The Exercise Results Women Want

By Paul Chek

Women today are bombarded by the media with quick fix solutions to their esthetic desires. Everything from pills, supplements and fad diets, to liposuction and plastic surgery. Those with a little more determination make valiant attempts to stay healthy and slim with aerobics classes and exercise programs. It is unfortunate however, that many fitness center staff are also caught up in the quick-fix mentality and undereducated in the best types of exercise programs for women. Evidence of poor conditioning and a lack of understanding of the importance of conditioning women among coaches and trainers can be found in the statistics: Women suffer more orthopedic injury than males in almost every sport in which both sexes compete (1). A chronic lack of strength and function in the lower abdominals & pelvic floor muscles is evident in the 47.5% of women at an average age of only 38.5 years who suffer from incontinence (2). Both these problems can often be helped with the correct exercise program.

The majority of women are inspired to exercise for esthetic reasons – weight loss, muscle toning, re-shaping of thighs, butt, stomach, arms and so on. But, and this is a big but, an exercise program can just as easily break a person as build them up. This is especially relevant when women train.

So, what are the best types of exercises to help women reach their goals and also improve health and function at the same time?

PERFECT POSTURE MAKES PERFECT

The first goal of any exercise program for women is to correct

any postural mal-alignments she might have. There are a number of postural problems that are common in women, such as excessive forward head posture, increased first rib angle, altered shoulder girdle position and altered pelvic tilt (Figure1), that can have a negative effect of the outcome of an exercise

program if not corrected. In addition, many of the pressures of society today contribute to poor posture. High heels, breast enhancements and the seated workplace are all culprits.

The best exercises to improve posture are those that activate postural and stabilizer muscles. Swiss balls are the ideal tool for this and most Swiss ball exercises, when performed correctly, will enhance posture (3,4,5).

MUSCLE BURNS CALORIES!

Women tend to gravitate toward the machines, be they aerobic or resistance training machines. When they do perform weight training, they often use very low intensities, socialize between sets, and seldom build any muscle because of this.

While using cardio machines does help burn calories, your body also becomes progressively more efficient at cardio exercise. The result is more miles to the gallon when the aim is actually to become less fuel-efficient with fewer miles to the gallon. Aerobic exercise has also been shown to be associated with increased levels of glucocorticoids, hormones which are catabolic in nature (6) and so do not favor increasing muscle mass; the very muscle you need to burn fat! Men have a hard time building muscle and they have ten-times the amount of testosterone – the hormone that helps to build muscle mass – compared to women. Combine the catabolic response of aerobic exercise with the naturally lower abilities of women to build muscle, and you can see why it us few women get the results they are looking for with large amounts of cardio training.

This is why resistance training performed with acute exercise variables suitable for bodybuilding is good for women. Exercises performed at an 8-12 rep intensity, slow tempos, and short rest periods (1 minute) stimulate muscle growth and protein synthesis (6). Hormones that step-up metabolism such as testosterone and growth hormone, are known to be more prevalent in the blood stream after exposure to body building protocols (7).This results in increased caloric consumption, often for some time after resistance training is completed. In fact, fit people always metabolize more fat, and can metabolize fat at higher intensities than the unfit person (8). Suggested acute variable for resistance training are given in Table 1.

Table 1

Acute variables for Resistance Training

 

	Station Format	Circuit Format
Sets	1-3	1-3
Reps	8-12	10
Load	8-12 rep load	12 rep load
Rest	1:00 min between sets	1:30min between circuits

Interestingly, Australian researcher Robby Parker showed that after performing resistance training, obese pre-menopausal women used 50% more fat, even though total metabolic rate did not change. He also noted that resistance training appears better for reducing abdominal fat than aerobic exercise (8).

