My Wife (reps)

[Bad Company]

After having 2 kids and finally getting back to her normal routine my wife has told me she wants to lose weight, and wants to use my home gym to do it.

I have a bit of experience on the matter and have made a meal plan for her with all the macros and caloric defecit taken into account.

Its the work out that has left me a bit unsure. When I lost 70 lbs I basicly just did heavy Squats, Bench and Deadlifts 3x a week. I didnt do any cardio whasoever.

Should I recomend the same workout for her? Or is there something else I should take into consideration.

She is currently 167lbs and her aim is I guess 125ish..

Thanks

[creddington]

I would get her started on cardio first, then work into the weights.

[Twerp]

Nope, you should have her do the same workout you're doing.... but reassure her that it might take a little longer than it took you (women have lower test levels than men, which she can't really do much about other than take drugs...)

Introduce additional cardio to help her fat loss, but as long as the diet is correct then lifting heavy weights will definitely benefit her...

Also, the more comfortable she gets, she might want to try something else but for now stick to the basics.

[Bad Company]

Originally Posted by Twerp

Nope, you should have her do the same workout you're doing.... but reassure her that it might take a little longer than it took you (women have lower test levels than men, which she can't really do much about other than take drugs...)

Introduce additional cardio to help her fat loss, but as long as the diet is correct then lifting heavy weights will definitely benefit her...

Also, the more comfortable she gets, she might want to try something else but for now stick to the basics.

Thanks what I thought, thanks.

I lifted pretty much to failure.. How intense should her workout be?

[Twerp]

Well define failure... failure meaning that you couldn't do another rep in that set, or failure meaning that you couldn't do another rep period?

I personally am not a huge fan of traing to failure (another rep in that set), I try to structure my workouts such that if I'm doing a set of 8, I'll pick a weight I could do a 10 rep max on. Does that make sense? Training to total failure is asking for trouble and injury, imo.

The intensity should be the same as when you lifted.

[Bad Company]

Till I couldnt lift one more in the set.

Yea, I will find out what her 5rm is and go from there I think.
thx

[Twerp]

Lifting until you couldn't do one more in a set isn't really a big deal, there's conflicting opinions about it but unless you're training more than 4 times a week, you should have enough time to recover.

Again, avoid total failure and you'll be fine.

[petersmom]

just a nwebie thought wouldnt it be best to start her on light weights and get her technique spot on before hitting it heavy so that shes protected from injury?
nari

[dindysport]

a mans and momans body are quite different...for her I would start with light cardio then then step it up a bit but you dont want her to die on you...then put some light weights into the equasion...man thing for her is to keep her heart rate up if she is wanting to loose some weight...during pregnancy a woman acquires new fat cells...the problem with this is that you cant loose fat cells only gain them and decrease them in size so keep that in mind...sounds like you know what your doing in the food department so good luck to you and her...

[Feny]

Originally Posted by dindysport

a mans and momans body are quite different...for her I would start with light cardio then then step it up a bit but you dont want her to die on you...then put some light weights into the equasion...man thing for her is to keep her heart rate up if she is wanting to loose some weight...during pregnancy a woman acquires new fat cells...the problem with this is that you cant loose fat cells only gain them and decrease them in size so keep that in mind...sounds like you know what your doing in the food department so good luck to you and her...

I think this is pretty darn good advice... Also think about her motivations and try to make the exercise fun. If she is going to failure, she wont be getting the same pump that you and I both get after hard training. Get her listening to her favorite music, and get her out there exercising while having fun. Like I'm sure you know, diet is the most important part of sucessfully losing weight, but make the exercise enjoyable for her also. She's not going to be motivated by the same things men are motivated by

[Twerp]

She's a newbie, so do you think he's going to make her start squatting 100+lbs? The weight she does will be limited to how much she can do, wouldn't it? Do you think someone would be less prone to injury doing sets of 20 with very little weight, or doing sets of 5 with slightly more weight.

Originally Posted by petersmom

just a nwebie thought wouldnt it be best to start her on light weights and get her technique spot on before hitting it heavy so that shes protected from injury?
nari

Yes, a man's and a woman's body are different, but in terms of muscle growth and fat loss they should still train the same. Don't patronize, you wouldn't put a grown man in the gym and start him off with light light cardio and then introduce weights, would you? No, of course not. Nor should you for a woman. There are plenty of women on this site that started doing weights right after pregnancy. Keep her heart rate up is the main thing for a woman to lose weight? Get with the times man, that philosophy is 10 years outdated.

Originally Posted by dindysport

a mans and momans body are quite different...for her I would start with light cardio then then step it up a bit but you dont want her to die on you...then put some light weights into the equasion...man thing for her is to keep her heart rate up if she is wanting to loose some weight...during pregnancy a woman acquires new fat cells...the problem with this is that you cant loose fat cells only gain them and decrease them in size so keep that in mind...sounds like you know what your doing in the food department so good luck to you and her...

