Why Woman Should Lift Weights

Why Women Do Need a Strength Training Routine

We know that increasing and maintaining adequate muscle mass is one of the best ways to keep body fat at bay and to improve overall fitness, particularly as we age. We also know that weight lifting is the best way to build muscle mass. Still, the number of women who actually participate in any formal or consistent weight training workout is still extremely low. Most women who exercise are spending most of their gym time on cardiovascular exercise. Whatever your reasons for avoiding the weights, if you are a woman, here are ten reasons why you need to take strength training seriously.

    You Will Be Physically Stronger.
    Increasing your strength will make you far less dependent upon others for assistance in daily living. Chores will be easier, lifting kids, groceries and laundry will no longer push you to the max. If your maximum strength is increased, daily tasks and routine exercise will be far less likely to cause injury. Research studies conclude that even moderate weight training can increase a woman's strength by 30 to 50 percent. Research also shows that women can develop their strength at the same rate as men.

    You Will Lose Body Fat.
    Studies performed by Wayne Westcott, PhD, from the South Shore YMCA in Quincy, Massachusetts, found that the average woman who strength trains two to three times a week for two months will gain nearly two pounds of muscle and will lose 3.5 pounds of fat. As your lean muscle increases so does your resting metabolism, and you burn more calories all day long. Generally speaking, for each pound of muscle you gain, you burn 35 to 50 more calories each day. That can really add up.

    You Will Gain Strength Without Bulk.
    Researchers also found that unlike men, women typically don't gain size from strength training, because compared to men, women have 10 to 30 times less of the hormones that cause muscle hypertrophy. You will, however, develop muscle tone and definition. This is a bonus.

    You Decrease Your Risk Of Osteoporosis.
    Research has found that weight training can increase spinal bone mineral density (and enhance bone modeling) by 13 percent in six months. This, coupled with an adequate amount of dietary calcium, can be a women's best defense against osteoporosis.

    You Will Improve Your Athletic Performance.
    Over and over research concludes that strength training improves athletic ability in all but the very elite athletes (See Article). Golfers can significantly increase their driving power. Cyclists are able to continue for longer periods of time with less fatigue. Skiers improve technique and reduce injury. Whatever sport you play, strength training has been shown to improve overall performance as well as decrease the risk of injury.

    You Will Reduce Your Risk Of Injury, Back Pain and Arthritis.
    Strength training not only builds stronger muscles, but also builds stronger connective tissues and increases joint stability. This acts as reinforcement for the joints and helps prevent injury. A recent 12-year study showed that strengthening the low-back muscles had an 80 percent success rate in eliminating or alleviating low-back pain. Other studies have indicated that weight training can ease the pain of osteoarthritis and strengthen joints.

    You Will Reduce Your Risk of Heart Disease.
    According to Dr. Barry A. Franklin, of William Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, Michigan, weight training can improve cardiovascular health in several ways, including lowering LDL ("bad") cholesterol, increasing HDL ("good") cholesterol and lowering blood pressure. When cardiovascular exercise is added, these benefits are maximized.

    You Will Reduce Your Risk of Diabetes.
    In addition, Dr. Franklin noted that weight training may improve the way the body processes sugar, which may reduce the risk of diabetes. Adult-onset diabetes is a growing problem for women and men. Research indicates that weight training can increase glucose utilization in the body by 23 percent in four months.

    It Is Never Too Late To Benefit.
    Women in their 70s and 80s have built up significant strength through weight training and studies show that strength improvements are possible at any age. Note, however, that a strength training professional should always supervise older participants.

    You Will Improve Your Attitude And Fight Depression.
    A Harvard study found that 10 weeks of strength training reduced clinical depression symptoms more successfully than standard counseling did. Women who strength train commonly report feeling more confident and capable as a result of their program, all important factors in fighting depression.

LEGS AT HOME

LEGS ARE THE HARDEST BODY PART to train at home. And there’s so much great equipment available at the gym — power racks, leg presses, hack squats, leg extensions . . . you get the idea. However, as this routine proves, training legs at home is far from impossible.
The front squat was included instead of the rear squat because if you’re a seasoned lifter, you can “clean” the barbell into place if you don’t have a rack. If this isn’t an option for you, replace this move with dumbbell squats, in which you hold a dumbbell at each side to do the exercise.

