If you are a woman who wants to lose weight and new to working out, you likely have many questions on how to get started. Here is a solid female weight loss workout plan for beginners.
Before we jump into your workout plan, a few key points need to be made.
Workout Consistency
The first thing you need to do is figure out the best time of day to workout.
If you are not a morning person, but you are going to try and fit in your workouts in the morning, you are setting yourself up for failure.
You also need to make your workouts a PRIORITY.
Most people work out as an afterthought. This is why they don’t get the results they want.
It is absolutely critical that you are consistent in your routine if you want to achieve your weight loss goals.
Everyone misses a workout now and then. When it becomes a habit, you will lose site of your goals.
Those of us who train regularly have a saying… “don’t put up a zero!” This means if you know you are not going to be able to fit in a workout, just do something.
Bang out a few pushups, sit ups, or a quick walk around the block. A little bit of something is better than a whole lot of nothing!
Mindset
I touched on this a little bit above with the afterthought comment.
You have to develop the right mindset to achieve the goals you set for yourself. Unfortunately, you can’t just turn it on.
The consistency will help you achieve the results you desire.
When you get some results, you will be more interested in continuing your program.
These results may come in the form of a noticeable improvement in your strength, a few pounds shed, or the ability to walk, ride or jog a bit faster and longer than when you started.
Therefore, keep track of your progress, as that will help you develop the mindset needed to continue.
Build Muscle
Most women tend to shy away from lifting weights for fear of getting bulky.
However, increased muscle mass is a critical part of the formula for losing unwanted body fat and transforming your body.
You need to increase that muscle mass in order to increase your metabolism, which will help you burn more energy as fat.
Therefore, properly programmed strength training will need to be part of your plan.
Diet and Nutrition
If you are overweight, you are likely going to need to make some changes to your diet.
However, this does not mean changing it completely. That is a recipe for failure.
What you need to do is begin to keep track of everything you eat, how many calories you consume, and your macros.
You will also need to calculate how many calories you typically burn throughout the day. This is based upon the amount of activity you typically do aside from working out.
Once you have that figure, you adjust how much you consume accordingly. You can calculate your basal metabolic rate here… BMR.
It is also critical that you eat enough protein, and consume fewer empty carbs.
Alright, with those points out of the way, let’s get to the best female weight loss workout plan for beginners.
A female weight loss workout plan for beginners
This plan includes three full body strength training workouts per week, and three cardio exercise sessions per week.
If you are over 60, after a period of time, you may find it difficult to recover from the strength training workouts as their intensity increases. Therefore, you will want to back off to two days per week.
If you are significantly overweight, the cardio exercise will simply taking the form of walking, either outside or on a treadmill.
Our strength training program focuses on compound exercises as follows:
- Squat
- Deadlift
- Bench Press
- Lat Pulldown
- Seated dumbbell press
Let’s have a look at each of these exercises.
Squat
The squat is most effective when performed with a barbell. This exercise engages the most amount of muscle tissue, which is why it is often referred to as the king of all exercises.
The muscle groups engaged in this exercise include the quads, hamstrings, glutes and core
If you are significantly overweight, you’ll probably want to start out with bodyweight squats, then progress to a goblet squat, before ultimately working with the barbell.
Deadlift
The deadlift engages the most muscle groups, and is therefore the second most important exercise behind the squat.
This exercise works the body from head to toe, and eventually, you can lift more weight with this exercise than any other.
The muscle groups involved in this lift include the quads, hamstrings, lower back, glutes, lats, traps and forearms.
Bench Press
The bench press is the upper body exercise that allows us to develop the most upper body strength. As such, it allows you to build more muscle than any other upper body exercise.
This exercise works the pects, front of the shoulder, triceps and forearms.
If you are relatively weak as a newbie, you can easily adapt this exercise to the use of dumbbells.
Lat Pulldown
This is an important exercise for developing pulling strength. It works the muscles of the upper back, lats, biceps and forearms.
Seated Dumbbell Press
The seated dumbbell press is effective at developing the shoulders as well as the triceps.
Sets and reps for this female weight loss workout plan for beginners
Research suggests that it requires 10 to 20 sets per week to build muscle tissue for the muscles you are targeting.
Therefore, for each of the exercises listed above, you will want to perform about three working sets, as there is some overlap among the exercises.
What I mean by three working sets is that the last couple of reps of each set should be somewhat difficult.
For each exercise, do a couple warm up sets with a light weight. Use a very light weight for your first set and do ten reps. This should be very easy, and the focus is on the movement pattern.
The second set should be done with a slight increase in weight and only enough rest to change the weight. Do another ten reps.
The three working sets should be done with 8 to 12 reps, and heavier weight. You will want to rest 2 to 3 minutes in between sets.
With each workout, you will want to either add reps or weight.
If you start out conservatively enough, you should be able to add reps or weight every workout for a number of months. Along the way you will be building strength and muscle!
One final note… it is highly recommended that you get coaching for each of these exercises to be sure you are performing the movements correctly. This will help you avoid injury.
Cardio Exercise for this weight loss workout plan
Our selection for our cardiovascular exercise is what we call Zone 2 cardio. This type of cardio is best performed on a machine, such as a treadmill, stepper or exercise bike.
Without getting into scientific detail here, this form of cardio is best at turning the body into a fat burning machine.
Zone 2 refers to the rate your heart is beating as you are exercising.
Most exercise is done in one of five zones. The zone that requires the least effort is Zone 1, and Zone 5 is all out, 100% effort.
While working in Zone 2, you are able to do all your breathing through your nose. You can carry on a conversation by speaking a few sentences and then taking a breath.
Your heart will be operating at 60% to 70% capacity as indicated by your heart rate.
Zone 2 cardio is most effective when performed for 45 minutes or more for a minimum of three sessions per week.
Initially, that will be a tall order if you are an absolute beginner.
Therefore, start out conservatively by shooting for 15 to 20 minutes, and work your way up. You want to have a goal of working up to 60 minute sessions eventually.
The benefit is that you will lose unwanted fat and build lasting heart and lung health.
Final Thoughts
So there you have it. A complete female weight loss workout plan for beginners.
Remember, mindset, consistency and appropriate changes to your diet will be additional keys to your success.
If you are still not sure if this is right for you, consider your own personal exercise prescription.
Now, get to work!
