Strength training is a fundamental part of one’s personal fitness routine. As we outlined in our Introduction to Strength Training, it’s not just about building muscle. Strength training helps strengthen your bones, boost your metabolism, reduce the risk of injury, and even improve your mood!
However, taking the first steps to adding strength training to your routine can be a daunting task. Should I just stick with cardio? What exercises should I do? How do I even do those exercises? Do I need any special gear or equipment?
We’ll answer these questions and more to help you kick-off your start with 5 core strength training exercises great for both beginners and experienced lifters.
Beginners Guide for Women in Strength Training
Why Strength Training is Important for Women
Strength training is a core part of any well-balanced fitness routine. Some may think the only point of strength training is to build muscle or to burn fat. And while those are two solid benefits of strength training, strength training can also help improve the overall strength of your body.
“Overall strength of your body”? What does that mean!?
When you practice strength training exercises, in one way or another, you are increasing the strength of your muscles. That part is fairly common knowledge. What often gets overlooked is how by strengthening your muscles, especially around your joints, you greatly reduce the risk of injury.
Another big benefit to strength training is how, by strengthening your muscles throughout your body, your posture and balance also improve.
Strength Training and Cardio
In our introductions to Cardio and Strength Training, we give well-rounded explanations of the what each type of exercise is, what the benefits are, and how to perform a typical workout.
However, one point worth mentioning is how it’s possible to mix the two!
Strength training, as we’ve described before, consists of exercises where you put a resistance against your muscles. When your muscles are resisting against an external force to push, pull, or hold steady, you are performing a type of strength training exercise.
Cardio, on the other hand, is more focused on increasing your heart rate and holding it at an elevated but safe level for an extended period of time. By doing this, you improve the efficiency of your heart and lungs and how they pump blood and oxygen throughout the body.
But did you know you can mix the two?
Well, it’s true! In a pure strength training workout, you allow yourself to rest between sets. The rest period could be anywhere from 1 to 5 minutes, depending on what type of strength training workout you’re doing. To start shifting towards a strength training and cardio hybrid, however, all you have to do is reduce the rest period.
So instead of resting 1 minute, you can create a circuit where you do a strength training exercise, rest for 15 seconds, and move onto either the next set or onto a new exercise. Of course, by reducing your amount of rest, you will likely need to reduce the amount of weight you’re using.
The obvious trade-off is you limit the gains you would get from a pure strength training workout, but this method is great if you want to start trying out strength training without missing out on your cardio.
5 Beginner Strength Exercises for Women
The 5 exercises listed below are great for fitness enthusiasts at any level, but by learning these first, you lay the foundation for future strength training exercises.
#1: Squats
Squats are a great exercise to hit some of the biggest muscle groups in your legs.
To properly perform a squat, begin with your feet hip-width apart and your toes pointing slightly outward. Then, keeping your chest up, shoulders back, and core engaged, begin lowering your hips until your thighs are parallel to the floor (or as low as you can comfortably go). Once you’ve reached your depth, begin pushing through your heels back to a starting position while continuing to keep your chest up, shoulders back, and core engaged.
Squats can be performed with either a barbell, dumbbells, or just your body weight. We suggest starting without any additional weights until you’ve mastered the proper form, and then you can start adding weight.
#2: Push-ups
Push-ups are arguably the most well-known body weight exercise there is, and that’s why they’re key to getting started in strength training.
To perform a push-up, start by laying on the floor or your mat with your legs fully extended and your hands pressed against the floor and under your shoulders. Your body should be in a straight line from head to toe and your feet hip-width apart.
Now, while engaging your core to keep your body straight, begin pushing your body up by extending your elbows. Continue extending until you nearly lock out your elbows but do not fully lock them out so as to avoid injury.
Once you reach the peak of the push-up, pause, and begin lowering your body back down until your chest touches the floor. That is one rep. Repeat for the quantity of reps desired or until your form begins to worsen.
#3: Lunges
Lunges are similar to squats in terms of how they challenge the leg muscles, but a side benefit to lunges is they work one leg at a time, which can help overcome muscle imbalances where your stronger leg does more work than your weaker leg.
To perform a lunge, start by standing with your feet hip-width apart and then, while keeping your chest up, shoulders back, and core engaged (see, just like a squat!), take a big step forward with your right leg so that your right leg is bent at a 90-degree angle, your thigh is parallel to the ground, and your left knee is bent but not touching the floor.
From this point, you will push through your right leg back up and bring your left leg up to return to the starting position. Next, repeat this same motion for the other leg and continue this cycle for the number of reps you’re targeting.
As with squats, you can lunge with a barbell, dumbbells, or just your body weight, and we again recommend starting without any additional weight until you’ve mastered the proper form.
#4: Dumbbell Rows
Dumbbell rows are a great exercise to work your back muscles. Although you can perform the same motion with a barbell, using dumbbells allows you to achieve a greater range of motion.
To begin, start with your feet shoulder-width apart and holding a dumbbell in each hand. Keeping your back straight, chest up, core engaged, and knees slightly bent, hinge at your hips until your torso is parallel to the ground. Let your arms hang down while still holding the dumbbells with your palms facing each other.
Now, while maintaining this position, begin pulling the weights upward towards your torso by bending your elbows. Keep your elbows close to your body and squeeze your shoulder blades together.
Pause briefly in this position, and the slowly lower the dumbbells back down to the starting position while keeping the rest of your body in the same position.
Repeat this motion for the quantity of reps desired, or until your form begins to falter.
#5: Plank
Planks are a key exercise that strengthen your core muscles, and your core muscles, are key to helping you keep the proper form while performing the previous four exercises.
To perform a plank, begin on the floor on your hands and knees. Place your forearms on the floor with your elbows under your shoulders and extend your legs behind you so your body is straight from head to heels. Focus on maintaining this position by keeping your back flat and maintaining tension in your core.
Hold this position for about 30 seconds when first practicing planks, but gradually increase the time as your core muscles grow stronger.
Planks are typically done without additional weights and, instead, are performed for longer periods of time as you get stronger.
Gear and Equipment
Luckily, the 5 exercises we detailed above don’t require a lot of equipment. Really, the only one you really need equipment for is the dumbbell rows: everything else can be done with body weight.
For dumbbells, we prefer dumbbells with adjustable dials so you can have a wider range of weights at a lower cost. Check out our review of Bowflex’s SelectTech 552 Adjustable Dumbbells, our preferred option!
Be sure to look back at our Strength Training Gear section in our Introduction to Strength Training, where we cover miscellaneous items like clothing, water bottles, and a music player.
Women Beginners in Strength Training: Time to Get Started!
If you’ve never done any strength training exercises before, knowing where to start is a big challenge. However, by starting with and mastering these 5 exercises – squats, push-ups, lunges, dumbbell rows, and planks – you have a foundation that helps build strength across all your muscle groups.
But don’t forget what the title of this article is: Building Strong Foundations: 5 Beginner-Friendly Exercises for Women in Strength Training. This is only the beginning! In order to keep moving forward in your journey, you will need to continue learning more about other strength training exercises. By continuous adding to your exercise list, you continue challenging your body to help reach new goals!
We hope this guide helps set a good foundation for you if you’re planning to begin pursuing strength training. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to Contact Us so we can continue to help!