Beginners Weight Training Program for Women
Joyfit888
Posts: 5 Member
Hi I am a beginner and wanted some advice on weight training to lose fat for women programs. Who should I follow or can write a 6 to 10 weeks program for me. I am new to weight training. Thanks in advance for your recommendations
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Replies
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Hi, its great that you want to take up weight training! Itβs good fun and important for bones and muscles (particularly as we get older). It wonβt, however, make you lose fat. You need to be in a calorie deficit for that. You also donβt need a womenβs only programme. Have a look online at stronglifts, or see if your local gym will offer you a free taster session to see if you like it before you commit π2
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You can check out this thread for programs
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10332083/which-lifting-program-is-the-best-for-you/p1
You don't have to run one for women, but there are some with more focus on the glutes/lower body such as Strong Curves, Stephanie Buttermore women's program and Thinner Leaner Stronger3 -
Just pick any program that suits your fancy and you have access to equipment.
There is a myth that even gets circulated in these forums that woman need different programs.
100% false.
Another myth is woman don't gain muscle as fast as males.
Again 100% false.
There is plenty of evidence that woman experience MPS just as fast as men. Literally exactly same rate when we factor body size in.
Some woman and some men are just less sensitive and/or don't run appropriate programming.
Pick one from the link that you can adhere to and run it. If you are novel, you will be sensitive to any program.
If you want someone to write a program for you, you will have to give way more details.
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Why one specifically for women? What do you expect to be different for women than men?
There are about a million and one options to choose from, but without more info no one can give you a plan that would work.
Also, as someone already said, if you are lifting weight to burn fat, that isnβt a thing. You also canβt spot reduce. You will lose weight starting wherever your body decides (chest and butt for me to start, happy about losing wait in my butt, sad about the chest lol).
That said, eating in a calorie deficit is what will cause you to lose weight and lifting weights is a fantastic idea for a variety of different health reasons. We just need more info on what you are looking to gain from it to offer more useful suggestions.
For example:
Iβm a 42 year old female with about 40 more lbs to lose. I lift weights (upper/lower split 4 days a week, compound exercises primarily). I want to get stronger and wouldnβt mind building some muscle (although thatβs not very likely eating in a deficit). I enjoy lifting weights and doing cardio, so I do it for the health benefits and not because Iβm trying to do something impossible and use weight lifting to target the fat in a particular area. If thatβs your goal, it simply isnβt a thing, so get it out of your head now. π1 -
Weight training won't help with fat loss (in fact, you may need to watch your calories a bit more closely since it can result in hunger level disproportionate to the small number of calories burned), but will result in nice muscle definition and looking better at whatever weight you are/will be.
This is my personal favorite (it's about as 'Keep-It-Simple-Stupid' as it gets, which makes it easy to fit into schedule and make it routine): https://www.aworkoutroutine.com/the-beginner-weight-training-workout-routine/ (1 leg + 1 push + 1 pull movement per session, alternating which for each of those every other session)(I had really nice results in much less time than expected for being in & out of the gym in 30 minutes only 2-3x per week). The thread posted above has a variety of programs you can check out.
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Women are not a special class when it comes to weight training. The same methods that allow men to get stronger as a novice work exactly the same way for women.2
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Hey! Congratulations on wanting to begin your weightlifting journey. There are a lot of programs out there, some of course are better than others. I fully suggest checking out builtwithscience.com. Yes, as others have stated, you do not need to follow a program specifically for women. However, programs designed for women will focus more on a strong core and building the lower half...butt and legs. In the built with science program, he has programs specifically for women that need to lose body fat and want to gain muscle. He teaches how to properly eat, mainly more protein, while in a calorie deficit. He also has programs for those not ready for a gym or no access to a gym at this time. IMO, it is well worth checking out! Good luck.1
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maryannholder77 wrote: Β»Hey! Congratulations on wanting to begin your weightlifting journey. There are a lot of programs out there, some of course are better than others. I fully suggest checking out builtwithscience.com. Yes, as others have stated, you do not need to follow a program specifically for women. However, programs designed for women will focus more on a strong core and building the lower half...butt and legs. In the built with science program, he has programs specifically for women that need to lose body fat and want to gain muscle. He teaches how to properly eat, mainly more protein, while in a calorie deficit. He also has programs for those not ready for a gym or no access to a gym at this time. IMO, it is well worth checking out! Good luck.
