Transform your body: a guide for women

Have you decided to make a change in the way you look? Here you will find concrete information and exact training on how to succeed.

There is a lot of information circulating on the internet about how women should train to look better. Many of them are great, but it's hard to put them together from different sources. I tried to bring them all together in this brief guide.

To get straight to the heart of the matter, here is an example of a training program designed to get results when you want to look and feel good in your skin. Take advantage of it! If you want a workout that can be done anywhere and with minimal equipment, specially designed for women

Physical exercises

"Movement is a medicine for changing the physical, emotional and mental!" I love this quote. And recent research has shown that exercise is more effective in treating depression than antidepressants. Beyond that, you already know that exercise helps you lose weight and look better. It helps to reshape the body, a better mood and sharpness of mind.

Most often, women do not know what type of exercise to do to look better. I have to say from the start that any form of exercise is better than doing nothing! The best exercises are the ones you do! But if you really want to reshape your body, you need mostly high-intensity exercise.

Two such types of exercises work best:

Strength training.
Intensity / conditioning interval training.

Strength training

Maybe "strength training" makes you think of bodybuilders and strongmen, but it's not like that at all. Strength training is done in the gym, with weights, but can also be done with dumbbells, sandbags, tractor tires, elastic bands and even with body weight. They can be made at home, outside or anywhere you have some space. The goal is to challenge your body through 6 key movements:

pushed
pulled
Twists
squats
inclination
LUNGE
Here is an example of a great strength training program for any woman, regardless of her level (beginner or advanced).

Training 1

Heating - 2 minutes per rower

Training 2

Heating - 2 minutes per rower

Training 3

Heating - 2 minutes per rower

Physical conditioning

In addition to strength exercises, you should include some fitness. It is often called cardio. Maybe you think about long runs or many tens of minutes spent on cardio machines. But no. They are not very effective. Much more effective are the intensity intervals, when you work very intensely for 20-90 seconds, then you rest, you work intensely again, and you rest, and so on.

You can make your own circuits according to your preferences and current physical condition. You choose certain exercises and do them one after the other. You can do 10 intense seconds and 10 seconds pause, or 20 seconds with 20 seconds, 30 with 30 ... whatever you prefer. You can and it varies from workout to workout. 

You do between 6 and 12 rounds.

Such a circuit could look like this :

• Rubber overturns - 40 seconds
• Pause - 40 seconds
• Throwing the medicine ball - 40 seconds
• Pause - 40 seconds
• Throwing the medicine ball - 40 seconds
• Pause - 40 seconds
• Swing with a dumbbell - 40 seconds
• Pause - 40 seconds
• Rounded up - Pause - 40 seconds 

This is a round and lasts about 6 minutes. Repeat 6 times and get a very intense workout of 36 minutes.

Here's another conditioning idea: 20-10 sprints. You can do sprints on the running track, on the treadmill, on a spinning bike or on any other cardio machine.

• First warm up for 5 minutes.
• You run for 20 seconds at the highest intensity (on the treadmill you can use the maximum incline and a speed of 10-14 km / h).
• Then you stop and recover for 10 seconds (jump on the treadmill sideways holding your arms with the handles).
• Then run again for 20 seconds.
• 10 seconds recovery. 

Do this for 5 minutes. Then take a 5-minute break and repeat the sprints at intervals. In total, without heating, it takes 15 minutes. This type of training is more effective at reshaping the body than 45-60 minutes of jogging ! 

So, my recommendation is that in addition to the 3 weight training sessions, you should also add a conditioning circuit and a sprint session every week. Over time, if necessary you can add more sessions, but for starters it is more than enough. 

Other exercises

You probably think of your workouts over time as "60 minutes three times a week." You better think about the total weekly time you exercise.

It seems that 5 hours a week is the magic number. Under 5 hours it does not produce results and from 5 hours onwards significant changes begin to appear. 

So far I have gathered 3 hours and a quarter of 3 sessions of 45 minutes of weight training, a circuit of 45 minutes and 15 minutes of sprints. To reach the threshold of 5 hours but to be able to recover, end the week with some very low intensity cardio. Take a walk. Ride your bike easily. Take an easy hike in the mountains. I'm talking about things like that. And yoga is taken into account. 30 minutes of 3 stops a week is enough. 

The program could look like this:

Nutrition

Just as exercise is a medicine, so is food. What you eat can make you sick but it can also heal you. 

Unfortunately, many are not completely honest with them when it comes to diet and what they eat. Many people think that they eat well, that they don't eat much, that they eat qualitatively, that they don't lose weight because they have a problem with the gland or etc. But the truth is that they have no results because they do not eat properly! 

The best way to improve your diet is to implement the following rules.

1. Eat 4-5 times a day to avoid long periods between meals

Research has shown that those who eat more often tend to have better blood sugar, lower production of stress hormones, less body fat and more muscle mass. But the food consumed must be what is needed!

2. Includes lean, complete protein at every meal and snack

The ideal amount of protein for someone who is exercising is 2 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight. For a 63 kg woman that would mean 126 grams. To eat so much protein you have to have them at every meal. You can also supplement your diet with a protein powder, especially immediately after training. 

3. Includes vegetables at every meal and ideal and snack

Ideally, you should have 8 servings of vegetables a day. It is not necessary at every meal, but it is difficult to eat so many vegetables if you do not divide them evenly throughout the day. 

4. Eat as many healthy fats as possible

Modern food has a large fat imbalance. To rebalance fat intake you need to include extra virgin olive oil, avocado, flaxseed oil, fish oil, fish and seafood, raw oilseeds in your diet.

5. Eat foods high in carbohydrates only after exercise

Carbohydrates are not bad. But they must be controlled - especially in women - being easy to eat too much. The easiest way to control carbohydrates is to eat them especially in a complex, whole form (amaranth, quinoa, oats, etc.) and keep them for after the effort. Sport increases your body's ability to use them, so eat most of the carbs in the window for a few hours after training. 

There are some good rules to start with. But there are several things you can do. Here are two other secrets for a great physique. 

Other food ideas

Eat only until you are 80% full. Then give the body time to transmit the signals of satiety. Try to avoid eating until you feel full. The second tip is for those who have a partner. Be careful that the portion does not influence the size of your portion. If you eat often with your partner, you are more likely to eat too much; you can't eat as much as he does even though you're younger! Take care of this aspect and adjust the portion size. 

07.07.2021