[Twerp]

Are you guys for real? I'll step out and let some women chime in, and see if they're motivated by cardio and easy light weights....

Good luck with that!

Originally Posted by Feny

I think this is pretty darn good advice... Also think about her motivations and try to make the exercise fun. If she is going to failure, she wont be getting the same pump that you and I both get after hard training. Get her listening to her favorite music, and get her out there exercising while having fun. Like I'm sure you know, diet is the most important part of sucessfully losing weight, but make the exercise enjoyable for her also. She's not going to be motivated by the same things men are motivated by

[dindysport]

Originally Posted by Feny

I think this is pretty darn good advice... Also think about her motivations and try to make the exercise fun. If she is going to failure, she wont be getting the same pump that you and I both get after hard training. Get her listening to her favorite music, and get her out there exercising while having fun. Like I'm sure you know, diet is the most important part of sucessfully losing weight, but make the exercise enjoyable for her also. She's not going to be motivated by the same things men are motivated by

motivation is about 99% of it...no motivation means not doing anything...gotta keep her positive...if its fun then she'll stick with it...great advice on your side to boss...

[WizardGlick]

Nutrician is going to work best, but cardio is her best bet. I HIGHLY recommend though, a good circuit routine.

Like this one:

http://www2.gsu.edu/~wwwfit/circuit.html

I used it for awhile and my wife has been using it for the past couple of months. Been working great.


Hope this helps and wish her best of luck!

[Twerp]

Just out of curiousity, why exactly is cardio her best bet?

[dindysport]

Originally Posted by Twerp

She's a newbie, so do you think he's going to make her start squatting 100+lbs? The weight she does will be limited to how much she can do, wouldn't it? Do you think someone would be less prone to injury doing sets of 20 with very little weight, or doing sets of 5 with slightly more weight.



Yes, a man's and a woman's body are different, but in terms of muscle growth and fat loss they should still train the same. Don't patronize, you wouldn't put a grown man in the gym and start him off with light light cardio and then introduce weights, would you? No, of course not. Nor should you for a woman. There are plenty of women on this site that started doing weights right after pregnancy. Keep her heart rate up is the main thing for a woman to lose weight? Get with the times man, that philosophy is 10 years outdated.

heart rate we agree with but for losing weight I still believe in higher reps...they are not wanting to gain as much muscle as a man (at least most) but women are normally looking for different things...If I wanted to loose weight I would do cardio, keep the heart rate up (by doing 3 workouts together) and use lighter weight with higher reps...

[dindysport]

Originally Posted by Twerp

Just out of curiousity, why exactly is cardio her best bet?

kind of see a point...in the sense that her heart rate will stay up but still think weights are needed in combo with that...

[WizardGlick]

If she's looking to burn calories, a good circuit routine will be her cardio. this will allow her to burn calories while toning. A simple cardio routine w/o resistance training will work for a bit but will eventually not do anything. Perhaps how I phrased that wasn't the best. I was moreso leading into that routine I posted.

[Bad Company]

I didnt do cardio once when I lost weight. I only lifted. Surely the same applies for girlies also?

I know that nutrition is 70-90% of weight loss. I was more curious about a workout plan for her to do in the home gym, I didnt want to start a cardio vs lifting arguement! God knows they never end

[Twerp]

Yes, but higher reps only work for fat loss if a couple of conditions are met (i.e. longer sets/supersets & reduced rest). If you do sets of 15 with a 2 minute break, then you're training endurance and not really doing anything for fat loss. And if diet is in check, which the OP says it is, then just about ALL of the recent studies have shown that weights and HIIT are far more effective in terms of fat loss than regular steady state cardio... as a matter of fact, steady state cardio is the LEAST effective way to lose fat.

Women typically look for different things starting out because they typically don't want to get bulky - which they soon learn is more a function of diet than training.

There's nothing wrong with circuit training, no arguments here.... but there's nothing wrong with starting a woman off on a good strength based program - like I said, when she gets stronger / more advanced, maybe she'll want to do something else.

Originally Posted by dindysport

heart rate we agree with but for losing weight I still believe in higher reps...they are not wanting to gain as much muscle as a man (at least most) but women are normally looking for different things...If I wanted to loose weight I would do cardio, keep the heart rate up (by doing 3 workouts together) and use lighter weight with higher reps...

[petersmom]

nope i dont think that someone is at less risk of injury doing 20 rep sets light than 5 rep heavy but i have seen and still see people starting up with prehaps heavier then they should do and compensating for it with bad technique which causes the injuries-
Personally i prefer lifting heavy (if im correct) but if im doing something new i drop it down till i get the technique right

[Twerp]

Fine, maybe I should've stated this;

OP, since your wife is just starting out - make sure her form is correct before you load the bar.....

