Weight training guide for women. Find out how you have to train if you are a beginner and don’t be afraid to do weights in the gym. The weight training for women is something well, not bad! Strength training helps increase lean body mass, which in turn increases metabolism. When compared to diet alone, strength training has lasting results.
You know that lifting weights will give you a slim, sexy, and fit body. Let’s discuss what you should do in the gym. Fortunately, there is now more female strength training than ever. The days of aerobic exercise, old-fashioned sweating and wearing leggings are long gone. It is all about making a good routine.
Heavy Weight Training for Women
Here’s the main point of this article: Heavy training with the right exercises is the right way to train strength and get the best aesthetic results. The best exercises to use are large, compound movements that recruit a large amount of muscle mass. Here are a few examples:
Lower Body
- Barbell squat
- Deadlift with barbell
- Dumbbell Lunges
- Split legs squat
Upper Body (Horizontal Push)
- Dumbbell bench press
- Bar bench press
- Inclined press
- Push-ups
Upper Body (Vertical Pressure)
- Military Press
- Dumbbell Shoulder Press
- Bending handstand on wall
Upper Body (Upright Pull)
- Supine Dominated
- Pull to chest
Upper Body (Horizontal Pull)
- Horizontal dumbbell row
- Seated Rowing
- Rowing with barbell
Core exercises
- Table
- Abdominal wheel
- Hanging legs climbs
If you spent the rest of your strength training career using only the exercises listed above, you will build a slim and sexy body without asking questions. You would also build a better body at a faster rate than if you used machines and isolation exercises. Again, motivation is important.
Training Force With The Right Intensity
Most women never use enough weight. Without intensity, you simply won’t get a great training effect. So what is the proper intensity?
I can’t give you a number because each person’s strength levels are different. This is the best way I can explain it. If you are going to do a series of eight repetitions, then that last repetition should be difficult. You can complete one more repetition (maybe two) but absolutely nothing else.
If you do eight repetitions in a series of squats, but you know you could have done 12 or more, that’s not intensity. You have to end your sets knowing that you could have done absolutely no more than two more reps. It is that intensity that will challenge your muscles and help you build a slim and fit body.
To lift even more intensely, simply train at a lower range of repetitions.
- Example: Series of five repetitions. To lift less, simply train at a higher rep range.
- Example: Series of 12 repetitions. I am going to tie all this later so that you understand it better.
Train With The Right Divisions
The gym trainee should only use one of two training divisions: total-body exercises (which are not a division at all) or upper / lower divisions where they train the upper body one day and the lower body To the next one. These two training divisions are the only two that the typical gym beginner needs.
These divisions will allow you to train your muscles often enough. In addition, you will stimulate a large amount of muscle mass in each training session so that your metabolism rises longer. Also, these two divisions will help you build a slim and sexy body much faster than any other division. I will give examples later.
Train head strength
By this statement, I mean to use your time wisely. The only time we recommend doing these straight sets (it means that you do all the sets and repetitions for 1 exercise before you can be moving on to the other) is the lower body days.
After a tough series of squats or dead-lifts, you won’t feel like doing anything other than rest (or maybe doing some calf lifts ). For total body exercises or upper / lower divisions, you can pair or group exercises together. This will allow you to do more work in less time; That is always a good thing.
Training Notes for Women
Day three (your lower body) and day four ( your upper body) must consist of different workouts and you may be in a varying repetition range.
The mentioned workouts are to give you an idea of how to spend your training time wisely.
The exercises used in the examples are large, compound movements that “give you the most profit.” Your training should mimic that configuration.
Keep your workout simple. Just focus on using the best exercises and train at different rep ranges. Don’t spend all your time training at a high rep range.
You will greatly benefit your body if you train at a lower rep range as well.
Training and menstrual cycle in women
It is important to note that women of childbearing age have hormonal ups and downs, produced by actions of the central nervous system, the pituitary, and the female reproductive system. This hormonal cycle can help you train better. Learn how to optimize training during the menstrual cycle.
The follicular phase
It covers from the first day of menstruation until day 13, approximately, and is characterized by having low levels of estrogens. This favors the use of “fast energy”, that is, ATP and muscle glycogen are used. In this phase the estradiol secretion increases progressively until reaching a peak before ovulation. The weight is also less, since less fluid is retained. Just before the ovulation phase (around day 14) estrogen levels rise and fall to rise again and remain moderately high and stable during the luteal phase.
The luteal phase
It covers from day 15 to the first day of menstruation (day 28). When estrogen levels increase, the metabolism turns to fats for energy and stores muscle glycogen. In this phase, high levels of progesterone are found.
Therefore, at the end of the menstruation days, the woman is full of energy and it will be easier for her to train and perform high-intensity sets for short periods, using muscle glycogen. As she ovulates and on the days of the luteal phase, higher estrogen levels will make her feel less quick but more comfortable to stop resistance training.
The highest training loads will correspond to the pre- and post-ovulatory periods, the first being the one with the highest load absorption capacity.
The premenstrual week is the poorest in terms of load assimilation. This is due to the presence of a high concentration of progesterone. This hormone is catabolic and is notoriously harmful to training.
Women tolerate intensity less than men, this is mainly due to the fact that they have a lower amount of testosterone, which makes it difficult for them to build muscle mass.
Women burn more fat
The female body burns much more fat, especially during high intensity exercise, during the luteral phase (approx. Days 14 to 28) of the menstrual cycle than it does during the follicular phase (days 1 to 13).
When we have the period, we will do low-intensity exercise (60% to 70% of our maximum heart rate) for 40 to 50 minutes per session in the next 13 days.
Around day 14 we will go to high-intensity exercise (80% to 90% of our maximum pulsations) during 30 ‘sessions.
In the first 13 days we will do most of the aerobics on the treadmill or on the stair simulator, and we will move to the exercise bike in the last two weeks. This plan provides enough variety of aerobics and helps eliminate fat.
Now that you know how to train hard, take this new knowledge to the gym and start building a slim and sexy body.