Do you think strength training is not for women? Strength training is not only suitable for men but, on the contrary, is also very effective for women. Strength training for women remains a topic full of questions and doubts. Perhaps you are curious about the effect of strength training for women, but still have doubts about how it will affect your body. Let's address these doubts and discover the benefits of strength training for women.

What is strength training for women?

Strength training for women is a form of fitness that focuses on increasing muscle mass and strengthening your body. During this workout, you perform intense exercises with heavier weights, but with fewer repetitions. Examples of these exercises include squats, lunges, bench presses and deadlifts. To get stronger, you gradually increase the weight you use. This is also known as progressive overload. You can usually do this workout in a gym, but it is also possible to train with weights at home.

Effect strength training women

What is the effect in strength training for women? Strength training offers numerous benefits for women, including increased muscle mass, improved metabolic health and bone strengthening. Contrary to fears of "bulking," it contributes to a tighter and leaner body by increasing metabolism. Moreover, it improves overall body strength and functional movements, making daily activities easier. So strength training is essential for women, not only for physical strength, but also for a healthier and more active lifestyle.

Testosterone Women

Women often think that strength training is only for men and that women are better off doing cardio. This is anything but true. One of the biggest misconceptions about strength training for women is that it makes you way too broad and masculine. One of the first concerns women often have with strength training is testosterone. But rest assured, ladies.

Contrary to popular belief, strength training does not create a "manly" body through increased testosterone levels. Instead, the hormone testosterone, even in lower amounts in women, contributes to muscle building and repair, which is essential for strength and overall health. Which makes you look younger and tighter.

Building Muscle Mass Woman

Another fear is the idea of becoming "too muscular. However, building muscle mass for women is not as drastic as is often thought. With the right exercises and nutrition, it is possible to develop muscle mass without becoming a "bodybuilder. It's all about balance and healthy habits. Moreover, not only does strength training make your muscles stronger, but also your bones, which reduces the risk of osteoporosis. In addition, strength training for women contributes to a healthier heart, reducing the risk of heart disease, and it lowers your blood pressure, improving your cholesterol profile.

Upper Body Workout Female

The idea of developing a muscular upper body can be intimidating. But realize that specific exercises such as press-ups, rowing and shoulder presses do not lead to a "massive" look. On the contrary, they strengthen the arms, shoulders and back, improve posture and create a leaner look. This makes you feel more confident in life. So exercising your upper body as a woman also has benefits and can actually help you in situations.

Strength Training At Home Women

An important consideration is where to work out. For many women, the gym is intimidating or doesn't always fit into their schedule. Fortunately, you can also do strength training for women at home with minimal equipment. This offers not only flexibility but also privacy and comfort while working out. However, the options are not as broad as at a gym. There are also "women-only" gyms that can make it less intimidating for you.

Lose weight with strength training woman

Want to lose weight with strength training as a woman? Strength training and losing weight for women go hand in hand. Therefore, for women who want to lose weight, strength training can be an unexpectedly powerful ally. It increases metabolism, which means you burn fat even after your workout. It contributes to a tighter body and can help achieve weight loss goals. So losing weight with strength training for women is very effective, especially when you do some cardio with it as well.

Gaining weight through strength training woman

It is also possible that you do not want to lose weight but rather gain weight. Gaining weight through strength training is therefore quite possible. By training certain muscle groups, women can get more curves, such as their buttocks. It is important that you pay attention to your nutrition when strength training as a woman. To create more curves, it is important that you eat more so that your muscles can grow. When you want to gain weight through strength training as a woman, it does not mean that you necessarily want more fat, but that you build more muscle mass. Below we will tell you more about the nutrition for strength training for women.

Strength training and nutrition women

With strength training, nutrition is also an important component. Protein in strength training for women is therefore an important nutrient. If you want to build muscle mass with strength training as a woman, it is therefore important that you get enough protein and calories. But how much protein per day in strength training for a woman should you take in? For muscle growth, it is best to eat 1.4 - 2.2 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight. In our other article, we tell you more about egg whites, and how it can help you.

How often strength training per week for women

So how often strength training per week for women is good? To build muscle mass it is best to train 3-4x per week. It is important to train all muscle groups at least once, but not the same muscle group every day. Therefore, alternate the muscle groups so your muscles have time to recover. Your muscles can only grow when they recover and this way you can prevent injuries and overtraining . For example, train your legs and buttocks the first day, your back the next day, your chest the day after and do a full body workout on the last day.

