Fitness, Stretching & Exercise Selection For Women
By Phil Beckett
Copyright © Physique Concepts Inc.

In addition to stretching the muscles involved in
cardiovascular exercise, you need to stretch each specific
muscle you train in a fitness program.

When you stretch your muscles it helps to provide better
physical performance, prevents injuries, and can help to
improve your posture.

When muscles are stretched, the elasticity in them improves
which will help to increase your range of motion and
improve the quality of your movements.

Never stretch a cold muscle; meaning you should always
make sure your muscles are warm before stretching. It's
usually better to do a more extensive stretch at the very
end of your fitness program, but light stretching between
exercises is fine.

Stretching doesn't take a long time, and it shouldn't, but
you do benefit tremendously from it.

Stretch only after the muscle has been properly warmed-up.
Again, the best time for a complete stretch is when your
exercise session has been completed.

By the time you have finished your specific weight lifting
program, which will be about 35 - 45 minutes in length,
your muscles will have warmed up as much as they can
possibly get.

Remember any womens fitness program must always
include a warm-up and proper stretching for maximum
effectiveness and to prevent injury.

When you do this you will indeed experience the terrific
benefits a good weight training program will give you.

Exercise Selection:

For you to succeed in your over-all womens fitness plan you
need to select at least one exercise for each major muscle
group in your body. This will help to promote well-balanced
muscle development.

Another important part of your over-all fitness plan is the
order your exercises are performed. When doing a range of
weightlifting exercises, it's better to start with the larger
muscle groups then perform exercises for the smaller
muscle groups.

Performing your fitness program in this manner will allow
you to be exercising at your best during the most
demanding exercises when fatigue levels are the lowest and
you feel fresh.

Another important area of exercise selection is the total
number of sets per exercise and total number of sets per
exercise session.

A "set" as it relates to womens fitness is the number of
successive repetitions of a single exercise performed in
succession without stopping.

Now the number of sets per exercise and per exercise
session is really going to depend on exactly what your goals
are.

Always treat your very first set for each muscle group as a
warm-up, as was discussed in the warm-up section above.

Then the rest of your sets will be determined by whether or
not you are using a beginner, intermediate, or advanced
level womens fitness program and what your particular
goals are.

To find out more about how to determine sets, exercises,
etc. you can visit:

http://www.womens-health-fitness.com/womens-fitness.html

Regardless of the number of sets performed, all sets and
repetitions have to be done with proper exercise form and
under complete control.

Exercise Form Or Technique:

One thing that always seems to be missing in most womens
fitness programs, and the most common and critical training
mistake is exercise form or "technique."

Too much weight usually results in poor form, which
decreases your ability to get results and also increases the
risk of injury.

Examples of poor form or technique include, but aren't
limited too.

- Bouncing the bar off your chest when performing a chest
press;

- Using your hips for momentum and over extending your
back to initiate the bicep curls;

- Arching your back or bending backwards when performing
a shoulder press during the resistance portion of your
fitness session;

- Using momentum in any exercise;

- And training at a fast tempo.

Be aware of these types of mistakes and remove them.

About the Author
Phil Beckett is one of the world's most experienced weight
loss, health, fitness and nutrition experts. He is the C.E.O. of
Physique Concepts Inc. He's helped thousands of women
succeed with their weight loss, health & fitness goals over the
past 14 years. Phil also specializes in the research end of
women's weight loss products.