10 ingenious barbell exercises for women

Barbell exercises for women

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With barbell exercises for women you can quickly build muscle and get fit. We show you how to do squats with barbell, bench press and co. correctly.

Anyone who has ever tried barbell training will simply love it. There are only a few training tools that are so versatile and even more important: that show such fast results.

Barbell exercises for women - for real? Yes, of course!

What the men can do, we ladies have been able to do for a long time. With a little less kilogram, but with even more enthusiasm.

For all those who are now immediately shaking their heads very hard: Don't worry, you won't immediately become a huge mountain of muscle. Muscle building lasts for us women much longer than for men.

Who no more desire for angle arms should definitely give barbells a chance. Once you've made friends with them, it's hard to imagine strength training without them. But why are Barbell exercises suddenly so popular? Because of its many advantages, of course.

Barbell exercises for women who are just starting with weight

Attention ladies: Many beginners underestimate their strength and immediately want to go much too high. They load themselves with too much weight and therefore cannot perform the exercise properly.

But especially when you work with weight, the correct execution is crucial. Because if you do barbell exercises incorrectly, you risk injury.

Tip: Exercises with barbell are not suitable for beginners. First you need a certain base. First of all, you need strength in your hands. You can get this with bodyweight exercises. How we integrate them into our HIIT Workout have packed.

So: The technique is crucial. Of course, this applies to all fitness exercises. But especially those with weight.

Before each execution, read very carefully what you need to pay attention to. If you are unsure, you can certainly afford a lesson with a trainer. He should explain to you again exactly what you need to pay attention to during barbell training.

If you train alone, it is best to do so in front of a mirror. In it, observe your movements very carefully.

Tip: dumbbell set for beginners

If you don't have any dumbbells yet and are a little indecisive, then I can highly recommend a dumbbell set. There is one on sale at Aldi right now. Especially handy is that you can turn two dumbbells with a connector into a barbell.

The Dumbbell and barbell set has the great advantage that you can train very effectively. You do not have to buy two separate sets, but have everything in one. This makes you very flexible in training and you do not need so much storage space in the apartment.

Dumbbell and barbell set
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You can lift 30 kg with the cast iron set - or of course less. The weight can be easily adjusted to your training level via the weight plates.

The best barbell exercises for women

Very important: It's not about doing a lot of repetitions, but about proper execution.

Technology takes precedence over weight!

There are three kaiser exercises in barbell training: squats, bench press and deadlift. These and a few more we present to you here with detailed instructions.

Weight recommendation for beginners: Maximum 10 kg! Better even less. You can also start without additional weight at the beginning. The dumbbell itself also has a few kilograms.

Squats with barbell

Ladies beware. This exercise will give you a crisp buttocks and trained thighs.

Squats are already as simple bodyweight exercises not to be excluded from the abdominal legs butt program. Squats become even more effective when you grab a dumbbell.

You train: Legs and buttocks

Squats with barbell exercises for women

Starting position

  • Stand about hip-width apart. Your toes point forward.
  • Place the dumbbell on your shoulders. But not in the neck!
  • Grasp the bar wider than shoulder width.
  • The view is straight ahead.
  • The knees are slightly bent.

Squat

  • Now comes the real exercise.
  • Bend your knees and push your butt back as you lower - just like a regular squat.
  • Your upper and lower legs form about a 90° angle.
  • Tilt the upper body slightly forward.
  • Push yourself back to the starting position with a lot of force from the legs.

Note: The knees must not protrude above the tips of the toes.

Bench press with barbell

What may not be missing among the barbell exercises of course is the bench press.

You train: Pectorals, triceps, shoulder muscles.

Barbell exercises for women

What you need to pay special attention to

  • You must press until the arms are stretched
  • Breathe out when pushing up and in when letting down
  • Avoid a hollow back and do not lift the buttocks from the bench

Starting position

  • Lie with your back on the weight bench.
  • Angle your legs and rest your feet on the floor.
  • Grasp the barbell a little more than shoulder width.

Bench Press

  • Extend the dumbbell slowly and controlled upwards until your elbows are almost extended.
  • Let the dumbbell slowly come back down to you until it is at about chest height. But do not put it down.

Deadlift as barbell training

The last so-called Kaiser exercise is the dead lift. By the way, this is the exercise for the back par excellence.

However, the technique is demanding. Make sure to start with little weight.

