Womens Powerlifting

[EVO-PT]

Hey -

I have been putting together a team for a powerlifting meet over the last few days and have told my gf this and asked her if she wanted to just come and hang out and watch - she said she couldn't this comp due to going to a design expo for uni - but she turned around and asked if she could do a comp later in the yr! - I was totally surprised and she seems really keen - she had never talked about anything like this before lol.

My Q is or looking for some advice - I have trained athletes, male powerlifters etc - but have never trained a girl or have even looked into training girls for powerlifting - is there anything I need to watch out for, are some exercises better suited to girls, squat stance, sumo grip etc etc.

She has not done mush training before so it will be pretty much starting from scratch, I was going to run a variation of a 5 x 5 program for the 1st 4 weeks, then depending on how she goes run a bit of a lower volume Sheiko program....

Any ideas, thoughts??

Oh and btw the comp is around 4 1/2 months away!

[skiboy1955]

Hmmm .... Where is Becky when you need her??

But I don't think other than weight (less) is the only thing you need to change in the workout with a woman.
I lifted with an Elite equipped woman in the 148lb class and if I did it she did it, and the first time I used a shirt to bench with her she out lifted me!! So train her as any other male athlete just start her light on the weights and she should build on it.
However, 4 1/2 months seems like a little bit of time but it is about what YOU can do so remind her that.

[koyongi]

Here!

There's really nothing different in the way a girl trains as a powerlifter. In some cases, girls can handle more volume, so that's something to take into account, but I would say that the difference isn't enough that it's something you'd need to plan for.
Most girls pull better sumo, but there are plenty of exceptions to this rule as well.

I would just start her on whatever program you'd normally start someone on, and let her run with it. Sumo v conventional is something that everybody has to decide on anyway, so cross that bridge the way you'd normally do when you come to it...

4 months seems like plenty of time to get things going.
Where are her numbers right now?

[EVO-PT]

Here!

There's really nothing different in the way a girl trains as a powerlifter. In some cases, girls can handle more volume, so that's something to take into account, but I would say that the difference isn't enough that it's something you'd need to plan for.
Most girls pull better sumo, but there are plenty of exceptions to this rule as well.

I would just start her on whatever program you'd normally start someone on, and let her run with it. Sumo v conventional is something that everybody has to decide on anyway, so cross that bridge the way you'd normally do when you come to it...

4 months seems like plenty of time to get things going.
Where are her numbers right now?

Thanks guys!

Yea I was thinking of training her sumo - but we will do both for the 1st month or till she decides which one she likes.

She doesn't have numbers as such really atm because shes never wanted to do anything like this so we havnt really taken track of anything.

1 month of a 5 x 5 style program followed by a #29 sheiko may be the go then.

Thanks Becky!

[MaxxBot]

This is really O/T but I was looking at the world records on PL watch for women and it seems like they get a LOT more out of gear than the men do, does anyone know why this is?

[koyongi]

This is really O/T but I was looking at the world records on PL watch for women and it seems like they get a LOT more out of gear than the men do, does anyone know why this is?

I wouldn't say that's the case at all. What suggests this to you?