You might have noticed that more women are dedicating themselves towards strength training nowadays. Even a few years back, women usually chose to sweat out doing aerobics. But thankfully, those days are long gone.

But we are sad to say that most women don’t know the proper way to do weight training. When in the gym, they usually go for the smallest of the weights and use when performing exercises like triceps kickbacks or dumbbell curls. Most women believe that if they lift a heavier weight, they will end up looking like a wrestler. The truth is far from it. Let us clear this confusion once and for all – you will not turn into an NFL linebacker by lifting heavy weights.

Now that you know the truth, how about we move on to the part where we tell you the best weight training exercises that will help you get leaner, healthier, and sexier? Following is the proper weight training guide for women:

1.      Proper Exercises for Strength Training

To burn fat effectively, you have to focus on exercises that have compound movements. That way, you will lose weight and gain more muscle mass. Following are some of the exercises you can do to burn fats and build muscles in different parts of your body:

Core Exercises

Following are some of the exercises that will help you strengthen your core muscles:

• Plank
• Ab roller
• Hanging leg raise

Lower Body

These lower body exercises will help you get ripped in no time:

• Barbell squat
• Barbell deadlift
• Dumbbell lunge
• Good morning
• Split squat

Upper Body Horizontal Pulling

These exercises will help you increase your upper body strength:

• One-arm dumbbell row
• Seated cable row
• Bent-over barbell row

Upper Body Vertical Pulling

Upper body vertical pulling exercises help strengthen your back muscles. The best exercises for upper body vertical pulling are:

• Chin-up
• Pull-up
• Lat pull-down

Upper Body Vertical Pressing

These exercises will help you get the upper body strength you always dreamed of:

• Military press
• Dumbbell shoulder press
• Handstand push-up

Upper Body Horizontal Pushing

These exercises focus on your anterior delts, triceps, and pecs:

• Push-up
• Dumbbell Bench Press
• Barbell Bench Press
• Incline Bench Press

2.      Proper Intensity in Strength Training

What is the first thing you do when you go to the gym? That’s right, you go to the locker room to get changed. And when you step out, you catch up with your gym buddies. Somewhere between all that chatting, most women don’t get the time to strength train with proper intensity. And when you don’t exercise at the right intensity, you won’t be able to reach your goal in time. So the question is – what is the proper intensity?

There is no right answer to that question as the strength level of every woman is different. The best way to explain it is this – if you are doing 10 reps per set, the last one you do should be tough. And after that tough set, you can squeeze one more set, maybe even two. But don’t push yourself to do more.

The more intense your workout is, the faster you will reach your goals. If you are just starting out, start at a lower intensity and gradually increase so your muscles won’t be too tired.

3.      Proper Splits in Strength Training

While working out, you need to pay attention to the splits. There are two training splits, and you should be doing at least one of those. The first one is the total body workout and the second is lower/upper splits. The first one is quite clear, but in the second one, you train your lower body on one day and the upper body the next day.

These two splits will help you get to your goal much faster. You will have a much sexier and leaner body with plenty of muscles and strength in no time.

4.      Make the Most of Your Time

We are aware that after doing certain exercises, all you want to do is curl up and do nothing for the rest of the hour. But keep one thing in mind – no pain, no gain! You need to push yourself in order to get in shape. Use your time wisely. How’s this for motivation – the faster you finish your training regime, the faster you will get fit!

Exercise is not the only thing you will need to get in shape. You will need to pay attention to your diet as well. Make sure you are consuming plenty of proteins. Taking protein supplements can also help you keep your strength up.

These weight training exercises will definitely help you get leaner. Train wisely, ladies!

Written By: Elevate Nutrition Founders, Jillian Salomone and Paul Salomone