Ladies-what do you do for strength training?

It will soon be presented that the ones who do it right, are doing the same thing as the dudes. Strength training is not gender specific.

I'm just lifting freeweights for the most part.

You know, like a boss.

Well, a slightly sick and weak boss.

But still pretty boss.


I'm not doing a program, but I probably should be. I just go in, decide what muscles I'm working and go from there.

I lift weights. My favorite is the bench press. I can press 60lbs now! I know that's not a whole lot but I was proud. I love kettlebells. It's great for strength training and working your entire body. I firmly believe my core is stronger because of the kettlebells. I use free weights and when I go with my daughter and/or husband we bounce the 15lb ball back and forth. That's another workout that works a lot of muscles, including your core and it gets your heart rate up too.

I'm a newbie at the weight lifting but have discovered I really love it. I look forward to my gym time all day long. Much more so than when I did exclusively cardio.

I am doing the Les Mills Body pump, I am feeling stronger after two sessions

Stronglifts.

I do my research on the best exercises for each muscle, go in and do the muscle groups I want to do that day.
I keep my reps low 5-7 and my sets at 4-5
Except for squats, I have bad knees so I keep it light and do as many reps as I can.
I also utilize kettlebells and medicine balls.

I do a body pump class twice a week, and a 'CX Worx' class which is mostly body weight, bands and a weight. At home I do work from an app called 'You are your own gym'.
I have been doing this for about 2 weeks and the results are amazing, plus I feel really good about myself in a way you just don't get from cardio.

I am also getting a weights programme from a PT today which I can use if I miss a class.

I started with Body Pump and, whilst it's a good introduction, it is by no means a real strength training program. It's a high-rep cardio program that just happens to use a barbell. I'm not slating it at all - like I said, it's a great introduction to get people used to using a barbell and some of the basic moves, just don't confuse what it is.

Like FatBottomGirl, I'm also doing the 12-week Simply Shredded program at the moment. I was put off by the title indicating it's just for women, since everyone by now should know that women and men should be training in the same way, but when you look into the exercises, there is no difference between that any any other, gender-neutral program.

You want something that focuses on the main compound moves (squats, deadlifts, presses etc etc) and is either a full-body workout or a basic split of some sort (eg Upper/Lower or Push/Pull etc). The ones that are more muscle-specific tend to be for more advanced lifters. Keep it simple to start. Many of these programs will have a rep range of 8-12 to start off, progressively decreasing as the weeks go on, as you increase your weights.

Anything that involves my kettlebell

I get my program from Bodybuilding.com, It's free and it's easier to narrow friends down to my height and weight. I love MFP too but bodybuilding.com really improved my strength training results.

I do my own weight lifting program. I usually change it up every 2-3 months. Basically 3x week upper body lifting, 1x lower body, 1-Squat Day, and 1-2 sessions of cardio.

I do my own version of this program: http://www.simplyshredded.com/the-ultimate-female-training-guide.html

I do 5x5 on the main lifts (Stronglifts) and then do accessory work using the 4 day split in the program I quoted. I love lifting heavy!

NROLFW! Love it.

I used the JEFIT to make my own routines. Monday: Chest/Triceps, Tuesday: Butt, Wednesday: Back/Biceps, Friday: Legs/Shoulders, and Saturday: Abs. I have week 1 routines and week 2 routines so there is a bit of variety.