If you’re getting bored with all the steady state cardio workouts, we highly recommend that you add some dumbbells to your workout routine. Let’s face it, long sessions on the treadmill, elliptical, or cycle can become incredibly boring. They may be great for burning calories, but they aren’t necessarily the best route to take if you’re looking to get toned. While running and cycling support weight management, they aren’t necessarily made to build muscle. Resistance training is the best option to increase your strength and develop that toned appearance.
It’s time to ditch the idea that strength training is a “men’s thing”. In this article, we’ll explore the research-backed benefits of a strength-training schedule for women and outline how to build a balanced weekly routine.
A balanced strength-training schedule for women targets all the major muscle groups. It also provides enough rest for recovery and supports individual goals. This could be by building muscle, gaining strength, or improving overall health. The key to achieving balance is working each muscle group hard enough to stimulate growth and then allowing 48 to 72 hours for repair before training it again (1).
Strength training simply means challenging your muscles against resistance (2). It doesn’t matter if this comes from machines, free weights, resistance bands, or your own body weight. You don’t need a gym membership to get started – many effective exercises can be done right at home, including:
When performed consistently, it can deliver powerful long-term benefits. For example, a 2022 meta-analysis of 24 randomized controlled trials found that resistance training improved walking distance, lower-body strength, and gait speed in community-dwelling seniors (3).
This is why a consistent strength-training routine is so essential for women. It can help preserve muscle mass, which will directly keep you strong and independent as you age.
For more details about Pilates vs strength training, take a look at our prior publication.
Read more: 3-Day Muscle-Building Workout Plan for Beginners at the Gym
Yes, it’s absolutely important for women and sadly, there have been misconceptions in the past that may have convinced you that lifting will make you “bulk up”. Below are some of the scientifically backed perks you can experience when you include strength training in your schedule:
You Can Become Stronger
Strength training helps your metabolism in two main ways. First, when you build muscle, your body naturally burns more calories, even when you’re resting, because muscle uses more energy than fat (4). Second, your metabolism stays higher for hours (and sometimes even days) after a strength-training workout, so you keep burning extra calories long after you’re done exercising (5).
Whether you’re a workout beast or just a beginner making your first foray into the world of fitness and dieting – BetterMe has a lot to offer to both newbies and experts! Install the app and experience the versatility first-hand!
The Fall Risks May Reduce
Research has shown that while all exercise can reduce fall risk, strength training (particularly for the legs) can be beneficial (6). Studies also confirm that many forms of strength training work, from weight training to tai chi and resistance band exercises (7).
This is important because millions of Americans, particularly women, are under-muscled, and muscle mass is closely tied to longevity. As muscle mass peaks in your 30s and then continues to decline with age, skipping strength training increases the chances of weakness and ultimately falls, a leading cause of death among older adults.
Supports Immune System Health
Women should follow a weight- or functional-strength training program to support muscle growth and overall health. It can help your immune and lymphatic systems, reduce water retention, and improve balance and strength. Muscle loss may accelerate around age 40, particularly during menopause, when estrogen levels drop (8). This makes consistent functional strength training essential for maintaining muscle and preventing decline.
Can Promote Flexibility Improvements
Research has shown that strength training can improve your joint range of motion (ROM). This allows you to move more easily and stay flexible (9). People with weaker muscles usually have lower ROM and flexibility, so building strength really matters. A recent review found that strength training works just as well as stretching for improving mobility (10).
To get the best results, particularly if you’re following a strength-training schedule for women at home, make sure you’re moving through the full range of each exercise. This means using your whole range of motion around a joint, such as lowering into a squat as far as you can comfortably while maintaining good form.
So, yes, strength training is essential for women as they age. Furthermore, relaxation, in the form of sauna or meditation, can also help to destress the body and mind. You’ll hear plenty of tips on aging gracefully. While strength training is important, your food intake and other healthy lifestyle habits will contribute to your longevity.
You should follow all the safety protocols when doing strength training to ensure you don’t end up injuring yourself. This means being cautious of your form and the weights you lift. For most women, a safe and effective schedule involves training 3 to 4 days per week, using a split (such as upper/lower or full-body) to ensure each muscle group gets enough rest.
Here are some tips you should follow when integrating strength training into your schedule:
A 2023 review of several studies found that resistance training is safe and highly effective for women with long-term muscle or joint pain (11). It improved their strength, reduced their pain, and boosted their overall quality of life. It also helped lower the fear of movement that often comes with chronic pain, which shows that getting stronger is a necessary step toward feeling better and staying independent.
If we consider the standards that are provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), we find that strength training twice a week can do the trick (12). However, a recent study in BMC Sports Science, Medicine and Rehabilitation showed that resistance training, even once a week, can be quite helpful (13).
