Sculpting A Feminine Physique
By Brad Schoenfeld, CPT

Women's fitness has come a long way. In the not-to-distant-past, it was considered taboo for a woman to lift weights. Common wisdom preached that anaerobic exercise would "masculinize" the female physique, causing women to avoid weighted exercise movements like the plague. Fortunately, advances in exercise science have debunked this myth and the majority of women now realize that weight training is the key to a shapely physique. In fact, recent statistics show that a quarter of the female population lift weights on a regular basis.

However, to a great extent, women's training remains an enigma. With rare exception, women don't want large, bulky muscles. Rather, they seek to develop a sleek, toned physique that retains its femininity. Yet most women are confused as to how to accomplish this complex task. Some employ a "bodybuilding" routine and ultimately gain too much mass. Others take the opposite route and use weights that are so light they never stimulate muscles. Clearly, without a proper course of action, a woman will be disappointed with her results.

Fortunately, every woman has the ability to sculpt a feminine physique-provided she adheres to the following protocols. By incorporating these protocols into your workout, you'll achieve tone without bulk and develop the hard bod you've always dreamed of.


Train Expeditiously
Women generally give little thought to the amount of time taken between sets. During their workout, they'll relax, talk to friends, or maybe even check out a member of the opposite sex. While these activities might help to bide the time, they do little to improve your physique.

Generally speaking, women should keep their rest intervals to a minimum, taking no more than 30 seconds between sets. As a rule, training should commence before you can fully catch your breath. A fast-paced workout creates a distinct aerobic effect to your routine, keeping your heart rate elevated throughout the session. This results in a substantial increase in caloric expenditure, ultimately helping to elevate metabolism and reduce bodyfat.


Train With High Reps
To achieve a lean, feminine physique, it is generally best to train in a high rep range employing between 15 to 20 reps per set. High reps target your slow-twitch muscle fibers (also called Type I fibers). These fibers are predominantly utilized during continuous activities sustained for long periods of time. Because of their endurance-oriented nature, slow twitch fibers have only a limited ability to increase in size. Thus, by targeting these fibers, you'll attain a lean, toned physique without substantially increasing muscular mass.

In addition, because of the reliance on slow twitch fibers, high-rep training is a great source for fat burning. Slow twitch fibers have a large amount of mitochondria-"cellular furnaces" where fat burning takes place-that expedite the use of fat as an energy source. This allows them to get much of their energy by burning fat for fuel. Consequently, training with high reps helps to decrease your bodyfat stores and thereby accentuates lean muscle tone.


Train Intensely
Women are often hesitant to train hard. They somehow feel that intense training will create a bulky, masculine physique. Nothing can be further from the truth. To achieve your full genetic potential, the intensity you apply must be great enough to exceed your body's work threshold. By nature, the human body strives to maintain a stable state of equilibrium called homeostasis. If your training intensity doesn't sufficiently tax your resources, there won't be enough of a stimulus to force your body from its homeostatic state. Only by stressing your muscles beyond their physical capacity will they be compelled to produce an adaptive response and exact a change in your body.

For optimal results, it is essential to train with all-out intensity, taking each set to the point of momentary muscular failure. Weight training is perhaps the only activity where failure is a desired outcome. This is a strange concept for many women to grasp, and is often met with a great deal of skepticism. We live in a society where we are rewarded for our accomplishments and punished for our failures. From the time we are born, we are urged to succeed. Failure is always thought of as an unacceptable alternative. However, if you want to look your best, you need to work each muscle to its fullest extent-and that means going all out on each set.