If you do the exercise correctly, you can do something really good for your back. But you also strengthen your legs.

You train: The thigh front, the buttocks and the back.

Barbell exercises rowing as a woman

Starting position

  • Stand about shoulder width apart. The tips of your feet point outward.
  • The barbell is a few inches in front of your shins.
  • Get down on your knees and grab the dumbbell about shoulder width.
  • The palms face forward.
  • Push your chest out and your shoulder blades back. Your gaze is directed forward.

Erect

  • Inhale and pull the barbell up along your shins and thighs.
  • At the level of the knees, slowly straighten the upper body until you are upright.
  • Push your hips slightly forward. The bar is now at the level of your thighs.

Lift cross

  • Now go downhill again. Let the weight slide slowly over the thighs to the floor.
  • When you are at the level of the knees, tilt the upper body forward. Head and back form a line.
  • When the dumbbell is at the level of your shins, straighten back up.

Barbell exercises in lunge (lungs)

It's hard to imagine legs and butt exercises without lunges. You'll find them in pretty much every workout plan. The good thing is that they also help you improve your balance.

When it comes to barbell exercises, lunges are often difficult, especially for beginners. Because you put your weight on one leg, the thigh muscles start to burn quickly. But don't let that scare you off. Your butt will thank you :)

You train: Thighs and buttocks

Lunge with barbell

Starting position

  • Stand hip-width.
  • Place the dumbbell on your back shoulder. Do not place it on the back of your neck!
  • Chest out. Belly in and form a slight hollow back.
  • Make sure that the upper body remains upright throughout the exercise.

Lunge (Lung)

  • Take a wide and controlled step forward with your right leg.
  • Lower your hips to the floor until your butt is level with your knee.
  • The front leg forms a 90° angle.
  • Press the upper body over your heel back to the starting position. And change sides!

The front knee must never protrude above the top of the foot.

Bridge with dumbbell

The bridge is a Classics among the abdominal legs buttocks exercises. You can make them even more effective with a dumbbell.

You train: Thighs and buttocks

Barbell exercise bridge

Starting position

  • Lie on your back.
  • The dumbbell is at the level of your pelvis.
  • Angle your legs. The heels are under your knees.
  • Grasp the dumbbell so that your fingertips point away from you.

Bridge

  • Stretch your arms through and lift your pelvis off the floor.
  • Your body forms a line.
  • Lower the pelvis again until you almost reach the floor and then lift the buttocks again.

Biceps curl with barbell

Sexy trained arms need a beautiful and defined biceps. With curls and barbell you can easily do them and make your muscles grow.

Attention: Do not overdo it with the weight!

You train: the biceps

biceps curls with barbell exercises

Starting position

  • Stand about hip-width apart.
  • Grab the dumbbell and grip it slightly more than shoulder width.
  • The fingertips point toward you. The arms are stretched out.

Biceps Curls

  • Tighten the buttocks and abdomen.
  • Lift the barbell with the strength of your biceps.
  • This means that the upper arms remain parallel to the body and do not move.
  • Bend only the elbows to lift.

Front pull as barbell exercises

Front Pull is also called Upright Row or Upride Row. This exercise strengthens your shoulders and requires some strength. For beginners, this could be quite who, at least in the beginning.

You train: Shoulders and back

Front pull as a barbell exercise for women

Starting position

  • Grasp the bar in an overhand grip. The back of the hand points forward. The hands are fairly close together as in the photo.
  • Stand about shoulder width. And hold the dumbbell in front of your thighs.
  • The legs are slightly bent.

Front pull

  • Now pull the dumbbell up to your chest.
  • The back is straight and the barbell is very slowly guided upwards.
  • Important: The dumbbell is always very close to your body.
  • Hold this position for a few seconds and then bring the dumbbell back down. And lift again.

Rowing as barbell workout

The Dead Row is called rowing in German. This exercise strengthens your entire upper back.

As a beginner, you need to make sure that you have a flawless command of the "deadlift" exercise before attempting Dead Rows.

You train: Shoulders and back

Deadlift as barbell exercises for women

Starting position

  • Stand hip-width and take the langhnatel in your hands.
  • Bend the knees a little and lean the upper body forward.
  • The palms of the hands point downward.
  • Your upper body forms a slight hollow back. However, your shoulders and upper back are upright.
  • Chest out. Belly in.

