I am always looking for weightlifting tips for women because it can all be so bland in the fitness world. I was really excited to see strength training tips for women in U.S. News and World Report's interview with Alwyn Cosgrove, one of the authors of The New Rules of Lifting For Women ($18). Here are highlights:

  • A weights-and-intervals program gives you the best bang for the buck. A weightlifting program coupled with intervals — alternating high-intensity bursts of riding a stationary bike or running with a recovery period — is preferable to plodding along at the same slow pace.
  • Lift three times a week. Two will offer some benefits, and one is better than nothing but isn't going to do much good. By contrast, more than three is not likely to give you enough time to recover in between workouts, which is when the strengthening of your muscles is happening.

    • There are two more excellent tips, so read more.

  • You need to lift enough weight to make it worthwhile. "Women often choose light weights that they think will magically shape and tone the muscles, whereas men will go right for the big bang kind of exercises," says Cosgrove. "You can sit on a machine and do a leg extension, or you can spend a minute doing squats, working many more muscles and being much more time effective," he says. Sold, to the woman in the pink running shorts!
  • You need to increase the weight over time. Pick a weight that you can definitely lift eight, maybe 10, but definitely not 12 times. Ideally, you'd increase that weight a smidgen every time you do the routine, but since most weights come in 5-pound increments, he suggests this instead: Do 10 reps in a set the first time, then 11, then 12, and once you're doing sets of 12, increase the weight and go back to 10 reps per set.

Be sure to look out for more of these strength training tips for women later this week.

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