Strength training for menopausal women

During menopause, women may experience various changes, both physical and emotional. This period can be accompanied by hormonal fluctuations that affect the body and mood. It is a time when self-care and attention to health are essential. Strength training can be invaluable precisely during this phase. It not only helps maintain muscle mass and bone density, but can also help improve mood, strengthen the body and boost self-confidence. It is important to find a workout routine that fits your needs and abilities, and always listen to your own body. With the right approach, strength training can be a valuable ally during this stage of life.

Strength Training For Women Schedule

A well-thought-out training schedule for women is invaluable when you begin strength training. It should be varied, target different muscle groups and allow room for growth (rest days). A mix of cardio and strength training in your schedule for a woman provides a balanced training regime.

You may still be hesitant, but strength training for women is much more than just lifting weights. It's about consistency, proper technique and an understanding of your own body. It's an investment in your health and well-being that goes beyond physical strength. Are you looking for a fitness regimen for beginners as a woman? If so, Beyondfit may be able to help you.

Starting strength training as a woman at Beyondfit?

Would you like to start strength training but aren't sure how? Overcrowded gyms can sometimes be intimidating and maybe you're not sure where to start. At Beyondfit, our coaches will teach you all about strength training and how to properly perform different exercises. Together you will work on proper form and techniques so you can then apply them yourself. All of our trainers have a medical background so you can always train safely without injury. Schedule a free intake and together we will see how we can help you best.

These days, we are constantly busy and hardly stop to think about our lifestyle and the choices we make. The hustle and bustle of work, friends, family and other commitments sometimes make it difficult to exercise more and make healthy choices. In this article, we give you 8 tips on how you can start living a healthy lifestyle.

1. Set your goals for a healthy lifestyle

First, it's important to identify what your goals are and what you actually want to achieve. This could be getting more energy, getting fit, losing weight or maybe just creating more structure. By mapping out your goals for yourself, you can work towards them in a more focused way. This makes it easier to maintain a healthy lifestyle because you clearly know why you are doing it. Do you find it difficult to set your own goals and do not know where to start? A lifestyle coach can help you with this and give structure to your life.

2. Start small

It is important that you start small and change your lifestyle little by little. If you want to change too much at once you will find that it is difficult to maintain and you will soon fall back into your old patterns. Adjust small unhealthy habits little by little and only move on to the next one when you have fully implemented the previous habit into your lifestyle.

3. Become aware of your unhealthy habits

When you want to adopt a healthy lifestyle, you must first become aware of your unhealthy habits. This will help you know what you need to start changing and allow you to work on it in a purposeful way. Take a moment to consider all the things you unconsciously do, such as eating when you are bored, or grabbing a snack right away when you get home from work. You may also often find yourself eating when you are sad. Emotion eating is one of the biggest culprits when failing to lose weight

4. Get enough sleep

Stress is one of the biggest disturbing factors when you want to adopt a healthy lifestyle. It makes you very restless and also tends to make unhealthy choices more quickly. Getting enough sleep can help reduce your stress. In addition, too little sleep affects various hormones and your energy levels. In this article we will tell you more about how sleep and losing weight go hand in hand.

5. Fixed morning routine for a healthy lifestyle

The morning actually sets the tone for the rest of the day. When you start your morning in a good and healthy way, you are more likely to keep it up for the rest of the day. A morning routine is important if you want to adopt a healthy lifestyle. Get up just a little earlier so you can make a healthy breakfast before work, do some stretching or take a short walk around the block. When you start your day calmly, you will feel more energetic and less agitated for the rest of the day.

6. Exercise in the morning

Have you ever had that, that in the morning you think "tonight I'm really going to exercise" and when you get home from work you still prefer to lie on the couch all evening. After a busy day it is harder to get yourself motivated to exercise. Therefore, try to exercise in the morning. That way you start the day off right and you will feel a lot more confident and powerful for the rest of the day.

7. Take your time and plan

Take your time with everything you do. You don't change a healthy lifestyle in a day. Take time to eat slowly and be mindful of what you eat and how much. Your brain takes longer to get through so make sure you let your food process properly before you scoop up . Take time to cook healthy meals and pick recipes you like. For example, plan the recipes you like for a week, so you know exactly what to make each day and don't have to spend hours thinking about it. To lose weight you do not have to go on a strict diet, it is important that you learn to adopt a healthy eating pattern. A nutrition coach can help you make healthier choices without having to go on a strict diet.

