Weight Training for Women

Weights are your friends or the reasons why women should love to lift heavy things.

Women tend to avoid weight training in fear of getting "bulky" so here are a few reasons why you will not get bulky. I'm going to be blunt here; it may make for uncomfortable reading but these things have to be said!

You don't eat enough to get bulky.
Building muscle (or bulking up) takes a lot of energy. If you keep your caloric intake balanced with what your body needs on a daily basis you won't have any spare energy to build muscle. Likewise if you go on a well planned nutrition programme you'll find the extra muscle will help blowtorch fat off your body and that this is a snowballing effect. The more muscle you have, the more fat you burn and this leads nicely onto the second point…

Muscle makes you lean, fat makes you bulky.
Another common misconception about bulk and muscle is that muscle makes you bulky. No it doesn't! Muscle is denser than fat; that means a pound of muscle will take up less space than a pound of fat. This means you get that pleasingly lean, toned and hard body you want rather than the wobbly, fat one you may currently have!

You don't have enough testosterone to bulk up.
Testosterone is a natural hormone that governs muscle growth. We all generate Testosterone; it's important in muscle repair and growth. One of the major differences between men and women is that men have a much higher level of T than women. Even in men, the natural T level isn't sufficient to create those walking lumps of meat you see in bodybuilding competitions. So if you're not boosting levels artificially, you don't have to worry about bulking up.

Getting bulky is hard work. Ask any decent bodybuilder how much work they put in. Bulk doesn't appear magically simply by walking past a weight rack so don't get scared of weights. They are your friends in the fitness battle because muscle requires calories to sustain. The Base Metabolic Rate is a measure of how much energy, in the form of calories, you need to stay alive. Now if we were to add on an extra pound of muscle, you'd need an extra fifty calories a day to keep going. If you don't get that from cakes or chocolates, where else can it get those fifty calories from? Yep, you guessed it - your fat stores AKA the love handles, muffin top, etc.

Right now you might be asking yourself how you should be weight training. Or you may be ready to shut the browser window in disgust. Ah well, that's life I suppose…but for those of you sticking with this article, here is the good stuff; the "correct" way to weight train to get that kick ass body.

Put down those chrome dumbbells and lift some proper weights like this!

Deadlift.

This exercise targets all the muscles at the back of the body and hits pretty much every single part that you may be concerned about including wobbly thighs and the dreaded bingo wings. It also has a fantastic carryover to real life situations as its simply training how to lift a heavy object off the floor. The deadlift can be done with any sort of weight but the barbell is probably the easiest. It's a fairly technical lift so its best learnt first hand from a trainer. However, here's a brief description. If you're using a barbell, stand close to it, the bar should be almost touching your shins. Keep a tight arch in the back, arms straight, grip the bar with a double overhand grip and lift! Keep the abs and core tight, push with the legs and hips. Once you have lifted, the safest way to return the bar to the ground is to push the hips back and let it drop. Keep your hands on it to stop it bouncing away.

Dumbbell / Kettlebell Swings.

This exercise also targets all the muscles at the back of the body and when done for reps and time will benefit your cardiovascular training too! A perfect complement for the deadlift. With a dumbbell or kettlebell in your right hand, squat back by pushing your hips back, keeping the lower back arched. Let the weight swing back between your legs and feel the tension load up in the glutes and hamstrings. Once you reach the furthest point in the back swing, JUMP up without letting the feet leave the ground. Its permissible to rock onto the balls of the feet but land softly. The dumbbell or kettlebell will swing up in an arc and once it reaches the top, squat back again and let it swing back between the legs. Rinse and repeat; then swap hands. For the advanced you can swap mid swing.

The Half Get Up.

This is our core training exercise of choice. It will get your abs screaming for mercy and will do wonders for your shoulders too. Bargain! Start off lying face up with a weight in your right hand. Push it up as if doing a one armed bench press. Bend the right knee, bringing it as close to the buttocks as possible, stick your left arm out to the side for balance. Now simultaneously push into the ground with the right foot and sit up whilst bracing with the left arm and leg. You should now be sitting up with the weight above you. From there, simply reverse the action and return to the start. Repeat for as many reps as possible on the right then swap over. After that you'll find it hard to stop caressing your rock hard abs!

Replace your normal weights session with this workout and do it three, four times a week BEFORE your normal cardio. Once you get familiar with the exercises, increase the number of reps or weight but make sure you are comfortable with them!

I've trained clients using this simple protocol for a while now and the results have always been positive so give it a try and when you are ready for that bikini feel free to send me pictures :

Weight Training for Women

Weights are your friends or the reasons why women should love to lift heavy things.

You don't eat enough to get bulky.

Muscle makes you lean, fat makes you bulky.

You don't have enough testosterone to bulk up.

Deadlift.

Dumbbell / Kettlebell Swings.

The Half Get Up.