FRONT BARBELL SQUAT
START: In an upright, shoulder-width stance, take a barbell from a rack (or have a spotter help you), letting it rest along your upper chest. Grasp the bar with an Olympic-style grip, where you hold the bar in place with the ends of your fingers. This position can be stressful on your wrists, but stretching them out and slowly increasing the weight you use will help you adapt to this in due time. In addition to providing the most control over the bar, holding the bar in this manner also allows you to handle more weight and squeeze out more reps.
MOVE: Perform a basic squat, bending your knees and driving your hips back to lower yourself until your thighs are parallel to the floor or slightly beyond. (Look forward and maintain the natural arch in your back throughout the squat). Think of the movement like sitting back into a chair. From the bottom, drive back up through your heels to the start position.

DUMBBELL SPLIT JUMP
START: Grasp a dumbbell in each hand and step into a lunge position, one foot forward (that knee bent 90 degrees), the back leg nearly straight, toe down, knee
not touching the ground.
MOVE: Push explosively off the ground using both legs and switch foot position mid-air, landing with your other foot forward. Repeat for reps — one full rep is two jumps.

ONE-LEG DUMBBELL SQUAT
START: Stand on a bench set next to a stationary object you can hold onto. Grasp a dumbbell in your free hand, step to the side of the bench so one leg is in the air (with no bench beneath it, as shown).
MOVE: As in a two-leg squat, keep your head up and back arched as you bend at the knee to lower yourself, moving your hips backward until your working thigh reaches a point parallel with the floor. From there, drive up through your heel back to a standing position.
Move slowly and deliberately (especially in the deep position). Your non-exercising leg can be kept either in front of your body, which is better, or behind. To get the hang of
the movement, work without the dumbbell for your first few leg workouts.

SISSY SQUAT
START: Grasp a stationary object with both hands and lean back with your body straight and knees extended.
MOVE: Let your knees bend and extend out in front of you and lean back as your torso descends. Slight changes in body position, such as leaning back further, can make this movement much harder. As your knees come forward, your heels will come up off the ground. At the bottom, simultaneously push down through your feet and drive your hips forward and up.

Women's Bodybuilding Training - Bodybuilding Fat Loss Tips for Women

Everyone knows what to do to lose fat, right? Then how come so few reach their goals and achieve that lean look if it's so damn easy to get ripped?

I could tell you the very same things as everybody else does, but I definitely won't. It's not only about the perfect diet plan and the right amount of exercise, the best supplements and so on; the most important part of a fat-loss strategy is your mental approach to it.

That's what I'm going to tell you about. Basically, what you've got to do is stick to your plan. Period.

First, let's suppose you do the following things already:

    You do at least 6 cardio workouts of 40-60 minutes per week, preferably pre-breakfast.

    You eat 5-8 small meals per day, emphasizing proteins, healthy fats and vegetables.

    You don't skip on the carbs post-workout. (Take in 0.5 gram per pound of bodyweight)

    You get at least 6 hours of sleep almost every night.

If those are in order, you can get better results using the following tips:

Fat Loss Tip #1: Getting Through The Hardest Of Times
Some days are tougher than others, especially when it's about dieting. I'm talking about those annoying moments when you ask yourself over and over again why you're doing all the cardio and for what?! You feel so sorry for yourself, thinking everyone else is better off, you're watching all 'normal' people eating ice cream every other hour, and you wish so much you were one of those lucky souls. What you must do is to motivate yourself to stick to your plan with whatever means you can use. The photo at the right is what motivates me.

Most chicks would kill for a gorgeous, fit body like this, but they believe a walk in the park will do the trick. Even if you told them it's a bit harder, they wouldn't believe you, since they don't want to face the truth.

