From sagging breasts to knee pain and injury, women face a different set of exercise challenges than men. Regular strength training can help improve bone, ligament and muscle strength, reduce your risk of injury, make daily tasks easier to perform and help you prevent or treat some common problems faced by women. Move your workout to the machine weights for added safety and convenience.
Smith Machine
The smith machine allows you to perform exercises with a barbell, such as bench press, with the added support of a vertical track with a series of catches for the barbell. In addition to building up the muscles beneath your breast tissue, making them look full and lifted, performing the chest press works your chest, biceps and triceps in one exercise. Change the incline of the bench beneath the barbell to shift the focus of the movement to your upper or lower chest.
Leg Press
The shape of the female pelvis often puts pressure on the knee, leading to a greater occurrence of knee injuries in females, and strengthening the quadriceps and hamstring muscles can help prevent such injuries. The leg press machine mimics the movement of a squat to work your upper legs while supporting your lower back and taking some of the pressure off your knees. When exercising on the leg press machine, your knees should never move past the line of your toes.
Cable Tower
The cable tower may be the most versatile piece of equipment at any gym. The two weight stacks with adjustable pulleys running along a vertical track allow you to exercise nearly every muscle group with the free range of motion of free weights. Set the pulley to the bottom to work your back with cable rows or your biceps with curls. Move the pulley to the top to perform lateral or triceps pull-downs, and stand between the towers to exercise your chest with cable flys.