Personally, I despise any program that focuses on my lower half while ignoring my top half. Why do I want to tone my legs and butt and have flabby arms??? π ππ4 -
Dogmom1978 wrote: Β»maryannholder77 wrote: Β»Hey! Congratulations on wanting to begin your weightlifting journey. There are a lot of programs out there, some of course are better than others. I fully suggest checking out builtwithscience.com. Yes, as others have stated, you do not need to follow a program specifically for women. However, programs designed for women will focus more on a strong core and building the lower half...butt and legs. In the built with science program, he has programs specifically for women that need to lose body fat and want to gain muscle. He teaches how to properly eat, mainly more protein, while in a calorie deficit. He also has programs for those not ready for a gym or no access to a gym at this time. IMO, it is well worth checking out! Good luck.
Personally, I despise any program that focuses on my lower half while ignoring my top half. Why do I want to tone my legs and butt and have flabby arms??? π ππ
If it's a well designed program it shouldn't leave the top half out but just focus more on lower body.4 -
Dogmom1978 wrote: Β»maryannholder77 wrote: Β»Hey! Congratulations on wanting to begin your weightlifting journey. There are a lot of programs out there, some of course are better than others. I fully suggest checking out builtwithscience.com. Yes, as others have stated, you do not need to follow a program specifically for women. However, programs designed for women will focus more on a strong core and building the lower half...butt and legs. In the built with science program, he has programs specifically for women that need to lose body fat and want to gain muscle. He teaches how to properly eat, mainly more protein, while in a calorie deficit. He also has programs for those not ready for a gym or no access to a gym at this time. IMO, it is well worth checking out! Good luck.
Personally, I despise any program that focuses on my lower half while ignoring my top half. Why do I want to tone my legs and butt and have flabby arms??? π ππ
The lower body has a hell of a lot more muscle mass than the upper body. A proper program will have both upper and lower body exercises, the lower body will by necessity have a higher focus.0 -
CipherZero wrote: Β»Dogmom1978 wrote: Β»maryannholder77 wrote: Β»Hey! Congratulations on wanting to begin your weightlifting journey. There are a lot of programs out there, some of course are better than others. I fully suggest checking out builtwithscience.com. Yes, as others have stated, you do not need to follow a program specifically for women. However, programs designed for women will focus more on a strong core and building the lower half...butt and legs. In the built with science program, he has programs specifically for women that need to lose body fat and want to gain muscle. He teaches how to properly eat, mainly more protein, while in a calorie deficit. He also has programs for those not ready for a gym or no access to a gym at this time. IMO, it is well worth checking out! Good luck.
Personally, I despise any program that focuses on my lower half while ignoring my top half. Why do I want to tone my legs and butt and have flabby arms??? π ππ
The lower body has a hell of a lot more muscle mass than the upper body. A proper program will have both upper and lower body exercises, the lower body will by necessity have a higher focus.
I meant a program with more focus on the lower should not leave out upper, not in general. Not to say all well designed programs need more focus on lower. Not sure if I'm getting my point across haha
In any case the programs I run have more focus on lower body because of my aesthetic goals, if OP doesn't have that goal then that would not be the program for her.3 -
I used Nia Shanks' Be A Beautiful Badass program for the first few years (hence the screen name). I think I paid $30 for the e-book and it had enough different programs to keep me busy for a few years. Money well spent!
I also really like Strong Curves by Bret Contreras.
I've heard great things about New Rules of Lifting for women, but haven't done it.0 -
CipherZero wrote: Β»Dogmom1978 wrote: Β»maryannholder77 wrote: Β»Hey! Congratulations on wanting to begin your weightlifting journey. There are a lot of programs out there, some of course are better than others. I fully suggest checking out builtwithscience.com. Yes, as others have stated, you do not need to follow a program specifically for women. However, programs designed for women will focus more on a strong core and building the lower half...butt and legs. In the built with science program, he has programs specifically for women that need to lose body fat and want to gain muscle. He teaches how to properly eat, mainly more protein, while in a calorie deficit. He also has programs for those not ready for a gym or no access to a gym at this time. IMO, it is well worth checking out! Good luck.
Personally, I despise any program that focuses on my lower half while ignoring my top half. Why do I want to tone my legs and butt and have flabby arms??? π ππ
The lower body has a hell of a lot more muscle mass than the upper body. A proper program will have both upper and lower body exercises, the lower body will by necessity have a higher focus.
Not really. Upper body recovers much quicker because more muscles are recruited and since they are smaller the intensity is also lower.