Fat Loss Tip #2: You Never Diet, You Follow A Perfect Diet Plan
When I need to drop a couple of pounds, I never say I'm dieting; the mere word 'dieting' gives me the worst cravings imaginable! I just want to run to the supermarket, buying chocolate, fish sticks and other fattening stuff. I tell myself that I'm allowed to eat whatever I like, including ice cream and candy. And lots of it too. But, I must stand the consequences if I'm going to eat like a starving horse. I know that by falling for the temptation will make me fat and puts me farther away from my dream body. Then, I also take into account how satisfied I will be after eating the chocolate and fish sticks. I know it won't be for long, maybe only for a couple of hours before I start to regret it. And then it's already too late; I have just annihilated ten hours of cardio for what; a bit of chocolate?

Fat Loss Tip #3: Show It Off
There's nothing as pleasant as watching your muscles pump up during a workout session, so don't always wear your whole wardrobe at the same time; let yourself see the pay off in the gym's mirrors and you'll feel so much stronger.

Don't care about jealous people who blame you for just showing off. If they cannot stand perceiving a great physique, they probably have some major psychological problems to solve. You must get used to those pessimistic people who hate everybody who more resembles their ideal physique than they do themselves.

Fat Loss Tip #4: How To Get Through The Boring Cardio
Ok, there you go again...Sick and tired of the stairmaster already? Hey, you've only done it 40 times this month! Do a list on topics you can think about when working out. This is my list:

    First, I repeat to myself why I'm doing this boring chore. I mean, it's not always a lot of fun, mounting the step machine at 4:30 a.m., and I must not forget why it's of such great importance that I do it anyway.

    I tell myself this is the very last workout I have to do for my whole life. If I get this one done, I will always look good, always be fit and happy. (Yes, I know it's a lie, but my psyche is so easily duped!)

    I promise myself that I can eat a whole chocolate bar (the biggest one of course!) for breakfast if I only do the cardio. This is a big lie once again, but it doesn't matter since when I'm done, it would be so unnecessary eating something that makes my efforts meaningless.

    I visualize my ripped physique, every comments on my lines and how impressed people will be once I enter the stage.

    Listen to the very best cardio music; Irish folk music! I promise you will get totally energized!

    Visualize what the perfect feature of you in a major muscle mag like Flex or MuscleMag would be like. What questions would they ask you? What kind of pictures? What would the article lead to concerning sponsors, feedback, and model contracts?


Why Is It Critical To Visualize Your Success?
Well, as you're the one who's in charge of your goals and dreams, you cannot let yourself wonder about whether you've got what it takes or not. Who's to judge that? Well, you and you only.

Don't listen to those telling you it's impossible. They don't know, they just think they do. Of course, hear people out, but be careful about what they tell you, and what you tell yourself. Remember, you are what you believe you are! 

Myths of Women's Weight Training and Female Bodybuilding

The myths about women's weight training and female bodybuilding do not ever seem to go away. With this article, I'd like to share the facts regarding weight training and female bodybuilding.

Women's Weight Training Myth #1 -Weight training makes you bulky and masculine.
Due to the fact that women do not, and cannot, naturally produce as much testosterone (one of the main hormones responsible for increasing muscle size) as males do, it is impossible for a woman to gain huge amounts of muscle mass by merely touching some weights. Unfortunately, the image that may come to your mind is that of professional female bodybuilders. Most of these women, unfortunately, use anabolic steroids (synthetic testosterone) along with other drugs in order to achieve that high degree of muscularity. In addition, most also have good genetics coupled with an unbelievable work ethic that enable them to gain muscle quickly when they spend hours in the gym lifting very heavy weights. Believe me when I say that they do not look like that by accident. Women who conduct weight training without the use of steroids get the firm and fit cellulite-free looking body that you see in most fitness/figure shows these days.

Women's Weight Training Myth #2 - Exercise increases your chest size.
Sorry girls. Women’s breasts are composed mostly of fatty tissue. Therefore, it is impossible to increase breast size through weight training. As a matter of fact, if you go below 12 percent body fat, your breast size will decrease. Weight training does increase the size of the back, so this misconception probably comes from confusing an increase in back size with an increase in cup size. The only way to increase your breast size is by gaining fat or getting breast implants.

