Men tend to gain fat in their bellies and waist areas. This is a good place to store fat in case of starvation. Easy access to your digestive system for quick energy. This has to do with starvation being a problem going back thousands of years ago. So knowing this, how can women build an effective exercise routine for themselves.
Exercise routines for women should include periods of lifting weights heavier than 5 pound dumbbells! The reason is that by lifting heavier weights, with safety and proper form, and then progressively increasing the weight used a woman will become much stronger for everyday activities.
You can find specific exercise routines for women from many free sources. Start a notebook that you use to document detailed instructions about exercises for every muscle group. Bring that notebook with you to the gym to track the exercises you did and the weights, sets, and reps performed.
First of all, look for something that actually increases your energy, instead of depleting it. If you feel weak and low energy after exercising, it’s not good for you. Women over 40 often have a lot of responsibilities, and you can’t afford to be low-energy. Good exercise routines for this are brisk walking, hiking or swimming
Women are usually not paying much attention to weights and bodybuilding. In fact, many women are not interested in this aspect at all. There is nothing remiss about this. Women are more focused on flat stomachs and toned legs, than having impressive biceps.
A basic workout routine for women may include doing 3 days of weight training with two days of cardio over the entire week. If you want very fast results and have the time you can do an intense split routine which includes 4 days of weight training and 1 to 2 days of cardio.
In order for you to reap the best results you should always find an activity or exercise routine which you enjoy. There are hundreds of workout routines for women, but there may only be three or four of them that you actually like or could see yourself doing on a regular basis.
Of course there are other types of exercise, and the ideal method would be to switch to different types of exercise every few days. This keeps all the muscles in shape, and helps you stay motivated. Doing the same workout day after day can sometimes get a little monotonous.
Neither one of us likes doing any thing beyond a walk in the park so we don’t want a terribly extensive workout and we both are quite busy. Since we are the same as most women and gain belly fat, we decided to target that area in our search for exercise material.
Swimming is very popular mainly because it is refreshing and everyone loves to do it. Swimming uses your hips, legs and arms and your head. This is a total body workout that is gentle on your body and just fun in general to do.
Also, by breaking up the meals, she was able to not snack on sweets and miscellaneous food all throughout the day, in fact, she found that with 6 small meals, she was not hungry for anything else. Protein is important to have when you are trying to lose weight. It is a little more filling, so you can feel yourself get fuller without eating as much as you would normally, and it is good for the heart, body and it turns into energy to be burned, instead of fat.
Our society loves beauty. The most beautiful bodies are symmetrical, lean and firm. So why are most women starving themselves and spending hours on cardio machines trying to be skinny? Lack of knowledge! Most women donât understand the importance of weight training and how it can help shape their bodies into fat burning machines. The more strong active muscles you have the more fat your body will burn. Remember, muscleburns fat!!
I hear women say that they are afraid to weight train because they donât want to get âbig and bulkyâ. Women who weight train wonât increase their muscle size much, just their muscleâs density and strength. So forget about that âbulking upâ fear. As a woman ages, she begins to loose more muscle because after puberty your essential muscle growth is over and your muscle starts to deteriorate. The act of pregnancy further accelerates your muscle loss because the amount of protein your baby needs to develop requires the baby to steal protein (muscle) from you! Furthermore, re-menopausal, menopausal and post menopausal women have lower hormone levels causing accelerated muscle loss. Weight training with a proper nutrition plan will help re-build your lost muscle.
So why is muscle so important? Muscle is the driving force behind your metabolism. The more muscle you have, the more fat and calories you will burn. A good metabolism doesnât happen by accident, yes genetics play a part in metabolism, but your lifeâs choices affect your metabolism as well. Some keys to a good metabolism are: weight training, a nutritious diet, an active lifestyle and a consistency in each.
We are often programmed to think we have to weigh a certain amount to be happy. We say to ourselves âIf only I could weigh what I did in high schoolâ. You need to get rid of that scale mentality. Who cares how much you weigh. The most athletic bodies are often considered overweight if you place them on the standard height/weight chart or BMI chart. How is that possible you ask? Because muscle is so dense that it weighs much more than fat. Muscle also holds about 60% more water than fat tissue causing muscular people to weigh much more than their âskinny fatâ counterparts. Since muscle weighs more than fat, donât think that you have to be a certain weight. What you should be most concerned about is your muscle mass % and your body fat%, your body composition. How much muscle and fat is on your body? Or are you firm and tight? To be âleanâ you need to have a high percentage of muscle and a lower amount of body fat. That way you can see those sexy muscles your fat is hiding.