8. Go outside

Fresh air and daylight is good for your health. Daylight in the morning wakes up your brain. It also ensures the production of vitamin D. Walk around for half an hour every day and get some fresh air. When you are at work all day, go outside during your break to stretch your legs and get some exercise.

A healthy lifestyle at Beyondfit.

Would you like to adopt a healthy lifestyle but just can't manage to do it yourself? At Beyondfit, we help you create a healthy lifestyle. We focus not only on exercising more or eating healthy, but also on your mindset and overall lifestyle. By adjusting small habits and working on a strong foundation, you will be able to work on this yourself. Schedule a free intake with one of our coaches to see how we can best help you.

Good fitness is not only important when you do a lot of sports but also has many benefits through your daily life. For example, good fitness increases lung capacity, energy and blood flow to your body. With good fitness, your stamina increases and you will feel less tired.

What is fitness

Many people think your fitness is just your endurance. Stamina is a big part of your fitness but your fitness is also about speed, strength, coordination and agility. Your fitness says something about your cardiovascular endurance, in other words, to what extent you are able to sustain intense efforts. This is also where the word cardio comes from. There are different ways and sports how you can build fitness.

How can you build your fitness?

There are different ways and sports how you can build fitness, so this does not have to be only with running. To build up your condition, the most important thing is to get your heart rate up. This is often done with cardio exercises such as interval training or endurance sports. Some examples of cardio exercises are rollerblading, swimming, cycling or running.

Interval workouts

In interval training, you train with short intervals. You alternate moments of more intense sport with moments of rest. You can create your own schedule for this, making it a little harder each week. For example, the first week you start with 1 minute of stretching and 5 minutes of walking and each week you can run one minute longer or walk one minute shorter.

Endurance training

In endurance training, you perform the same sport at a constant pace for a longer period of time. The intensity here is a bit lower but you try to keep it up for as long as possible to build up your fitness. Endurance training can be considered boring for some people because you are doing the same thing for a long time. Always choose a sport that you enjoy so that you can keep it up for as long as possible.

HIIT training

A HIIT workout is a quick way how you can build fitness. HIIT stands for High-Intensity Interval Training. So it's a more intense form of normal interval training where your heart speeds up. A HIIT workout consists of several vigorous exercises that you perform in quick succession with a short period of rest. HIIT training not only improves fitness but also fat bandaging and muscle building. You can easily build your fitness at home with a HIIT workout.

How long does fitness building take

How quickly you build fitness depends on how often you exercise, how intensely and for how long. If you train regularly, you can see some progress after just a few weeks. For best results, it is best to train 3 - 5 times a week with a duration of 30-60 minutes depending on the intensity. In our other article we will tell you more about how often per week you need to train to see results.

Building fitness at Beyondfit

Would you like to build fitness and feel more energetic again? Good fitness is important for your overall health. At Beyondfit, we help you get back to full fitness and work on your health together. With our fit for life program, we work to improve your fitness and build a lasting foundation. Our trainers serve as a real stick and always make sure you can train in a safe way. Schedule a free intake with no obligation, and together we will see how we can best help you.

When we want to lose weight, we often focus on exercising more and eating healthier but forget how important sleep is. A good night's sleep and losing weight go hand in hand and are definitely connected. In this article we will tell you how sleep deprivation can get in the way of weight loss.

Leptin and Ghrelin

Sleep affects several hormones. Two hormones that affect your appetite are Leptin and ghrelin. Leptin inhibits your appetite and makes you feel less hungry. When you sleep little, you will produce less of this hormone and your appetite will be increased, making it difficult to lose weight.

Ghrelin is actually the opposite of Leptin. Ghrelin increases your sense of hunger. With little sleep, your body produces more of it, so you will be hungrier. In addition, you will often crave unhealthy fats and carbohydrates such as chips, cookies, candy or other unhealthy snacks.

Little sleep causes lower energy levels and difficulty losing weight

When you don't get enough sleep, your energy levels will also be lower. As a result, you may feel less like exercising or exercising and prefer to do nothing all day. Your discipline goes down and you will have more trouble maintaining motivation. In addition, you tend to eat more to replenish these energy levels. Have you been feeling less energy lately despite getting enough sleep? Then read here how you can regain more energy.

Eating impulses due to weakened insular cortex

Too little sleep weakens your insular cortex, one of your brain regions. Normally, this counterbalances the amygdala, which actually makes you want to eat a lot and taste good. So too little sleep also makes it harder to control your eating impulses.