Dead Row

  • Pull the barbell up to your lower abs.
  • The elbows are always very close to your body.
  • Very slowly guide the bar back down to the starting position.

The exercise "Clean Press" in barbell training

Clean is the English term for "repositioning". This is a section of the Olympic "repositioning and thrusting". If you can do one of these barbell exercises, you are already very close to the Olympics :)

You train: Shoulders and back

Barbell workout for women

Starting position

  • Stand upright and place the dumbbell on your shoulders.
  • The backs of your hands are facing you.
  • The hands are against your body.

Clean and Press

  • Very slowly guide the dumbbell over your head.
  • Without getting down on your knees and gaining momentum.

Swing Press (Shoulder Press)

The swing press involves rapid movements. Basically, the movement is similar to the barbell exercise before. The difference is that you get more momentum.

You train: Shoulders and arms

Barbell exercises for women

Starting position

  • The barbell rests on your shoulders. Grasp the barbell at the level of your shoulders.
  • You stand about shoulder width.
  • The backs of your hands are facing you.

Swing Press

  • Bend your knees slightly.
  • Press the barbell into the air with momentum.
  • The arms are stretched out.

If you have a little more time, I recommend this YouTube video. I really like it and it's guaranteed to make you sweat:

What are the advantages of exercises with barbell?

If you are still not quite convinced, you should read the next paragraphs very carefully.

Barbells for muscle building

In contrast to Exercises with dumbbells the barbell has several advantages.

Short dumbbells are used mainly for the arms. Even if you would not think of it at first, but barbell exercises shape the Butt muscles. And at the same time you can strengthen your legs with it.

Increase weight quite simply

Barbell beginners will be surprised how many kilograms they can actually lift. If it is too heavy, you can easily change the weight.

In barbell exercises you work with high weight and few repetitions. This is especially interesting for those who want to build muscle. For muscle building training you should be able to do a maximum of 12 repetitions per set.

Or you can simply decide to use less weight and do more repetitions. Then you train in the strength endurance area.

Whether you work on Muscle building are interested in or are you interested in your Strength endurance area you want to strengthen, you can simply choose. At Barbell workout anything is possible.

A lot of variety in barbell training

Training that is too monotonous not only bores us, but also our muscles. If you want to get fit, you therefore need to keep adding new stimuli.

It's important to push yourself out of your comfort zone. Be it through different exercises, more weight or a completely different sport.

Often small changes in the barbell exercises are enough to set new stimuli. A training tool that helps you do this is the barbell. You can perform very different exercises with it and are very flexible in your workout.

You can work with Barbell workout chest, arms, back, buttocks and legs train. So the whole body.

Are there special barbells for women?

Yes, they do exist. But you don't have to spend money on them. We women also get along well with the classic dumbbells.

You can usually find barbells for women and men in these lengths:

  • 120 cm
  • 140 cm
  • 160 cm
  • 180 cm
  • 200 cm

The weight depends on the size and ranges from 7 to 11 kilograms. There are also Olympia barbells, which are 220 cm long and bring a standardized competition weight of 20 kg.

If women want to buy barbells for home, they should first consider how much space the training room. If there is little space, go for 120 cm, if there is a little more, go for 160 cm. The other sizes I would disregard.

What weight do I need as a barbell beginner?

How much weight you should put on the exercises depends on your fitness as much as on the exercise itself. For exercises like military press or biceps curls, 2 x 5 kg and the bar's own weight are more than enough for most people.

Bench presses, squats and co can happily take more resistance. More than: The proof of the pudding is in the eating, I can't tell you at this point.

How effective is barbell training for women?

Super effective! A barbell workout is useful if you want to add more power to the classic workout. With the dumbbells you can train the entire upper body, torso, legs and buttocks.

For the big muscle groups you need more weight and already a certain stability, which you need to build up with bodyweight exercises before the first workout.

An effective workout consists of a few repetitions with a lot of weight. For example: 3x 12 repetitions per exercise. The last two repetitions should be very difficult if you want to see results quickly.

Our conclusion

Barbell training is not for beginners. Fitness beginners we recommend bodyweight exercises. Then, when you have built up some muscles, you can dare to do barbell exercises. But don't overdo it with the weight. For the first few workouts, the weight of the bar is enough. You don't need to add any extra weight.

Have fun with your workout!

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