A Simple Women's Workout Guide

A women’s workout is a topic that many people debate over and over. As a Certified Personal Trainer and owner of Elite Personal Training Experience, I have a lot of experience in the requirements women need for personal training. There is a lot of talk about certain types of workouts for women, how women should do this and what they should avoid. I will briefly address these issues and put to rest a lot of these rumors. I will also give you some insight great women’s workouts.

The number one thing I hear from nearly every female client about a women’s workout I meet is “I want to reduce this area on my body.”  Typically, it is the stomach, thighs, hips, butt, or back of the arms.  Then they proceed to say that they have been doing so many crunches over the past few months or this many lunges for the butt.  I have to stop everyone there and tell them one important fact…you can NOT spot reduce body fat.  It is hard to be this blunt to some people, but I can’t let anyone believe a lie.  The truth is that the body will store fat in the areas that it will need it the most, and it is entirely a genetic factor in what proportions the fat is stored (between the stomach, thighs, hips, butt or back or the arms).  It is very important to understand up front that if you want to reduce the body fat on your thighs, then you have to view your goal as reducing body fat on your whole body.  By focusing on the goal of reducing body fat on your whole body, you will reduce it on your thighs, or whatever other area you want to reduce.  It is critically important for you to understand that fact, otherwise you will get discouraged when you are doing 2000 crunches every night and not seeing a flatter stomach.  Know the truth, embrace it and then prepare to work hard to see your goals.

The next thing I hear from nearly every female client when we are talking about women’s exercises is that they don’t want to bulk up like a man.  Men and women have very different bodies.  They both need healthy food, water and exercise to stay in good shape.  The biggest difference is that men tend to be able to reduce body fat quicker and build muscle quicker.  Women, on the other hand, tend to have a slower period of body fat reduction and a slower time building muscle.  This difference supports the fact why men tend to lift heavier weights.  They want to get larger, and gain lots of muscle mass.  Since they are able to gain muscle mass, some easier than other, the trend has been to stick with it.  Women, on the other hand, have a very hard time keeping up with the heavy weight training that men frequently go through.  Their muscles do not respond in the same way as men.  This has turned into a fear that if women workout and lift heavy weights, they will get muscular and bulky like men.  The real truth is that even if they do lift heavy weights frequently, they will have a hard time gaining substantial muscle mass.  Instead, they will gain strength and help increase muscle density.  The most important aspect of a women’s workout is to involve both the cardiovascular system and the muscular system.  When you lift weights for the muscular system, you should challenge yourself. 

A great workout for women involves both cardiovascular training and weight training.  A normal women’s workout for my clients would involve about 5 – 10 minutes of warm up on a treadmill, bicycle, row machine or elliptical/cross-training machine.  This would be followed by 5 minutes of light stretching and dynamic warm up exercises like high skips, butt-kickers, slow walking lunges and side shuffles.  The exact exercises for women that I use at this point would vary depending on the client’s ability.  I do always follow a sequence.  I start with exercises that use the most muscles in the body, like burpees, squats and lunges.  These use a lot of lower body muscles, as well as core and upper body.  I pair these with a cardio exercise, like jumping rope, which is done stationary.  Then I move to exercises that target more specific muscle groups, like bridges for the butt, push-ups, back rows, tricep extensions, or shoulder raises.  I will also pair each of the exercises in this section with a stationary cardio exercise, like jumping jacks.  Lastly, I will do core specific training, such as crunches, roman twists or floor cobra extensions.  After the workout, I have the client cool down for 5-10 minutes on treadmill, bicycle, row machine or elliptical/cross-training machine.  Lastly, I have them do 10 minutes of higher intensity stretching to ensure they do not cramp up and to encourage recovery.

The most important part of a women’s workout is variety. Doing the same thing for a couple of workouts is ok, but if you do it for more than 3 in a row, you are not going to see as much improvement. Finding a good personal trainer to work with you is the best thing you can do for your body, especially if you can find one that teaches a bootcamp. Additionally, seeking nutritional advice form a registered dietician will help you hone your diet so it is the most beneficial to your needs.

No matter what, get out there and move. Walk the dog for 45 minutes each day, go to the gym and try a class, or ride the bicycle to and from work everyday. The path to better health, a better body, weight loss, and more muscle starts with your first step.