Female fitness is definitely becoming more and more celebrated and encouraged as of late. A growing number of ladies are becoming not just fitspirations, but ultimate icons for their sheer strength. So if you want to transform into what the Amazons of Themyscira will call one of their own, you won’t have a hard time finding someone to inspire you to do so.
Inspiration is one thing, but actually hauling yourself to the gym or the trail for a run is an entirely different matter. If you’re one of those girl boss ladies who can do whatever they put their minds to it, good for you as you can definitely shed some pounds without requiring a lot of convincing. If you’re a chronically sleep deprived, swamped with everything kind of lady, though, things can be tougher, but it’s okay. All you need is a good push and you’ll surely get there.
Getting in better shape is one of the biggest challenges for so many people. With all of the delicious, albeit, unhealthy, food that is easily available today, it’s so hard to go on a diet. Exercise is also one of the last things most folks want to do as it’s tiring and you’ll get gross pretty easily, not to mention you also have to have a good amount of free time to get it done. What with the large chunk of the population’s busy lifestyles, hitting the gym or spending an hour to workout will mean they’ll have to sacrifice their sleep, me time, or hobby time to get it done.
Things just tend to get tougher if you’re a woman in certain situations. Being a full-time mom while working and running a household will leave you with little to no time for yourself, really. This is why it’s common see busy women, as others put it, “let themselves go” upon reaching motherhood. If you don’t have the time for exercise, it shouldn’t be a crime. Lots of women put their growing families first, so they shouldn’t be judged or critiqued for this.
Unfortunately, women do get judged if they gain a few pounds after settling down. While what other people think should be the last of your worries, gaining weight can also be detrimental to your health. And you shouldn’t be okay with that. The heavier you get, the more illnesses you are becoming at risk of. This can also affect the lives of your kids, as getting so sick can turn them into orphans early on and your unhealthy lifestyle can teach them that it’s okay not to care for their bodies as well.
Regardless of whether you’re a mom or not, however, staying in good shape is still necessary, as it will help lower your risks of developing serious problems later on. It will also make you stronger and let you do more.
Women’s Fitness
When it comes to fitness, the saying “Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus” tends to ring true. This is because the different sexes tend to have significant differences so a fitness regime for a dude can’t really work the same way for a lovely lady. A few factors that can explain this are:
Testosterones
It’s a fact that men have higher testosterone levels than women. This hormone is what they say “what makes men men,” so naturally, males get a good load of them. This higher amount of testosterones also makes it easier for male species to bulk up their muscles.
As women have lots of estrogen, they tend to pack in more fat instead. This can be quite frustrating as you will want to get rid of fats to get in better shape. But as the female species are designed to carry fat, weight loss can be a bigger challenge for them than for men.
The thing is, because of the child-bearing capacity of women, they are wired to store more fat so they have an extra source of energy for their little ones. This is why fat in normal women can make up from 18% to 20% of their weight while it’s only 10% to 15% in men. Add to this the fact that their male hormones can easily use up their fat reserves to strengthen and bulk up their muscles and they have an easier time getting fit.
Physical Differences
Men and women are physically different as well, so the same exact execution for specific routines wouldn’t similarly work for both sexes. For example, women tend to have a differently-shaped pelvis than what men, mostly due to the child-bearing capacity again. So, if you’re going to do squats, women should have a different form than what men have to better protect their backs.
Varied Fitness Goals
The often different fitness goals of men and women are also something noteworthy why women’s fitness is largely different from men’s. Most men want to get bigger, as it’s just one of the most common ways to express masculinity, while women want to get smaller and curvier. So while men want to bulk up, women want to tone their muscles and pack it all in. These require different routines to achieve, making fitness for women largely different from men’s.
Of course, there are also those women who want to bulk up and there are men who want to tone down. But then again, due to the differences in the opposite sexes’ makeup, the same routines will still not be enough to achieve the same results. Women who want to bulk up can’t just take the same pace as bodybuilding men as their bodies react to the same activities quite differently. This is why women might need some extra steps to achieve more gains.
To put it simply, women’s fitness is certainly different from men, and the ladies need to know this if they want to be successful in their goals. While the basic formula should be the same – burn more than what you took in, have a balanced diet, sleep well, and do cardio – it’s a fact that women’s workout routines should be different than men’s to be effective. This vital piece of information will help you make sure that you’ll get started on the right track to get in better shape as a woman.
What You Need to Know when Starting a Fitness Regime
To get to the nitty-gritty of how you should start an exercise routine for women, here are some tips you should keep in mind:
Get to Know Where You’re Currently At, Fitness-Wise
The very first thing you’ll want to do if you want to start working out is to know where your current fitness levels are. This will let you benchmark your starting point and make your progress monitoring a whole lot easier. To gauge your fitness level, count the number of repetitions for different routines like sit-ups, push-ups, and pull-ups. You should also take body measurements so you can easily tell if you’ve already shed some inches.
It’s also best to keep updating your measurements every few weeks or so. This way, you can closely monitor your progress and know for a fact whether you’ve hit a plateau or your gains and losses are starting to slow down, allowing you to take appropriate measures right away.
Allot Time for Your Fitness
One of the biggest problems for gym workouts for women is the fact that not a lot of ladies have enough time to sweat it out. This is why, if you really want to start shedding some pounds off or get stronger, allotting time to do the work is essential. It doesn’t even have to be a couple of hours if you don’t have that much to spare. There are workouts that promise high yields in little time, you just have to find a sweet balance between the two to see some results.
