In a woman’s world, strength training with weights has more misconceptions and myths than any other area of women’s fitness.

Basic Rules of Strength Training

Whoever is lifting the weight, be it male or female, the old rule will apply. So let’s get the facts straight right now and move on:

- Heavier weights performed with less repetitions will build muscle mass

- Lighter weights performed with more repetitions will build endurance, tone the muscle group worked without building mass

The average woman will experience a 20 – 40 percent increase in strength when lifting weights after several consecutive months of resistance training.Often women will complain of a small weight gain as well as experience a tight change of fit to their clothes, this will of course happen when they start to replace lean muscle mass with fat loss. A pond of muscle weighs more than a pond of fat. As far as the ill fitting wardrobe, this is because your body measurements change as you start to build your arms shoulders, and leg muscles. investing in some new clothes is a small price to pay for a long lean strong body. As far as the scale goes, I would avoid looking at the numbers. They mean nothing at all. It is better to keep track of your shrinking waistline and fat loss.

The same can be said for women that indulge in aerobic workout activities such as step classes, elliptical machines and stationary bicycle or outdoor cycling. With aerobic exercise, increasing the height of the step or overload due to resistance will also encourage muscle mass to occur rather than tone the legs, resulting in a toned, lean look. True aerobic training in the form of running, race walking and cardio classes at the gym will build your heart muscle which is something we should all be concerned with at any age.

So How Do women Build Muscle?

The true answer lies in our DNA. Our genetics have a large determining factor as to how we distribute our body fat and what ratio of estrogen to testosterone is in our body make-up. So, in a way we are already predisposed as to how our body responds to weight training and aerobic exercise in a certain way.

What Body Type Are You?

There are three classifications of body type for women:

Mesomorphs: Tend to be more muscular, this body type responds quickly to weight training and is more apt to gain muscle mass.

Ectomorphs: This body type tends to stay lean. Even with strength training, they are less likely to build any muscle mass, but will become stronger through lifting weights. Weight loss occurs more easily and they tend to NOT store body fat.

Endomorphs: This body type is more soft and round, often referred to as voluptuous. There must be a loss of body fat before this body type can see a difference in muscle tone due to strength training.

Research continues to prove that weight training is great for women. It builds body strength and helps to slow bone loss and osteporisis in some cases. However, most women continue to avoid resistance training out of fear of developing large muscles and losing their femenity.

No two bodies are alike it is important to remember that every woman will respond differently to the exact training routine. Never compare yourself to others you see at the gym. Focus on your individual results based on your age and body type. It’s not what you look like, but rather how exercise makes you feel and the quality of life it brings to you.

Millions of people all around the world attempt to do daily exercises to get them those toned abs that they have been dreaming of however a lot of times although they are doing the exercises their technique is hindering their fitness toning and abs workout results.

Many people have the misconception that during the day they can eat whatever they want and then at night time they can simply do their crunches to work off all those fat foods they put into their bodies however this is simply incorrect. The truth is if you put too much junk food into your body, it does not matter how many crunches you do your results will be minimal if any.

Not only that however you may get reverse results which means your stomach might actually get bigger. You may wonder how this is possible but it is. The reason being muscle is being built on top of the already existing fat. We all have fat on our stomach however we must work it off by toning our abs and stomach. Your number one goal should be to lose your fat and you do that by having a good diet and actually following it lower amount of fats and calories and higher amount of protein will help you get the best results.

Protein is something that you very much need for your fitness toning and abs workout. Many people don’t know or believe the fact that quality is better than quantity but it is. So 50 good quality crunches are a lot better than 250 half done crunches that were just rushed. The final thing that people need to realize is that you cannot just concentrate on one area. If you only concentrate on one area your body will not build up enough metabolism to burn off excess fat. If you listen to this advice you will be soon finding yourself with a much more desirable body.

A great way to challenge your workout and really get your muscles to bulk a bit is to spend more time on your actual movements. Instead of doing fast reps with small to medium weight to exhaustions try this technique: make your movements take 3-5 counts in both directions. For example, when doing a chest press work slowly to extend the arms. Once in extended position take the same amount of time to come down.

Talk about a quick burn and exhaustion! You are not only lifting the weight but you are taking gravity into more consideration. Just think how hard you have to concentrate on the movements to get a nice slow stable form. This really challenges the muscles and joints and makes those tiny tears necessary to build great definition!

