How many times have you tried to stick with a workout designed for women and it just totally failed? First let’s be more honest, was it because you stuck to the workout and you didn’t see results or was it because you didn’t stick with it at all?
Either way, I want to show you the top 8 reasons why workout plans designed for women fail and how to find the best plan for you.
Written by Someone Who Doesn’t Have a Clue
Men and women don’t necessarily have to train differently. When finding a new workout plan, look at what the program has you doing and see if it makes any sense at all. People claim to be a guru or an established personal trainer when they have no clue what they are talking about and do not have the experience to back it up.
Too Much Cardio
Running on a treadmill or elliptical for an hour isn’t necessarily fun right? It is also not useful for losing weight and toning up. In order to tone up you need to build muscle AND lose fat. Programs with an hour worth of cardio with a couple of bodyweight exercises won’t get you the body you are looking for.
You need to have a balanced and holistic approach to getting in shape and torturing yourself on cardio equipment is only part of the equation. Proper nutrition, resistance training, and recovery will be the keys to reaching the body you want.
No Weight Training
Programs that have absolutely no weight training in them are just asking for failure. Lifting weights and lifting heavy is important if you want to have a strong and fit body. There are many studies out there to show how weight training positively affects everything from your mood to your physique.
The light weights for reps myth will not get you toned and you won’t burn enough calories to make a difference; you would be better off not lifting weights if you approach weight training in this way. Resistance training is your friend.
All Machines
The other end of the spectrum is a workout plan that focuses solely on machines. Isolation movements may help build muscle but they won’t give you the same results as if you used compound lifts. Machines are okay for accessory movements or if you are simply too intimidated in the gym. I would suggest finding a friend, personal trainer, or coach to help get you under that bar.
Not Well-Rounded
Some programs include a great cardio and resistance training regime but they don’t use a wise choice of exercises. For every push exercise you should have a pull exercise. If the routine you are using has a lot of arm and chest work but lack everything else, try to find one that trains the body in a well-rounded fashion.
Important Exercises are Left Out
The squat, bench, deadlift, pull-up, and overhead press should be in any workout plan. Each one of these exercises is a natural movement and in order to get a strong and healthy body they need to be done.
Think about it, how many times have you had to squat down to help someone or complete a task, how many times have you been laying on the floor and did a push up to get up or push something away? How many times have you had to bend over and pick something up, pull yourself up to get something, or put something above your head?
These exercises are natural movements and doing them will improve your physique as well as your quality of life.
“Not Enough Time” Approach
Many of us have hectic schedules and the last thing we can do is spend hours in the gym. When a workout is designed to not take a lot of time, more times than not you are going to be doing sub-par exercises.
What I mean by this is I would rather see you go to the gym and do 3 sets of squats, 3 sets of bench press, 3 sets of deadlifts, and 3 sets of pull-ups instead of hitting a circuit of 4 machines doing 3 circuits.
Your whole body is going to be worked doing all of these compound and natural lifts, you will burn more calories than doing isolation movements, and you are going to benefit more working with a barbell than relying on machines.
They Make Assumptions
Many routines will make assumptions that we don’t want to use a barbell or dumbbell or that doing light weight with high reps is best.
Conclusion
If you’ve run into these problems before then you know the headaches and frustrations. A workout that contains one or more of these reasons isn’t necessarily a bad workout but you need to look at the quality of the exercises chosen, the time constraints, and any other promises they may give. Be wary of workouts that promise fast results; getting strong, healthy, and toned takes time and hard work to achieve.
Fitness is a lifestyle and you need to be sure that you educate yourself to get the most out of your workouts, nutrition, and recovery. Not everything that works for one person will work for you so learn everything you can about fitness and nutrition before you make assumptions about anything.
Our goal here is to educate and help you reach your goals.
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