Women Tone-up Faster with Resistance Training

When you ask women what their fitness and physique goals are, you are likely to hear the same thing over and over again – “tone up and lose fat”. They are great goals to have, but most women only use one method of reaching those goals – they use cardio machines.

You can find hundreds of women running on treadmills, cycling or working on the stair climber whenever you enter a gym. If you check their progress, you will see that it is usually very slow with little to show (in the way of fat loss).

Alternatively, another more scientific approach is to engage in some resistance training, as it has been shown to tone up muscle and burn fat much more effectively than any aerobic program.

Resistance training

Women often see a better ratio of fat loss when they add some resistance training to their workout program.

Science shows that by adding some muscle mass to the body, an increase in metabolism is created. This leads to the burning of more calories, even when people are not exercising… and this means that everything else you do is more effective, such as the weight loss diet you are following.

Higher repetitions

Women should not be concerned about building large muscles as this can be easily managed with the number of reps that are completed. Using a higher rep range (10-15) will build strength and also incorporate an aerobic element to the workout. This will give you a great balance of strength, muscle tone, and the fitness look that most women desire.

Using weights

As most women are concerned about their butts, stomachs and flabby arms – it is weights that you need in order to best change these areas of the body.

Endless hours of cardio will help you to lose weight, but it won’t firm up these areas of the body. It is much better to work on strengthening these areas by engaging the muscles which also helps to increase power, flexibility and strength.

The great thing for most women is that they already have a good foundation of cardio. This means it will be easier to incorporate a weight training program and cut back on the cardio training. As most cardio routines (running machines, cross-trainers etc.) centre on the leg muscles, it is likely that your upper body will be slightly less developed. This means you should start to work on these areas of the body.

Interval training

Besides hitting the heavier weights, you should never forget using intervals with weights. This is a very good way to build muscle and also burn lots of fat in the process.

Instead of lifting your maximum weight, lift a weight that is challenging for say 10 reps. You then run to the next station and do the same with another exercise. You can involve your entire body with this style of workout and you will get very good results from it.

Don’t worry about the guys who are using the gym, as you can train just as hard as they can. There are also some great guys there that could offer you help, should you need it.

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