FREE WEIGHT TRAINING

Without contest, resistance training programs based around free weights (dumbbells, barbells and cable machines) win hands down when it comes to women training. There are multiple reasons for this – one is that free weight exercises activate more muscles and therefore burn more calories than machine exercises. A soon as the body is stabilized during any resistance exercise (i.e., sitting or lying on a machine), activation of the centrally generated recruitment patterns needed to activate postural and stabilizer muscles is reduced to almost nothing (7). This is not good if you want to burn fat! In addition, it also means that you are increasing strength in prime movers without increasing the strength of the smaller postural and stabilizer muscles. Over time this can lead to postural problems, injuries and pain.

This does not mean that women should not use machines, it simply means that their program should contain a significant (=/> 50%) percentage of free weight exercises. Women should also perform their free weight training prior to machine training exercises, allowing more neural energy for activation of postural and stabilizer muscles.

 Most women exercise on machines, avoiding free weights for fear of GETTING BIG! Here are several reasons why this is more myth than reality:

• Women have about ten times less testosterone and far greater levels of estrogen in their blood stream than males at all times (9).
• Studies on hypertrophy using muscle-building protocols also show that women do not achieve the same hypertrophic responses in fast twitch fibers that males do (10,11).

Competitive female body builders train approximately three hours a day, performing 5-12 sets per body part trained. As any competitive female body builder will tell you, getting big is no easy task for a woman. It requires a significant time commitment and serious commitment to nutritional modifications and supplementation – often the hard-core supplements like steroids. It is unfortunate that the images of the female bodybuilders have become the stereotypic model for women and weight training.

If women are sure that they are gaining size when on a weight training program, they are most likely not. They should take circumference measurements at the mid-point of the upper arms, chest, waist, and mid-thighs. Every four weeks, re-measure. If they truly are putting on more muscle than they want, they can make the following changes to their program.

• Reduce the number of sets and/or exercises targeting the area of concern
• If using a station training approach (not circuit training), increase the rest time between sets to between 2:30 and 3:30
• Lower the intensity of the exercise to the point that they can perform 20 repetitions each set and then only perform 12-15 reps with that load, for a toning, not body-building response.
• Perform aerobic exercise after resistance training to encourage aerobic adaptation, which will retard anaerobic adaptation, reducing their chances of putting on muscle mass
• Perform the exercises targeting the muscle(s) of concern no more than one time each six days
• Mix free weight training with short bursts of aerobic exercise in a circuit format, keeping the heart rate elevated, work volume high and lift intensity around 50-60% 1RM. This can be added 1-2 times a week along with 1-2 station training workouts, if desired.

AEROBICS, FREEWEIGHTS, OR BOTH?

It is common practice for women to come straight out of an aerobic class and lift weights. It is unsafe to lift weights in a state of fatigue unless you are an advanced lifter with at least three years supervision by a trained conditioning coach. Innately, many women find they have a hard time with free-weights after such classes, and therefore choose machine training. If this pattern persists, women lose all the benefits of free weight training that support female physiology, including fat loss.

IF YOU WANT TO DO BOTH ….

• Keep aerobics classes (particularly those with complex dance moves) separate from free-weight training and machine training.
• If you need to do both on the same day, perform two free weight lifts, two machine exercises and / or exercises targeting one region of the abdominals, followed by an aerobic activity. To prevent injury, the aerobic activity performed after resistance training should be low in complexity, for example rowing, cycling, steppers and step mills, or elliptical trainers.
• Due to stabilizer fatigue and potential joint instability, any form of running should be avoided after performing leg exercises such as lunges, squats, box step-ups or dead lifts.

 

Some sample programs are described below:

TABLE 2

Combining Resistance Training and Aerobics for Time Efficiency

 

MONDAY	WEDNESDAY	SATURDAY
Lat. Pull Downs	Swiss Ball Seated Posture Trainer	Box Step-Ups
Lunges	Standing High Cable Row	Dumbbell Flys on Swiss Ball
Swiss Ball Push-Up	Dumbbell Biceps Curls	Front Squat
Chest Press	Triceps Press Down	Swiss Ball Supine Lateral Ball Roll
Calf Raises	Shoulder Abduction	Butt Blaster Machine
Lower Abdominals	Aerobics Class	Swiss Ball Crunch
Rowing Machine 20-30:00	Swiss Ball Reverse Crunch	Stationary Bicycle 30-45:00

 

TABLE 3.

