Many women go to the gym to work out regularly, but only do aerobic workouts. That is great for the heart and the body, but women need to work their muscles as well. Some women tend to stay away from from the weight area for various reasons, but when you do not add strength training to your workout routine, you miss out on the extra fat burn and other health benefits of regular weight training.
Using Free Weights
Free weights are the weights not attached to a machine. This includes dumbbells (the hand weights) and weights that must be racked onto a bar such as for a bench press. Using free weights for weight training allows your body to use stabilizing muscles around the primary working muscle in order to control movement. Advantages to using free weights include their versatility and the fact that many of the movements you do with free weights mimic those you do in daily life and in sports activities. As a woman, you do not have to use the light weights just because you are new to the weight area. Get a personal trainer from the gym to give you an orientation to the weight area and some simple but effective exercises you can do with free weights. Start with a weight you can lift safely and control. If you find that you are not challenged by that amount of weight, simply move up in pounds until you reach a weight you can lift safely and still challenge your muscles.
Using Weight Machines
Weight machines involve you moving the weight along a predetermined path. This makes it difficult to engage the stabilizer muscles you use when working out with free weights. For some muscle groups, using a machine can be more efficient as you can better isolate that muscle group. Changing the weights on a machine is usually pretty easy because all it usually takes is moving a pin or punching in a code. In a gym setting, make sure you take advantage of both machines and free weights. Do not attempt to use a machine without a personal trainer to show you how to use it. Just as with the free weights, use a weight amount that will challenge your muscles. You may be surprised at how much you can actually lift.
Resistance Tubing
Resistance tubing is tubing that provides different amounts of resistance based on the color of the tube or band. The tubing travels well and can be used in a variety of exercises when free weights or weight machines are not available. It is also a solid option to use at home. You can train specific body parts or do an entire full-body workout with resistance tubing. You will want to have a variety of colors of resistance tubing in order to challenge different muscle groups. You may be weaker in the upper body, so you would use a lighter resistance tubing for upper body exercises; but then you may find you can use a heavier resistance when you do lower body exercises. Choosing resistance tubing over free weights or weight machines has nothing to do with being a woman. It is simply a matter of preference and availability. If you are in a gym, there should be resistance bands to use in addition to the other weight equipment.
Training Frequency
As a woman, how frequently you strength train will depend on a few factors. These factors include your health, your goals, your experience with strength training and what kind of weight training you will do. After getting clearance from your doctor, start with strength training one to three times per week. On the days you strength train, do three set of eight to 12 repetitions per muscle group. That means that for each time you work the muscle group on that day, you complete the exercise eight to 12 times during each set. This is a good start for beginners. Be sure that you train on nonconsecutive days; do not train the same muscles two days in a row. The muscles you train need 24 to 48 hours to recover. It is in the recovery that your muscles repair themselves and you gain strength. As you choose which weights to lift, be sure to choose weights where, by the last repetition on your third set, you cannot lift anymore.
About this Author
Based in Baltimore, Wendy Stewart has been writing health-related articles since 2008. She is an ACE-certified personal trainer and certified Turbo Kick instructor and a youth sports coach. She holds a Bachelor of Science in history from the U.S. Naval Academy and a Bachelor of Science in business administration from the University of Baltimore.
