SS question for GF

[Miike012]

My GF wants to tone up and lose about 5 pounds. If i add more reps to the sets and less rest intervals. This is the routine tell me if modifying it like so will be benificial

Rest intervals will be 40 sec between sets

A
3x12-15 Squat
3x12-15 Bench Press
1x12-15 Deadlifts
2x15 Dips
B
3x12-15 Squat
3x12-15 Standing military press
3x12-15 Bent Rows
2x15 Chin-ups

[Miike012]

good ,bad?

[Miike012]

i dont understnad why know one knows?

[TheNung]

Why did you increase the rep ranges? It's not SS now.

[Miike012]

Why did you increase the rep ranges? It's not SS now.

I incresed the rep range because my GF doesnt want to bulk, she wants to lose bf and tone a little.
isnt that the purpose of increasing rep range becasue the more reps the more the excersise will be an arobic excersise there for it increases calories burned?

am i right or am i right?

[sonti]

I incresed the rep range because my GF doesnt want to bulk, she wants to lose bf and tone a little.
isnt that the purpose of increasing rep range becasue the more reps the more the excersise will be an arobic excersise there for it increases calories burned?

am i right or am i right?

Neither! You are wrong!

Since when is a girl going to explode into Arnold if 50,000 skinny guys on here can't even do it, with their testosterone? I doubt she is eating above maintenance calories (if she wants to lose bf) so she isn't going to build much muscle, let alone any sustainable bulk. The standard program is what works - doesn't matter if you have a penis or not. Do the program.

[Miike012]

Neither! You are wrong!

Since when is a girl going to explode into Arnold if 50,000 skinny guys on here can't even do it, with their testosterone? I doubt she is eating above maintenance calories (if she wants to lose bf) so she isn't going to build much muscle, let alone any sustainable bulk. The standard program is what works - doesn't matter if you have a penis or not. Do the program.

ok.

[Miike012]

what is the reason for higher rep range?

[Miike012]

anyone?

[sjarvis77]

Give this a read.

Sexy Female Training

http://www.tmuscle.com/readArticle.do?id=1305014

[SumDumGoi]

There isn't such a thing as a toning or building rep range. With that being said, increasing the reps and decreasing the weight may make the routine more palatable to the average female who is worried about becoming the Hulk despite the irrationality of her fears. Depending on her current level of fitness you may also want to consider using the first 1-2 sets as a warm-up and only include 1-2 working sets.

[Miike012]

thanks alot for the info.

[DominationStation]

unless your gf is jacked, she likely won't be able to do 15 dips / chin-ups. also, unless she's eating a sh*tload above maintenance, a 3 x 5 program won't make her muscular...higher reps don't burn more calories (ok, maybe about 1 more calorie per set lol), they are just used for bodybuilders whose objective is to build larger muscle rather than strong muscles. in this way, according to her logic, a higher rep range would actually make her look MORE muscular and bulky, and that seems to be what women want to avoid. just do SS.

[N@tural1]

Get her to do the program AS WRITTEN

There is no reason why women should train any differently to men based on goals.

[Engineer_Guy]

I incresed the rep range because my GF doesnt want to bulk, she wants to lose bf and tone a little.
isnt that the purpose of increasing rep range becasue the more reps the more the excersise will be an arobic excersise there for it increases calories burned?

am i right or am i right?

Bulking up has WAY more to do with your diet than with whatever you do in the gym. If she doesn't eat excess calories she's not going to bulk. If her goal to lose body fat then eating a low fat high protein diet will help to achieve that more than what lifts she does.

[SumDumGoi]

Get her to do the program AS WRITTEN

There is no reason why women should train any differently to men based on goals.

For someone who claims that there are as wide of variations in the dose-response relationship to how the body adapts to exercise as you do, you certainly seem to have a rather large hard-on for this single program being suitable for everyone.

Why can't someone change the program slightly? Is it magical somehow? Unfortunately many females have the belief that lifting weights will somehow turn them into the incredible hulk, and this fear is heightened even further if you tell them that they will be doing low reps/heavy weight. Certainly you should educate someone that this isn't the case. However, if decreasing the weight and increasing the reps helps someone to wade into the program and alleviates the fears, what harm would come from it? Do you feel like it would cause the program to no longer work?

[Miike012]

Give this a read.

Sexy Female Training

http://www.tmuscle.com/readArticle.do?id=1305014

Well after reading this article i learned alot, and i dont think the ss program would be sutable to a womens figure.

[SumDumGoi]

Well after reading this article i learned alot, and i dont think the ss program would be sutable to a womens figure.

Don't ever trust anything written by T-muscle. That article, like most of the crap on that site, was full of nonsense. If your gf wants to lose weight she should still be sticking to the basic compound exercises. I would suggest that if she stick with a full body workout (similar to SS, but it doesn't have to be exactly like it) twice per week with 3-4 days off in between. Then during the off days have her start a running program. Something similar to these (depending on her current fitness level) and have her progress towards a goal.

http://www.exrx.net/Aerobic.html

[noflyingcars]

Why can't someone change the program slightly? Is it magical somehow? Unfortunately many females have the belief that lifting weights will somehow turn them into the incredible hulk, and this fear is heightened even further if you tell them that they will be doing low reps/heavy weight. Certainly you should educate someone that this isn't the case. However, if decreasing the weight and increasing the reps helps someone to wade into the program and alleviates the fears, what harm would come from it? Do you feel like it would cause the program to no longer work?

Doing 12 reps is more likely to increase her mass than doing 5 reps.

Than doing more than 5 reps in the deadlift is risking the spine.

[Farley1324]

Well after reading this article i learned alot, and i dont think the ss program would be sutable to a womens figure.

Why not?

