Exercise for Women

My most general advice for the VAST majority of women is to simply move more. There are only a few (the sports fanatics amongst us) who would potentially benefit from slowing down a bit and give their bodies a break now and then.

Having said that, I am a huge proponent of smart strength training for women. And, if you are a runner, how about trying to shift to a short session with a few interval sprints rather than a long, steady paced run?

Women are made to endure and stretch* (think no further than child birth!) and therefore cardio and things like yoga, by default, might come easier to us compared to men. However, the whole point of training is to do what we are less good at and what doesn't come natural. So, not slow and steady, but fast and strong in our case!

Of course, it is best to hire a personal trainer and have him/her kick our asses lifting as heavy weights as possible constantly checking our form, but since this is not available for all of us, here my favorite set of exercises that really everybody can do and pretty much anywhere (I prefer doing them at the playground: kids involved, fresh air and equipment available since most parks have some kind of bars and handles to use):

• Pull-up's

• Push-up's

• Inverted rows

• Squats (and dead lifts if you have weights)

• Walking lunges

Feel free to make them weighted and increase weight and/or number of repetitions over time, not forgetting that focusing on time under tenstion -meaning doing the movements slowly and very intentionally- can be very beneficial too. And, pretty please, make sure to educate yourself regarding proper form in case you are new to those exercises.

And for the rest of the time: just do what is practical for you personally, i.e. use the stairs instead of the elevator, use the bike or walk instead of the car, run around, play ball or go to the pool with your kids, etc. And by the way: A good old deep cleaning session of your home can also not be neglected! ;-)

And if you want to go even further and are still in your menstruating years: think about training in line with your cycle on top (see blog post "menstruation"). After menopause, same as with food, also exercising can become more straightforward again...

*Human muscle is made up of Type 1 (slow twitch) and Type 2 (fast twitch) muscle fibers. Slow twitch fibers are used predominantly in endurance and loner-lasting movements, while fast twitch fibers are used for short, powerful bursts of activity. Generally, women have higher percentage of Type 1 muscle fibers than men.