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Weight Loss Exercise

Exercises for Women Using Hand Weights



Hand weights for women are a great way to get a good weight workout. Women can develop osteoporosis or bone loss as they age. Fortunately, resistance training or strength training can help prevent osteoporosis. It is not necessary to lift heavy weights to keep the bones and joints strong. Exercises with hand weights for women will result in stronger bones and muscles.

Hand Weights For Women

Exercises for Women Using Hand Weights

Hand Weights For Women

Women who are just starting their strength training program can exercise with light hand weights or dumbbells weighing between 2 to 5 pounds. As your strength develops, you can gradually increase the weight to between 5 and 20 pounds. When working with lighter hand weights, women can do 10 to 15 repetitions. As you increase the poundage, you can do 8 to 12 reps. This will help prevent injury while you build your muscles and bones.

Proper Form

Women who are exercising with hand weights should always maintain proper form and technique. This is true regardless of the poundage. Your back should be straight and the stomach should be pulled in. When standing, remember not to lock your knees. Work with hand weights that are appropriate for you. If you have to swing your body for momentum when lifting the weight, it means your weights are too heavy.

Exercises with Hand Weights for Women

Women can do exercises with small hand weights to improve muscle tone and built stronger bones and joints. Here are some workout routines using small hand weights for women.

Walking Lunge

Women can do the walking lunge to tone and develop the hamstrings, quads and glutes. This exercise also tones the inner thighs and legs.

Stand with your feet hip-width apart and arms straight down holding the weights. Step your right foot forward and bend both knees. Keep your upper body straight and point your left knee down. Keep your arms and weights at your sides. Straighten your legs and return to the starting position. Repeat the exercise with the other leg.

Overhead Tricep Extension

This exercise is done while holding a dumbbell between both hands. The exercise may be done while standing or sitting down. With elbows bent, hold a dumbbell vertically behind your head. Keep your elbows squeezed toward your head. Slowly lift the dumbbell over your head without moving your elbows forward. Lower the dumbbell to the starting position. Repeat.

Biceps Curl

The biceps curl requires hand weights and allows women to exercise the upper arms or biceps. The exercise can be done while standing or sitting. Hold a hand weight or dumbbell in each hand and let your arms hang straight down at your sides. While keeping your elbows close to your side, lift the dumbbell up to your shoulder. Slowly lower the hand weight back to the starting position. Repeat.

There are many other exercises with hand weights for women, such as fly, hammer curl, shoulder lift, preacher curl, and many more. Don’t forget to do some stretching before and after strength training exercises using your hand weights for women to reduce the risk of injury.


Categories
Weight Loss Exercise

Exercises for Women Using Hand Weights | Hand Weights For Women



Hand weights for women are a great way to get a good weight workout. Women can develop osteoporosis or bone loss as they age. Fortunately, resistance training or strength training can help prevent osteoporosis. It is not necessary to lift heavy weights to keep the bones and joints strong. Exercises with hand weights for women will result in stronger bones and muscles.

Hand Weights For Women

Exercises for Women Using Hand Weights

Hand Weights For Women

Women who are just starting their strength training program can exercise with light hand weights or dumbbells weighing between 2 to 5 pounds. As your strength develops, you can gradually increase the weight to between 5 and 20 pounds. When working with lighter hand weights, women can do 10 to 15 repetitions. As you increase the poundage, you can do 8 to 12 reps. This will help prevent injury while you build your muscles and bones.

Proper Form

Women who are exercising with hand weights should always maintain proper form and technique. This is true regardless of the poundage. Your back should be straight and the stomach should be pulled in. When standing, remember not to lock your knees. Work with hand weights that are appropriate for you. If you have to swing your body for momentum when lifting the weight, it means your weights are too heavy.

Exercises with Hand Weights for Women

Women can do exercises with small hand weights to improve muscle tone and built stronger bones and joints. Here are some workout routines using small hand weights for women.

Walking Lunge

Women can do the walking lunge to tone and develop the hamstrings, quads and glutes. This exercise also tones the inner thighs and legs.

Stand with your feet hip-width apart and arms straight down holding the weights. Step your right foot forward and bend both knees. Keep your upper body straight and point your left knee down. Keep your arms and weights at your sides. Straighten your legs and return to the starting position. Repeat the exercise with the other leg.

Overhead Tricep Extension

This exercise is done while holding a dumbbell between both hands. The exercise may be done while standing or sitting down. With elbows bent, hold a dumbbell vertically behind your head. Keep your elbows squeezed toward your head. Slowly lift the dumbbell over your head without moving your elbows forward. Lower the dumbbell to the starting position. Repeat.

