Her Fitness Hut » Women’s Sports Training

10 Warning Signs of Female Over-Training

myfitnesshut — Sun, 04 Mar 2012 08:01:15 +0000

Females have significant medical risks from over-training (especially athletes). According to the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMSD), some female athletes see amenorrhea (the absence of menstrual periods) as a sign of successful training. Missing your periods can be a sign of decreased estrogen levels which can lead to osteoporosis.

Females who over-train to the point that their periods stop can develop brittle bones and have bone fractures at an early age. According to NIAMSD, some 20-year-old female athletes have been said to have the bones of an 80-year-old woman!

The Institute goes on to report that even if bones don’t break when you’re young, low estrogen levels during the peak years of bone-building, the preteen and teen years, can affect bone density for the rest of your life. And studies show that bone growth lost during these years may never be regained.

Broken bones and fractures due to osteoporosis can have lasting postural problems such as “stooped postures.” These “stooped postures” are not a natural cause of aging—spines can be permanently damaged!

Girls and women who regularly over-train or use severe calorie restriction to lose weight are also at risk for many health problems such as bone loss, bulimia or anorexia. If you are “too thin” as an exercising female, you need to take precaution and take care of yourself!

If you workout every day, that would be over-training! You need at least one day of rest from exercise every week. And, some weeks, you may need two days of rest. Listen to your body!

And, you don’t need long, two-hour workouts. A strength workout of 30 minutes will do the job:

Here’s a good workout that takes just 30 minutes:

1. Plank, 10 repetitions, 5 second hold

2. Prisoner Squats, 15 repetitions, moderate pace

3. Pushups, 12 repetitions, moderate pace

4. Bentover Dumbbell Rows, 12 repetitions, moderate pace

5. Standing Dumbbell Shoulder Press, 10 repetitions, moderate pace

6. Tricep Dips on Bars or dips with hands and feet off the floor on benches, 10 repetitions, moderate pace

7. Squat Jumps, 10 repetitions, fast

Repeat circuit 3 times. Try not to rest between exercises. Rest 2-3 minutes between circuits.

The same can be said for cardio workouts. You can tone your body and improve your heart health with 20-minute interval cardio sessions, 2-3 times a week. There is no need for 1-hour, boring cardio sessions that wastes away your precious muscle mass.

According to NIAMSD, females should look for these 10 warning signs when it comes to exercise and over-training:

1. Missed or irregular menstrual periods.

2. Extreme or “unhealthy-looking” thinness.

3. Extreme or rapid weight loss.

4. Behaviors that reflect frequent dieting, such as eating very little, not eating in front of others, trips to the bathroom following meals, preoccupation with thinness or weight, focus on low-calorie and diet foods, possible increase in the consumption of water and other no- and low-calorie foods and beverages, possible increase in gum chewing, limiting diet to one food group, or eliminating a food group.

5. Frequent intense bouts of exercise (e.g., taking an aerobics class, then running 5 miles, then swimming for an hour, followed by weight-lifting).

6. An “I can’t miss a day of exercise/practice” attitude.

7. An overly anxious preoccupation with an injury.

8. Exercising despite illness, inclement weather, injury, and other conditions that might lead someone else to take the day off.

9. An unusual amount of self-criticism or self-dissatisfaction.

10. Indications of significant psychological or physical stress, including: depression, anxiety or nervousness, inability to concentrate, low levels of self-esteem, feeling cold all the time, problems sleeping, fatigue, injuries, and constantly talking about weight.

My saying is always this: Don’t wreck your body in the quest for fitness!

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“Exercise is not my life…..exercise makes my life better!”

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Women’s Athletic Bodyweight Workout

myfitnesshut — Tue, 18 May 2010 23:58:08 +0000

Women’s athletic bodyweight workouts will blast fat from your body like crazy…just try a workout and see for yourself!

Athletic bodyweight workouts are very intense and will improve your body’s composition (fat loss, more muscle). These workouts will sculpt your body without your joints taking a pounding from lifting heavy weights!

To get your muscles to improve power (how fast your muscles can produce force), do some or all of the exercises full speed. Also, you will really burn fat and shape your bulkier, fast twitch muscle fibers when doing exercises at full speed!

Athletic bodyweight circuit workouts are a tried and true method to burn more fat, increase strength/endurance and improve heart health.

Do each exercise (10 repetitions) one after the other with little or no rest between exercises. Rest 2-3 minutes and do the circuit 2 more times. Here is a good athletic bodyweight workout:

–Bodyweight squats, moderate pace
–Medicine ball soccer throw (pictured above), full speed
–Pushups, full speed
–Walking lunges/Side Lunges/Tranverse Lunges, moderate pace (one for each circuit)
–2-Handed medicine ball chest pass, full speed
–Squat jumps, full speed
–Back extensions, moderate pace

Use correct form and get after it!

