So, no amount of strength training will give women bulky muscles.
Women are also endowed with a natural layer of subcutaneous fat. This fat covers the muscles and gives women their typical female appearance. Strength Training can no more make a woman masculine than it can make a man feminine.
As soon as you are happy with the way you look, you merely freeze the load. You continue training on a regular basis, without increasing the weight or the number of repetitions. In this way you will remain ‘in shape’.
Q: Will strength training remove cellulite?
Puckered and dimpled skin is due to three factors:
- Over fatness
- Loss of muscular strength and firmness.
- Loss of flexibility of the supporting connective tissue in and about the areas where fat is stored.
This condition can be combated by becoming and staying as strong as possible and remaining lean. As the muscles strengthen, they become larger and firmer, thus stretching out the skin and unsightly pockmarks, leaving a shapely contour.
Q: Can I reduce fat in specific areas through exercise?
No. Fat deposits will show a decrease in size, by diligently adhering to a low-calorie diet for several weeks. However, only a few ounces per day or a little more than a pound of fat per week can be lost. This loss will be from fat stored throughout your body, not just from a particular area that you focus your excercise on.
If you pinch a fold of skin from the back of your hand, your forehead and then your hips, you will notice the comparative thickness between your fingers. If a reduction, of say 10% of fat throughout your body is made, which of the three areas will be noticeably smaller? Your hips will appear smaller; decrease in the other areas will be less noticeable, as each of these three areas will have been reduced proportionally by 10%.
Q: Should I strength train if I’m pregnant?
A: The changes to the body as a result of proper exercise have much to offer expectant mothers, with no harm being caused to the foetus. There are conditions where high intensity strength training would be contra-indicated, but during a normal pregnancy this type of exercise should pose no threat. During labour a woman will experience high intensity muscular contractions. The ease of her delivery will be directly proportional to her muscular condition. Strength training is an excellent preparation for delivery.
Q: Will I work to high intensity from my first session?
A: No. The first session consists of a consultation, a medical history and an introduction to the weight training machines. Before high intensity is reached, you will need to become familiar with the techniques of strength training. The weights at the beginning will be manageable. Once you have perfected the techniques, the weights gradually increase, eventually reaching a level of high intensity.
Q: Why don’t I perform multiple sets like at other gyms?
A:Muscle groups are composed of thousands of fibres. These fibres work together but fatigue at different rates. They are classified as slow-twitch, intermediate and fast- twitch. When you start an exercise the slow-twitch (type 1) fibres are activated first. When they tire, fast-twitch (type 2a) fibres are recruited, which have much less endurance than type 1. As the type 2a fast-twitch fibres fatigue, they are replaced by the type 2b fast twitch-fibres, which will have even less endurance. When the type 2b fibres tire, the muscle is no longer able to finish the repetition and the set must be stopped. If after a few minutes rest you perform another set, are different fibres involved? No! The same fibres as before are recruited again in the same order. Therefore, you will gain maximum muscle stimulation from one set. Any more than that is a waste of time and your recovery ability.
Q: Don’t I have to do aerobics to burn fat?
A: There is a common misconception about the role that aerobics plays in fat loss. It is commonly thought that exercise burns a significant number of calories. It does not. Fact: One pound of human fat contains 3,500 calories. That’s enough to keep the average person going for a 50 mile run. An hour of aerobic activity may burn about 300 calories. Performed three times per week, it would take several months to lose even a small amount of fat. Often, weight lost from this type of activity comes from tissues throughout the body - muscle, bone and organ tissue, and a small amount from fat. People do not lose significant amounts of fat from performing a running or aerobics programme several times per week.
Strength training builds muscle. One pound of muscle will increase your metabolic rate by 50 to 100 calories a day. That means five pounds of additional muscle will use an additional ½ to 1 pound of fat per week. An ideal fat loss programme needs to involve a balanced, reduced calorie diet combined with regular strength training workouts. If you enjoy running, cycling, football, tennis, etc. then do them because you enjoy them, not for any other reason.
Q: If I stop training, will my muscles turn to fat?
A: No. Muscle and fat are two different types of tissue. Strength training builds muscle; stopping leads to loss of muscle. Over-eating makes one fat; reduced eating loses fat. One kind of tissue cannot be turned into another kind of tissue.
Q: What do I have to bring with me to sessions?
A: Normal training clothes – T-shirt top, track suit bottoms or shorts and trainers, plus a small towel (to place on machines for hygienic reasons) and a bottle of water.
Q: Can I eat before training?
A: Ideally, two to three hours should elapse between eating and training. If you need to eat before training, have something light, e.g. a small piece of fruit.
Q: What are your fees?
A: Fees for individual sessions are £45. Discounts are available for ten sessions paid in advance and for 20 sessions paid in advance.
Q: Is there parking?
A: There is ample free street parking next to the gym.
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