Slim and Fit Books: Women Only Workouts | Sustainable Workout Cards

Become Your Own Personal Trainer
I love the concept behind personal trainers. Often, a trainer can help a person stay focused and address other areas in life that may be preventing a person from reaching their goals. Trainers are also expensive. This book shows you how to be your own personal trainer.

If you can’t afford a trainer for the rest of your life, you’re going to need to design some routines for yourself. I’m giving you a lot of suggestions for the novice and intermediate to use. I don’t provide advanced routines in this book, because if you’re advanced you probably skipped most of these chapters and are down at the copy center making yourself a set of cards!

The most important thing to do is to keep track of your workouts, reps and sets. Write everything down on your cards, save your cards, and refer to them when you need to fiddle with the effort, duration, intensity or frequency of your workouts. Progression is the key word in any exercise program. You need to constantly make small, incremental steps to do a little bit more, or do it differently, to recruit new muscle fibers.

I strongly recommend working out in a group setting and/or finding a training partner. Most women just do better in a social situation. If you belong to a club, talk to the owner and management about other members close to your age and condition who may come to the club at the same hour. Or better yet, recruit a girlfriend or relative and push each other. Two minds are better than one, and a partner helps to keep your routine from growing stale. A partner also keeps those rest times between sets a lot more interesting.

Sherry Abblett is a grandmother and World Record Power lifting champ who didn’t start lifting serious until her 50s. "Now I'm hooked, I love the challenge and the way my body looks," she says. "Laura's book is the best there is for women over age 35."

Aerobic and anaerobic training were both extremely popular during the 1970s fitness revolution until anaerobic athletic drug abuse beat down weight training—especially for women—to the lowest of lows. So for a few decades aerobics have ruled in women’s exercise routines. Now it’s time to resurrect anaerobic training for women the way it should have been, all those years ago.

Women need the lean muscle and stress relief that anaerobic training provides. We also need the bone protection. Let’s say the boogeyman grabs you from behind. In a microsecond your heart begins to pound, your hands shake, your muscles tense and your breathing is shallow. All your senses have shifted into overdrive, caused by a rush of adrenaline. Your liver goes nuts converting sugar into energy, which in turn lowers your blood sugar levels.

More than 30 chemicals course through your body. One of these is HGH, also known as the Fountain of Youth hormone, responsible among other things for your skin’s elasticity. You also increase levels of dopamine and serotonin, both of which can help improve mood and counter feelings of depression. Hey, maybe if we went anaerobic more often, less of us would be on anti-depressants!

Shpresa Perlleshi demonstrates some exercises in the book and is living proof that weights can do a woman’s body good.

Weight training performed in an anaerobic fashion increases muscular strength, and can increase muscle and connective tissue size and density. Most women do not have enough testosterone to dramatically increase muscle size. However, increasing strength and connective tissue makes the body less prone to injury. It also aids in long-term weight control, since muscle tissue burns more calories than fat even while resting.

Short burst, dynamic weight lifting produces a catalyst whereby a message is sent back to the brain alerting it that the bone beneath the contracted muscle needs additional nutrients. This is how dynamic weight training can rebuild bone density. Working out aerobically, even with lightweights, does not cause bones to build.

Ugly-Face Exercise

Many, but not all, of my routines extol “Ugly Face” exercise. When you go anaerobic, and release this wonderful chain of chemicals and catalysts, you need to reach a point where you “zone out” your environment and lift as if your life depended on it. With a spotter, personal trainer, training partner or machine, you can go “anaerobic”.

Dynamic strength training requires some “Oomph!” My program uses “Oomph!” with chest and back training. A strong back is also a straight back, and a healthy back. A strong chest supports the breasts and also increases a woman’s overall upper body strength.

“Oomph!” is defined as the point when the weight doesn’t move easily, and causes you to take stock. You will have an instant to decide whether you want to wuss out, or whether you are going to stimulate this powerful chemical chain reaction and move that weight!

At that point, you get the “ugly face.” Your eyes may glaze over, you may scrunch your features, and you might even stick your tongue out. Reaching “ugly face” means you are going anaerobic!

Going anaerobic may elicit some grunts and groans, but never lift a weight that causes acute pain. Learn to lift with effort. Learn to take your weight training seriously. It is okay for women to grunt, eep and even harrumph to get the “oomph!”

For the chest and back I recommend women to lift heavy, without arching, cheating or sacrificing form. When it comes to training the lower bodies of women I recommend high rep, high frequency and moderate resistance, often only working against body weight. I don’t neglect the calf muscle; women tend to lose flexibility in their Achilles tendon, which in turn decreases their ability to step high. Calf training and stretches help keep women on their toes!

WOW Workout Cards

The WOW Workout cards cover a majority of exercises. The design and look of many machines varies, but a bench press is basically the same whether performed with weights, pulleys or a weight stack. Be creative. There are also blank cards provided if you have access to a machine that is not included. Of course, there are plenty of exercises and routines that don’t require a health club membership and can be done at home.

The workout cards are printed three to a page. Merely take this book to a copy center and ask them to copy the Workout Card pages onto a thick paper or card stock, and have them cut the cards to pocketsize. Copyright information gives you permission to copy these cards for personal use, and is imprinted on each card. Find the workout that suits you best, and choose the cards in the order I’ve provided. As your body adapts to the exercises and order, you can be creative and begin updating your routines with other interesting moves. I suggest you change up your routine every 6- to 8-weeks.