Women's Weight Training Myth #3 - Weight training makes you stiff and musclebound.
If you perform all exercises through their full range of motion, flexibility will increase. Exercises like flyes, stiff-legged deadlifts, dumbbell presses, and chin-ups stretch the muscle in the bottom range of the movement. Therefore, by performing these exercises correctly, your stretching capabilities will increase.

Women's Weight Training Myth #4 - If you stop weight training your muscles turn into fat.
This is like saying that gold can turn into brass. Muscle and fat are two totally different types of tissue. What happens many times is that when people decide to go off their weight training programs they start losing muscle due to inactivity (use it or lose it) and they also usually drop the diet as well. Therefore bad eating habits combined with the fact that their metabolism is lower due to inactivity, and lower degrees of muscle mass, give the impression that the subject’s muscle is being turned into fat while in reality what is happening is that muscle is being lost and fat is being accumulated.

Women's Weight Training Myth #5 - Weight training turns fat into muscle.
More alchemy. This is the equivalent of saying that you can turn any metal into gold; don't we wish! The way a body transformation occurs is by gaining muscle through weight training and losing fat through aerobics and diet simultaneously. Again, muscle and fat are very different types of tissue. We cannot turn one into the other.

Women's Weight Training Myth #6 - As long as you exercise you can eat anything that you want.
How I wish this were true also! However, this could not be further from the truth. Our individual metabolism determines how many calories we burn at rest and while we exercise. If we eat more calories than we burn on a consistent basis, our bodies will accumulate these extra calories as fat regardless of the amount of exercise that we do. This myth may have been created by people with such high metabolic rates (hardgainers) that no matter how much they eat or what they eat, they rarely meet or exceed the amount of calories that they burn in one day unless they put their mind to doing so. Therefore, their weight either remains stable or goes down. If you are confused about nutrition, please read Nutrition Basics.

Women's Weight Training Myth #7 - Women only need to do cardio and if they decide to lift weights, they should be very light.
First of all, if you only did cardio then muscle and fat would be burned for fuel. One needs to do weights in order to get the muscle building machine going and thus prevent any loss of muscle tissue. Women that only concentrate on cardio will have a very hard time achieving the look that they want. As far as the lifting of very light weights, this is just more nonsense. Muscle responds to resistance and if the resistance is too light, then there will be no reason for the body to change.

Women Should Train Hard
I have trained with girls that train as hard as I do and they look nothing but feminine. If you want to look great, don't be afraid to pick up the weights and lift hard! 

FULL BODY BEGINNER

WORKING YOUR WHOLE BODY in one workout is perfect for beginners and people on the go. If you only have a couple of hours per week to dedicate to your training, a wholebody programme like this one can keep you fit.
This programme is a mix of machine and free-weight (barbell and dumbbell) exercises. While machines offer a lot of benefits to beginners because of their safety and the controlled movement patterns, it’s also important to get your body accustomed to free weights. Doing a little of each is a good bet for faster advancement.
Don’t forget to breathe! Advanced bodybuilders and strength-training athletes learn to adjust their breathing patterns on exercises depending on the particular move, but beginners should simply follow this rule: breathe out as you pass the most difficult part of the move, breathe in as you return to the start.


SPLIT SQUAT

START: At the beginning, use just your body weight so you learn the movement. Stand with both feet together, then take a giant step forward with your right leg. Your left heel will lift off the floor.
MOVE: Drop your body downward by bending your right knee and lowering your left knee toward the floor. Reverse the motion and press back up into a standing split squat. Complete all reps for one side, then switch to the other.

BARBELL PREACHER CURL

START: Set the seat height so that when you sit down, the arm rest is slightly below shoulder level. Take an underhand grip on a barbell and place the backs of your upper
arms firmly against the pad.
MOVE: Slowly curl your arms and raise the weight to a point where your elbows are just a bit beyond 90 degrees. Flex at the top of the movement, then slowly lower the weight.

