Strengthening, Shaping & Toning

Hello again!

It’s that time again for me to progress your knowledge with training and have you working out the right way to achieve the shape and body that you want. In my previous article I took you through the best way for you to start lifting weights and why, whether that be in the gym or at home. The examples I gave were for two full body workouts that will have you getting stronger and fitter, but the main point was to show how easy it is to start lifting like a pro and to not be worried!

Below I’m going to progress these workouts by focussing on exercises for women, by splitting the body up into small groups so you will learn how to work, shape and grow an area of your choice to create an aesthetic, feminine look.

With a lot of my female clients they want fat loss, this comes from diet and regular exercise. But after fat loss (remember diet) the next common thing that I get is the women pointing to areas of their bodies that they don’t like the shape of.

Shaping/muscle building

You can call bodybuilding what you like, but at the end of the day all it means is creating or building the body of your dreams, and these dreams can be different for various females. Example: some like might big bums; some smaller arms and some might like larger, toned legs if too skinny.

Whilst a full body workout is definitely the place I want everyone to start, what you can personally then start doing is adding more exercises onto to the areas you would like more shape or definition…. simple!

Below I will explain the most common body sites that I get ladies requesting extra work on, and how to work them into your new routine.

Lower body

The lower body is obviously a large area and can be split up into 3 simple muscles for people to remember:

Quads – front of the leg – helps with pushing exercises
Hamstrings – back of the leg – helps with pushing the hips forward
Glutes – bum – assists in both of the above and is a very underused muscle even though it is one of our largest!

Circuit to perform without rest until the end, 30 seconds on each, repeat twice:

Forward walking lunges across a floor holding small weights
Lying hip thrusts with both heels down legs bent and pushing hips to ceiling
Reverse lunges holding small weights

Upper body

The most common area I like to get females to work is the shoulders or ‘deltoids’ as any shape we build here automatically creates a nice taper making your waist look smaller, and also looks great when wearing any type of dress.

Circuit to perform without rest until the end, 30 seconds on each, repeat twice:

Standing single dumbbell shoulder press (keep alternating arms)
Seated or standing side lateral raise with dumbells
Upright row using dumbells or a light barbell

Stomach/abs

I tell all my clients, training your abs directly WILL NOT make your stomach smaller (you need to diet to lose body fat for this). But I still want to create strength in the midsection as the stronger your core, the stronger your spine will be and will help eradicate any type of back pain now or down the line, PLUS when you have dieted correctly you will reveal the strong stomach that you have built underneath.

Circuit to perform without rest until the end, 30 seconds on each, repeat twice:

Side plank on elbow (both sides) either advance with legs straight or beginners legs bent
Dead bug - lying on your back, hands straight up in front of you and knees to chest, slowly extend one leg flat to the ground keeping your lower back against the floor, then repeat other side
Slow mountain climbers- press up position, bring one knee to chest and squeeze before slowly returning and changing legs

Once again I hope this information was helpful with your mission to get fit and start training the best way! Keep an eye out for next time where I will be talking whether cardio is needed to burn fat, and if so which type is best for the fastest results.

Also please share the articles if you enjoy them and tag any friends in to start your gym journey together.

Happy training!

Mark