Lady Perfection: a workout program for women with a focus on what you go to the gym for

· Jan 06, 2025

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It would be foolish to deny that men and women in the gym strive for different goals. Of course, there are common objectives, like losing weight or shaping a beautiful, toned figure, but the true goals sound quite different. To put it bluntly, guys want big biceps, while girls want a "peach" butt and a wasp waist. Undoubtedly, many have broader requests and add details, but if I gave you a magic wand and offered to achieve the perfect body part (in terms of aesthetics) here and now, I'm sure the requests would be for arms like bazookas and beautiful glutes. At the same time, if we delve into science, male and female workouts don't differ much. Women fear becoming "bulky" and avoid squats and presses, while men are embarrassed to do exercises for the glute muscles and inner thighs (on the machine where you need to spread and bring your legs together).

But these are absurd fears.

If you find and interview a fitness girl who epitomizes femininity, you will be surprised to learn that she does the same exercises in the gym as powerful bodybuilders. Becoming a masculine woman, such as those you see at women’s bodybuilding competitions without using hormonal drugs (including banned ones) is impossible. So, dear ladies, let go of these concerns and work on your figure comprehensively. And how exactly, I will explain now.

Let’s get started with the workouts.

I have already mentioned that there are countless training programs, and a lifetime is not enough to try them all. Today I will show you one of the variations, and you can try it and make necessary adjustments or continue with the original format. An important point is that to fully appreciate and feel the training process, it takes about 3-4 months. If you get bored in a week, it’s not the training program's fault.

The second important nuance is to always warm-up and pay attention to technique. You need to warm up before ANY workout and ideally until you start to sweat. Warm up all parts of the body— you can do it like in school, or refer to examples from my YouTube videos. And technique (together with warming up) is the key to our safety and protection from injuries. If you're not confident in your abilities after watching or reading the descriptions for each exercise, take a trainer for a couple of sessions and let them teach you to do it right.

Now, let's get to the actual program.

The method is designed for 3-4 workouts per week. I consider the ideal option to be four. It's better to go to the gym every other day. In one week, you will have 4 sessions, in another 3. And that’s enough rest. This is what you need.

The training format is a split for upper and lower body. A good old method, proven over decades. One nuance is that this is not the best option for complete beginners. If you've never been to the gym before, pay attention to the "full body" training protocol. I recently published such a program for beginners.

And after a month or two of such workouts, you can switch to splits.

The first workout for the lower body.

Classic squats. We do 4 sets of 12 repetitions. First, 2 warm-up sets with lighter weight, then 2 working sets. Try to squat below parallel. Don’t chase after weights. Roughly speaking, 50-70 kilograms is the ceiling for women. No need for more. But if you suddenly want more, you should use pre-exhaustion.
Deadlifts with dumbbells. Again, we do 4 sets of 12 repetitions. The classic version is performed with a barbell, but with dumbbells, it’s much more comfortable since the bar doesn’t press against your knees.
Lunges. Many dislike this exercise, but it’s very effective. Again, 4 sets of 12 repetitions. Despite its popularity, this is a technically challenging exercise. Ideally, study the technique at home and practice it. The main thing is that nothing should hurt after lunges except your muscles. This is crucial. If your knees or lower back are aching, you're violating the technique.
Leg abductions on a machine with a forward body tilt. Now we do 3 sets of 20 repetitions.
Standing calf raises. Here we have 4 sets of 20 repetitions. This exercise targets the calves. Whether to do it or not is your choice. For women who wear heels, the calf muscles are usually overdeveloped anyway.
Crunches. We will pay attention to the abs and do 4 sets of 20-25 repetitions, or to failure.

The second workout for the upper body.

Pull-ups on a bar, or in a gravitron, or vertical block pull to the chest. We do 4 sets of 15 repetitions.
Barbell or dumbbell bent-over rows. Here too, 4 sets of 15. These exercises can be replaced with hammer machines. But it's better to work with free weights if there are no contraindications.
Dumbbell shrugs. We do 3 sets of 15 repetitions.
Barbell or dumbbell press at a 30-degree angle, or press on a hammer machine at an angle. We do 4 sets of 15 repetitions.
Dumbbell shoulder press. Here we have 3 sets of 15 repetitions.
Barbell upright rows ("shrug"). We do 3 sets of 15.
At the end of the workout, you can do a little stretching and stretch your chest muscles and biceps.

The third workout again focuses on the lower body with an emphasis on the glutes.

Plie squats with a dumbbell or better with a kettlebell between your legs. An important point is to try to lower yourself as much as possible. For this, it's better to stand on step platforms. We perform 5 sets of 20-25 repetitions.
Leg press. We do 3 sets of 20-25 repetitions. Place your feet high, as wide as possible, and slightly angled. As the weights increase, we learn to perform the exercise one leg at a time (each in turn). This is a prevention against varicose veins, and it also reduces the load on the spine and knee joint, and better engages the muscles.
Hip thrusts. Undoubtedly, the best exercise specifically for the glutes. More effective even than squats. We do 4 sets of 20-25 repetitions.
Leg swings. Again, we perform 4 sets of 20-25 repetitions. You can do them on a crossover machine or on all fours with weights. Try different techniques and choose the variant where you feel your glute muscles better.
Direct or reverse crunches. It’s great if you can do 4 sets of 25 repetitions.
If at the end of the workout you still have energy, you can add any exercise you consider necessary for a lagging body part. Or just your favorite exercise from the entire program.

The fourth workout, and again for the upper body.

Vertical block pull to the chest. We do 4 sets of 12 repetitions.
Horizontal block pull to the waist. Again 4 sets of 12.
Narrow grip barbell press. And again, our usual 4 sets of 12 repetitions. The exercise looks brutal, but it’s necessary to work on the chest and triceps, and that’s what gives beautiful arms.
Tricep pushdowns with a rope attachment. We do 3 sets of 12 repetitions.
Bicep curls with a barbell. We perform 4 sets of 12.
And at the end, add your favorite upper body exercise or better target the lagging muscle group.

If you feel you need more load, then in those exercises where it says 4 sets, you can do 5. Moreover, you can add one more exercise to each day. But that’s the limit. It’s definitely not worth making it more complicated.

The author of the program also recommends adding 20 minutes of cardio after each workout. This can be a treadmill, exercise bike, or elliptical. Alternatively, one cardio workout per week for 45 minutes. However, I believe that if you are active and walk a lot, spending time in a stuffy gym isn’t necessary. Let’s agree that if your pedometer on your phone or wrist shows more than 10,000 steps a day, then you can do cardio separately at your discretion.

Otherwise, don't forget about nutrition (without its adjustment, workouts will be useless for body shaping), recovery, and responsible attitude towards technique and warm-up.

Stay healthy, beauties!