Biceps Curl

The biceps curl requires hand weights and allows women to exercise the upper arms or biceps. The exercise can be done while standing or sitting. Hold a hand weight or dumbbell in each hand and let your arms hang straight down at your sides. While keeping your elbows close to your side, lift the dumbbell up to your shoulder. Slowly lower the hand weight back to the starting position. Repeat.

There are many other exercises with hand weights for women, such as fly, hammer curl, shoulder lift, preacher curl, and many more. Don’t forget to do some stretching before and after strength training exercises using your hand weights for women to reduce the risk of injury.


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Categories
Weight Loss Exercise

Effective Steps to Building Muscle



I found this article at Virtual trainer.com. There is a link at the bottom of the page for the site but I thought I would let you know about it here. These are sometimes obvious but great tips for building muscle.

When you think of building muscle you tend to think of huge freaky physiques that you see in the some of the muscle mags. The years and hours of hard work these men and women have put into training their bodies to achieve these types of results is inspirational. Maybe YOU also want build massive muscles, or maybe you want to increase muscle but without getting as muscular as that. You can! There are different stages of building muscle which is what I am going to talk about today.

Building Muscle for Toning

You can build muscle for muscle tone. Using lighter weights and more repetitions you can achieve a toned appearance without bulking up. If building Muscle for Body Shaping and Sculpting your weights will need to be slightly heavier for some body parts yet lighter for others. Being able to transform your current body type by using resistance or weight training is exciting and possible.

Body Building / BIG Muscle Mass

To create large amounts of muscle growth you need to damage the muscle to a certain extreme for your muscles to respond, repair and grow into strong, healthy muscles. Using heavy weights damages the muscle sufficiently to create this type of muscle damage.

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Training to Build Muscle


This varies on your goals of what you want your body to look like. Using a program that is suited to your body type and goals is very important when trying to build muscle of any kind. Don’t expect to reach your goals by just turning up at a gym and messing around with a few weights and hoping for the best. If you want maximum results from your training program then you should get yourself a training program that will get you long-term effective results.

Eating to Build Muscle

This depends on what your goals are. If you are wanting to build huge muscles you will need to consume more calories. You will need a healthy eating program which includes all of the food groups. You will also need to make sure you have sufficient protein and carbohydrates to help you get through your training and for healthy repair of your muscles. If you were still wanting to build lean muscle and aren’t too keen on too much muscle size then you may want to reduce your calories and fat and arrange your diet to fit in with your fat burning training goals. If light toning and fat loss is what you are after then you will once again also need to carefully watch your calorie and fat intake, while still ensuring that your body gets sufficient nutrition. No matter what your training goals are never starve yourself. Regular meals through out the day are very important.

Starting Your Muscle Building Program

1. You don’t need a lot of equipment, even dumbbells on their own are great to start with.
2. Make sure you have a program to follow that suits your needs and gives you sufficient instructions on how to perform your exercises.
3. When performing your exercises keep your knees slightly bent, your back straight and your tummy firm, even when you are performing seated exercises you need to make sure you have good posture.
4. Don’t swing your weights about. If you are finding that you are swinging your body around to lift your weights then you should lower the weights until you are ready to advance.
5. Perform your exercises correctly. If, as I mentioned above, that you have to swing your body or your weights around then you are probably more likely to be giving your lower back a crappy workout rather than the body part you thought you were training. Don’t waste precious training time by not using good form while training.
6. Always keep a water bottle near by so have easy access to fluids while training. This will keep you from dehydrating.
7. Make sure you perform a warm up before training and cool down after wards. While your muscles are still warm, after your cool down, you may like to perform your stretches.
8. Sleep! You need to have sufficient sleep to ensure your body has time to repair itself and recover from your days training and general activities.
9. Organise your eating plan ahead of time so that you can have your meals on hand. This will help prevent you from consuming junk as well as keeping up with regular meal times.
10. Protein. You will need sufficient protein intake in your diet to help supplement your muscle development. Protein shakes are fantastic for this. For more info on this read my “article” on protein.

A few words before I go……
I hope this article has given you a better idea of what is involved in Building Muscle. You need to choose what you really want to gain from your training programs and then seek out a program that suits those goals. If you’re keen to get started on a training program that is suited to your body type and goals then feel free to visit my site: http://www.virtualfitnesstrainer.com

Happy Training!

Yours in fun, health and fitness
Mandy Gibbons
http://www.virtualfitnesstrainer.com

Persons who are of good health, suspect of their health or are aware of any conditions, physical deficiencies or diseases should always consult a physician before undertaking any eating or exercise program. Mandy Gibbons,Virtual Fitness Trainer, www.virtualfitnesstrainer.com.au and www.virtualfitnesstrainer.com disclaims any liability or loss in connection with the above program or advice given in this article

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