This doesn’t have anything to do with having a bad workout… quite the opposite actually. Even with a great workout program, if you don’t know how to do it then you’re wasting your time when it comes to getting the results you want.
The 3 Biggest Mistakes That Women Make When Strength Training
1. Lifting too little. If you’re following a great muscle building workout that calls for let’s say 4 sets of 6 reps the weight you choose is really important. Randomly grabbing a weight is possibly the biggest mistake I see women make. You should be choosing a weight that is challenging and that you should barely be able to hit the 6 reps. And by the end of the 4 sets you probably won’t hit the last rep count. That’s ok. You’re aiming for muscle growth and if you’re using a weight that you could really do 12 reps with then that goals isn’t going to be reached. You’re goal is to get close to muscle failure!
2. Rest During Your Rest Period. If you see anything that says multiple sets of an exercise that is an alarm that screams rest between exercises. A lot of women underestimate the importance of rest and rush straight from one set to the next. But don’t. Rest is important to your muscles to recover a bit before being hit again. If you don’t rest long enough then your muscles won’t get the challenging workout they could be getting and that means lack of toning results! It matters what goals you have as to what rest break you need. If you’re going really intense, heavy training with low reps then you will need longer rest periods that if you are going with a lower intensity with high rep counts.
For example… for muscle building you may have to rest up to 3 minutes. And for fat burning, high reps you may only need 30-60 seconds of rest.
3. Don’t rush with your exercises. Too many women grab weights and do their exercise reps as quickly as they can. But don’t. Slow it down to make sure you’re doing the move properly and so that you’re hitting your muscles in a way that actually promotes results. For muscle toning slow down the move. Most workouts have a tempo to do the exercise.
There are three phases of the lift… the lifting (concentric) phase, the holding (isometric) phase and the lowering (eccentric) phase… all of which are important to results BUT research has shown that the lowering phase is connected to building lean muscle. So try to slow down a bit a this phase and keep it controlled. You should never just let a weight fall down, you’ll be missing out on great potential.
What’s the next step?
Now you have the three mistakes that I see on a daily basis in women’s strength training. Knowing what not to do helps you refocus your goals and figure out what is the best way to get them! But now it’s vital that you have a workout designed for your fitness goals.
To get a workout program that actually works and even broken down step by step check out my women’s online training to get help transforming your body!
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Tagged as: lifting weight, mistakes fitness, Strength Training, women's training
