Have you ever felt intimidated by strength training or worried that lifting weights might make you look bulky? If so, you're not alone. Many women hesitate to try barbell exercises due to common misconceptions. However, barbell training offers a practical solution for building a stronger, healthier body, especially considering the various changes women’s bodies go through across different life stages such as pregnancy, early thirties, and menopause, which can impact muscle strength and bone density.
Introduction
Barbell exercises are not just about aesthetics - they’re about building a stronger, healthier body. This guide will walk you through some of the most effective barbell exercises to help you build strength, tone your muscles, and improve endurance. If you’re wondering if barbell exercises are right for you, the answer is yes!
Benefits of Barbell Exercises for Women
Barbell exercises for women can be incredibly rewarding, but success comes with smart strategies. Here are several key benefits:
Toning and Weight Loss
Worried that lifting weights will make you look bulky? Don't be! Women naturally have lower testosterone levels than men, which limits their ability to develop large, bulky muscles. Instead, barbell exercises help tone your body by promoting muscle definition and weight loss. Plus, barbell training boosts your metabolism. Studies from the American Council on Exercise (ACE) show that strength training can increase your resting metabolic rate by up to 7%, helping you burn more calories even while at rest.
Improved Posture and Core Stability
Good posture is key to reducing back pain, improving mobility, and feeling confident. Barbell exercises for women are highly useful because they engage multiple muscle groups at once, including your core. Exercises like deadlifts, squats, and overhead presses challenge your stabilizing muscles, strengthening your abs, lower back, and obliques.
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Enhanced Bone Health
As women age, maintaining bone health becomes necessary- and barbell exercises can help. According to the National Osteoporosis Foundation, women are at a higher risk of osteoporosis than men, especially after menopause. Besides, barbell exercises strengthen your joints and connective tissues, reducing the risk of injuries. Movements like squats and lunges improve balance and reinforce the muscles and ligaments that support your knees, hips, and ankles.
Time Efficiency
Busy schedule? Barbell exercises for women are perfect for getting a good workout in less time. Unlike isolated movements that target one muscle at a time, barbell exercises engage multiple muscle groups with each rep. For example, a barbell squat strengthens your legs, glutes, and core all at once. This makes barbell workouts incredibly practical, letting you burn calories, build strength, and improve endurance in a shorter period.
Getting Started with Barbell Training
If you’re new to barbell workouts, they can feel a little intimidating. When you look around the gym, it may seem like the people doing barbell exercises really know their stuff (and often have the visible muscle mass to prove it!). Discover more ways to reach your goals with Peloton But if you’ve gotten comfortable with dumbbell exercises or other strength training workouts and are ready for a new challenge, adding some barbell moves to your routine could be just the progression you need. Here’s everything you need to know to try barbell workouts for the first time.
Choosing the Right Barbell and Weight
Not all barbells are the same, so it’s important to start with one that matches your fitness level. A standard Olympic barbell weighs 45 lbs, which may feel heavy for beginners. Barbells come in two main weights: 20 kilograms (or about 44 pounds), and 15 kilograms (or about 33 pounds). The weight of your bar largely depends on your fitness level and strength. For beginners, practicing movements with an empty bar is preferable so you can master the movement.
When should you increase the weight? Follow the progressive overload principle - slowly increase weight once your current lifts feel manageable. Progressive overload is a tried-and-true method of training that enables you to gradually get stronger by adding more weight to your exercises. Barbells tend to be easy to add weight to, because it’s just a matter of sliding another plate on the bar. Dumbbells, kettlebells, and machines only go so high, or have set incremental changes.
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Proper Form and Technique
Good form is important to prevent injuries and gain the best results. Always start with a proper warm-up that includes mobility exercises to improve flexibility and joint movement. Don’t forget to practice proper breathing techniques: inhale before lifting and exhale during the effort phase. Prioritize form over weight, especially at the beginning.
Correct Barbell Form Tips
When you’re holding the barbell below your hips, grip it so your hands are about shoulder-width apart and/or are just outside of your legs.
When you’re holding the barbell above your hips (usually at your chest or shoulders), grip it a little wider than shoulder-width apart.
Keep your back straight.
Remember that any general form tips for an exercise remain the same, with or without a barbell. That’s why it’s important to get comfortable with a movement before adding a barbell to your workout.
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Training Frequency
For the best results, try to train 3-4 days a week with either a full-body focus or muscle-specific splits. Full-body workouts are ideal for beginners as they target multiple muscle groups in one session.
Safety Tips
Whether or not you enlist professional help, make sure you’re keeping the following pointers in mind, Andy says:
Build up weight gradually. Add a little at a time, and see how your body responds before piling on extra plates.
Do barbell exercises slowly and with control, especially when you’re just starting out and need to get a feel for new movements.
Warm up before your barbell workouts (just like with any workout!). Andy recommends starting with a bodyweight or dumbbell version of the movement you’re going to do with a barbell later. For example, “I'll do a couple sets of goblet squats before I take the barbell and do a front squat,” he says, or you could do push-ups before a barbell bench press. Performing a warm-up is essential to get your joints ready for action and to prevent injury before lifting.
