Beginner Gym Workout for Females
Table of Contents
Beginner Gym Workout Female
The exercise world can be an intimidating place, especially for beginners! Add in a gym full of buff individuals who are using equipment and waiting for machines, it’s no wonder some people never return!
Remember that everyone who is experienced at the gym was once a beginner too. While it might seem intimidating to decide what equipment to use, and how to perform exercises, it is actually quite simple! And we can help walk you through it.
A beginner gym workout for females can be simple, effective, and enjoyable! Keeping an open mind to exercise and equipment will help you decide what type of workouts you enjoy best and feel like you are achieving the most results from. Remember that working out doesn’t always mean you have to be in the gym! A 5K run, Soccer match, Yoga session, and swim in the pool are all forms of exercise!
Before performing any type of exercise, we suggest going through a dynamic warm-up. Our how-to do video series on Dynamic Warm-ups will show you exactly how to create your warm-up. Performing a 5–10-minute warm-up prior to exercise will reduce your risk of injury, and prime your muscles for movement, do not skip this step!
Each workout should also be followed by a 5–10-minute cool down. Cooldowns generally consist of static stretches. To learn more about this type of stretching, please refer to our how-to do video series on Static Stretching.
Beginner Gym Workout Routine Female
So, you’ve got to the gym, now what? Typically, individuals will divide their body into sections, and dedicate a day for each. For example, one session could be focused on Back exercises, another could be focused on Chest exercises, Shoulders, and Legs. Of course, how you choose to structure your workout is totally up to you. You could decide to do a full-body three times a week if you wanted to!
Once you have decided what your workout will be focused on, it’s time to decide what rep and set range are right for you. Repetitions are the number of times you perform an exercise during a set. A set is the number of times you are performing a repetition. For instance, if you are performing Squats for 2 sets of 10 reps, you will perform a Squat 10 times in a row, take a rest and then perform 10 Squats in a row again. For beginners, we suggest performing about 3 sets of 10-12 reps using a load where you have 2 reps in reserve.
As you advance, you will learn that depending on your exercise goals (i.e strength, endurance, hypertrophy), there are different set and rep suggestions. If you are unsure about how to know if you are working hard enough, check out our article on Rating of Perceived Exertion (RPE) for a simple way to breakdown RPE when weightlifting.
Beginner Gym Workout Female Cardio
You can perform Cardiovascular exercises using various machines such as a Treadmill, Rowing Machine, Elliptical, Spin Bike, and Step Machine. You can also perform Cardiovascular exercise by going for a brisk walk, run, skipping, and performing other large, rhythmic movements.
Cardiovascular exercise is important because it helps to reduce our risk factors for heart disease, as well as reduce blood pressure and regulate blood sugar. Everyone’s cardiovascular endurance will be different. For some, going on a 5K run will be simple, while for others, just 20 minutes of running can seem impossible. Luckily, with dedication, everyone can improve their cardiovascular endurance!
If improving your Cardiovascular Endurance is your fitness goal, you need to be focused on Cardiovascular exercise at least 3 days per week. If you have never run before, try going out for a 15-minute run 2-3x per week. Every 1-2 weeks, try increasing your run by 5-10 minutes. If a 15-minute run is too difficult, try interval running for 15 minutes. This means that you can run for 1-2 minutes and walk for 30 seconds-1 minute to help you last for the full 15 minutes. After a few sessions of achieving your goal, try increasing the duration of your running time. Soon enough you will be able to run for the full 15 minutes!
If improving Cardiovascular Endurance is not your exercise goal, be sure to include at least 1-2 good cardio-focused exercise sessions per week to maintain and improve your heart health! If you don’t enjoy the Cardio machines at the gym, try doing High-Intensity Interval Training (HITT) instead! This style of workout will keep your heart rate up and achieve the same cardiovascular benefits.
3 Days a Week 4 Week Beginner Gym Workout Female
3 days a week is a great place to start beginner workouts. Depending on your lifestyle, finding 45-60 minutes a day to workout can be challenging! Remember that you can always break up this time into two 30-minute bouts or even three 20-minute bouts throughout your day.
Below you will find a sample 3 days a week, 4-week beginner gym workout for someone who is looking to increase muscular strength. You can perform all of these exercises at home with dumbbells. Try starting out with 2-3 sets of 10-12 reps. Depending on your fitness ability, you can increase or decrease the time, reps, and sets to suit your ability!
All exercises can be found here.