Separating Resistance and Aerobic Training for Optimal Training Effects

 

M	T	W	Th	F	Sa	Su
Weights	Aerobics	Off	Weights	Aerobics	Weights	Off

Note: The same exercise sequencing as above may be used with aerobic exercise being performed on the days indicated.

FLEXIBILITY

Women by design, are generally more loose jointed than males. This, coupled with being weak or unprepared, has been the source of many orthopedic injuries in athletics, particularly those sports where there is physical contact. Being loose jointed is also frequently a problem for those who like to participate in distance running, often leading to chronic joint injuries.

 

There is also evidence that women experience increased joint laxity during the premenstural phase of their cycle (12). In fact, many elite female athletes report increased incidence of injury at this time, indicating that during the pre-menstrual cycle reduction of training intensity and volume may be a good idea (9,12). So, when a woman feels she need to “go easy” in a particular training session, coaches, husbands, and/or boyfriends should not dismiss her as “slacking off” or “wimping out”! This is particularly important when lifting free weights, as failure to heed the physiological warnings innately sensed by women may lead to ligament and joint injury. If a woman complains of joint laxity during her premenstrual phase, I recommend that she use less complex free weight exercises like bent-over rows, or lat. pull downs, or machine training in place of her traditional free weight compound exercises. This allows maintenance of muscle mass and strength without killing yourself!

 

World famous physical therapist Marioano Rocobado Ph.D., P.T. developed a nine-point flexibility index test that can easily be used to determine an individual’s systemic level of flexibility (9,13). This is the level of inherent flexibility that a person has, and does not look at specific muscles. To administer the test, perform the following:

1. Pull your little finger back. If it makes a 90° angle with the top of your hand when pulled back, score one point for each finger.
2. Try to push your thumb toward your flexed wrist. If you can touch your wrist with the thumb of the same side, score a point for each thumb.
3. Straighten your arms as far as possible. If your arm hyper-extends 10° or more, you score a point for each arm doing so.
4. Straighten you legs as far as possible. If either leg goes past straight to hyperextension of 10° or more, give yourself a point of each leg.
5. Finally, if you can put your palms on the floor with your legs held straight, you score an additional point.

 

Score:              0-2       Stretching and Yoga classes are recommended. Resistance training can be done through full ranges of motion (not excessive, within the ranges of motion allowed by joint capsules)

Score:              3-4       Pay special attention to which joints were loose. Participating in resistance training may result in joint injury if the joint is trained through excessive ranges of motion. Often people that have loose elbows have loose shoulders. If these people are left unattended while using a Pec Deck or Nautilus Pull Over machine, they may get to contribute to the Orthopedic surgeon’s BMW Fund!

Score:              5-9       Use high resistance weight training with reduced ranges of motion. This type of exercise program should be guided by a Physical Therapist that knows something about strength training or by a C.H.E.K Practitioner, trained in the science and practice of corrective exercise by the C.H.E.K Institute. An example of an exercise used to tighten the shoulder joints is the dumbbell bench press performed off the floor. The resistance used permits 4-6 reps on a 313 tempo and is always done under supervision. All exercises and stretches encouraging excess mobility of the joint(s) of concern are strictly prohibited – yoga classes are particularly out of bounds!

BONE HEALTH THROUGH NUTRITION & EXERCISE

Osteoporosis and dowagers hump has been something women didn’t begin thinking about until they hit the post-menopausal years. Not anymore! Research has found that women are showing up with significant bone loss and early-onset dowagers hump as young as 35 years of age! Poor nutritional habits and over exposure to exercise were cited as major contributors to the problem. (The Press newspaper, Christchurch, New Zealand, June 1998)

Clinically, I have treated many aerobicisers and distance running women for stress fractures secondary to the very same things. In fact, studies on soldiers indicated that women are 5-10 times more likely to develop a stress fracture than males, and often develop them earlier under the same conditions (14).

