Ladies, would you like to build a lean, sculpted and slender body? Consider following a bodybuilding program for women. The goal is a healthy and toned physique.
A women’s full body bodybuilding workout targets the arms, legs, thighs, buttocks, chest and abdominal areas to create leaner and toned muscles. A full body workout allows you to spend fewer days each week in the gym but still make substantial improvement and build lean and defined muscle.
You’ll train each muscle group three times each week with a rest or recovery day between training days, either MWF or TThS.
If you are new to bodybuilding and training perform one exercise for each large muscle group. The ideal repetition range for this type program is 8-12 done in 3 but not more than 4 sets.
This repetition range will promote the right balance of strength gains and developing lean and well-defined muscle. Start your workout with larger muscle groups, chest, back and legs, and finish with smaller groups, your arms and calves.
Keep your workout short by focusing on completing each exercise quickly and limiting rest time between exercises and sets. Don’t spend more than one hour completing your entire full body training and don’t rest more than one minute between sets.
A brief and intense workout will promote the greatest muscle stimulation and engagement with the greatest training effect in the shortest time. Training longer than one hour or performing additional sets and reps will actually work against you and soon leads to overtraining.
If you feel that you are not being challenged by your workout, or the workout is “too easy” then increase the amount of your weights, not your reps!
Here’s the best full body bodybuilding workout consist of 7 proven exercises for women to build lean muscle and lose body fat:
Contents
1. Don’t forget to warm up and stretch
before your workout to increase circulation and prevent injury.
2. Squats
Squats done with your own body weight, a barbell on your shoulders or a pair of dumbbells work your Quadriceps and Hamstrings (thighs), and Gluteals (buttocks). The ultimate lower body exercise works all the muscle groups from the waist down.
- Target Muscles: Leg and buttocks muscles.
- Difficulty: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
- Tutorial: The Perfect Squat For Strong Shapely Thighs and Buttocks – And Common Mistakes To Avoid
3. Bench Press
Using a barbell or a pair of dumbbells, the flat or incline bench press works your Pectorals (chest), Deltoids (shoulders) and Triceps (back of arms). You can vary the angle of the bench to work different sections of your pectorals, but remember not to go beyond your 3-4 sets.
- Target Muscles: Chest and triceps.
- Difficulty: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
- Tutorial: Here’s a short video about how to do a proper Bench Press for women & beginners:
4. Standing Military Press
Presses with a barbell or pair of dumbbells are for your Trapezius (the muscles on your back), Latissimus Dorsi (muscle that wraps around your back to under your armpits), and your Deltoids (shoulders) and Biceps (arms). The exercise is more effective and activates more muscles if performed while standing.
- Target Muscles: Arm, Shoulder, Back muscles.
- Difficulty: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
- Tutorial: Here’s a short video about how to do a proper Standing Military Press (Overhead Press) for women & beginners:
5. Bent Rows
This back exercise performed as one arm dumbbell rows or a bent over barbell row works your Latissimus Dorsi, Trapezius, Deltoids and Biceps, your back and arms.
- Target Muscles: Arm, Shoulder, Back muscles.
- Difficulty: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
- Tutorial: Here are 2 short videos about how to do a proper Bent Row with dumbbells and barbell:
Proper Form For A Bent Over Row (With Dumbbells):
How to do Barbell Rows:
6. Biceps Curl
Performed with a barbell or dumbbells for your biceps, the muscle on the front of your arm. Do not spend too much of your time on the smaller muscle groups – biceps and calves. Focus your energy on the multi-joint exercises for those major muscle groups as they are most effective.
- Target Muscles: Biceps
- Difficulty: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
- Tutorial: Learn how to do biceps curls to workout the muscles in this weightlifting video:
7. Calf Raises
Using a machine, a barbell or dumbbells, slowly raise up on the balls of your feet and stretch and hold. Slowly lower and repeat. Great legs need great calves.
- Target Muscles: Gastrocnemius, Soleus and Tibialis Anterior
- Difficulty: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
- Tutorial: Learn how to do the great toning exercise: Standing Calf Raise:
Last Thoughts:
Ladies, you are not training for size (bulk) and strength but to develop long, lean, shapely and well-defined muscles. This short, targeted workout will give you those results, and when combined with the right balance of diet and cardio, will provide positive results quickly. Hit the gym and try it!
