Fitness
Alex Silver-Fagan Is Redefining What It Means To Be Strong
Even though more women strength train now than ever before, there is still a myth floating around that weights will make women bulky. As for women who already do strength training, the majority of them simply aren’t training properly or with enough resistance to produce an effect.
One thing we can all agree on, however, is that as women we want to feel strong, empowered, and confident. So, I’m here to dispel the myths you hear and to help you achieve true strength in and out of the gym.
This is for you – to help you reap the benefits of lifting weights the right way. The beginning workout will help you train with the correct exercises and with the proper intensity. Lifting weights will make you stronger, healthier and leaner, but the benefits go beyond just the physical.
– RELATED: Everything You Need To Know About Tricep Muscles –
Strength training improves your confidence, lessens your stress levels, and helps you develop overall mental toughness. How do I know? Because I have watched my own body and my own life change, along with the lives of my clients, by using a smart and systematic training program.
As a personal trainer, certified strength coach and group fitness instructor, I have worked with clients of all different levels and ages, helping them to get fit, healthy, strong, and capable of anything – so let’s do this!
Let’s get strong together and start your journey with this four-week foundation phase, which prepares your muscles for heavier weight and more intense training to come.
Follow the weekly schedule, repeating it for a total of four consecutive weeks, making sure you perform comprehensive warm-up and cool-down sequences to give your muscles the best possible platform for improvement.
Workout
Day 1: Upper Body Push
Perform these exercises back-to-back for the specified number of reps. Ret for 60 seconds and repeat twice for a total of 3 sets.
Superset
Push-ups: x8
Bodyweight Russian twitst: x16
Circuit 1
Standing DB shoulder press: x8
Triceps dip: x8
Butterfly sit-up: x10
Circuit 2
Standing dual-dumbbell biceps curl: x10
Lying dumbbell chest flye: x10
High plank shoulder tap: x8/arm
Day 2: Lower Body: Deadlift
Complete two warm-up sets with a light kettlebell, then three working sets with a heavier kettlebell (the last 2 should be hard)
Main lift
Kettlebell deadlift (light): x5
Rest: 60 secs
Repeat once for a total of 2 warm-up sets
Kettlebell deadlift (heavy): x8
Rest: 90 secs
Repeat twice for a total of 3 working sets
Circuit 1
For each circuit, perform the exercises back-to-back for the number of reps. Rest for 60 seconds and repeat twice for a total of 3 sets
Bodyweight squat: x10
Dumbbell step-up: 8 reps/leg
Fast mountain climber: 30 secs
Circuit 2
Kettlebell signle-leg deadlift: 8 reps.leg
Bodyweight reverse lunge: x16
Jump squat: x8
Day 3: Rest
Day 4: Upper Body: Pull
Perform the exercises back-to-back for the specified number of reps. Rest for 60 seconds and repeat twice for a total of 3 sets.
Superset
Ring row: x8
Kneeling medicine ball slam: x10
Circuit 1
Staggered stance single-arm row: 8 reps/arms
Dumbbell upright row: x10
Bodyweight toe touch: x12
Core finisher
Rest for 45 seconds and repeat three times for a total of 4 rounds
Kettlebell plank drag: x10
Side plank hip drop: 8reps/side
Bicycle crunch: x16
Day 5: Lower Body: Squat
Perform the exercises back-to-back for the specified number of reps. Rest for 60 seconds and repeat twice for a total of 3 sets.
Superset
Kettlebell goblet squat: x8
Forearm plank hold: Until Failure
Circuit 1
Dumbbell Romanian deadlift: x10
Bodyweight reverse lunge: x16
Jump lunge: x20
Core Finisher
Rest for 45 seconds and repeat twice for a total of 3 rounds
Slow cross mountain climber: x16
V-up: x8
Bicycle crunch: x16
Forearm plank leg march: x16
Day 6: Rest days
You have two days to rest during each week of this phase. You can move them around within each week to accommodate your schedule. Push yourself during the workouts so these rest days feel worth it. A rest day is not an inactive day; it’s simply a rest day from weights and intense cardio. Take a yoga class or go for a walk, and keep your body moving!
Day 7: Cardio day
Your cardio day should be in the form of HIIT, which will blast calories in a short period of time. With a rower or treadmill, alternate between intervals of high-intensity work (sprinting) and low-intensity rest (jogging or walking). Start with a ratio of 30 seconds work to 90 seconds rest, and gradually advance to 30 seconds work to 60 seconds rest.
Excerpted from Get Strong for Women, reprinted by permission of DK, a division of Penguin Random House LLC. ©2018 by Alex Silver-Fagan
