Women and men have very different needs when it comes to working out, this is because men and women have very different bodies. Specifically workout plans for women should be different than a mans. Men are built differently, they carry a lot more muscle mass than women, and women’s bodies naturally carry more fat. Regardless of the goals that you set for yourself, you need to take these things into consideration when you design your workout.
In reality we are all human and what works for men will also work for women, to a point. Most often men and women have different exercise goals and therefore want something from a different from a workout. Unfortunately women tend to have unrealistic ideals regarding what they think their bodies should look like based upon the Hollywood examples displayed in the media. This is a shame and there are countless women who worry everyday about what they look like and how they can improve their bodies. The same applies for men, who will often push the boundaries on things they will try to get bodies like the men on their TV, such as take illegal drugs in an effort to increase their arms and chests.
I am not saying that getting fit and healthy is not a good goal, but it is important to understand that looking good may not always mean you are healthy. A lot of people confuse the two words “health and fitness” and think that one is automatically linked to the other. Being in shape with a very low bodyfat level does neccessarily mean that you are healthy. Think about it – if a person were to not eat food for weeks and just live off of cases of diet soft drinks they could lose a lot of weight and body fat. Is this healthy though? It definitely is not. You need to find a balance, you need to exercise and eat healthily, however you should not do anything to the extreme.
First you should start with a solid workout plan.
There are plenty of workout regimes out there, the best workout plans for women will usually have 2 things in common.
One – Focus on resistance training
2. Cardio Exercises Done In Intervals
In order to achieve the best results, it is recommended that you train at least three times a week for an hour each session and at the same time reduce your caloric intake to create a deficit.
* Resistance Training Basics
You can successfully carry out resistance training at home just as well as in a gym. Working out at home can be attractive to some people, maybe you are self conscious or you just want to stay away from the gym rats. However, it is a common misconception that everyone that goes to the gym is already in excellent shape and that you will be the only one there that needs to lose weight. The truth is that the real story is very different, most of the time you will be surrounded by normal people just like you trying to lose a few pounds. There are not going to be too many people, if any, that are ready to start posing for the cover a fitness magazine. Try not to be intimidated and give the gym a try because you may find that you like it and can meet some great workout buddies there.
Dumbbells, workout balls, resistance bands and body weight exercises, which may just be the best, are all involved in strength exercises. Bodyweight exercises are great and do not require any extra equipment. When you are working out at home, bodyweight exercises are ideal because you won’t need equipment. A lot of people really swear by the results that they have achieved just through doing body weight exercises alone, so if you’ve never tried them you should give them a chance. The U.S. military uses bodyweight exercises in training and nobody will say their workouts are not strenuous, and all they involved were bodyweight exercises carried out in the middle of a forest. Body weight resistance training can be a very intense workout if you know what you are doing.
It works to help you develop more lean muscle mass, which helps your body to burn calories at a higher rate. This is one of the reasons that men can sometimes lose fat a little easier than women. This is not always the case, but more times than not if you have a muscled man and a large women go on a diet, all things being equal in accordance with their size and amount of working out they do, the women will take longer to lose fat over the man. This is one of the reasons that resistance training will help you to lose fat if you do it right. Each time you train you progressively increase the resistance. You do not want to keep doing the same exercises with the same amount of weight and same number of repetitions. Your body requires a progression in order to continue making changes, such as shorter rest periods, added weight or added repetitions, so you can achieve your goals. As you do this you will notice your body adapt to the workouts. You will begin to grow your muscle mass, which takes more energy to maintain. Your metabolism goes up and you burn more calories and fat throughout the whole day, not just when you workout. Interval cardio is the second part of your workout.
Cardio Training in Intervals
This type of exercise is probably a new concept to most people, but in the end it is very effective for weight loss. Not only is it effective but it doesn’t take as long as a conventional workout. You only need to do intervals for about 15 minutes or even shorter.
An example of intervals on a bike would be like this. The machine you use doesn’t really matter – you could choose to use a cardio machine or a treadmill instead – but a stationary bike makes it easy to adjust the speeds up and down throughout your session. The scale for this would be 1-10 with ten being that you are working at your maximum level and one is the lowest or lightest level.
- Start at a 2 or 3 to warm up for a few minutes.
* Then bring it back up to around a 4 for about a minute.
* Bring your speed up to around a 9 on the scale for approximately 30 seconds.
-Go back down to 4 for 1 minute
* Bring your speed back up to around a 9 on the scale for another 30 seconds.
-Keep alternating between the two until you reach around 12 or 13 minutes
* Then bring it back down to a 4 for a final time and slowly decrease your speed down to a 3 or even less during the final two minutes of your workout as a cool down period.
Do this program three times a week with a goal of working up to about 45 minutes for the entire workout. 30 minutes for the resistance and 15 minutes for the cardio. Give it a try because this really is one of the best workout plans for women.