If you need a fitness workout program that will help to create a slim, toned and sexy physique, then read this article!
If you are like most women, you probably would like to be thin, but not bony; to tone up the upper body, but not to look like a male weightlifter; have slender legs, elastic buttocks and a lean press.
Well, your dream is achievable, and for this you do not need to have good genetics or to go the gym for 10 years.
However, you still need a workout program in the gym for women and you need to know what exactly are you doing.
Forget about the nonsense that is written in popular fitness magazines, because you will not become a “goddess” by starving and doing a lot of cardio.
Instead, you must practice a completely different approach — a much healthier, more pleasant and with a lasting result.
After reading this article, you will learn how to create a training program and build your body of dream.
But first, I want to talk about what you definitely should not do …
Worst Fitness Plan for Women
If you are reading fashionable fitness publications for women, then you probably come across similar tips:
- You need very little to eat (proteins and carbohydrates in particular)
- Stick to buckwheat
- Perform a lot of cardio
- Do some strength exercises (without using heavy weights)
- To conduct long (2+ hours) workouts 6-7 times a week
Sounds familiar, huh?
What do you expose yourself to when you follow these guidelines?
Sufferings!
Constant fatigue … incessant hunger … hatred of training … dreams of eating your favorite dishes …
Awful.
But this is not the worst. Even worse, what happens to your physique.
Of course, you will lose weight, but also lose a significant amount of muscle mass.
And the more muscle you lose, the worse your body will look even with a low percentage of body fat.
Most women do not know how attractive a “dry” figure with well-developed muscles looks.
For example, look at the following photos:
Which body do you like more?
I think the second. And, for sure, you would be surprised to learn that both of these women have almost the same percentage of body fat.
Why is the second option more attractive? Due to an increased volume of muscle mass!
After burning fat without developing muscles, you will simply become “lean” and have sagging skin.
Here is another vivid example:
Can you guess the weight of this woman in each of these photos?
That’s right – it’s the same!
Transformation is associated with an improvement in body's composition and percentage of body fat, rather than a simple weight loss.
When you reorient your goals to burn fat and build muscle, you open the door to real progress. That is how the perfect physique is worth.
So the question is not whether you should build muscle mass, but how much you need to do.
I worked with thousands of women and I can say that a great figure can be achieved by gaining 5-10 kg of muscles and reducing fat to 15-20%.
These figures will ultimately depend on how you want to look.
If you want to be healthy, thin and fit, then most likely you should not gain more than 5 kg of muscle mass and leave at least 20% of fat.
If you want to look like a fitness model (the girl in the above photo), then you will need a little more muscle and less fat.
The golden mean for most women are the following figures: 5-7 kg of muscle mass and 17-18% of fat.
So, now that we have dispelled some myths, it is time to talk about what exactly needs to be done to achieve the desired results.
In fact, everything is quite simple:
- Work a lot with extra weights;
- Do not do cardio too often;
- Maintain a moderate calorie deficit to lose fat;
- Correctly balance macronutrients in your diet.
That’s all.
Now let’s take a closer look at each item separately.
Do Weight Training Makes Women’s Physique Less Feminine?
I talked to many women who were afraid that lifting weights would turn them into a giant bodybuilder.
In fact, this is not true.
This delusion, like no other, prevents women from building the body of their dreams.
At first glance, such an idea looks plausible.
Men train with heavy weights because they want to be bigger, right? Then why women who want to lose weight and get a fit look, do the same?
Crossfit also does not save the situation, because, according to many women, it makes the body the same as weightlifting.
Even a quick search on Google for “crossfit woman” shows this:
This is enough for most women to refuse to do heavy squats, deadlifts or army press.
“I don’t want to look that way,” they say.
If you think the same, then I have good news: exercises with heavy weights will not make you look like Hulk.
To look like that woman on photo, you need to go to the gym every day for many years, have the right genetics and eat plenty, and in some cases even take steroids.
However, many women regularly work with heavy weights and still remain miniature.
It sounds implausible, but let me explain.
But first, the question: could you call this woman “masculine”?
Probably not.
However, due to the fact that she has much more muscle than an average woman, you would be very surprised at how her body would change if she gained 7 kilograms of fat.
Her legs would lose its smooth lines, her stomach would bulge, and her hands would become like sausages.
The reason is simple: when you gain fat, most of it accumulates inside and over the muscles, so the more you have of this and the other, the more your body will become shapeless.
Thus, women who want to be thin and fit need to learn the following truth: the more muscle you have, the less fat you need to have in your body so as not to look bulky.
For example, a woman with small muscles will feel thin with 18% fat and quite comfortable at 25%, and a woman with a significant amount of muscles will probably like her appearance with 18% fat, and at 25% she will look overweight.
That is why I said that most of women I worked with are happy with their body if they gain from 5 to 7 kg of muscle mass and leave fat at about 18%.
Cardio Training
Admit, how many marathon runners have you seen with an amazing physique?
Probably not many.
Of course, there are exceptions, but in general, people who train a lot on endurance, look, to put it mildly, not impressive.
You definitely should not follow their example.
Therefore, if you think that you have to run for years or practice on a stepper to look great, you are mistaken.
Unfortunately, most women do not understand this. They think cardio is the key to weight loss and great form. Oddly enough, according to research, it contributes little to weight loss.
Experiments have shown that people who do a lot of cardio, as a result, gain weight, mostly unconsciously consuming too much food and / or reducing other forms of physical activity.