[Feny]

Originally Posted by Twerp

Fine, maybe I should've stated this;

OP, since your wife is just starting out - make sure her form is correct before you load the bar.....

haha yea man... She's obviously not going to be in competitive athlete shape, so It's important to cover the basics

[Bad Company]

That goes without saying. I will be showing her the lifts..

[The Squatch]

Cardio + weight training + sound nutrition = goal. They are all of equal importance.

[Twerp]

And by equal importance do you mean diet is far more important than either weight training and cardio?

[Iron_Sweetie]

Man or woman, weight training & nutrition are key to losing weight. Cardio will definitely help but its NOT the most important aspect to dropping bf. Being a mom who needed to lose weight as well, I can tell you that weight training has helped tighten everything up, that would otherwise still be pointing downwards.

From experience, doing cardio helped me lose weight, but I also lost muscle because I wasn't preserving/building muscle by lifting. It doesn't give the nicest look IMO.

I agree with others though, start out teaching her proper form but once that has been mastered, there is no reason why she cant lift heavy & do some moderate cardio.

Personally, keeping the diet in check is the hardest part. grr


As for a routine using a home gym I guess it would depend on what you have available but some things you can do using just DB's would be:

Squats
Walking lunges
SLDL
Deadlifts
Bench press
Push ups
Pull ups
Bicep Curls
Tricep kickbacks


Plyos are great too:
Stairclimbers
Jump squats
Push ups

[freebirdmac]

Diet is 90-95% of fat loss. If you want to exercise to help lose weight, lifting weights will do more than cardio. Cardio should be the icing, to improve the cardiovascular system, not the main ingredient. It's 3rd on the list of importance.

Anyone who just uses cardio and diet to lose fat is asking for muscle loss. Muscle is what helps us to burn calories, is what gives us our shape, and is far harder to accumulate than fat. You want to lift as heavy as possible while losing to not only keep what you have but to also build more along the way. Too may people do way too much cardio and then wonder why they just look the same only smaller, i.e. become skinny-fat.

Yes, you start her off on weights that she can handle. Heavy for her, but light for most of us. As she adapts and gets stronger the weights go up. Until her form is correct, you don't push on the weights. That holds true even as the weights increase. She should have the same workout routine as you'd set up for any guy. Squats, presses, etc. Lots of women choose not to do, or limit deadlifts if they see that it's widening the waistline. Same with the traps.

If anything I'd start the diet and lifting then add in some moderate cardio, no more than 3x a week and no more than 30 minutes. That way you have fewer variables to deal with while dialing in the diet. Plus it does not overload her from the start. It also gets her mindset on the need for muscle and it's importance.

One can easily lose weight just with diet and weightlifting. But just look at the cardio bunnies in any gym. Do they look any different than they did a year ago?

[dindysport]

Originally Posted by Twerp

Yes, but higher reps only work for fat loss if a couple of conditions are met (i.e. longer sets/supersets & reduced rest). If you do sets of 15 with a 2 minute break, then you're training endurance and not really doing anything for fat loss. And if diet is in check, which the OP says it is, then just about ALL of the recent studies have shown that weights and HIIT are far more effective in terms of fat loss than regular steady state cardio... as a matter of fact, steady state cardio is the LEAST effective way to lose fat.

Women typically look for different things starting out because they typically don't want to get bulky - which they soon learn is more a function of diet than training.

There's nothing wrong with circuit training, no arguments here.... but there's nothing wrong with starting a woman off on a good strength based program - like I said, when she gets stronger / more advanced, maybe she'll want to do something else.

I agree...

[Twerp]

Cripes... I'd been waiting for you to post!

Originally Posted by freebirdmac

Diet is 90-95% of fat loss. If you want to exercise to help lose weight, lifting weights will do more than cardio. Cardio should be the icing, to improve the cardiovascular system, not the main ingredient. It's 3rd on the list of importance.

Anyone who just uses cardio and diet to lose fat is asking for muscle loss. Muscle is what helps us to burn calories, is what gives us our shape, and is far harder to accumulate than fat. You want to lift as heavy as possible while losing to not only keep what you have but to also build more along the way. Too may people do way too much cardio and then wonder why they just look the same only smaller, i.e. become skinny-fat.

Yes, you start her off on weights that she can handle. Heavy for her, but light for most of us. As she adapts and gets stronger the weights go up. Until her form is correct, you don't push on the weights. That holds true even as the weights increase. She should have the same workout routine as you'd set up for any guy. Squats, presses, etc. Lots of women choose not to do, or limit deadlifts if they see that it's widening the waistline. Same with the traps.

If anything I'd start the diet and lifting then add in some moderate cardio, no more than 3x a week and no more than 30 minutes. That way you have fewer variables to deal with while dialing in the diet. Plus it does not overload her from the start. It also gets her mindset on the need for muscle and it's importance.

One can easily lose weight just with diet and weightlifting. But just look at the cardio bunnies in any gym. Do they look any different than they did a year ago?