Women tend to think that weight training means bulking up to look like body builders. Nothing could be further from the truth. For one, women body builders take steroids to pump up like men. And two, when women gain muscle, the muscles are lean, giving the body a slim and toned appearance. Adding a weight workout to your fitness regime is what you need to get that nice slender body that you want. And if you are in the process of trying to lose weight, weight training will give you what you need to drop the extra pounds. Training with weights, builds muscle and muscle burns fat. And once that fat sheds away, you will be delighted to see a feminine sculpted body begin to emerge.

Gym or Home, Where to Train?

Now to get started, you of course know that you will need some weight training equipment. If you have a gym membership you can use theirs and if not you can buy your own at any sporting goods store. Alternatively, you can order a weight training machine to place inside your home. You will want to get three sets of weights: light, medium and medium-heavy. How you determine the heaviness of the weight is based on your own strength.

Always, always remember that before you begin your weight training routine you must first warm up. A good warm up should last for about 15 minutes to get your muscles good and prepared. First stretch your whole body to warm your muscles. Then you need to get your heart ready with some form of light aerobic activity such as walking or cycling. Now you want to prepare your arm muscles by raising your arm over your head with your fingers laced together. Then rotate your palms facing the ceiling and pull your arms back slightly. Next you’ll move to your legs and place one hand on the wall, while the other hand grabs a foot on the opposite side of the body. Bring the foot up toward your back, hold for 20 seconds and repeat the same stretch with your other leg.

Next, here are some basic safety tips to keep in mind. It always a good idea to have a weight training partner. This is a matter of safety. With a partner, you two can spot one another and help each other out with lifts. Also think carefully about your gym apparel. You should only wear gym shoes and clothes that are not too baggy. If your clothes are too big, they can get tangled in the weight machines. In addition, never go outside of your personalized training routine. Trying to follow another person’s routine can cause you injury that can lead into pulled muscles or worse.

Finally, here are some ideas to help you structure your weight training workout. You can always tell if you are working with the correct weight, if you have difficulty completely the last rep. Let muscle exhaustion at the end guide you on which weight amount you should use. If you want to gain endurance, use light weights and use them for 12-16 reps. If more strength is what you are after, the you need to concentrate on doing a lower number of reps and using heavier weights. Finally for building lean muscles use medium to heavy weights at 8-12 reps