Open Yourself to Various Fitness Techniques
Another important thing when it comes to creating workout programs for women is to be open to different routines and techniques. While cardio is good and should always be included in your fitness regime, you can’t just keep doing cardio all the time. Not only will a variety of techniques make your workouts more exciting, but it will also keep your efforts effective.
As the body tends to adapt to your activities, you have to keep surprising it to always keep it challenged and make sure that you’re always burning fats and calories. Only with this can you be sure that you’re inching closer to achieving your fitness goals.
Weight training, stretches, and High Intensity Interval Training are just a few of the best exercises that you can include to your routine. You can also throw in some yoga sessions and maybe even some contact sports into the mix for some variety.
Workout According to Your Fitness Level and Have Patience
While pushing yourself is a must when working out as you have to keep yourself challenged to get more out of your exercise, it’s also essential not to overdo things. If you often come out of your workouts exhausted and tired to the bone, you won’t get the post-workout high that most athletes and fitness buffs enjoy. This feeling is actually a nice reward for your efforts and if you’re too tired, it means that you’ve clearly overdone it.
This can result in injuries and even a loss of enthusiasm towards your workout regime. Experiencing this can be detrimental to your drive and motivation to workout, so it’s important to make sure to push yourself with moderation.
Always Observe Proper Form
Proper form is certainly one of the most important elements of working out. Without this, you can get injured or even make mistakes in improving your body. By observing your proper form, you can guarantee the best results for your efforts.
Set Achievable Goals and Reward Yourself Every Time You Reach One
Motivation is one of the things you need to keep pushing yourself forward. A lot of people have reasons to workout, but at a certain point, you may have already achieved what you’re gunning for, making you lose motivation and even the progress you’ve already achieved. To avoid spiraling back to your old ways after working so hard, setting achievable goals and rewarding yourself is an excellent way to stay motivated.
Know How You Want to Enjoy Your Workouts
Working out is hard, but it doesn’t mean that you can’t enjoy it. There are ways to make it fun so you will always look forward to following your exercise routines. Look for ways how you can make it fun and you’ll be able to stick with your fitness regimen.
Should You Spring for Extras?
Some people hire trainers and get their own equipment to ensure that they’ll actually do the work and that’s good. However, it’s not a complete necessity. There are tons of ways how you can workout on your own and without having to buy any exercise tools, so you can easily get started with just a few techniques and progress from there.
Make Sure to Rest
Spending ample time to recover is also important if you want to see great results from your efforts. Your muscles not only need to be strengthened, but it also needs to rest from all of the exertion you do. You can’t just keep pushing yourself non-stop and not make time to recover as this can also be detrimental to your health, drive, and progress.
Building the Best Workout Routines for Women
After learning the basics, you’re now ready for the technical side of your workout. Here are the details you absolutely need to keep in mind when you’re already considering creating the best workout plans for women.
What Your Workout Plan Should Contain
The best workout plans for women should have the following:
- Effective Warm-Ups
Every workout session should be started with a warm-up as this prepares your body for a more intense activity. This should involve a series of stretching to activate your muscles and prepare your central nervous system for your exercise. - Speed and Mobility Routine
Improving your speed and power is important if you want to do more in your exercises. These routines can also work as warm-up routines for more strenuous activities like swimming and folks who hate to actually do some stretching. Ankle mobility exercises are also very useful for women who often wear heels as it can make doing so less painful and tiring. - Muscle Strengthening Routine
As the name suggests, this will target your muscle strength so it will involve a good amount of weight. Don’t be scared of incorporating weights into your routine as women tend to take longer to bulk up their muscles, so even though you’re used to carrying heavier weights, you won’t look like the Incredible Hulk right away. You will get stronger, though, which is always a great thing. - Fat Loss through Metabolic Conditioning and Cardio
Cardio and Metabolic Conditioning are some of the best routines to shed some pounds effectively. The heavier you are, the more fats you’ll be able to burn right away with these measures. However, as you get leaner, you have to do more challenging routines and intensify your executions to get better results. It won’t be tedious, though, as there are tons of different techniques to do both. - Cool Down
Another commonly neglected workout step is cooling down. You should never skip this step as it can cause dizziness, fainting, and blood pooling in your lower legs. Cool down routines will help you lower down your heart rate safely, letting your body get back to its resting state with more ease. - Variety
To make sure that you’ll always keep your body challenged and in top shape for fat burning and muscle building, variety is also necessary. This also will prevent you from getting bored with your routine so you can always surprise yourself with new things that it can do. - Remember to Keep It Simple
Lastly, keeping gym workout routines for women simple is essential. Complicating things and making them unnecessarily challenging may cause you to lose interest in the activity. It can also let you achieve goals more effectively, so you’ll always feel productive with your workouts.
Don’t Have the Time to Create Your Own Workout Plan? The Internet is an Answer and There’s an App for That
If you feel a bit overwhelmed and don’t know where to start in creating work out plans for women, fret not. There are tons of sources that you can turn to. A quick search online will already give you hundreds of workout routines suitable for women who are just starting out on their road to fitness. Lots of fitness websites, magazines, and blogs will be more than happy to help you out in getting started.
Sounds tedious? Fitness apps are also available. You can download these and use them as guides for your workouts. Most of these things have step-by-step instructions and demonstrations of the exercise routines you should do, so it will be like having your very own fitness instructor in the palm of your hand. They’re cheaper, too, and sometimes even free to download, making them perfect for the practical fitness enthusiast.
While you might need a hand in crafting the first few workout routines for women that you can use, you can still be sure that getting started will not be a problem at all. There are tons of ways how you can kick start your fitness regime, you just need to actually decide to get to it to take that first step.
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