To have healthy bones, women need to do to things:

1. Follow a healthy eating plan – I recommend The Metabolic Typing Diet by William Wolcott and Trish Fahey, as a good starting point.
2. Use exercises loading the long bones of the body. Exercises that do this very well are exercises like squatting, lunging, bench press, and the dead lift. To avoid over-exposure to these exercises, it is best to only do each of these exercises no more than two times per week. For those with more lifting experience performing these lifts above 80% intensity, one time every 4-5 days should allow your muscles and bones to recover effectively.

CONCLUSION:

Although men and women are unquestionably very different, most women would be better off if they were encouraged to train like men instead of being led to believe that they will get big if they do so. Getting big is not even easy for men to do with their favorable anabolic hormonal profile! If a woman can lose 5-10 pounds of fat in trade for a few pounds of muscle, she will look better, feel better, and burn more fat, even when she sleeps. Women who train with a male training partner, or using a program designed for a man, must listen to their bodies when premenstrual, so they can prevent unwanted injuries.

Use of compound exercises that load the long bones of the body and activate stabilizer muscles will help with increased bone mineral density and improve joint stability and posture.

Finally, be very aware of the latest quick fix diets and fad exercise programs, and rather adopt an exercise program that will truly enhance both esthetics and health.

About Paul Chek

Paul Chek is licensed as a Holistic Health Practitioner (California) and holds the following Certifications: Certified Neuromuscular Therapist, Clinical Exercise Specialist (ACE).

He is a prominent expert in the field of holistic health and corrective and high-performance exercise. For over twenty
years, Paul’s unique, holistic approach to treatment and education has changed the lives of many. By treating the body as a whole system and finding the root cause of a problem, he has successfully coached clients toward complete resolution of their health and performance challenges. Paul is the founder of the C.H.E.K Institute, based in California.

Visit the Author’s website at: www.chekinstitute.com

References

1. James E. Zachazewski et. al. Athletic Injuries and Rehabilitation (pg. 841. 843). W.B. Saunders Co. 1996
2. Nygaard I. et. al. Exercise and Incontinence. Obstetrics and Gynecology 75:848-851, 1990
3. Paul Chek. Swiss Ball Exercises for Better Abs, Buns and Backs. (video) C.H.E.K Institute, 1996
4. Paul Chek. Swiss Ball Exercises for Athletes. (2-video set) C.H.E.K Institute, 1996
5. Paul Chek. Advanced Swiss Ball Training for Rehabilitation. (2-video set) C.H.E.K Institute, 2000
6. Paul Chek. Program Design: Choosing Reps, Sets, Loads, Tempo, and Rest Periods. (Correspondence Course) C.H.E.K Institute, 1995
7. Richard Schmidt. Motor Learning and Performance. Human Kinetics
8. Robbie Parker. Resistance Training and Fat Loss in Pre-Menopausal Women. FILEX Convention, Sydney Australia, July, 1998
9. Paul Chek. Equal, But Not the Same! Considerations for Training Females (Correspondence Course) C.H.E.K Institute, 1998
10. Diane Lee. Treatment of Pelvic Instability (445-459). Movement, Stability & Low Back Pain; The essential role of the pelvis. Ed. Andry Vleeming et.al. Churchill Livingstone 1997
11. Allen Hedrick. Training for Hypertrophy. NSCA Journal Vol. 17, No. 3, June 1995
12. Judy Daly and Wendy Ey. Hormones and Female Athletic Performance. Australian Sports Commission, 1996
13. Mariano Rocobado and Terri Antoniotti. Exercise and Total Well Being for Vertebral and Craniomandibular Disorders. IFORC Publications, Tucson Arizona, 1990
14. David B. Burr. Bone, Exercise, and Stress Fractures. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise Yearly Review,1997