The fat won’t come off, right? No matter what you do, the scale won’t budge.
But don’t despair, because you’re probably NOT doing the very four routines that’ll kick that blubber clear to the curb.
Big exercises will cause BIG weight loss. Are you doing any of the following exercises?
And if so, are you really pushing it good or are you just lazily going through the motions?
Many overweight women are hesitant to push hard when it comes to strength training because they think this’ll give them manly muscles.
But you’re already too big for you’re liking. You will NOT get bigger from moving weights.
You will get smaller — especially from doing these four routines intensely.
Bon bons, not barbells, make a woman bigger!
Here are four routines that increase resting metabolic rate and force muscles to burn stored body fat for recovery energy.
1. Barbell squats. You should use the “squat cage” for these once you can do more than 45 pounds with good form.
Shutterstock/Vladimir Sukhachev
However, these must be done intensely to help shear off fat. “Intensely” means eight to 12 reps using a load that makes you have to work hard for those reps. Do six sets with 90 seconds in between each.
2. Deadlifts. Proper form is a must, even though this is a simple exercise in that all you do is bend over to grab a barbell on the floor, then with straight arms, return to an erect standing position as you lift the barbell off the floor.
Shutterstock/MilanMarkovic78
Freepik.com
I recommend six to eight reps with a load heavy enough to make these VERY challenging, but not to the point where you lose your form.
The barbell should not be dropped to the floor. It should be lowered with control, then barely tapped to the floor before rising again for the next repetition.
Do six sets with two minutes in between each.
3. Hamstring curls. Prone: When you curl the pad up, squeeze it against your butt for three seconds before lowering it.
Freepik.com
Most people only “bounce” it toward the buttocks. Hold it there tightly, then lower on a 5-count. Set weight heavy enough so that you absolutely cannot do more than 6-8 reps.
Do six sets with 90 seconds in between. This same principle can be applied to seated hamstring curls; bend legs toward you as much as possible and squeeze there for three seconds.
4. Leg press. Many women who are struggling to lose body fat actually use this equipment.
The most efficient way to do the leg press, however, is to bring the knees close to the chest, but keep them flared apart so that your chest/torso doesn’t block the range of motion of your legs.
Shutterstock/Aleksey Boyko
Feet should be shoulder-width or wider apart. Use a load that makes eight to 12 reps very difficult and “burning,” and take only 45 to 60 seconds in between each set, for six total sets.
Beginners should start out with a VERY light load, because it’s easy to pull a muscle if untrained legs work too hard on this equipment.
This is a safe exercise, but an induction period of about three weeks is necessary to protect against pulling a muscle before progressing to an intense eight to 12 rep set.
In addition to these exercises you should also do upper body strength training.
The four exercises here, as you’ve surely noticed, involve a lot of leg work.
The legs and butt muscles are the largest in the body, and hence, require the most fuel (body fat) to recover post-workout.
These four routines will do FAR more for shrinking your waistline, flattening your stomach and trimming your outer and inner thighs than will any number of crunches, sit-ups, side bends or inner-outer thigh machine reps will ever do.
You’ll get results if you perform these moves once a week, but if you’re up to the challenge, you can do them twice a week — for even better fat loss and leg shaping results.
