How Gym Workouts For Women Can Be Beneficial
When most women think about losing weight, they are actually thinking about losing fat. In order to lose fat, gym workouts are often needed. There are essentially two types of exercise that women need to perform in order to shed fat. Cardiovascular training and strength training both need to be incorporated to see results. When combined with a healthy eating plan and a scientific approach much like the Venus Factor outlines, these two gym workouts can provide excellent results.
For most women however, strength training is not really something that is considered. Most simply use cardio, yoga or other forms of exercise and call it a day. Strength training, however, is an essential part of losing fat. It builds lean muscle which is something that cardiovascular exercises cannot do.
“The body’s act of building lean muscle leads to a continued calorie burn post-workout that requires no extra effort on your part.” – healthyliving.azcentral.com
In order to begin strength training, women will need to select a training method. Group classes, free weights and machines can all be very beneficial. Group classes are often recommended for beginners just to ensure that they are properly training without causing injury to themselves. Private trainers can also be very helpful in setting up a strength training routine based on certain criteria.
Cardio of course is essential in losing fat as well. Many women engage in some form of cardio although many of them do not properly perform their exercises. Proper fat burning cardio should be for no less than 40 minutes and should drive the heart rate to at least 60 percent of its maximum. There are a number of cardio workout opportunities in the gym. Many provide classes as well as cardio equipment. Experts recommend at least three sessions each week in the beginning.
Diet of course is also an important consideration. Women cannot expect to lose fat without cutting down on fatty foods. Many studies have shown that calorie restrictions will result in weight loss and some suggest that replacing carbs with proteins will help to speed up that weight loss. Click here for a quality low carb diet approach.
When choosing a workout, women should keep it flexible. It is important to mix up the workout in order to see the best results. Instead of sticking to one single workout routine or one single machine, women should opt to try different machines every week or even every day if they prefer in order to make their workout count.
“Try something different. You might get even better results.” – womenshealthmag.com
Women should also ensure that they are doing their exercises the proper way. Many women make mistakes when working out which can lead to less satisfying results and even injury in some cases. Some of these mistakes are often due to how women learn to exercise in the first place. Years of improper instruction or working out like the men in their lives lead to results that are not great which in turn leads to women becoming frustrated and often giving up the workout altogether. Women for instance, are often afraid of increasing their weights because they fear that they will develop manly muscles. In reality, however, the increase in weight resistance is essential for optimal fat loss.
“As long as you can do 15 without feeling anything more than fatigue (as in, you’re not shaking, panting, or about to pass out), you don’t have to worry about ending up with arms that could star in an action flick.” – cosmopolitan.com
Other mistakes that women often make when hitting the gym include doing men’s pushups as opposed to the modified version. Those who are unable to do a real pushup can certainly benefit from the knees on the ground version, provided they are keeping their bodies aligned and performing the exercise properly.
Fitness experts recommend against having a snack prior to hitting the gym in spite of what many women have heard over the years. Eating can actually drain energy. Many energy bars contain fiber that can take a long time to digest. Digesting food requires energy and it is much better to save the energy for the workout. Women who do feel the need to have a snack prior to working out are advised to grab a banana instead of those high fiber energy bars. Bananas digest much more quickly so they do not require as much energy. Apples on the other hand, are high in fiber so they should be avoided until after the workout.
After the workout is another problem that many women face. As soon as they leave the gym, some women actual begin eating carbs and proteins within just a few minutes of their workout. Studies have found that some exercise enthusiasts overestimate how many calories they have burned at the gym, leading them to underestimate the amount of calories that they can consume. What they end up doing is completely undoing all of their progress during the workout. A good after the gym snack is one that is around 150 calories or less.
Finally, the gym often has scales and while women are historically frightened of the scales, they can be an essential part of the overall workout. Many recommend against regularly weighing but fitness experts say that those who weigh themselves on a regular basis tend to lose much more weight than those who avoid the scales at all costs. Weighing in gives a bit of confidence. When women can see how many pounds they have lost, they begin to get a bit more motivated so that they nail their next workout. Weighing also gives a reminder about overeating and avoiding foods that are considered fatty or otherwise unhealthy.
Women typically do not head to the gym as often as men but study after study has shown that those who do use the gym, have much lower body fat percentages and are much more satisfied with their workouts in general. There are a number of gyms that are designed for women and they offer various cardio and strength training machines that can be very beneficial in the endless fight against fat.
