A toned and trained female body stands for attractiveness and physical fitness. The following training program has been specially developed for women who are new to the fitness and weight training scene. This program aims to create a toned and shapely body with the help of dumbbells, kettlebells, machines or training with your own weight. For training success, it is particularly important that you train intelligently and pay attention to the regeneration of your muscles.
Are there different training plans for men and women?
Women and men have different physiques and musculature, which a training plan and trainer should take into account. Each gender can certainly train according to the same set and exercise repetitions. The difference lies in the specific training in the number of repetitions and the training weight, which can be considerably higher for men than for women for genetic reasons. We have listed the individual physical and psychological differences between men and women in more detail below:
Physiological differences
Women have considerably less of the hormone testosterone in their bodies, which means that women have a less pronounced musculature and a higher body fat percentage than men.
The strength and muscle mass of women is on average only around 60 percent of that of men. Upper body strength is even lower than this value, while lower body strength is slightly higher. That's why around 25 kilograms of dumbbell weight is sufficient resistance for the motivated female strength athlete when doing the popular bench press.
Psychological differences
Women are often afraid of strength training and a pronounced musculature, as otherwise they look too masculine. This fear is unfounded, as intensive strength training tones the muscles and often makes the body look rounder and more feminine. Men, on the other hand, want a pronounced musculature, as this outfit makes them look powerful and masculine, thus increasing their attractiveness to women. Believe them!
For women, training weight plays a subordinate role, while men want to train with as much weight as possible. Competition is the main focus here and must be defended with a lot of weight. Women see success in their training in terms of perseverance, endurance and discipline. A lean body and weight reduction are important, while men want a lot of muscle, a lot of weight and a lot of strength.
The exercise matrix
The following exercise matrix recommends the exercises that are best suited to the basic movement sequences. Particular emphasis is placed on ensuring that the basic exercises and their movement sequences are performed technically correctly. Strong Girls Training is a full-body program, which is why the training program includes a complete exercise system for the upper and lower body.
Strong Girls - Training plan
The Strong Girls strength training consists of two different training programs that have been developed for a two-day and a three-day weekly workout. If you train twice a week, you can always use the same training plan for the whole body. With a three-day weekly training program, you vary between training plan A and plan B, which you should train alternately. As a beginner, start by training twice a week and then switch to the three-day weekly plan after about four weeks. Your body needs this time to get used to the new and intensive training program. Start with lighter weights and only increase to very heavy weights later, otherwise unpleasant injuries to your muscles and ligaments or tendons can occur.
Strong Girls training plan for two days a week
The first training plan is trained twice a week. At the beginning, try to choose the training weight with which you can actually train clean and technically correct sets of at least five repetitions. If you can complete all exercises with eight repetitions without any problems, then it's time to switch to the three-day training plan. Below are two examples of training twice a week.
Example 1
- Lunges - 2 sets of 5-8 reps.
- Push-ups - 2 sets of 5-8 reps.
- Rowing on the cable pulley - 2 sets of 5-8 reps.
- Deadlift - 2 sets of 5-8 reps.
- Shoulder press - 2 sets of 5-8 reps.
- Lat pulldown - 2 sets of 5-8 reps.
- Crunches with weight - 2 sets of 8 reps.
Example 2
- Squats - 2 sets of 5-8 reps.
- Dumbbell bench press -2 sets of 5-8 reps.
- Rowing machine - 2 sets of 5-8 reps.
- Stretched deadlift - 2 sets of 5-8 reps.
- Dumbbell press - 2 sets of 5-8 reps.
- Pull-ups - 2 sets of 5-8 reps.
- Crunches with weight - 2 sets of 8 reps.
Strong Girls training plan for three days a week
The training plan for three times a week consists of two different training plans, which you can integrate into the individual weeks in the order ABA and BAB. Make sure that you have at least one day between the individual training days to allow your muscles to regenerate. The number of sets has now been increased to three. The weight should now be as heavy as possible so that the growth of your muscles can be intensively challenged throughout the entire training phase. As the Strong Girls training program focuses on correct movement sequences, it is not necessary to integrate a lot of exercises into your training plan. What is important now is the quality of the exercises and not the number.
Training plan A
- Squats - 3 sets of 5 - 8 reps.
- Push-ups - 3 sets of 5 - 8 reps.
- Rowing on the cable pulley - 3 sets of 5 - 8 reps.
- Crunches with weight - 2 sets of 8 reps.
Training plan B
- Deadlift - 3 sets of 5 - 8 reps.
- pretended side raise - 3 sets of 5 - 8 reps.
- Pull-ups - 3 sets of 5 - 8 reps.
- Planks - 2 x 30 seconds
The right endurance training for your Strong Girls workout
Intensive endurance or cardio training consists of activities that do not specifically strain and train the muscles but mainly the cardiovascular system. Jogging, swimming or cycling are ideal for this. A heart rate monitor is perfect, as it can tell you exactly whether you are in an aerobic or anaerobic zone. Your daily endurance training should be between 20 and 45 minutes and should be done on days when you are not training. If you have become an experienced endurance athlete over time, you can also integrate cardio training as a warm-up before strength training. Treadmills or rowing machines are particularly suitable for this in your gym. However, your cardio training should not last longer than 10 minutes, as the focus on training days is on strength training.
Conclusion
Training can be perfectly integrated into the week. Important are the days off between the individual training days, which should be used as regeneration days or for cardio training. Start with light weights first and then increase the weight when you have mastered the exercise perfectly. In the beginning, it is more important that you learn how to perform the individual movements correctly before adding heavy weights. This method teaches you intelligent training and also prevents serious injuries. You should also start slowly with cardio training, otherwise you will quickly lose interest.