Losing weight and getting enough sleep at Beyondfit

Do you want sustainable weight loss? At Beyondfit, we not only help you eat healthy or exercise more, but work together to achieve an overall healthy lifestyle. Our trainers and lifestyle coaches serve as a big stick and ensure that you can work on your health in a safe and effective way. Ask for an intake interview with one of our coaches and together we will see how we can best help you.

Do you prefer running on Sunday mornings? Or would you rather hit the gym several times a week to build muscle? Cardio and strength training are both an effective way if you want to work on a toned body. In this article we will explain all about cardio and strength training and how you can best use and combine them.

Cardio

Cardio is a form of exercise in which you work on your fitness and endurance. You work on the condition of your heart and lungs as the blood flows faster through your body. As a result, you burn a lot of calories and can easily lose weight. In cardio, you do exercises of lower intensity than strength training but for a longer time such as running, cycling or swimming. Which type of cardio is best depends on your own desires and needs. With cardio it is important to keep it up consistently, therefore it is best to choose something you enjoy and do not look up to doing. Cardio has many benefits, it works on your fitness, reduces stress, improves your sleep and gives you energy. Want to know the best way to build your fitness? In our other article we tell you all about building fitness. On the other hand, the only disadvantage of cardio is that it does not develop your muscle mass and strength much like strength training does.

Strength training

When you think of strength training, you quickly think of big muscles standing in the gym for hours on end. But for both men and women, strength training is a great way to lose weight and work on a toned body. With strength training you build more muscle mass and get stronger and stronger. Here you work with shorter, heavy exercises that you perform for a few repetitions. Muscles weigh more than fat, which is why the pounds on the scale may not always decrease, but you will lose more fat and get a tighter body. In addition, with strength training, you also burn more calories at rest, which means that you burn more and more calories outside of workouts. Read all the benefits of strength training here.

Cardio and strength training: The perfect combination

But which is better, cardio or strength training? The answer to this is simple: When you want to lose weight and maintain muscle mass, it is best to do a combination of strength training and cardio. A combination of both provides the most effective results. You can do this by doing cardio on certain days and strength training on other days. But also by adding a cardio element to your strength training at the end. This will improve your fitness, build more muscle mass and make it easier to lose weight.

Strength training and cardio at Beyondfit

Still finding it difficult to find the right balance between strength training and cardio? At Beyondfit, we help you with a personal workout plan so you can lose weight in the most effective way. With the muscle & tone program you work towards a tighter and stronger body. Together with our personal trainers you will work on the right form and techniques so you can work out safely without injuries. Wondering how we can help you best? Schedule a free intake meeting and discuss your needs and goals with one of our coaches.

What is a 30-day challenge?

You've probably seen those 30-day challenges come by. "In 30 days a tight belly" or "30-day booty challenge" are often terms that appear regularly. In these, you train one body part for a month. On day 1 you start with 10 squats or sit-ups and on day 30 you finish with 250 squats or sit-ups. These challenges promise you that after these 30 days you will be completely toned or slim but this is often not quite the case. In this blog article we explain to you why challenges don't work.

30 Day Challenges are not educational

In a 30-day challenge, you often simply follow a picture and perform this exercise. You repeat the same exercise every day without really thinking about it. The challenges are often created by people who want more followers on social media by inspiring people. They are not professionals who create the workouts and little consideration is given to build-up, rest or intensity. The workouts are often not well thought out and also don't teach you anything about a healthy lifestyle in the long run.

You only train 1 body part

In a 30-day challenge, you often repeat the same exercise for 30 days. There are often not enough rest days in the challenge that are crucial for muscle recovery. When you repeat the same exercise more and more each day, this muscle group may become overworked. Overtraining can eventually cause you to suffer lingering injuries. In addition, you will see few results when you only do the same exercise. It is important to alternate different exercises so that you also train different muscles.

A 30-day challenge creates the yo-yo effect

You've completed the 30-day challenge, now what? You stop exercising and fall back into your old patterns. After this challenge you might have seen some results but when you stop again, they will come back just as fast. With a challenge you do not train for the long term but for 30 days. When you are done you will let go of this right away. It is more important that you focus on the long term and change small habits step by step. This is not possible in 30 days so you will fall back into the yo-yo effect again and again.

Sustainable results with the help of Beyondfit

Are you done falling back into your old habits and want to build a strong foundation to lose weight permanently, once and for all? At Beyondfit, our coaches will help you adjust small habits, the right exercises and a healthy diet so you can maintain it yourself for the long term. Schedule a free intake with no obligation and together we can see how we can best help you.