I've never seen a well balanced program that upper body didn't have significantly higher volume than lower body. Upper body should always have more frequency as well if we are talking a well written program.
Large muscles such as posterior chain need much more recovery time when the exact same dosage is used. So they are less focused by definition.0 -
I have a custom made upper/lower split, but I worry when anyone says not to focus on upper body as I worry itβs coming from one of the MANY women who seem convinced that lifting weights will make them huge.
If anyone here thinks that, please just stop lol. If it was that easy, way more men would be ripped.2 -
CipherZero wrote: Β»Dogmom1978 wrote: Β»maryannholder77 wrote: Β»Hey! Congratulations on wanting to begin your weightlifting journey. There are a lot of programs out there, some of course are better than others. I fully suggest checking out builtwithscience.com. Yes, as others have stated, you do not need to follow a program specifically for women. However, programs designed for women will focus more on a strong core and building the lower half...butt and legs. In the built with science program, he has programs specifically for women that need to lose body fat and want to gain muscle. He teaches how to properly eat, mainly more protein, while in a calorie deficit. He also has programs for those not ready for a gym or no access to a gym at this time. IMO, it is well worth checking out! Good luck.
Personally, I despise any program that focuses on my lower half while ignoring my top half. Why do I want to tone my legs and butt and have flabby arms??? π ππ
The lower body has a hell of a lot more muscle mass than the upper body. A proper program will have both upper and lower body exercises, the lower body will by necessity have a higher focus.
Not sure why you would think that. And if you ignore, put little focus on your upper body, what happens when you reach goal weight? Ideally your toned at that point, but if you didnβt spend enough time focusing on the top half you will have a toned butt, thighs, and quads with a flabby stomach, chest and arms. Who wants that?!?! I question anyone with an aesthetic goal that ignores upper body or focuses less on upper body. You need to focus on BOTH for aesthetic purposes π0 -
I canβt get it to edit, but I meant not sure why you would think lower body would necessarily have a higher focus.0
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Dogmom1978 wrote: Β»CipherZero wrote: Β»Dogmom1978 wrote: Β»maryannholder77 wrote: Β»Hey! Congratulations on wanting to begin your weightlifting journey. There are a lot of programs out there, some of course are better than others. I fully suggest checking out builtwithscience.com. Yes, as others have stated, you do not need to follow a program specifically for women. However, programs designed for women will focus more on a strong core and building the lower half...butt and legs. In the built with science program, he has programs specifically for women that need to lose body fat and want to gain muscle. He teaches how to properly eat, mainly more protein, while in a calorie deficit. He also has programs for those not ready for a gym or no access to a gym at this time. IMO, it is well worth checking out! Good luck.
Personally, I despise any program that focuses on my lower half while ignoring my top half. Why do I want to tone my legs and butt and have flabby arms??? π ππ
The lower body has a hell of a lot more muscle mass than the upper body. A proper program will have both upper and lower body exercises, the lower body will by necessity have a higher focus.
Not sure why you would think that. And if you ignore, put little focus on your upper body, what happens when you reach goal weight? Ideally your toned at that point, but if you didnβt spend enough time focusing on the top half you will have a toned butt, thighs, and quads with a flabby stomach, chest and arms. Who wants that?!?! I question anyone with an aesthetic goal that ignores upper body or focuses less on upper body. You need to focus on BOTH for aesthetic purposes π
It really depends on someone's goals and starting point. I think completely ignoring upper body would not be wise, but focusing on lower does not mean not doing upper. I personally don't do a lot of upper work. I don't enjoy it. I absolutely love my upper body as is and prefer not to overwork it. I definitely don't have capped shoulders or visible popping bicep muscles (which are amazing and I love that look on other women) but I am far from flabby in the upper body. My arms are lean and slim and they suit me. Everyone has different goals and there are programs written with that in mind.
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Dogmom1978 wrote: Β»CipherZero wrote: Β»Dogmom1978 wrote: Β»maryannholder77 wrote: Β»Hey! Congratulations on wanting to begin your weightlifting journey. There are a lot of programs out there, some of course are better than others. I fully suggest checking out builtwithscience.com. Yes, as others have stated, you do not need to follow a program specifically for women. However, programs designed for women will focus more on a strong core and building the lower half...butt and legs. In the built with science program, he has programs specifically for women that need to lose body fat and want to gain muscle. He teaches how to properly eat, mainly more protein, while in a calorie deficit. He also has programs for those not ready for a gym or no access to a gym at this time. IMO, it is well worth checking out! Good luck.
