A lot of women that I train or that I know are afraid to use weights that are challenging for them because they assume it will make them look bulky so they keep using the same light weights week after week in their workouts. Women are not genetically built with enough testosterone in their body for this to happen.
The key to building strength and a toned build is to challenge your muscles so they grow otherwise you will never see much of a change. To gain muscle you need to build muscle strength. If you can do 15+ reps of any given exercise easily before reaching muscle failure, then it’s more effective for you to increase your weight. Doing lots of reps with less weights improves muscle endurance. Ideally, for muscle hypertrophy you should be using weights that you can only comfortably do 8-10 reps at a time before resting.
It’s also important to maintain good form through each of these reps. If you notice your body having to compensate using other parts of your body to complete the rep then you should rest or immediately drop down to the next size weight.
Consistently is also necessary. You should aim to do strength training at minimum 3x a week to see the best results and you want to make sure you are working your entire body. Some people prefer to isolate certain parts of the body during workouts or the other option is to work total body during each workout. Either way, you need to find a routine and stick with it to make progress.
Here is my frame and right now I am using between 15-25 pound weights for my upper body workouts and between 20-35 pound weights for my lower body workouts. As these weights become easier I will gradually keep increasing the weight I use. Checkout my latest exercise routines to train upper and lower body that I use and also use with my clients to help jumpstart your next workout.
Having more muscle on your body is advantageous for a few reasons. First, it makes you look leaner. Second, it speeds up your metabolism, which helps you burn fat more efficiently because it takes more energy to sustain muscle on the body. When you are more toned you actually burn more calories even after you are done working out.
So, ladies, stop doing 50 reps with the 3-5 pound weights. It’s much more effective and a better use of your time to do fewer reps with more weight. You will gain more muscle over time giving you the lean strong physique you desire.
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