SEATED CALF RAISE
START: Sit in the machine and place the balls of your feet on the platform so that your heels hang off the edge.
MOVE: Raise your heels as high as possible and release the safety bar. Lower your heels as far as you can, then reverse the motion and raise your heels as high as possible.

ABS 15-MINUTE WORKOUT

YOU CAN GET A GOOD AB WORKOUT in 15 minutes; the key is to squeeze as much intensity as you can into that time. This high-impact regime does just that.
In the knees-down variation of the Swiss-ball roll out, do the same exercise shown, but with both knees on the floor.
Six-time Ms. Olympia Cory Everson (shown in these photos with trainer Jeff Page) uses these moves in her own workout she recommends training your core (abs and lower back) twice per week.

SWISS-BALL ROLL OUT
START: Kneel in front of the ball, resting your forearms on it, fingers interlaced. Then lift up your knees to extend your legs behind you.
MOVE: Without arching or rounding your lower back, move your arms in front of you to roll the ball forward, forcing virtually all the muscles of your torso to work, including the deep core muscles, abs and obliques. Pause momentarily and then roll the ball back in towards your body.

CYCLING WITH BALL
START: Begin in the jackknife position used for the V-up and hold a medicine ball against your chest.
MOVE: As you extend one knee, flex the other to bring your kneecap toward your body while you bring the ball over to that side. Reverse knee positions, shifting the ball over to that side to “meet” the opposing knee. Continue in alternating fashion.

 
BALL PASSING
START: Lie on your back with your legs and arms extended; hold a Swiss ball in your hands.
MOVE: Raise the ball overhead with your arms while simultaneously bringing your legs toward it. When your hands and feet meet, pass the ball from the former to the latter. Without pausing, lower your arms and legs back down. Continue in alternating fashion.

STANDING ROTATION
START: Stand straight, knees slightly bent, holding a medicine ball with both hands in front of your forehead. Your training partner assumes the same position behind you, without a ball.
MOVE: Keeping your lower body in place, rotate your torso to one side and pass the ball high to your partner, who has simultaneously rotated in that same direction. Then rotate in the other direction and receive the ball back from your partner, this time in a lower position (hands at your waist rather than shoulder level). Continue passing and receiving the ball in this fashion for the desired number of reps. Then do the same number of reps beginning with the ball high on the other side.

Bare Your Arms

Jen Jewell’s Armageddon Workout
Don’t cover your arms with sweaters and T-shirts. Have the confidence to bare your arms! Here’s the workout that will help you do it.
What does a set of tight, toned, and sleek arms say about you? It says that you're a fitness badass who's prepared to hit the weights or rock a sexy tank top! Whether your goal is to enter a physique competition or just tone up, building awesome arms should be on your "to do" list.

"But Jen," you might be thinking, "what if I don't want my guns to rival those of a world-champion arm wrestler?" Don't worry, weight training isn't going to make you massive. Women don't produce enough natural testosterone to get huge. But I will say that you won't get rid of that under-arm jiggle by pedaling away on a bike or pushing the handles on the elliptical.

To develop tight, sculpted arms, you've got to pick up those weights and get to work!

Arm Training Advice

    For my arm workouts, I include a combination of exercises that hit my muscles from various angles. I use dumbbells, barbells, cables, machines—you name it. The point is to stimulate as many muscle fibers as I can to allow for maximum development. Lately, I've been including supersets to make my arm workouts fun, fast-paced, and efficient. I also "remix" my sets and rep ranges so I don't become bored or hit a plateau.

    Remember, you train your arms any time you do compound chest and back movements. (It's impossible to bench press without using your triceps, for example.) Even if you don't dedicate an entire day to arm training, a proper training regimen should still promote biceps and triceps development.

    Make sure that you're challenged through the entire duration of the workout. Yeah, that might seem obvious, but I've had many female clients throw down their weights after they feel that "pump." Go beyond what's normally challenging.

    If you stick with a solid arm workout regimen, results will come fairly quickly. When I gear up my training for a photo shoot or a competition, I make noticeable progress within the first couple of weeks. With hard work, you'll do the same!