Women, unlike men, do not want big, bulky muscles, but rather sleek, well-defined muscles. Using light or moderate resistance can help women achieve toned arms. In addition, a lot of repetition can tone and strengthen target muscle groups rather than using heavy weights. Your diet can also affect the impact that exercise will have on your body and your energy levels.
Stretching
Before you start any kind of exercise, you should spend at least 10 minutes warming up and stretching the part of your body you will be concentrating your workout on. Warm up exercises are beneficial because they help the body to increase blood circulation and provide more nutrients to the muscles that will be worked on. End the exercise routine with cool down exercises. This should be around 10 minutes and consist of some light cardio and specific muscle stretching. This is enough time to lower the heart rate.
Cardiovascular exercise
There are many cardiovascular activities you can engage in. Some examples of the most popular cardiovascular activities include:
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Walking
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Jogging/Running
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Swimming
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Biking
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Aerobics
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Kickboxing
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Jumping Rope
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Team Sports
The best cardiovascular (cardio) exercise for women is simply the activity that will keep you motivated to continue your exercise journey and improve your body. Swimming is an excellent sport for women because it is low impact on their body. That means it’s easy on the knees and joints. It is a good choice for anyone just starting out, or anyone with joint or knee injuries. To gain the maximum benefits of a cardiovascular training programme, you should try to do a 20-30 minute cardiovascular workout at least 3 times every week.
Weight training
Many women see cardio as the Holy Grail in terms of losing weight and improving their body. While it is vital, cardio works even better when done in conjunction with some light weight-training. Muscle also burns more kilojoules than fat, so the more muscle you build, the faster your metabolism works and the more likely it is that weight loss and body toning will occur. Replace 5 kilograms of fat with 5 kilograms of lean muscle and you’ll burn an additional 25 to 50 kilojoules a day without even trying.
The best way to start a weight-training regime is to go for a couple of sessions at your local gym with a personal instructor. They will map out a routine that is in line with your goals and instruct you on the best way to do the exercises so that you don’t pull a muscle or injure your body.
If you’ve never thought about getting involved in a combined strength training and body weight loss programme, you might find some good results sooner than you thought. Just remember: you have to keep up your exercise programme to maintain your results!
