This is a continuation post from work out routine for women – Foundation Part 1 and Part 2
Work Out Routine For Women: Myth 3 – “Lifting weights will make me big and muscular”
Having incorporated weight lifting exercises into your routine is great! But are you doing the right exercise choices? In part 1 I talked about doing exercises for spot reduction. Here’s the example I used:
Examples of misinformed beliefs:
Abdominal crunches & sit-ups = flat abs
Hip abductors & hip adductors, etc = smaller thighs
Tricep kickbacks = toner, less flabby arms
Without repeating myself over and over, the exercise choices you make very much determine the effectiveness of your routine. The examples listed above are known as isolation exercises. Basically they are exercises that “work” an isolated body part, meaning other body parts only assists minimally or none at all.
If your goal was to burn fats and get a lean toned body, isolation exercises are the worst choice possible because they burn the least amount of calories.
In fact, when choosing a workout routine for women, isolation exercises should only be a very, very small part of your overall routine.
The best choices to effectively get results is by focusing on big exercises that utilises a lot of muscles in moving the weight. I bet you just thought to yourself “NO WAY! I’m gonna end up BIG and BULKY! I don’t want THAT!” Before you click the X button on the top right corner and think I’m spewing crap, I will tell you that these exercises will not turn you into big hulk or even the slightest bit bulky.
If you don’t believe me, just hang on a lil bit. I’ll show u a video that proves this.
Yes this is the same video I used in this post. As you can see they are moving big weights and doing some compound moves and they aren’t even the least bit bulky. In fact, its the opposite! They have the lean toned body many women wished they had.
When selecting a work out routine for women, big exercises (known as compound moves) will boost your metabolism many times more than isolation exercises ever will. This is the principles that Mike Chang uses in his after burn training. You can see the full review here.
The beauty of compound moves is that they will trigger your metabolism to burn fats during the exercise, and several hours more AFTER the exercise.
Compound moves don't make you bulky, they make you sexy.
Here’s a simple comparative example to explain this benefit:
A. Would you like to do a job once and only get paid once?
OR
B. Would you like to do a job once and get paid many times?
So what did you answer? Obviously choice B would be better! You want to do the work once and reap multiple rewards. That’s what compound exercises do for you! An example of compounds moves are squats, barbell rows, bench presses, shoulder presses, deadlifts.
Work out routine for women: Compound exercises help you burn more fats during and AFTER the exercise.
Well, here’s my version of the popular saying: Don’t work hard, work smart and hard! So when choosing exercises for your work out routine for women, don’t forget to include compound exercises in them.
One of the things usually mentioned in fitness forums about 6 pack abs is that “the 6 pack is not made in the gym, but in the kitchen.” That’s definitely true because to have well defined abs, you need to have a low bodyfat % which can only be achieved to a well controlled diet. Mike’s Six Pack Shortcut package also includes The Zero Willpower Eating System that focuses on the dietary requirements of attaining 6 pack abs.
Step 1 to Beginners Exercise Routine: Warm-Up, Cool-Down and Stretching