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Soccer Throw Tones Upper Body

myfitnesshut — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 23:55:09 +0000

The soccer throw with medicine ball is a great power exercise that tones your upper body and improves your core strength. The soccer throw is an advanced core exercise that is usually done at full speed. Power exercises train your muscles to fire faster and tone your upper body sooner.

Do the soccer throw at full speed if your body is ready for the intensity. Practice at less than full speed to perfect your technique and avoid injuries. Use a medicine ball that is 10% of your bodyweight if you can throw a ball this heavy at full speed. If not, start with a lighter ball.

Be sure to also use your legs as you throw the medicine ball. If you don’t use your legs, you won’t be able to throw at full speed. Don’t stand straight up as you throw. Keep your back leg straight and your front leg bent.

Medicine ball exercises are a good change up from just lifting weights. You are able to use natural body motions with medicine ball exercises.

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My Fitness Hut Blog has been recognized by Stanford University Wellsphere as a Top Health Blogger! Quite an honor coming from that institution!

Depth Jumps For Women

myfitnesshut — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 07:40:42 +0000

Women should include depth jumps in their exercise routines! Depth jumps burn leg fat and help shape your butt, hips, thighs and calves. Build adequate body stabilization and strength before doing depth jumps and other jump exercises.

The depth jump is a plyometric exercise that will work your quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes and calf muscles. You will improve your athleticism and speed.

If you play sports, the basic depth jump can be tailored to your specific sport. For example, basketball requires landing on one leg in many situations. So, you could progress from two-legged to one-legged depth jumps.

You should perfect jumping and landing techniques before doing depth jumps.

1. Stand on top of a plyo box or platform. A higher plyo box will improve your leg strength more and a lower plyo box will improve your speed more.

2. Step forward (don’t jump) off the plyo box and land on the balls of your feet. Don’t land on your toes or your heels or you could damage your knees.

You can do one depth jump at a time or repeating depth jumps. With repeating depth jumps, you would step off a plyo box and immediately jump up onto another plyo box. Repeating depth jumps are more applicable to real game action.

Use your arms to add to your speed by swinging them back before stepping off the platform and swinging them up as your feet hit the ground (ready to jump again). Keep your back in neutral alignment (not arched or rounded) and look staight ahead.

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Female Athletes’ Training–Get Faster!

myfitnesshut — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 08:47:49 +0000

Running sprints will make you faster! If you run alot of long distances, you will not get faster! Run sprints at the beginning of your workout when you are fresh. Rest 1 minute for every 10 yards sprinted. So, if you are sprinting 60 yards, rest 6 minutes between sprints. You need to run each sprint with maximum effort in order to get faster!

Because you will rarely reach maximum speed during the game, playing speed is also critical. No matter what sport you play, there are only 5 ways to improve playing speed:

1.Starting ability is critical. You can improve starting ability by practicing starts from 3-point, 4-point, standing and moving positions. At this point, it is important to accelerate to maximum speed (or as close as possible).

2. Increase your stride length. One good way to improve stride length is to effectively pump your arms as fast as possible. Leg strength and power also improve stride length.

3. Improve your stride rate (the number of steps you take per second). Leg strength and power improve stride rate. There is one running technique that is often overlooked. One way to run faster is to apply more force to the ground with your feet. Every action has an equal and opposite reaction.

The more force you apply to the ground, the more the ground will “give you power.” When you run, don’t lift your knee past your “thigh being parallel” to the ground. This way, you will use your “power center” (glutes and hamstrings) to apply force to the ground instead of the less powerful hip flexors.

In other words, running “with high knees” is not the best way to run. Also, step over the opposite knee and drive the foot down into the ground to create maximum force.

4. Improve your speed endurance. Speed endurance will not make you faster but it will keep you from slowing down when you are fatigued after repeated sprints.

5. Improve your running mechanics. You should practice running mechanics every day.

Your goal should be to play the game faster than your opponent!

Need more exercise and nutrition tips? Subscribe to my FREE Fat Blaster eNewsletter and get a FREE Special Report: “10 Must Know Fat Loss Tips” and Free Fat Loss Workouts!

“Exercise is not my life…..exercise makes my life better!”

Check out my other great blogs:

My Fitness Hut Blog has been recognized by Stanford University Wellsphere as a Top Health Blogger! Quite an honor coming from that institution!