7 Best Strength-Building Exercises for Women

Strength-building is a fundamental piece of your fitness puzzle, which means it's important for everyone.

Strength training is not only great for building, strengthening and shaping your muscles, but it can also help you lose that last bit of fat sticking to your body. That's because weight training helps activate the release of the human growth hormone (HGH), which increases your metabolism.

Strength-Building Moves for Women

The following seven strength-building exercises have been chosen based on their efficiency and effectiveness in building muscle, aiding fat loss and boosting overall strength.

It’s the best of both worlds—you'll get a full body workout, and your muscles will end up looking slimmer and more toned. So, let's get started:

1) Goblet Squat

Many people find it difficult to execute squats safely and efficiently. Fortunately, the goblet squat is a fabulous strength-building progression from a bodyweight squat to a barbell squat.

The load is carried at the front, so your core works twice as hard to maintain your posture as your legs work to regulate your movement down and help you stand back up.

How to do it:

Place both hands beneath the 'bell' of a dumbbell or kettlebell, and hold it at chest height. Your toes should be facing outward and at shoulder-width apart.
When your elbows reach the inside of your knees, push your butt back as if you were sitting on a chair.
At the bottom of the squat, pause, and stand fully upright while keeping your heels level on the floor.
Work on partial range of motion, and push your hips back off your heels till your mobility and form improve.
Continue for four sets of eight to ten repetitions.

2) Palloff Press

The Pallof Press is one of the strength-building exercises that appears difficult but is actually very easy and helpful.

The true difficulty comes from avoiding rotation, even though you might not be lifting much weight. That makes it an 'anti-rotation' exercise, allowing you to use your entire core, including your obliques, abs, lower back, glutes and more.

Here's how to do it:

Stand sideways facing the machine and holding one handle in each hand.
Bend at the waist, and pull the handles toward your chest.
Squeeze your stomach muscles, and straighten up again.
Do three sets of ten repetitions per side, resting, as needed, between sets.

3) Dumbbell Row

In addition to developing a strong core and arms, the dumbbell row is a fabulous strength-building exercise . The key muscles involved in maintaining proper posture by drawing your shoulders back are the lats, traps and rhomboids.

Here's how you do it:

Grab a dumbbell; find a bench, and set up as shown in the video above.
Retract your shoulders; brace your abs; pull the weight up, and pass it to the side of your body.
Lower it with control, and repeat for three sets of six ot eight eps on each side.

4) Push-up

Although they might seem simple, push-ups are one of the best strength-building you can do. This functional activity is excellent for developing the anterior deltoids, triceps and chest muscles, pushing the upper body.

To do a push-up the right way:

Start by getting into a plank position on your knees.
Lower your body slowly to the ground.
Your elbows should be tucked a bit as you push up, like an arrow. Your chest should be just above the ground as you return to the starting position.
Repeat as many times as you can.

5) Split-Squat

While standard squats are fabulous, it's also crucial to include single-leg exercises to improve athleticism and reduce training imbalances. That's what a split squat, a stationary lunge, accomplishes. The split stance works your quads, glutes and hamstrings.

To do this move:

Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, and take a large step backwards with your left foot and a step forward with your right foot.
Keep your heel flat, and lower into a lunge, bringing your back knee towards the floor.
Stop just short of touching the ground, and return to a standing position by pushing off with the front foot.
Repeat six to eight times on each side before resting.

6) Lateral Squat

The lateral squat, also known as a side lunge, is a combination of two movements. It requires you to move from side to side, giving your groin, hips and inner thighs a great stretch while training your hips and trunk to work together.

Here's how it's done:

To do a lateral squat, stand with your feet spread wider than shoulder width.
Lean to the left, and bend your left knee. Keep your right leg straight out in front of you and your right heel flat on the floor.
Return to a standing position, and do the same motion on the opposite side for six reps.

7) Ball Rollout

This is among the toughest strength-building exercises for your core, as you have to use a lot of effort to keep your spine aligned as you roll out. When doing this exercise for the first time, start with a limited range of motion before gradually increasing it.

To do a ball rollout:

Lie down on your knees and forearms.
Squeeze your glutes, and brace your abs.
Start rolling the ball up your arms by driving your hips forward and keeping a straight line from your head to your knees.
Go as low as possible without losing the position of your spine before returning to your starting position.

Takeaway

Adding strength-building exercises to your workout routine is something you should consider and get used to doing. It can help build muscle and increase your stamina. You'll be stronger and healthier, and feel better about yourself.