Weight Training Exercises for Women

Weight training is most certainly not just for men! Whether you're looking to build muscle mass to help you with your job, want to be able to perform at a higher level in the sports you play, have a deep desire to tone up and trim a few inches or simply desire to maintain a higher level of health, weight training exercises for women pack plenty of benefits.

First of all, you need to eat right. Women have specific dietary needs and those must be met first before any serious weight training efforts are made. You will not only get the best results from your workout routine, but you'll avoid taxing your body and causing undue stress or strain. Second, you will need to make sure you stretch properly and thoroughly before you being your workout. Begin your stretching by first warming up on a tread mill or taking a light jog before you hit the weights. It's always best to get your blood flowing and your muscles loosened up a bit before you stretch to prevent pulling a muscle.

Another important element to consider when working out is breathing. This is an area that many people take for granted. Before you get on the weight bench, practice your breathing simply by standing still with your arms reached out in front of you. Pretend you are holding a weight bar and take a deep, gradual breath in, pulling your imaginary bar towards your chest. Now, pretend you are performing a rep and breathe out slowly as you push your imaginary bar out; breathe in during the lighter part of the rep, and breathe out for that added power behind your bench press or weight lifting.

There are several main muscle groups you should concentrate on training for developing the best fitness and achieving the best weight training. You should concentrate on your upper body by working the front and back of your arms, shoulders, chest and then your upper back. Do this through bicep curls, tricep extensions, shoulder presses, bench presses, and bent-over rowing.

You would also do well to focus on your torso: abdominals, sides of torso and lower back. You can accomplish this by doing ab curls (hands across chest; don't pull from behind your neck as this can cause straining), bird-dog and side-plank exercises.

The other major muscle group would be your legs: front and back of thighs, calves and butt. Work these muscles by doing squats, lunges and heel raises.