Weight Lifting Workouts for Women

Most women who lift weights aren't looking to build rippling muscles. Rather, they're hoping to merely tone their body and lose weight. Do not perform a complete workout in one day. Rather, work your chest and back one day and shoulders and abs the next, etc.

Benefits

Weightlifting does not mean building enormous muscles.
Weightlifting is as important to overall health as aerobic exercise. It helps build stronger bones and increases metabolism. Muscle continues to burn calories even after you have left the gym.

Chest and Back

Tone your chest and back to achieve better posture and balance. The incline, decline and flat bench press, cable crossover and dumbbell flies tone your chest. Stiff-leg dumbbell dead lift, hyperextensions, bent-over dumbbell row, T-bar roll, lateral pull-down and pull-ups strengthen your back muscles. (Perform three sets of 10 reps each.)

Shoulders and Abs

Rid yourself of the excess fat on your shoulders and midsection. Tone your shoulders with the Arnold press, dumbbell press, dumbbell lateral raises and dumbbell rear row. For flat abs, perform plate twists and hanging knee raises (three sets of 12 reps).

Biceps and Triceps

Toning your biceps and triceps not only builds strength, but increases your satisfaction with your overall body. Perform hammer curls, dumbbell incline curls and one-arm preacher curls. For triceps, perform kickbacks, weighted bench dips and push-ups (three sets of 10 reps).

Legs

To tone your quads, perform barbell squats, walking lunges and leg presses (three sets of 10 reps). Perform Roman dead lifts, seated leg curls and lying leg curls to tone hamstrings (three sets of 12 reps). For toned calves, perform standing calf raises, donkey calf raises and Smith machine reverse calf raises (three sets of 15 reps).

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Weight Lifting for Fat Loss

Many times, people only think of weight lifting as building muscle and strength, but they don't know one of the best benefits of consistent weight lifting is fat loss. Simply put, when you lift weights and eat a healthy diet, you will lose fat. The key is to combine your weight lifting exercises to create a metabolic effect. By doing compound strength training exercises, you will burn more calories during your workout and burn fat. Here are some of the most effective exercises for fat loss.

Squat to shoulder press

Hold the dumbbells by your side and lower your body into a squat position. Make sure your knees stay in alignment with your ankles and that the majority of your weight is in your heels. You should be able to lift your toes. As you come up from the squat, curl the weights and then immediately press overhead into a shoulder press. Repeat this exercise 5-8 times. This exercise works every muscle in your body and should elevate your heart rate.

Remember to choose a weight that is challenging without compromising your form.

Lunge with a bicep curl

Hold dumbbells by your side and perform a forward lunge. When you come up from your lunge, bring the dumbbells up into a bicep curl. Make sure to keep your core tight and avoid using momentum to swing the dumbbells. Use a challenging weight and make sure to breathe through the exercise.

Push up with a row

This exercise will not only work your chest and back, but will give you a nice cardio boost. Start in a push up position with your hands holding the dumbbells. Lower down into a push up and keep your core tight. If necessary, modify the pushup by coming to your knees. At the top of the push up, do a one-arm row on the right and then on the left. Step your legs together and stand up tall. Repeat this exercise 8-10 times with a challenging weight.

You should be sweating and breathing hard while your body burns fat and builds muscle.

Step ups

Step-ups will build strength in your glutes while burning fat and calories. Using a bench and a challenging set of dumbbells, stand in front of the bench and step up with your right leg. Keep your left leg extended behind you and then step down. Repeat that movement on the right side 8-10 times and then switch to your left side. The leg on the bench should be doing all the work. Don't forget to breathe through the exercise as your heart rate elevates.

Maximize your time

If you are short on time and looking to build strength and burn fat, compound strength exercises are your best option. Combine movements to burn more fat and calories. Take breaks when needed and always listen to your body. If something does not feel right or you start to feel sick, stop the exercises immediately.

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