Always be mindful that you’re holding a bar that could come into contact with your body (or someone else’s). “The bar has a greater chance of smashing into my shins or hitting me in the thigh when I'm moving it, or coming closer to my chin and my face, so think about how you can keep the bar generally as close to your body as you can safely without contacting your body in a way that's going to be injurious,” Andy says.
Take care of your wrists. There’s a lot more demand on them during barbell workouts than, say, dumbbell workouts, where you’re able to move your arms more freely, Andy says. Incorporate more wrist mobility-like a 10-minute wrist mobility class-to help avoid injury or discomfort in those joints and muscles.
Always put safety clips on the bar, per the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP). These keep the weight plates from sliding off mid-movement. Using barbell collars will prevent plates from sliding off the bar, which can lead to serious injury.
Stop doing any barbell exercise if you feel pain or get lightheaded, according to the AAFP.
Setting the barbell at the correct height for the squat, bench press, RDL, and overhead press saves unnecessary stress and strain on your body.
I advise having a spotter, personal trainer, or training partner observe your lifts, both to ensure your safety but also to pick up on ways you can improve your form.
Effective Barbell Exercises for Weight Loss
Here are some of the best barbell exercises to incorporate into your weight loss routine:
Lower Body Exercises
Barbell Squat
The barbell squat is a must for building strong, toned legs and glutes. It engages your quads, hamstrings, and glutes, this movement helps improve lower-body strength and balance. Arguably, the barbell back squat is the king of all barbell exercises. It stimulates large groups of muscles because of the high amount of muscle tension needed from the upper (upper back and shoulders) and lower body (quads, glutes, and hamstrings). Primarily, however, the squat builds leg muscles. However, it also translates to other movements. I like the back squat for beginners because there is a simple progression from performing a bodyweight squat well to putting a bar on your back and squatting with it.
For a back squat, load the barbell onto your traps and shoulders, behind your neck. “Pull your elbows and shoulders down and back to feel a little bit of tension to secure that bar to your upper back,” Andy says.
Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and your toes slightly pointed out. Brace your core.
Start to lower your body down into a traditional squat, keeping your back straight and your chest lifted throughout the movement.
Continue until your thighs are parallel to the ground (or slightly lower).
Press through your heels to return to standing.
Repeat for your desired number of reps.
Your center of gravity might feel a little off if you’re used to goblet squats, Andy says, because the bar is behind you. Avoid arching your back, especially as you stand back up from the bottom of your squat. “Keep a really strong, stable torso and keep thinking about cinching your ribs in,” he says.
Barbell Deadlift
Deadlifts are fantastic for strengthening your glutes, hamstrings, and lower back. This exercise also improves posture and core stability. A deadlift is another classic barbell exercise. It works your glutes and hamstrings.
Start with the barbell on the floor in front of you, with your feet hip-width apart.
Bend down to grip the bar a little wider than shoulder-width apart with an overhand grip (your palms should be facing your body and your thumbs should be wrapped around the bar) and engage your core and glutes. Keeping a slight bend in your knees, your chest lifted, and your back straight, pull up slightly on the bar until you feel tension. “We call this taking the slack out of the bar,” Andy says.
Drive through your heels to press upward to a standing position. “Think about pushing your feet into the floor,” Andy says. Pause here momentarily and squeeze your glutes.
With control, lower the barbell to the floor.
Repeat for your desired number of reps.
Remember, you’re not trying to pull the bar off the floor with your upper body when you’re taking the slack out. “You want to feel the weight of the bar through your body so you know what’s coming,” Andy says.
Barbell Hip Thrust
For glute development, hip thrusts are unmatched. This move targets your glutes while also working your hamstrings and core. Similar to a glute bridge, the barbell hip thrust targets your glutes, hamstrings, and core.
Start sitting on the floor with your upper back and shoulders on a bench. Roll a barbell up to where your hips crease.
Press through your heels and squeeze your glutes to lift your hips and the barbell up so your body forms a straight line between your shoulders, hips, and knees.
You can keep your hands gently on the bar to hold it in place. Lower your hips with control until your butt just touches the floor.
Repeat for your desired number of reps.
“Think about tucking your tailbone off the floor,” Andy says. This will help you move your entire body together rather than pulling up with your torso, which could hurt your back.
Barbell Lunges
Lunges are perfect for improving lower-body strength and balance. When you step forward or backward with a barbell across your shoulders, you activate your glutes, quads, and hamstrings.
Upper Body Exercises
Barbell Bench Press
The barbell bench press is perfect for toning your chest, shoulders, and triceps. It’s a compound movement that strengthens multiple upper-body muscles in one go. Another upper-body dumbbell exercise, this move engages the pushing muscles in your arms, shoulders, and chest-while also sneakily working your core. Beginners should always have a spotter when bench pressing.
Lie on your back on a bench holding the barbell directly over your shoulders on a rack with your hands slightly wider than your shoulders.