As your skill level increases, you should increase the intensity and volume of your training to trigger muscle growth. Check out the table below to determine a strength training schedule for women at different stages of their training:
| Frequency (Sessions/Week) | Target Audience/Goal |
|---|---|
| 2-3 | For beginners, it also helps general health, maintenance, and developing strength in various functional movement patterns |
| 3-4 | For intermediate to advanced users, it helps reach most general fitness goals and supports consistent progress |
| 5-6 | For experienced or athletic women, it allows them to hit advanced goals. Great for bodybuilders |
It’s the versatility of strength training that makes it worth applauding. You don’t need to be a frequent gym-goer to see the results – you can start with super slow strength training and progress to higher goals as your body allows.
Read more: 3-Day Workout Plan for Muscle Gain: Your Ultimate Guide
If your goal is to become stronger and build lean muscle, make sure you train all the major muscle groups twice a week. Here are two great schedule options that work really well:
This routine works for most women, particularly beginners. It trains all key muscle groups multiple times each week and still leaves enough time for rest.
| Day | Workout Focus | Sample Exercises |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | Full-body workout A | Squats, bench press, dumbbell rows, overhead press, planks |
| Tuesday | Rest/active recovery | Walking, light yoga, or cardio |
| Wednesday | Full-body workout B | Deadlifts, lunges, pull-ups/lat pulldowns, dumbbell chest fly, farmer’s carries |
| Thursday | Rest/active recovery | Walking, light yoga, or cardio |
| Friday | Full-body workout C | Goblet squats, Single arm or single leg exercises, lateral raises, glute bridges |
| Saturday | Cardio/rest | Longer cardio session or complete rest |
| Sunday | Rest | Complete rest |
You train your entire body (lower, push, and pull muscles) in every session. It also allows for maximum frequency and recovery on the off-days.
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This setup allows you to increase your weekly training and target muscles more effectively by dedicating days to upper- and lower-body training.
| Day | Workout Focus | Sample Exercises |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | Upper-body (strength) | Chest, back, shoulders, biceps, triceps |
| Tuesday | Lower-body (strength) | Quads, hamstrings, glutes, calves |
| Wednesday | Rest/active recovery | Walking, light yoga, or cardio |
| Thursday | Upper-body (hypertrophy) | Chest, back, shoulders, biceps, triceps (different exercises/rep ranges) |
| Friday | Lower-body (hypertrophy) | Quads, hamstrings, glutes, calves (different exercises/rep ranges) |
| Saturday | Cardio/core/rest | Active recovery or dedicated core work |
| Sunday | Rest | Complete rest |
By hitting each leading muscle group twice a week, you can see faster improvements in both strength and muscle size.
The core principles of strength training should remain the same, no matter where you’re working out. The exercises and progression methods are constant and should be according to the limited equipment and space available at home.
When you make a habit of doing these home workouts in your weekly sessions, you may start to enjoy them. And the results that you witness on your mental and physical self will convince you to keep going. Later, this approach can be adapted into a 12-week body transformation workout plan for females, even if you’re training at home.
Tracking progress in any workout helps one to stay consistent. You can understand what’s working and what’s not so that you can get closer to your goals. A few simple ways to track your strength training schedule include:
When you record your progress regularly, every small win becomes visible. And those wins add up to long-term results.
Yes, lifting weights can help you lose belly fat through a few different mechanisms. However, it’s important to remember that spot reduction of body fat is not possible – you sadly can’t pick and choose where your body loses fat first. In order to see body fat loss, you’ll need to put your body into a calorie deficit. This means that you’re burning more calories than you’re consuming. Lifting weights will increase your daily calorie burn and help you gain muscle. Muscle is more metabolically active than fat tissue. The more muscle you have, the more calories you burn while resting. If strength is your primary goal, do weights first so you’re fresh. If you’re focusing on endurance or just want an extra calorie burn, do cardio first and then quickly jump into strength training to keep your elevated heart rate up for the entire workout. Pick the order that best matches your goals. As we’ve already mentioned, there is no exercise or workout that will directly cause you to lose belly fat. However, full-body, high-effort moves such as squats, deadlifts, rowing, and kettlebell swings all burn a significant amount of calories. Pilates usually feels best after weights because your body is already warm and your core is activated. However, if Pilates is your main focus that day, doing it first can work too. It really depends on your goals and how you prefer to balance Pilates vs. strength training in your routine.Frequently Asked Questions
Can lifting weights help me lose belly fat?
Should you do cardio before or after weights?
What exercise burns the most belly fat?
Should you do Pilates before or after weights?
At the end of the day, building a strength training schedule as a woman doesn’t have to feel overwhelming or overly technical. When you show up every day and give your body the rest it needs to grow stronger, you can start to see the difference. Mix in some movements you genuinely enjoy, track your progress in a simple way (even quick notes count!), and adjust things as your fitness level improves.
Don’t expect to build a well-built body in a few weeks. Every workout brings you a little closer to the strongest version of you. Keep going!
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