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.