Strength training for women causes changes in body composition rather than muscle mass. Women don't have the capacity to build bulky muscles due to their high estrogen levels. Strength training programs are performed on three non-consecutive days per week. Each session will incorporate each major muscle group, sequenced from the largest to the smallest muscle areas.
Legs
Most strength routines start with your legs, due to the large size of certain muscles. The quadriceps and gluteals are the two biggest muscles in the body. Other leg muscles that encompass your workout are the hamstrings, hip flexors, adductors--the inner thighs--and calves. You want to have a blend of single-joint and multi-joint exercises. Ball squats, lunges, supine ball bridge/curls and double leg raises are exercises that recruit multiple muscles and increase spatial awareness. The seated leg extension, leg curl, hip abduction, hip adduction and calf raises are machine-resisted, single-muscle concentrations.
Back
The back is the largest posterior area of the body. There are three major areas of your human back--the rhomboids, the latissimus dorsi and erector spinae. Your back needs some form of external resistance, whether it be free weights or machines, to construct resistance movements. The lats--the biggest of the back muscles--are strengthened during machine-bar pull downs or supine barbell pullovers.
Seated mid rows, standing barbell rows or one-arm dumbbell rows are safe and effective exercises for the rhomboids. The erector spinae--or lower back--is isolated by a nautilus seated lower-back extension.
Chest
The pectoralis major--or chest--is the largest anterior upper-extremity muscle. Most pectoral exercises are performed supine, seated or standing. An isolated chest motion along with a chest press, involving your pecs, shoulders and triceps are standard. A pectoral fly can be carried out with a machine, dumbbells or a cable apparatus. Women have an easier time with a machine chest press, due to its safety features. You can get into a supine position and use a barbell or a dumbbell as well. These movements should only be done by experienced exercisers.
Shoulders/Neck
The shoulders and the neck are important for maintaining proper postural alignment. The three heads of the deltoid are the designated muscles of the shoulders. The anterior, medial and posterior deltoids can be built up through two distinct motions. The dumbbell overhead press works the anterior and medial deltoids with assistance from the triceps. A thera cord shoulder extension will incorporate the posterior aspect of the deltoid. The rear neck--or the trapezius muscle--is best utilized from a prone position. The prone "T" retraction is a preeminent exercise for isolating the middle and lower trapezius.
Arms
The biceps and triceps are two of the most overtrained muscles in the body. Every upper-body pulling motion uses biceps and every pushing motion involves triceps. An overabundance of single-joint arm exercises is overkill. Only one exercise is necessary for either aspect of the arm. Standing tricep press downs and barbell/dumbbell bicep curls are two of the more traditional isolated-arm motions.
Abdominals
The abdominals should always be done last in your workout. Abdominal strengthening through the routine will cause fatigue and lower stabilization efforts on other activities. An abdominal crunch machine or ball crunches create abdominal contractions against challenging parameters. Crunches on a physio ball force the internal and external obliques to activate to support the spine. Standing cable trunk rotation creates functional strength in the entire midsection.
References
- "Strength Training for Women"; Joan Pagano ; 2004
- "Total Strength Training for Women"; Amazin Lethi; 2004
Member Comments