Women’s Beginning Resistance Band Workout

Women’s Beginning Resistance Band Workout

If a male gymnast wants to work on flexibility he doesn’t do “men’s yoga” – there is no such thing, he just does yoga! Its just as silly to have a “woman’s weight workout” Your goals determine the workout type, not your gender or anything else.

The only reason that “Woman” is in the page name and the title is for google-fodder. There is no such thing as a “woman’s workout! For each workout goal, there is an appropriate workout plan. Its just that most of the time a man’s goal is to “get huge” but this is rarely a woman’s goal. There are very accomplished women powerlifters who do powerlifting workouts. There is no such thing as a “woman’s stronglifts 5×5 workout” or a “woman’s Wendler 5-3-1“. If a persons goal is to get stronger, these are good workouts no matter what your gender is. Likewise, if your goal is to gain as much muscle as possible then my beginning, intermediate, or advanced workout is right for you – no matter what your gender is.

Women often worry about looking too muscular, dont worry, its not going to happen. Even men trying really hard often cant make it happen and they have 10X more testosterone than you do. Google “woman’s workout” and most pages will have the horrible word “toning“. If you dont want to get stronger then dont waste your time going to the gym and lifting weights. If you want to lose bodyfat to get “toned” then its 90% nutrition, 9.9% cardio, and 0.1% weight lifting.

Beginning Bodyweight Workout

This is a great 30 minute beginning workout for men or women that can be done at home. It combines cardio and resistance training into one non-stop great workout that will help you lose fat and get stronger. The only thing required is a cheap resistance band set available for $10 at big box stores. Please make sure to get cleared by your physician before starting any workout program.  Make sure to crank your favorite tunes during this workout, it helps to make it fun!  Here is a video that shows how to perform this workout:

Burpees for cardio, 10 minutes

You will do 10 minutes of these non-stop for a cardio workout. Do these as fast as you are able. You heartrate should be between 50% and 85% of your maximum heart rate. The below photo sequence shows the four positions of the burpee:

Modified burpee (starting position)Modified burpee (mid position)Modified burpee (ending position)Modified burpee (mid position)
You start in a standing position with your hands over head (photo 1). Now bend down and put your hands on the floor in front of you (photo2). Now jump back with your feet which puts you in a pushup like position (photo 3). Now while keeping your hands on the ground, walk forward till your feet are behind your hands again (photo 4). Now stand up and put your hands over your head again which puts you back to the starting position (photo 1). If you have limited flexibility or find that this exercise is painful to your joints then just substitute step-ups onto a sturdy stepstool for this exercise.

Pushups for chest, 5 minutes

Knee pushup (starting position)Knee pushup (ending position)

Do the knee pushup on a carpet or cushion to protect your knees. If you have pushup stands, it makes these pushups much easier on your wrists.  If you find knee pushups too difficult, then you can do counter pushups.  Do these for five minutes and take breaks as needed during the five minutes.
starting position: Hands are about shoulder width apart. Your spine and thighs make a perfect line, dont let your butt sag and dont let it point up in the air. Keep your abs flexed tight to support your lower back. Keep your shoulder blades back like you are trying to hold a tennis ball between them.
ending position: Now slowly lower yourself over a one or two second count. When you are lowering, keep your head aligned with your spine – dont bob your head up and down. Then slowly raise yourself back up to the starting position.

Band Rows and Band Squats, 5 minutes

For this five minutes you will alternate doing 15 repetitions of resistance band rows for lats with 15 reps of squats for your legs.  You will continue alternating until the 5 minutes are up.

Bungee row (starting position)Bungee row (ending position)

When you are doing the resistance band row, make sure to hold your shoulders down and back the whole time.  Pretend you are holding a tennis ball between your shoulder blades.  Your legs should be bent slightly but you should not bounce up and down.  The abs are flexed the whole time to support your lower back.

starting position: Arms are straight but not locked.
ending position: Slowly pull the bands back rubbing your arms along your sides as you do.  Make sure to keep your torso motionless, the only movement should be in your arms drawing backwards.

 

Bungee squat (starting position)Bungee squat (ending position)

starting position: Plant your feet where there is a slight amount of tension on the resistance bands.  In the up position, the legs are nearly straight but not locked out.  The abs are flexed to support the lower back.
ending position: Now slowly squat scissoring your butt backward like you are going to sit on a chair.  The weight should be much more on your heels than your toes.  If you have done both these things correctly then your knees will not extent past your toes and knee strain will be minimized.  Your back should not be arched like a cat nor humped like a camel but rather in the neutral position.  Continue slowly downward.  If you have knee issues, stop when your knee is at 90 degrees.  If you have good knees, continue downward till your thighs are parallel to the ground or even lower as the above picture indicates.  Now slowly raise back up.

Resistance Band Curls and Side Raises, 5 minutes

For this five minutes you will be doing 15 repetitions of resistance band curls for biceps followed by 15 repetitions of side raises for shoulders.  You will continue alternating between curls and side raises till your five minutes is up.

Bungee biceps curls (starting position)Bungee biceps curls (ending position)

starting position:  Knees slightly bent but stationary.  The abs are contracted to support the lower back.  The shoulders are held down and back with your chest thrust out.  Your elbows are pinned at your side.
ending position: Now slowly bend your elbow while keeping them pinned to your sides.  There should be no motion in your body at all except your forearms slowly rotating upward.  When up as far as you can go, slowly go back down.

 

Bungee shoulder side raise (starting position)Bungee shoulder side raise (ending position)

starting position: Knees slightly bent.  Abs contracted to support your lower back.  Shoulders held down and back with your chest thrust out.  Arms straight but not locked down at your sides.
ending position: Slowly raise your arms up to horizontal while keeping your shoulders down and back with your chest thrust out.  Keep your palms facing down.  Make sure only your arms move, the rest of your body should be motionless.  Now slowly lower your arms back down.

Front Planks, 5 Minutes

Front planksFront planks

The front plank is deceptively difficult, how hard can just laying there be?  Your forearms and feet should be on the floor with your body held perfectly straight.  Dont let your butt sag like a donkey or arch like a hissing cat.  Hold this position as long as you can, then take a little break and then do it again.  Hold the plank for as much of the 5 minutes as you can.

Weekly Schedule

There you have it!  A complete 30 minute whole body workout that you can do at home.  Now lets look at how to put this into a weekly workout:

  • Monday: 30 minute resistance band workout
  • Tuesday: 30 minutes brisk walking
  • Wednesday: 30 minute resistance band workout
  • Thursday: 30 minutes brisk walking
  • Friday: 30 minute resistance band workout
  • Saturday – rest day
  • Sunday – rest day

Nutrition

If you are trying to lose some bodyfat, you need to make some nutritional changes as well as starting an exercise program.  Many beginners make the mistake of thinking they can eat whatever they want now that they have started exercising – wrong!  Its very easy to out-eat your exercise.  Please read about ways to eat less, many of them are much easier than you think!