Fortunately, the stereotype that strength training is not intended for women is less and less common. In fact, there is no division into male and female exercises, but ladies are still afraid of weight training and exercises that strongly engage the muscles. Strength training, contrary to appearances, is even created for women, because it works like a scalpel - it sculpts and shapes the female figure. Check why women should do strength training without fear and learn about exercises for a shapely, feminine figure, incorrectly performed only by men.

Since the inception of bodybuilding in the 20th century, it has been accepted as a sport for men only. Gyms looked completely different then, and shifting heavy equipment was only associated with bodybuilders.

When in the 1970s women gradually started attending the gym, things changed a bit, but not so much that today we completely abandon stereotypical thinking about strength exercises performed by women. You still find yourself thinking that the gym turns a woman into a man.

Actually … the opposite is true!

3 reasons why girls should exercise strength

Your silhouette will take on proportions

Strength training is like a scalpel for our body. Thanks to the possibility of strength training, i.e. muscle growth and fat burning, we can sculpt the body of dreams. Strength training is the only one that can change the genetic proportions of our figure. Thanks to strength exercises, you can effectively add centimeters where they are missing and subtract them in parts where there are too many.

You will carve the curves

You will not lose your feminine strengths from strength exercises! For that to happen, an almost superhuman effort would have to be made, primarily with the help of debilitating steroids. Women have a much smaller percentage of muscle tissue, so it's much harder for them to develop muscle. In addition, women's muscles are much smaller in size than men's muscles. However, thanks to appropriate exercises and a well-chosen weight, women can sculpt large gluteal muscles - today a symbol of femininity and slim down, for example, the upper parts of the figure.

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You will burn fat

Additionally, we are glad that the more muscles in our body, the less adipose tissue there is, because muscles have a much higher energy expenditure than fat. Another factor that encourages strength training is its beneficial feature for the figure - as a type of anaerobic training, strength training burns fat more efficiently than aerobic exercise.

Find out more: Aerobic or anaerobic training - which one to choose?

Learn about 5 exercises performed by men that can work wonders on individual parts of a woman's figure.

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  • Gym: Training plan for women beginners

1. Deadlift for round buttocks

Deadlift is a multi-joint exercise. Thanks to this, it engages almost the entire body to work. During the extension with a barbell, the gluteal muscles, biceps thighs, abdomen and back muscles work the most.

Deadlift is an exercise perfect for building a female figure! Thanks to this exercise, the great gluteus muscle is trained very strongly, which is responsible for the beautiful shape of our butt - it lifts it, firms and definitely enlarges the bottom, making it round. In addition, during the extension with a barbell, the spine extensor and the upper part of the muscles also work - this beautifully sculpts our shoulder blades and slims the lines of the back.

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This exercise is not only aesthetic. Many physical therapists say that deadlifting is a protective exercise for the spine. In addition, when performing it, we burn a lot of calories, because a straightening with a barbell involves many muscle groups to work.

During deadlifts, tighten your gluteal muscles tightly to engage mainly this part of the deadlift. Choose deadlifts on bent legs as it activates the buttocks best.

2. Pumps for firm breasts

These are the basic exercises in men's training, often performed during warm-up before pressing the bar on the bench. However, women are definitely enough pumps to get positive results. What are the advantages of this exercise?

First of all, it shapes the bust sensationally! It lifts it, enlarges the muscles, thanks to which the breasts can become more convex, and firms it well. You don't have to reach for the barbell right away to workover the chest muscles in women. Push-ups are a challenging enough exercise, and what's more, they are very effective. Thanks to the starting position - the planks in the palm rest, the whole body works.

Apart from the chest, the abdomen and back, mainly our core muscles, are very much involved in the effort. Thanks to them, our figure is straightened, which makes it look slimmer.

When performing push-ups, we do not need any equipment, because our body loads the muscles sufficiently. If you suffer from pain in your wrists while doing push-ups, you can do them against the wall. This version is much simpler, but will be a very good start to chest training.

3. Barbell row on a slender back

Rowing with a barbell is performed in the fall of the torso. This position means that the core and leg muscles are activated even before the rowing movement to work. When we bring the bar closer to the chest in the descent, we work out the entire set of back muscles. This exercise removes all folds on the back, perfectly firms the skin and shapes the muscles. The hands are also heavily involved in the work, mainly the triceps muscle - the triceps, and the deltoid muscles located on the shoulders.

This exercise will be just as effective if done with dumbbells. It is important to tighten the back muscles tightly when lifting the weight towards the chest and lead the movement carefully and slowly.

4. Bench flyovers for larger breasts

There is probably no better bust lifting exercise. Spreads are a very good exercise for the chest, after which the effects can be noticed almost immediately. Thanks to the movement of the arms to the side, the muscles of the chest stretch very strongly - then the blood is pumped to the muscles, and these contract, lifting our bust.

Spreads can also be performed while lying on a training mat or in a standing position. However, these solutions are slightly less effective. When we lie on the floor, we automatically have a smaller range of motion when we move our arms to the side, and this means that we cannot complete the exercise to the end. On the other hand, during stretches in a standing position, we can lift less weight, and our muscle fibers are then less activated, because they are better affected by the weight held above the chest in the vertical plane.

Instead of using heavy weights to restrict your full range of motion, focus on correct exercise technique. The chest is most activated when fully stretched, so make sure your arms are open really wide. Elbowskeep gently bent and end the movement in the starting position - with the dumbbells over the center of the chest.

Watch the video how to properly make a bench fly

5. Hanging legs on a bar to a flat stomach

Keeping hanging on a stick is quite demanding, therefore this exercise can be performed mainly by men. However, thanks to proper training, women should also face it, because it is extremely effective.

If you can't stay on a bar, you can try lifting your legs while hanging on the ladders. They support the body and help to divert movement.

When hanging on the bar, we must hold it firmly so as not to fall off, which activates the muscles of the upper body parts. If we can maintain this position, we can exercise the abdominal muscles while hanging on a bar. The best training version is to raise straightened legs up to about the height of the pelvis. We know this movement from exercises for the abdomen performed on the mat, but the version in the hanging on the bar maximally activates the muscles and is much more difficult to perform. Thanks to this, we can model and strengthen the abdominal muscles in a faster way. This is a great alternative for people who have little time to train.

This exercise, even if performed separately, will be more effective than hundreds of sit-ups done on the mat. In addition, the muscles of the legs and hips are also activated at work.

Tips for beginners

  1. Choose the right equipment.If you cannot exercise behind the barbell, replace it with dumbbells or even water bottles if you prefer lighter weight. This exercise will then be just as effective at the beginning, but remember that for muscle growth you need to gradually increase the weight.
  2. Don't overdo it at the beginning.It won't be a shame if, as a beginner, you start with exercises with even a one-kilogram load. It is important to focus primarily on the technique, and too much load prevents the correct performance of the exercise.
  3. Practice in front of the mirror.By observing yourself in the mirror during training, you can constantly correct technical errors and correct your body posture.
  4. Make sure you know the exercise technique well before you start training.You can train it without weight or with only bars.
  5. Remember to stretch.In the beginning after strength training, you may have heavy soreness, but it will gradually decrease as you continue training. However, you can help your muscles recover properly right awaystretching. Remember that this is to be a static stretch, so keep each position for at least 20 seconds.

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ABC of exercises