So how do you go about getting those muscles you ask?? Weight train! There are 3 larger main muscles that our bodies are comprised of, your legs, back and chest. Metabolism will be affected most if these 3 muscle groups are emphasized since they comprise the majority of the muscle mass on our bodies.
Letâs talk about the area that all women are concerned about the most, legs and your butt. Leg muscles are the biggest strongest muscles of our body. The majority of women donât realize how strong and powerful their legs can be without getting bulky. I know that most women have a fear of lifting with their legs because they often carry a higher amount of fat in their legs and therefore fear adding bulk to their lower half through strength training. As women we donât have the levels of testosterone necessary to build big bulky muscles as men do, so donât think that if you lift with your legs you will make them significantly bigger. Initially yes, a small amount of muscle growth will occur and before you start loose your fat on top of this muscle, you may notice a slight size increase, but this is temporary. Shortly thereafter, you will notice your legs start to gain new shape, firmness and a leaner appearance. All of which is caused by these muscles becoming more active and therefore burning more fat.
Oh my favorite, the back! Most women are absolutely unaware of the huge potential fat burning muscles they have on their back. Our backs are full of muscles. There are tons of them holding our spine, ribs and shoulders in place. These muscles are very important to our health. How often do we hear about back and neck pain? I truly believe that weak back muscles cause much of the pain. Lifting with your back requires proper form and extreme focus on the muscles you are working.
Finally, our chest muscles. I am talking about your pectorals, the muscles all women need to embrace. Pregnancy and breast-feeding do horrible things to a womanâs breasts. The looks of a womanâs breast goes beyond the mammary tissue, it lies underneath in the pectoral muscles. Pregnancy can rob our bodies of muscle which means the muscle that once lifted our breast now is gone and it too needs to be rebuilt. If you want to give yourself a natural breast lift and boost your metabolism, build up your chest.
You must find a way to challenge your muscles. Lifting the same weight every time you perform an exercise will maintain what muscle you have, but not change them. I donât know many people that like spending an hours at the gym every week to stay exactly the same. We all crave to improve ourselves, so we must challenge our muscles by lifting weights that are challenging. There is nothing complicated about this, make sure you find yourself slightly challenged by your lifting program.
Lastly change it up! If your muscles get used to the same thing over and over again they will get bored just like you do. Boredom causes your muscle to not respond just as it causes you to not want to do your boring workout. Donât be afraid to change, try some new exercises, change the number of sets and reps of your exercises, increase or decrease your rest time between sets and workouts and change the order of your exercises. Remember muscle burns fat.
Maggie P is a health & fitness advisor as well as an acclaimed nutrition specialist with a focus on women’s weight loss and diet. www.maggiepfitness.com
I often pay close attention to the bodybuilding. Occasionally, i took note of a book namedbodybuilding revealed, which is written by Will Brink. When i saw the pages of it, i was rendered still. The book is a great resource that you need to have in the advanced stages of your bodybuilding education.
This book refers to every possible subject associated with bodybuilding, including gain muscle mass,bodybuilding nutrition, bodybuilding supplement and bodybuilding training science. It is easy to understand and follow. During all of these subjects, there is much diets information especially.
If you want to achieve maximum results in bodybuilding, diet is the most important part you should seriously take into account. The diet should be planned in a manner that it helps in muscle gaining and not in weight gain.You must also realize that consuming supplements alone will not do wonders for your body. They can only enhance and contribute to bodybuilding process. During the bodybuilding process, ideally the bodybuilding diet should include food items that contain all categories of nutrients. It is essential to consume all the nutrients, such as proteins, carbohydrates or fats. Some of the various items that bodybuilders can consume for the intake of proteins are: lean meat, fish, eggs, milk, nuts etc. For carbohydrates, brown rice, potatoes, whole meal bread, fresh fruits and vegetables can be the best bet. However, indulging in white products can rebound your efforts.
