“I don't want to bulk up.” I hear that from many women that strength train. While it’s true that the main effect of weight training is building muscle, research shows that moderately heavy, low repetition training increases a woman's metabolic rate more than light weight, high-repetition training. All women need some form of resistance training in their workout program. Women need to train at a high intensity so they can get the metabolism boosting benefits without the fear of developing the dreaded “bulk.” Lifting light weights for 100’s of reps is not going to get you where you want to be.
So what’s a girl to do? How do you maximize your workout efforts to get the most body sculpting benefits?
A well-rounded fitness and fat loss program avoids the old school one to two body parts per day with long, slow cardio sessions and includes the following:
· High intensity total body weight training sessions - Use weights to build small amounts of muscle and burn lots of calories. I prefer to structure the workouts in supersets of non-competing exercises so that you never waste time resting. You will do one lower body exercise and immediately move to the upper body or core.
· Bodyweight training – Bodyweight exercises can be used in traditional strength training supersets or in a series to create circuits to burn calories, boost metabolism and improve your overall fitness.
· Interval training – The best results to get lean are achieved by high intensity cardio intervals. Avoid the lower intensity, longer duration exercise sessions. You will notice how much leaner you get and you will save time!
· Frequently changing your training variables will constantly demand your body to change, helping you get maximum results in minimum time.
· Use bodyweight exercises - There are dozens of exercise variations you can do for lunges, push ups, bodyweight rows and chin ups. Use the Stability ball for single leg exercises, and yes of course, abdominal exercises.
So what’s a girl to do? How do you maximize your workout efforts to get the most body sculpting benefits?
A well-rounded fitness and fat loss program avoids the old school one to two body parts per day with long, slow cardio sessions and includes the following:
· High intensity total body weight training sessions - Use weights to build small amounts of muscle and burn lots of calories. I prefer to structure the workouts in supersets of non-competing exercises so that you never waste time resting. You will do one lower body exercise and immediately move to the upper body or core.
· Bodyweight training – Bodyweight exercises can be used in traditional strength training supersets or in a series to create circuits to burn calories, boost metabolism and improve your overall fitness.
· Interval training – The best results to get lean are achieved by high intensity cardio intervals. Avoid the lower intensity, longer duration exercise sessions. You will notice how much leaner you get and you will save time!
· Frequently changing your training variables will constantly demand your body to change, helping you get maximum results in minimum time.
· Use bodyweight exercises - There are dozens of exercise variations you can do for lunges, push ups, bodyweight rows and chin ups. Use the Stability ball for single leg exercises, and yes of course, abdominal exercises.
With my training and research, I have concluded the most effective training schedule for women wanting to sculpt muscle and get lean is workouts consisting of weight training and bodyweight exercises. Three sessions per week is optimal while focusing on total body during each workout. Punt the old school body-part training workouts - the ones where you do chest on Monday, back on Tuesday and so on. Focus on a total body workout three times per week and zero in on what I call the FAB FOUR multi-joint exercises. You can add more exercises as time permits.
The FAB FOUR multi-joint, multi-muscle exercises that address the following movements:
Pushing, pulling, squatting and hamstring hip hinge type of movement. An example would be a push up, body weight row, over head squat and a dead lift of hip hinge. These exercises all activate the core indirectly. Planks and stabilization moves are best to strengthen the core and avoid stress on the discs that traditional sit ups can cause.
For more information on how to maximize your workout time and get fit, contact AllyFitness for a complementary consultation.
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