[SumDumGoi]

Doing 12 reps is more likely to increase her mass than doing 5 reps.

Than doing more than 5 reps in the deadlift is risking the spine.

Couple questions for you here. If you are not increasing your muscle mass would you expect someone's resting metabolism to increase as much? She would be able to burn more fat at rest if she was to add on a little bit of muscle mass. This would allow her to become leaner. She is still not going to become the hulk unless for whatever reason she has a large amount of testosterone coursing through her body.

Also, if you were to perform the deadlifts with proper form do you think that you would have an increased risk of injury? If he wants to include both squats and deadlifts for his gf, personally I would suggest that he do squats on one day and deadlifts on the next. Because both of those lifts can be technical, I would prefer to do them as the first exercise for the day when you are the freshest.

[Miike012]

Why not?

because it was talking about what muscles to focus on such as vastus lateralis, glutes and delts and what ones to focus on but not as much such as vastus medials, upper traps and obliques inorder to develop a curvy body

[Farley1324]

Strong, sexy females with a strong core.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHC6JOB0Ne0

Food for though. Eye candy too

[N@tural1]

For someone who claims that there are as wide of variations in the dose-response relationship to how the body adapts to exercise as you do, you certainly seem to have a rather large hard-on for this single program being suitable for everyone.

On what do you base my "hard on" for SS? This singular comment? Seriously? Are you aware I have a stickied thread in which I recommend a few programs SS is but just 1 of many I suggest so my "hard on" is based on what exactly? The simple fact that I suggested her to do a specific program as written? It would be nicer for all if you could keep your replies respectful and try to avoid the profanities. I know this is hard for you but do try.

Why can't someone change the program slightly? Is it magical somehow?

Magical? No but I would never suggest a complete beginner to start on reps of 12-15 on squat and deadlift as fatigue may well compromise form. I would prefer a beginner to use 5 reps on these movements at least for a while.

Unfortunately many females have the belief that lifting weights will somehow turn them into the incredible hulk, and this fear is heightened even further if you tell them that they will be doing low reps/heavy weight.

Then one should explain properly to the female the reasons why they've been asked to do something and they should have the trust in that person to do so. In my humble opinion.

Certainly you should educate someone that this isn't the case. However, if decreasing the weight and increasing the reps helps someone to wade into the program and alleviates the fears, what harm would come from it? Do you feel like it would cause the program to no longer work?

I would personally explain to them that 5 reps in good form while avoiding excessive fatigue is a lot safer for them while increasing neural efficiency.

At the end of the day, if a beginner lifter refuses to head advice from a trainer or experienced lifter, that IMO would be their problem.

The problem with bastardizing set specific routines is that if the "modified" version fails to give the results the lifter then complains SS didn't work for me! When in fact, they didn't follow SS. This would apply to any prescribed routine.

Out of curiosity sumdumgoi do you in your opinion have more experience or better knowledge of beginner lifters than Mark Rippetoe? Can you tell us how many lifters you've trained?

[N@tural1]

Don't ever trust anything written by T-muscle.

This is based on what? Who should we all trust.. YOU?

That article, like most of the crap on that site, was full of nonsense. If your gf wants to lose weight she should still be sticking to the basic compound exercises.

Actually, if women desire to develop a certain shape based on a goal then NO they wouldn't necessarily want to follow the same routine as another. Are you suggesting 2 women with very different figures should train in exactly the same way?

[N@tural1]

Also, if you were to perform the deadlifts with proper form do you think that you would have an increased risk of injury?

Do you think form would be compromised performing higher rep fatiguing sets?

[CaptainGorgeous]

My GF wants to tone up and lose about 5 pounds.

She should improve her diet.



If by "tone up," you mean "increase definition," then virtually any bodybuilding program will suffice. If she lifts weights and alters her diet so that she drops 5 pounds, she will have "toned up."

[SumDumGoi]

Do you think form would be compromised performing higher rep fatiguing sets?

Not if she used an appropriate weight and was taught proper technique.

[SumDumGoi]

This is based on what? Who should we all trust.. YOU?



Actually, if women desire to develop a certain shape based on a goal then NO they wouldn't necessarily want to follow the same routine as another. Are you suggesting 2 women with very different figures should train in exactly the same way?

I am suggesting that people should train a certain way based on their overall goals. In this case the individual is trying to lose weight, so I would recommend following a basic full body routine twice per week with 3-4 days of rest in between. Then I would suggest that they get on a running program (or any other type of aerobic activity such as biking, swimming, etc) as well. If the overall goals for the two individuals were different, then I would prescribe different programs.

Also, the philosophy that Ripptoe uses is basically to stick with relatively few compound exercises and perform a whole body routine. I am in complete agreement with him. I also have no beef with his overall workout plan. I have not said anything bad about Ripptoe, so you trying to make it sound like I am arguing against him is completely ridiculous. However, the best exercise that anyone can perform is the exercise that they like to do. This makes it so they will be more inclined to actually stick with the program. If a female doesn't like doing low reps/ heavy weight she is not going to have much success with the program. The individual may need to slightly modify the program for themselves. It doesn't matter if it is still called starting strength or whatever else, as long as the stick with the overall philosophy regarding what the program is trying to accomplish it will be fine.

BTW, could you tell me exactly what you agree with in that article that was posted by T-nation? According to T-nation, women should focus on single isolation movements so that they may sculpt their physique and look like a young brittany spears, jaime pressley or jessica simpson. Do you think women would have success with the routine to meet those goals?

[steve38]

Five pounds isn't much. She could lose that and tone up by doing pushups, walking around the block and cleaning up her diet a little.

If she starts lifting, she's likely to end up looking better but weighing more. That could be a problem if she's more concerned with her weight than her overall fitness.