Weight Gain Exercises For Women

The key to gaining healthy weight is to stimulate the largest muscle groups in your body and building well-toned muscle. Begin with some old-school lifts that have stood the test of time because they work at packing on clean muscle while also shedding fat. The amount of weight you choose to lift for each exercise will depend on your current strength level and the number of repetitions you plan to perform.

Power Clean and Press

Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and centered behind either a plate-loaded Olympic bar or a fixed barbell. Bend your knees and squat down to grip the barbell a little wider than your foot stance, with the palms of your hands facing away from your body. With a firm grip on the barbell, begin to straighten your knees and come to a standing position, raising the barbell to hip level. Concentrate on keeping your shoulders back and head up throughout this exercise. From hip level, perform a reverse bicep curl raising the barbell from your hips up to shoulder level. In one smooth motion continue to press the barbell up from shoulder height into a fully extended stance with the barbell above your head and arms straight up. Return to the starting point by reversing the movement from a fully extended stance, down to shoulder height, then lowered to your hips and control your movement taking the barbell back to the floor.

Negative Pull-Up

Negative pull-ups are effective alternative exercises for those who cannot perform a full pull-up unassisted but still want the muscle-growth benefits. To perform this exercise you will need a chair or bench centered under a pull-up bar. Stand on the bench and grip the pull-up bar just outside of your natural shoulder width with the palms of your hands facing away from your body. The purpose of the chair is to allow your chin to reach bar height. Once your arms are bent and you have stood up to chin-height with the bar, lift your feet to release the chair assistance. Holding tight to the bar, control the movement of your arms as you lower your body from a chin-up down to a hanging position with arms extended, still gripping the bar. Once you have controlled the motion to a fully extended hang, extend your legs to lift yourself back up to chin-level and begin again.

Incline Bench Press

Women in particular can use the incline bench press to develop toned muscles that actually work to lift and support your breasts. Use either a fixed incline bench or an adjustable bench raised to a 45 degree angle. Sit back on the bench with your feet planted firmly on the floor. Raise a dumbbell in each hand up to shoulder-height while keeping your elbows pointed straight down toward the ground. Press your back fully into the bench and press the weight straight up toward the ceiling until your arms are fully extended and are vertical and perpendicular to the floor. Do not lock out your elbows but keep them slightly bent and finish the movement by slowly controlling the dumbbells, lowering them back down to shoulder height.