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synergy · 1
Multi-joint lifts such as the squat, deadlift, bench press, row and overhead press work several muscles at once and also train the nervous system's ability to drive them, so coaches generally treat them as the backbone of strength training. The key to building muscle is taking each set close to failure: in the Schoenfeld 2017 meta-analysis, lighter weights for more reps built about as much muscle as heavy weights, as long as sets were taken close to failure.
cofactor · 3
Muscle cannot be confused into growing by switching exercises. What makes it grow is progressive overload and accumulated training volume; changing exercises constantly only changes the angle of the stimulus, not the amount of adaptation. Give a program enough time, measured in months rather than weeks.
Strength training principles need no special women's version: the same progressive overload, the same compound lifts, the same relationship between training volume and results. Individual differences belong in programming and recovery, not in whether to lift heavy.
Core training follows the same rules as the rest of strength training: aim for quality you can hold steady rather than forcing more reps, and add a little time or load each week. The principle of progressive overload does not change just because the target is the trunk.
regulates · 1
Training volume is the main driver of muscle growth: the Schoenfeld 2017 dose-response meta-analysis found that, across the studies it pooled, the more weekly sets, the more muscle grew, and it did not locate a plateau. Krieger 2010 likewise found that multiple sets build more muscle than single sets. How many days a week you train mostly decides how those sets are spread out.