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Originally Posted by keokutah
I'm a personal trainer and bodybuilder/athlete.
First of all, gaining muscle increases your metabolism so that you don't get fat... so the more muscle you have the better, you can eat lots and never gain weight. Muscie IS your metabolism. The less muscle you have the easier you will get fat and the slower your metabolism will be. That's why muscular people can eat tons and never get fat.
Plus, women don't have the hormones necessary to get all hulked out like men do. Women can lift heavy and not get bulky. Female bodybuilders take steroids to get huge.
You don't need to heavy weight lift and get into bodybuilding, but if you want to be healthy and strong, you need to lift more than wimpy 10 pounds weights and gain some strength. You won't look anorexic if that's what your striving for, but you will look healthy.
Here is a reasonable routine for women who want superior health and an excellent, strong and fit body.
Do cardio 2-5 times a week, both anaerobic and aerobic, I'd recommend a sport of some kind because sports have both kinds of cardio.
Strength Training 1-2 times a week
Lower Body: Squats and lunges to target the quads, calves and butt.
It's harder for most guys to gain muscle on their lower bodies, but women tend to have bigger muscles in that area and naturally gain weight easier there.
What is hard is to spot reduce the butt muscle. If you're a woman who has bigger thighs and a flat butt, that's pretty much the shape you're stuck with because it's very hard to isolate the butt from the thighs and hammies, since the leg muscles work with every butt exercise there is. So the best one to try to isolate the butt is Swiss Ball Hamstring Curls. It also works the hammies, but it works the butt mostly and leaves the quads out of it.
Also, you can literally just contract the butt muscle itself, that can help firm it up.
To build a curvy figure with rounded hips, do weighted leg lifts each side, approx 20 each with around 30 pounds resting on the side of your leg. That works the hips and outside of the thighs. You can also use the adductor and abducttor machines for that. To work the inside of the thighs without a machine, straddle a swiss ball and squeeze it between your legs, use that as resistance for strengthening that muscle.
A reasonable maintenance goal for women is to lift 20-30 pound dumbells for bicep curls and tricep extensions. Around 12 reps and 2-3 sets each.
Strive to perform at least 15-20 full pushups in a row, at least 2 sets of those. None of those pushups from the knees please.
For the deltoids, only lift around 10-12 pounds because the shoulder muscle is easily torn and not meant to lift a lot. Deltoids are worked with lateral, front and posterior arm raises.
Strive to lift 20-50 pounds with bent over dumbbell raises to work the trapezius.
Then do lat pull downs on the machine. Strive to lift your body weight, or do pull ups if you can to work the lattissiumus dorsi. That should not be hard for skinny women to do, because you won't weigh much. But for example, if you weigh around 200 pounds, then maybe strive to only lift 120-140 pounds for similar results.
Then finish off with core work.
- Do supermans to work the erector spinae. Around 15-20 for 2 sets is fine.
Do planks to work the transverse abdominous. 2 sets for 15 seconds is fine.
Side planks to work the quadratus lumborum. Also 2 sets for 15 seconds.
Then strive to be able to do 100-300 crunches in a few minutes to work the rectus abdominus.
Then do 100-300 oblique crunches or bicycle twists to work the obliques.
Finish with stretching and/or yoga.
That routine will give you the best body ever, and it will boost up your metabolism so you can eat tons and not get fat. You won't be scrawney but you won't be bulky either, you'll look healthy, fit and amazing, and most importantly your body and bones will be healthy and strong.
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