Personally, I despise any program that focuses on my lower half while ignoring my top half. Why do I want to tone my legs and butt and have flabby arms??? π ππ
The lower body has a hell of a lot more muscle mass than the upper body. A proper program will have both upper and lower body exercises, the lower body will by necessity have a higher focus.
Not sure why you would think that. And if you ignore, put little focus on your upper body, what happens when you reach goal weight? Ideally your toned at that point, but if you didnβt spend enough time focusing on the top half you will have a toned butt, thighs, and quads with a flabby stomach, chest and arms. Who wants that?!?! I question anyone with an aesthetic goal that ignores upper body or focuses less on upper body. You need to focus on BOTH for aesthetic purposes π
It really depends on someone's goals and starting point. I think completely ignoring upper body would not be wise, but focusing on lower does not mean not doing upper. I personally don't do a lot of upper work. I don't enjoy it. I absolutely love my upper body as is and prefer not to overwork it. I definitely don't have capped shoulders or visible popping bicep muscles (which are amazing and I love that look on other women) but I am far from flabby in the upper body. My arms are lean and slim and they suit me. Everyone has different goals and there are programs written with that in mind.
Even if you focused on upper body, you still WOULD NOT have popping bicep muscles or capped shoulders. There is SO much more involved in building that muscle than just focusing on upper day... You are saying something that simply isnβt possible without SIGNIFICANT effort and seriously perfected diet...0 -
Here is an excellent free beginner's program: https://www.barbellmedicine.com/blog/the-beginner-prescription/2
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Dogmom1978 wrote: Β»Dogmom1978 wrote: Β»CipherZero wrote: Β»Dogmom1978 wrote: Β»maryannholder77 wrote: Β»Hey! Congratulations on wanting to begin your weightlifting journey. There are a lot of programs out there, some of course are better than others. I fully suggest checking out builtwithscience.com. Yes, as others have stated, you do not need to follow a program specifically for women. However, programs designed for women will focus more on a strong core and building the lower half...butt and legs. In the built with science program, he has programs specifically for women that need to lose body fat and want to gain muscle. He teaches how to properly eat, mainly more protein, while in a calorie deficit. He also has programs for those not ready for a gym or no access to a gym at this time. IMO, it is well worth checking out! Good luck.
Personally, I despise any program that focuses on my lower half while ignoring my top half. Why do I want to tone my legs and butt and have flabby arms??? π ππ
The lower body has a hell of a lot more muscle mass than the upper body. A proper program will have both upper and lower body exercises, the lower body will by necessity have a higher focus.
Not sure why you would think that. And if you ignore, put little focus on your upper body, what happens when you reach goal weight? Ideally your toned at that point, but if you didnβt spend enough time focusing on the top half you will have a toned butt, thighs, and quads with a flabby stomach, chest and arms. Who wants that?!?! I question anyone with an aesthetic goal that ignores upper body or focuses less on upper body. You need to focus on BOTH for aesthetic purposes π
It really depends on someone's goals and starting point. I think completely ignoring upper body would not be wise, but focusing on lower does not mean not doing upper. I personally don't do a lot of upper work. I don't enjoy it. I absolutely love my upper body as is and prefer not to overwork it. I definitely don't have capped shoulders or visible popping bicep muscles (which are amazing and I love that look on other women) but I am far from flabby in the upper body. My arms are lean and slim and they suit me. Everyone has different goals and there are programs written with that in mind.
Even if you focused on upper body, you still WOULD NOT have popping bicep muscles or capped shoulders. There is SO much more involved in building that muscle than just focusing on upper day... You are saying something that simply isnβt possible without SIGNIFICANT effort and seriously perfected diet...
So are you assuming I don't put significant effort into my training? Maybe I'm misunderstanding. I am talking about myself here not other women. I know my body. I've been lifting for over 6 years. I've run three bulk cycles so I would likely have larger arms if I had focused on them more. Not huge ones but slightly larger than they are now. But I'm not even saying I would have that, I was just stating I don't have that. I was responding to you saying that people that didn't focus enough on upper body would look flabby.
It depends on so many factors.
In any case some women prefer to work their lower body more. If there is a market for it, there are programs for it. You don't have to run them or agree with them. My goals are not your goals so keep doing you, and I'll keep doing me.
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