The knowledge about diets and nutrition introduced in this book is so much more than this. If you would like to know more, please do not hesitate to read this e-book. Since you know these information, you should have a balanced and nutritious bodybuilding diet plan meeting your body needs and help you out. After reading this book, you can know how to use your diet to gain more muscle in a health way and to complete your bodybuilding plan. Grab A Copy Click here
There is no doubt that for many women their mid section is something they tirelessly are working to keep fit and trim. Women have challenges that men do not have that make it sometimes quite hard to lose weight in the stomach area.
It is not impossible, though, for a woman to get a trim mid section and develop a six pack. Women can have six pack abs with the right diet and workout. It may take longer than it would for a man but it will happen with determination and hard work.
Challenge for Women
Women face some great challenges to keeping their stomach flat. Pregnancy is a bug hurdle. When a woman gets pregnant their stomach muscles move and the mid section is stretched to the limit. It creates a challenge to get those muscles back in shape and the skin tight and toned.
Women also have a higher percentage of body fat than men do. This is a natural thing that allows a woman to properly nurture a baby when pregnant. It also makes it harder for women to lose weight.
Hormones also make losing weight harder for women. Fluctuating hormone levels happen all month long for the entire lifetime and can be quite a challenge when it comes to losing weight.
Women also have less muscle then men. This is another natural occurrence. It does not mean women can not build muscle, just that women have less muscle naturally, so they burn fewer calories than men.
These challenges do not mean women can not lose weight, though. They just mean a woman has to understand that she can not compare herself to men and that she has to workout differently than a man to get results.
Get Results
For a woman to overcome challenges she has to be focused. It involves following all the rules of losing weight. A woman has to cut out sugar, fat and salt from her diet. She should eat five to six meals a day with a fair amount of lean protein and a good balance of foods form all the food groups.
As for exercising the best abs workout for a woman is similar to a mans. She should workout aerobically three times a week with alternating days focused on strength training. She should include exercises that work the whole core area, such as crunches and the plank.
V-Sits are truly excellent abdominal exercises for women. One of the few isolated workouts which target all 3 parts of the abdominal wall; upper, middle and lower. Listen to Nash’s advice in the video to learn the most effective technique for quickly gaining a flat, well-toned and strong stomach. More professional advice at www.ultimateshape.com
Five Reasons Women Should Lift Weights By Michael Glatter
When you walk into any club or fitness facility you will often find women tracking hours on a piece of cardio equipment and never see the results they want. What’s missing?
Resistance Training. Many women fear the risk of getting too bulky and are instantly put off when someone suggests that they lift weights. I’m going to give you five reasons you need to lift those weights ladies.
You’ll increase muscle tone
Muscle tone is responsible for keeping your posture whether you’re sleeping or awake. Now how does lifting weights help you increase your muscle tone? Your muscles become more efficient from the tension under weights that your muscles will better keep their tone throughout the day.
You’ll lose weight
lifting weights increases your resting metabolism for upwards of 24 hours after your exercise session. This increase is greater than the increase your metabolism receives after a long running session. This is the same very reason High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) has started to become popular.
You’ll keep the weight off
Not only are you going to increase your resting metabolism after you lift weights; you will also increase your metabolism for life as you gain muscle. As your muscles grow and develop they will consume more Calories for life.
You’ll feel better about yourself
Many women I work with are intimidated by the gym atmosphere. Entering most gyms filled with dozens of machines can be intimidating. There are so many different places you can start. Even similar machines made by a different company can be confusing. Free weights are the same anywhere you go. A study done in 2005 suggests women not only judged how much better they felt about themselves by what they looked like in the mirror, but also by how much stronger they became after a 12 week period of resistance training.
You won’t bulk up
Unless you’re on the same pharmaceuticals as the pro bodybuilders you will not end up looking like them. Even with the aid of drugs it takes a lot of hard work and dedication to look like that. If you find that way to instantly become 20 pounds more muscular after a set of deadlifts let me know so I can start incorporating it for my male clients.
Michael Glatter is a certified personal trainer through the National Strength and Conditioning Association and through the American Council on Exercise. He is an in-home and online personal trainer based out of Richmond, VA. You can read more about him at http://www.glatterfitness.com.
