12 Fitness FAQ for Women: Your Complete Guide to Getting in Shape
Up until now I have never included a fitness FAQ post here on my fitness blog. The following are some popular questions asked by women who want to learn how to get in shape. Keep in mind that “get in shape” means different things to different people and I realize that. The following Q&A are meant to help you along the way no matter what your personal goals are. With that said, it’s important that you consult with your doctor before embarking on any kind of fitness/nutrition program.
Q. How Can I Maximize Fat Loss?
A. You can lose fat by eating less and you can maximize fat loss by working out at a high intensity level on a regular basis. It’s a good idea to train heavy, perform more cardio and allow your body to rest. You should never workout the same muscle group within 24 hours. This is why workout splits are highly recommended. Also, there are several ways to increase the intensity of your workouts. My personal favorite: HIIT. It’s my favorite because it worked really well for me when I was trying lose my pregnancy weight. You can find plenty of HIIT workouts right here on my fitness blog.
Q. How Do I Build Lean Muscle?
A. Building lean muscle will help your body to burn fat and you can build muscle by lifting weights. AKA strength training. To build muscle you’ll need to make sure that you’re eating enough and you also should be training heavy and performing less cardio. You should still do some cardio just to keep yourself healthy, but no need to concentrate on it too much like if you would if you were trying to blast fat.
Q. Cardio or Weights?
A. Both. If you really want to get in shape you should be doing cardio and lifting weights. This will keep your muscles, bones and your cardiovascular system strong.
Q. Should I Use “Fat Burners”?
A. The main thing you should know about fat burners is that they will not give you results overnight and their overall impact is actually quite small. The main ingredient in most fat burners is caffeine and you can buy caffeine pills for much cheaper. Bodybuilding.com has a bottle of 100 tablets for under $6. If you’re highly sensitive to caffeine or you simply don’t like it, fat burners or caffeine is not recommended. Caffeine will increase your metabolism for a short while which will increase the amount of calories and fat you burn but you can also get great results without them if you’re performing the right activities. It all comes down to personal preference with fat burners and I don’t personally use them (or think that they need to be used).
Q. How Do I Design My Own Workout Plan?
A. Unless you are a professional trainer you should not be putting together your own workout plan. The best information I can give you regarding a workout plan is to check out “New Rules of Lifting for Women”. Inside this book you will find a complete 90-day program that anybody can use – even beginners. It has excellent reviews on Amazon and will provide all of the information you need to get started.
Q. Plateau? Or No? And How Can I Blast Through One?
A. If you think that you’re in a dreaded plateau, you might be surprised to learn that you actually aren’t. It’s important to realize that muscle is more dense than fat so even if you’re losing fat and building muscle your weight might stay the same or actually increase from time to time. However, if you do feel that you’re in a plateau then there are a few things you can do:
- Increase the intensity of your workouts. You can do this by resting for a shorter amount of time in between sets or running faster during your cardio workouts.
- Change your workout completely. After performing the same workout for a long period of time, your body can become accustomed to what you’re doing. To keep your body guessing and burning calories and fat, try switching up your workout to something new and different.
- Add one extra cardio or HIIT session per week. Adding in some extra cardio can help you push through your plateau.
- Try decreasing or increasing your caloric intake. It can be hard to know which you need to do but if you aren’t eating enough for the amount of activity you’re doing, your body can go into starvation mode and hold onto everything. Likewise, you could also be eating too much and therefore not burning off the extra calories that you’re eating. You’d be surprised at how many calories you can eat and still lose weight – if your activity level is quite high.
Q. What Should I Be Eating?
A. Food. (that’s the easy, short answer) To help answer this question I have included a sample diet plan that I found in the February 2011 issue of Oxygen magazine:
- Breakfast: 1 egg, 8 oz. skim milk, 2 oz. turkey, 3/4 cup high fiber cereal, 1 cup berries, 6 walnuts
- Snack: 1 kiwifruit
- Lunch: 4 oz. low-fat tuna salad, 1 whole-grain bun, 3/4 cup pasta salad, 1 cup carrots and tomatoes, 3 slices avocado
- Snack: 1 oz. string cheese, 2 small tangerines, 6 whole-grain crackers
- Dinner: 4 oz. chicken, 1 medium sweet potato, 1 cup asparagus, 2 cups salad, 4 tbsp. low-fat salad dressing
Q. “I Don’t Have Enough Time to Workout.”
A. This is pure BS. Everyone has a lot of different things going on in their life and those who REALLY WANT to get in shape, will make working out a priority. This will likely mean that you might need to reduce TV watching time or maybe getting up earlier in the morning to get your workout in. Most people are busy but even the busiest people can find the time to workout if they’re motivated enough. A good workout only needs to be 20-30 minutes in length and performed at least 3 times per week. That really doesn’t take up that much time if you think about it.
Q. How Can I Sculpt a Nice Butt?
A. Lunges, Squats and Deadlifts.
Also see: How to Lift a Frumpy Butt in 2 Weeks
Q. How Can I Get Flat Abs?
A. HIIT. Does that sound weird? I thought so too until I started performing HIIT workouts myself. If you have a flabby belly you need to burn that fat off before you will even see your abs – this is where HIIT comes in. High intensity interval training is loved by many because the workouts are rather short but very intense and they keep your metabolism humming along for up to 24 to 48 hours afterwards. There are a variety of HIIT workouts you can try but the one I started out doing was a 10 to 15 minute workout that went something like this:
- 5 minute warm-up (walking)
- 30 second sprints (as fast as you can run ~ maybe a 7, 8 or 9 on a treadmill or elliptical)
- 90 second recovery (walking at ~ 3 mph)
- Repeat for at least 10 minutes
- 5 minute cool-down (walking)
Q. How Many Calories Do I Need?
A. I am not a nutritionist and I won’t pretend that I am. What I have found to be helpful to me though is MyFitnessPal.com. You can set up a profile here for FREE. Once you’ve done that you can actually answer a few simple questions about yourself including your height, weight, activity level and goal and MFP will give you a calorie range that will help you accomplish your personal goal(s).
Q. What Supplements Should I Be Taking?
A. You don’t NEED any supplements. However, there are two that I use and consider to be important. The first is a whey protein powder. It’s a good idea to consume one of these after a lifting workout (or even HIIT) because it helps to replenish your muscles. A high intensity workout will deplete your muscles of nutrients and whey protein will nourish them quickly. My favorite protein is Muscle Milk Light. It tastes good and it’s affordable too. I’m really picky when it comes to these powders and I’ve tried a lot of them and have gagged my fair share of times.
The second supplement I use is USPlabs Jack3d. This is a pre-workout energy supplement that I love. Again, not necessary to use at all but I workout in the late afternoon when I’m feeling pretty sluggish so this really helps me. No side effects either. Feel free to read my USPlabs Jack3d review that I have posted here on this blog.
I hope you have found this women’s fitness FAQ post to be very useful – even if you only took away 1 new piece of information that you didn’t know before. I’m not a big promoter of supplements. To me it’s more about working hard and being dedicated and motivated enough to make it for the long haul. Remember that it takes about 30 days before something becomes a habit and this includes exercise. See if you can stick to it for 30 days (remember about 3 workouts per week) and then give yourself a big pat on the back once you do. Then continue to reward yourself at even the smallest of milestones. This will help you keep going!!
Similar Posts:
- Cardio Before or After Strength Training?
- Build Your Dream Body in Just 3 Minutes a Day
- My 4-Week Workout Journal, Day 1: Here We Go!
- The Beach Body Workout
- 90-Day Beginner Fitness Plan
Leave a Reply