Weight Lifting For Female Beginners

Weight Lifting For Female Beginners

Weight lifting for weight loss is an amazing technique to use if you are a busy woman on a weight loss journey. Resistance training, weight lifting, strength training – these are all interchangeable terms that are used to describe the same form of exercise. 

 

Personally, when I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism, it was through resistance training that I was able to lose the extra pounds that I had been piling on. Being busy, working at the hospital, I needed a form of exercise that would not take up too much time but would still get me the results I was after.

Weight lifting for female beginners is an essential key to helping them start seeing those changes they want in their body. 

Weight Lifting for female beginners

But – weight lifting for women is still a taboo sometimes.

Women are still wondering if lifting weights will make them bulky. Others are confused about how to start weight lifting as a woman.

The fitness world has so many terms that are floating around it can be really mind boggling for anyone looking to get into shape.

Don’t worry ladies, I have your back!

I have put together this guide to give you all the information about weight lifting for female beginners – it starts with taking away all the confusion around strength training.

 

What is strength training? What is resistance training?

 

Strength training is when you use resistance that causes muscles to build strength, endurance and size. Strength training and resistance training are the same time.

 

So, strength training must be for bodybuilders and those strong men who like to pick up 100 kg tyres?

 

No!

 

Resistance is not just in the form of traditional weights. It can be anything that puts your muscles under some strain that leads them to work harder. Strength training using your own bodyweight is one of the easiest ways to do a resistance workout.

 

I mean, if you are a busy mom you are probably spending most of your time lifting kids, grocery bags and squatting down to wipe juice off the floor.

 

Yes, you mama are strength training already.

 

But I don’t want big muscles – I just want to lose weight and get toned. 

 

Through strength training you are increasing the strength of your muscles, making everyday movements easier to do.

Yes, you build muscle mass which is the same as “getting toned”. That toned appearance is achieved through having bigger muscles and less fat, giving you a lean appearance.

Why is strength training important for weight loss?

 

Building muscle helps you lose weight because more energy is used by muscle than other body tissues. Your resting metabolic rate speeds up as a direct result of your body using more calories to maintain muscle then fat.

 

Weight lifting for weight loss is highly effective when used alongside cardio, rather than just doing cardio on its own.

 

Why is strength training important for women?

As we age, we lose muscle mass. When I mean age, I mean after the age of 30 so you really ain’t that old!

Strength training helps to counteract muscle loss and supports a strong metabolism.

It helps to increase bone density which helps to reduce your risk of osteoporosis (weak bones).

How to start weight lifting for female beginners

 

Have I convinced you that resistance training for women has its benefits? Good!

Now, let’s talk about how to start strength training and lifting weights as a woman. I have put together these tips to help you learn all there is about weight lifting and strength training.

 

Learn the terms

 

To start strength training, it is really important to understand the lingo you will come across.

It can really feel like a foreign language at times. I used to find it really off-putting because I just did not understand what any of it meant.

Here are some of the basic terms to get your head around:

 

• A repetition (or rep) is one complete movement of a particular exercise. For example, one squat or lunge.

 

• A set is a group of consecutive repetitions. For example, 3 sets of 15 reps of squats would mean doing 15 squats one after the other to complete 1 set. You would get repeat this for the given number of sets.

 

• A circuit is a sequence of different exercises repeated in a cycle.

 

• A superset is when two different exercises are done consecutively, one after the other. For example, completing 15 reps of bicep curls followed by 15 reps of push ups without taking a break.

 

• One rep max is the term used to describe the maximum weight a person can life for one rep of a particular exercise.

 

The correct technique

 

It is really important before you start lifting weights that you are performing the exercises with the correct technique and form.

 

Why is this important to master technique before starting to weight lift?

 

Without the correct technique you run the risk of injuring yourself. If you are then placing more weight to increase resistance, you are more likely to hurt yourself.

 

Also, if you do not have the correct form you are not targeting the muscles correctly and will not see the results you are after.

 

Watch youtube videos for your chosen exercises and have someone check your technique. It may be handy to hire a personal trainer to do this when you are first starting out to prevent you having problems in the long run.

Choosing the right weight

 

When strength training, in order to build strength you need to tax the muscle. Bodyweight strength exercises are underestimated and can yield amazing results.

 

However, by lifting weight you are able to increase the strength of the muscle and see physical progress.

 

Choosing the correct weight is important: too light will not push your muscle hard enough and to heavy will cause you to lose form and may lead to injury.

 

For the best results, you should be working to the edge of your ability.

 

The last two reps of each set should be challenging but not impossible.

 

How to pick the right weight when weight lifting?

 

Choose a weight that will allow you to complete 10-12 reps of each exercise.

This will be a bit of a trial and error to see what weight suits you best. Ideally, you should be aiming for a weight that is around 70% of your one rep max (or 1RM).

 

What exercises to do

 

Each strength training exercise targets certain muscles. Some exercises are specific in only working one or two muscles. Others, known as compound movements, are exercises that recruit a lot of muscle mass.

 

Compound movements are great to use as when strength training as a beginner because they will target many of the muscles you want to workout.

Here are a list of some compound movements for when you start strength training. Adding in isolation exercises and machines will help you tone at a faster rate but when starting out, focus on these strength exercises for women.

 

Lower body:

Squat

Deadlift

Lunge

Good morning

Split squat

Hip thrust

Upper body

Push ups

Pull ups

Chin ups

Bench press

Shoulder press

Barbell row

Core

Hanging leg raises

Plank

How many reps and sets

 

Now, this section could become really complicated but this is a beginners guide to weight lifting for women who are looking for a simple, easy way to achieve weight loss and gain strength.

 

So – yes, I’m gonna keep it simple for ya’ll.

 

How many reps of each exercise should I be doing? How many sets should I be doing?

 

You will often see in beginners weight lifting programs that 3 or 4 sets of 8-10 reps tend to be the norm.

 

There is a reason for this.

 

The number of reps and sets you do adds up to determine the intensity you are putting your muscles under. Depending on the intensity, different results in terms of strength, endurance and size will be achieved.

 

Stay with me – I am going to clear this all up.

 

If you are looking for build muscle but also increase strength then you require a moderate intensity which looks like this:

 

• 3 sets x 8 reps
• 4 sets x 8 reps
• 3 sets x 10 reps

 

Any of the above set ups will help you build muscle and get toned, as long as you are using the correct amount of weight.

 

Remember the weight you choose will mean when you have 2 reps remaining, you are finding it challenging and pushing yourself.

 

How many days a week should I strength train?

As a general rule of thumb, I would advise weight training 3-4  times per week but never more than 2 consecutive days in a row.

The easiest way to choose which exercises to do or what muscle group to focus on is to split the workouts by upper body and lower body workouts.

Your workout schedule could look something like this:

Day 1: Upper body

Day 2: Lower body

Day 3: off

Day 4: Upper body

Day 5: Lower body

Day 6: off

Day 7: off

 

This sort of strength training schedule will allow you to train each body part enough while giving it adequate rest.