Michael Glatter is a certified personal trainer through the National Strength and Conditioning Association and through the American Council on Exercise. He is an in-home and online personal trainer based out of Richmond, VA. You can read more about him at www.glatterfitness.com.
Whilst cardio helps to burn fat, it does little to increase your âmuscle toneâ. The proper definition of  a âtoned muscleâ is a muscle that is partially switched on. This partial contraction makes your muscles feel firmer and look leaner, even when you aren’t working out.
And what is the best way to increase muscle tone? Weight training⦠ideally lifting a weight that fatigues your muscles within 10 to 20 reps. Want to wave goodbye to your bingo wings? Choose bench presses and tricep kickbacks.   Want to firm up your flabby thighs?  Weighted squats are a must!
2. It will make you slimmer and  NOT bulkierâ¦
If you avoid weight training because you think it will make you bulky, think again. Women lack the essential hormone required for large amounts of muscle gain⦠testosterone! So unless you are planning on injecting any time soon, stop worrying about bulking up, you really won’t.Â
In fact, weight training will help you to lose bodyfat. Each pound of muscle you build up has little impact on your size but a huge impact on your resting metabolism â up to 50 extra calories a day! This means that women who lift weights burn more calories, even while they are sleeping.
3. It will make you stronger and more confidentâ¦
Unlike men, women aren’t born with natural strength, so if anything women are set to benefit far more from weight training. By challenging your muscles with progressively heavier weights, you will see your body start to adapt and get stronger. It’s a huge confidence boost!
This increased strength makes day to day activities like walking up stairs, lifting heavy bags or carrying children that much easier. When you can deadlift your own body weight you will have no problem picking up adults, let alone a small children!
4. It will help you to improve your posture and balanceâ¦
A weak, slouching posture often leads to saggy breasts and a pot belly. By following a well designed weight training programme you will strengthen your postural muscles - in particular your middle and lower back â pulling your shoulders back, lifting your chest and flattening your stomach.Â
A strong, balanced posture not only makes you look much slimmer, it also strengthens your joints and reduces your risk of injury and back problems as you age. If you choose functional strength exercises you also improve your balance and core stability, preventing falls.
5. It will reduce your risk of osteoporosisâ¦
Osteoporosis is a disease of bone that leads to an increased risk of fracture. Women are far more prone to osteoporosis because they have less bone mass than men and take in less calcium. The menopause also increases the risk of breaks as falling levels of estrogen leads to reduced bone density.
Research has proven that in the same way your muscles adapt with weight training, so do your bones.  By lifting weights regularly women can actually increase their bone density, in particular spinal bone density. This will dramatically improve your quality of life in later years.
And finallyâ¦if you have been converted, why not try kettlebell training? It is the perfect form of weight training for women! You only need one kettlebell to get started and you can even do it at homeâ¦
Most women donât lift weights to bulk up and create huge muscles. They donât want the âhuge & muscular lookâ or to compete in a bodybuilding competition. They simply know some basic facts about their bodies that make lifting weights a smart choice.
What Do They Know?
They know that lifting weights has benefits for women that donât need to include looking like a man or bulking up.
Some women donât want to depend on other people to do your daily tasks. Chores like lifting kids, handling groceries and doing laundry are all easier if a person has stronger muscles. Studies have shown that even moderate weight training for women can increase a woman’s strength by up to 50 percent!
This is even true for women in their 70s and 80s who start lifting weights to be able to do the tasks that they could do when they were younger! Itâs never too late to get started on a good routine.
Regularly lifting free-weights like barbells and dumbbells also forces a womanâs body to maintain balance. This will also make daily tasks outside the gym easier, improves your overall balance – and lets you win faster when wrestling with your kids!
2. Losing Body Fat
How many women donât have a just a little body fat that they would like to lose? Then adding strength training to your exercise routine is a smart choice.
In fact, as a womanâs lean muscle increases, her resting metabolism will increase as well. This helps women to continue to burn calories all day long⦠even at rest. In fact, each extra pound of muscle a woman adds can burn up to 50 more calories each day. That helps to maintain a healthy weight.