Hence the crowds of overweight people who, until exhaustion, work on cardiovascular machines and wonder why they still have not lost weight.
Large amounts of cardio have another drawback – the loss of a fair amount of muscle mass.
So is it worth to forget about this type of training?
Some “experts” believe that in order to burn fat, you only need to perform strength exercises and intelligently limit calorie intake.
In my opinion, in order to lose weight you should not do cardio, but I do not agree that it should be completely avoided.
If done correctly, it can be useful.
Cardio is able to burn a lot of energy, thereby significantly accelerating fat loss (especially in combination with strength training and taking some supplements).
So what is the “right cardio”?
If you want to maximize fat burning and minimize muscle loss, HIIT training (high intensity interval training) will be an excellent option.
Forget About Hunger
Imagine the following picture:
You have a slim sexy body that you manage to maintain without giving up your favorite foods, including sweet treats.
You never experience hunger and do not feel the desire to eat to satiety.
And all this is not a pipe dream.
Millions of women today live this way, and you can too.
Remember: you do not need to torture yourself with all sorts of diets to stay slim and happy. You can even eat more than you think, and no food will be prohibited for you.
However, if you want to get rid of fat, you should consume less energy than you spend (but not so little to lose muscle and / or adversely affect your health).
The key to success lies in the ability to regulate calorie and macronutrient intake based on total daily energy expenditure, lifestyle and eating habits.
Training Program for Women
And now I want to give you a plan of action that proves that the strategies outlined in this article really work.
Here are its general provisions:
- Perform the following strength training every week for 8 weeks.
- If you want to do cardio to quickly burn fat, read this article and determine how much and what types of it you should choose.
- Read this article to determine the need for macronutrients.
- Read this article to develop a personalized meal plan.
- Do not back down from this program.
- Use this article to track progress.
- Watch the transformation of your body.
As you can see, everything is quite simple.
The training program itself is as follows:
Day 1
BREAST AND CAVIARS
- Bench press on an incline bench – 3 warm-up approaches, 3 sets of 4 – 6 repetitions (8-10 repetitions, if you are a beginner)
- Dumbbell bench press on an incline bench – 3 sets of 8-10 reps
- Bench press on a horizontal bench – 3 sets of 8-10 reps
Optional: (Train your calves if you want more relief)
- Standing up on socks – 3 sets of 4-6 reps
- Rising on socks sitting – 3 sets of 4-6 reps
If you cannot do classic push-ups on bars, then use a special simulator for this (to facilitate the exercise) or perform 3 sets of dumbbell press on a horizontal bench.
Day 2
LOWER BODY AND PRESS
- Deadlift with barbell – 3 warm-up approaches, 3 sets of 4-6 reps (8-10 reps if you are a beginner)
- Barbell squats – 3 sets of 8-10 reps
- Barbell in the slope – 3 sets of 8-10 reps
- Dumbbell in one-hand tilt – 3 sets of 8-10 reps
3-6 supersets on press
Follow the next 3 sets one by one.
- Crossover twisting – 1 set of 10-12 reps
- Lifting legs in the “captain’s chair” – 1 approach to muscle failure
- “Bicycle” – 1 approach to muscle failure
If you have problems with loins, then replace the classic deadlift with more benign options, such as sumo, or use a trap neck. You can also perform the T-neck instead.
If you are not able to do the usual push-ups or pull-ups, then perform them on special simulators (to facilitate the exercise) or perform a dumbbell pull in the slope.
Day 3
SHOULDERS AND CALFS
- Army bench press – 3 warm-up approaches, 3 approaches from 4 – 6 repetitions (8-10 repetitions, if you are a beginner)
- Breeding dumbbells to the side while standing – 3 sets of 8-10 reps
- Breeding dumbbells to the side in the slope – 3 sets of 8-10 repetitions
Not mandatory:
- Standing up on socks – 3 sets of 12-15 repetitions
- Rising on socks sitting – 3 sets of 12-15 repetitions
Day 4
HANDS AND PRESS
- Lifting the barbell for biceps – 3 warm-up approaches, 3 sets of 8-10 repetitions
- Barbell bench press with narrow grip – 3 warm-up approaches, 3 sets of 8-10 repetitions
- Alternate lifting of dumbbells for biceps – 3 sets of 8-10 repetitions
- Extending arms from behind the head with a dumbbell – 3 sets of 8-10 repetitions
3-6 supersets per press
- Crossover twisting – 1 set of 10-12 reps
- Lifting the legs in the “captain’s chair” – 1 approach to muscle failure
- “Bicycle” – 1 approach to muscle failure
Day 5
UPPER BODY
- Barbell squats – 3 warm-up approaches, 3 sets of 4 – 6 repetitions (8-10 repetitions, if you are a beginner)
- Leg press – 3 sets of 8-10 reps
- Romanian deadlift – 3 sets of 8-10 reps
- Pelvic hinges with bench support – 3 sets of 8-10 reps
In each exercise, perform 9-12 heavy approaches and increase their number if you feel that you can do it.
- Rest for 2-3 minutes between each heavy set and 1 minute between sets with your own weight.
This will give muscles enough time to recover so that you can make maximum efforts in each approach.
- As soon as you begin to perform the prescribed number of repetitions with ease, increase your working weight.
For example, if you perform 10 reps in the first set of squats, add 5 kg for the following and continue working with this weight until you can squat 10 times, etc.
I guarantee that if you do this workout and eat right over the next 8 weeks, you will be very happy with the results!