Once too tired to lift any more reps take a quick break (no longer than 60 seconds and repeat). The shorter the break the better workout your muscles are going to get AND your heart rate will stay up to increase calorie burn. It takes about 3 minutes for muscle recovery therefore your rest should never be this long, the goal is to tire your muscles out after all. I recommend 30 second rest breaks.

Post workup refuel with a protein shake, a good cool down and lots of water!

Make your whole body workout follow this plan- legs, arms, backs, shoulders, abs, etc. Keep the movements smooth and controlled. With this slow plan you are also going to improve stability and help to strengthen the joints and connective tissue.

When doing squats using your calf muscles for control move slowly in position, a great addition is to stay in the squat for 5-10 seconds, or you can do bouncing squats for this time before slowly coming up. Back extensions, dead lifts, push ups everything gets slowed down.

You will notice that your reps will decrease significantly than if you were doing the medium to fast pace before. That is great, it means you are pushing yourself. If you are lifting an amount where you can still do 10 or more reps then you need to increase your weight. It is ok for women to increase their weights. Really push yourself because it is the only way results are going to pile on.

A FEW TIPS

You can decrease your normal lifting weight by 10-20% just make sure to keep the pace slow!

DO NOT stop till you are unable to go farther!

Remember your body needs a rest so keep the workouts to every other day. Overloading the muscles can lead to injury and obviously if you are injured you are not going to be able to build the great toned and strong body you are going after. Plus the rest will really help to increase your metabolism and allow the results to come much faster.

Eat plenty of protein to assist in the muscle development. You can only build muscle if you have enough resources!

Try this workout for 30-40 days after which switch it up to avoid plateauing.

Pregnant women need milk and milk products for protein and calcium. You need extra calcium for your baby’s growing bones and teeth, as well as your own. Dieting during pregnancy is not recommended as it may result in a smaller and unhealthy baby, and it could also affect your health. Vigorous exercise is also not recommended.

Folate (known as folic acid when added to foods) is a B-group vitamin found in a variety of foods. Some breakfast cereals, breads and juices are fortified with folic acid. This will be listed on the nutrition label of these products.

As well as a healthy diet, it is also recommended that a folic acid supplement be taken prior to conception and for the first three months of pregnancy to reduce the risk of neural tube defects such as spina bifida. Folate taken over this period can prevent up to seven out of 10 cases of neural tube defects.

Eat four to six smaller meals a day instead of three bigger ones to help relieve the heartburn and discomfort you feel as your baby grows bigger.

Whether or not you’re pregnant, a healthy diet includes proteins, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins, minerals, and plenty of water. The U.S. government publishes dietary guidelines that can help you determine how many servings of each kind of food to eat every day. Eating a variety of foods in the proportions indicated is a good step toward staying healthy.

This is not the time to cut calories or go on a diet. In fact, it’s just the opposite – you need about 300 extra calories a day, especially later in your pregnancy when your baby grows quickly. If you’re very thin or carrying twins, you’ll need even more. But if you’re overweight, your health care provider may advise that you consume fewer extra calories. Healthy eating is always important, but especially when you’re pregnant. So, it’s important to make sure your calories come from nutritious foods so they can contribute to your baby’s growth and development.

Foods rich in protein such as lean meat and chicken, fish (aim for at least two servings of fish a week, including one of oily fish), eggs and pulses (such as beans and lentils). These foods are also good sources of iron.

Butter, ghee, milk, shrikhand, honey, fennel seeds, sweets made from jaggery rather than white sugar can also be taken in small quantity. Rice, pulao, Khichri, Murmure, Chapati, Bhakari, Paratha, Gujarati thepla are the items made from wheat and rice and are beneficial. Items such as bakery bread, bun, sandwich, pizza, handva, dhokla, khaman, idli, dosa, tomato, tamarind, curd, kadhi they increase the swellings and acidity. If such problems do not exist, you can take in small quantity. If you are allergic, do not take even if they are tasty.

During pregnancy, a woman’s body needs more iron than usual to produce all the blood needed to supply nutrition to the placenta. Good sources of iron are green vegetables such as broccoli and spinach, strawberries, muesli and whole meal bread.

Iron is more easily absorbed if it is taken in conjunction with vitamin C – either as a supplement or in citrus fruit or juice. Tea and coffee can interfere with the body’s absorption of iron.