3. Decreased Risk of Osteoporosis, Diabetes and Heart Disease
Weight training can increase a womanâs spinal bone mineral density by up to thirteen percent in less than a year. It can be a women’s best deterrent against developing osteoporosis. Good exercise routines can also help to lower bad cholesterol and increase glucose utilization to lower the risks of heart disease and diabetes as well.
4. Makes You Feel Better
Some studies have concluded that just ten weeks of strength training can lower depression symptoms better than traditional counseling. Women who strength train commonly report feeling more confident and capable as a result of their program – which is a major plus for battling depression.
When a person exercises, their body releases powerful substances called endorphins into the body that create feelings of euphoria and an elevated feeling of wellness. These feelings can be so intense that they have been known to even mask pain.
Weight lifting also gives a womanâs body more energy! A regular strength training program, especially when done in the mornings, can give women more energy for the rest of the day without needing more coffee.
5. Looking Better
Even if women restrict their diet and eat well, their bodies need something else to keep it toned and looking good. A regular routine of both cardiovascular exercise and strength training will take a flabby body and make it look SO much better, even with very little weight loss.
These women realize that a strong, lean, healthy-looking person appears sexier than that same woman when sheâs outâa shape. This also gives women more confidence because they know that not only are they healthy, but they look great too!
There’s a big myth that women have to train different then men. They don’t. They can lift weights, do the same exercise, build a little muscle, become stronger and still be 100% female. Building muscle isn’t all that easy right? You don’t just do some weights and have a 21″ inch arms the next month.
My point is…
Women can do the same things as men do. And even lift heavy if they desire to grow muscle rather then maintain.
A little muscle tone is not a bad thing right? And the only way to grow muscle is to stimulate it. I’m not suggesting females go bench 315 lbs tomorrow but there’s no need to grab the pink weights and do 100 reps either while they sit there looking unchallenged and bored.
If they are worried about a particular body part taking over and making them out of proportion, then just hit them lightly and focus on the rest of the body. Just maintain them. Do not push or challenge them and they will just stay the same while the rest of her body grows, adapts and changes to fit her desired look.
I see women all the time at the gym with the tiniest weight. Because they don’t want to get big and bulky like a man. But they also look bored and just doing it because somebody told them lifting weights was something they should do.
Unless your one of the few females that has as much testosterone as most men, it’s not going to happen.
A key to muscle growth is testosterone. Females do not have
high levels of it, therefore, even if they worked out like men do, with heavy weights, she is not going to suddenly become manly, bulky and bulging with muscles.
Granted, there are some females who do have high levels but it’s pretty rare. Don’t worry…
Despite what you may have heard… there’s really no such thing as toning. I’m sure to get flack for that statement but let me explain. There’s three things you can do to a muscle.
-Build it
-Maintain it
-Lose it
Toning is really for most people, the process of building muscle so there’s something to show… and once they are happy with the appearance, they maintain it. For all these reasons…
It’s important to understand that when you pick up a weight, the main goal is to work the muscle. If it’s not at all challenging, then why bother? Resistance training has a purpose. To keep your muscles healthy, your bones strong and your mobility. The older you get, the more muscle you want as it will keep you living healthier. And the older you get the more muscle you tend to los’e. Another reason to build muscle thru your life and not let it wither away because of atrophy.
But I’m getting way ahead of myself! Many women are worried about getting bulky if they workout weight weights.
There’s a simple solution to that. How about just build muscle until she’s satisfied with her appearance. Once she reaches that level, she can back off and just maintain. At that point, there’s no need to stimulate new muscle growth but you can use resistance training to maintain an appearance.
This is where ‘toning’ comes in. Toning to me at least, means maintaining the muscle’s natural tone thru resistance. Keeping it in the shape it is currently.
Also keep in mind that a muscle will appear more tone when body fat is removed from the area.
So that’s why cardio is an important aspect as well if she is looking to lean up. But as I’ve said before, there can be such a thing as too much cardio. So no need for marathon sessions please.
Bottom line…
In general women do not need any different routines then a man. It’s the myth that has been around forever that men lift weights, women do cardio. It’s simply wrong.
Marc David is a bodybuilder and author of the, Beginner’s Guide to Fitness and Bodybuilding. You can get info on Marc’s e-book at:Beginning Bodybuilding. To get Marc’s free e-zine, visit JustAskMarc.com