is this a good workout for a woman starting out at the gym

[abhishek77]

I have read some articles regd female weight training here on bodybuilding.com and decided to design a workout for my wife which is similar to mine. She is 5 feet 2" and weight 125lb (58kg). She had a baby last year in June and she is now planing on going to the gym for first time.
I have suggested her the following routine.

Monday and Thursday (Chest, shoulder, triceps)
Wednesday and Saturday (Only Cardio)
Tuesday and Friday (Back, biceps, legs)
Sunday (rest)

Each bodypart mentioned above will involve 2 exercises consisting of 4 sets each and each set will be worked to failure. For example 2 exercises for the chest, 2 for shoulders and so on. Also i have advised her when it comes to lifting, she should lift heavy and not really light weights and when it comes to diet, i have advised her on a good high protein diet but with 40g to 50g of carbs daily which would come in the form of healthy carbs or from fruits.

Before workout, i have advised for a 5 to 10 minute warmup on rowing machine and after workout, cardio for around 30-40 minutes. Any suggestions?

[acrawlingchaos]

I would have her do a tried and true program like All pro's or starting Strength (or even strong lifts).

. While an upper lower split, is ok for a novice, full body program mayb e a better place to start.

. A novice should never have to train until failure, in fact I would advise against it. Progressive resistance is all that is needed to grow. Pushing a novice to failure repeatedly can cause excessive DOMS, which will deter a novice.

. Lifting heavy is subjective, whether she works in a 12 rep range or a 5 rep range is irrelevant, as long as she regualrly progresses.

. A low carb diet is not needed (unless she prefers this sort of diet). Consuming enough calories to maintain weight or a slight caloric deficit is plenty to help change her composition. Though high protein (100-125 grams should be fine for her) should be enough.

[abhishek77]

As u suugest a full body program, I came across this link here.
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/ulti...for-women.html

But as the article suggest 2 sets only, theres nothing wrong in doing 4 sets instead.

[acrawlingchaos]

The number of reps and sets is irrelevant. The program you listed in garbage, it has no clear lines of progression, something that a novice program needs.

There is no point in doing 4 sets either if your program is poor. Look into All pro's as mentioned.
http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...4195843&page=1

[abhishek77]

The number of reps and sets is irrelevant. The program you listed in garbage, it has no clear lines of progression, something that a novice program needs.

There is no point in doing 4 sets either if your program is poor. Look into All pro's as mentioned.
http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...4195843&page=1

which program are you referring to as garbage? please explain what you mean by no clear lines of progression?

Assuming they perform a full body workout consisting of 2 sets of 10 reps each per bodypart.
And after each week, they increase the weight used per exercise and lift to a maximum of 10 reps. Is that not progression?

Theres a lot of information out there regd female bodybuilding and most of them basically states that they can workout just like men and must lift heavy inorder to achieve results.

[lqtech00]

As a beginner, I can tell you that your routine may be too much for your wife, especially if she hasn't picked up weights before. I've tried to workout to failure without a base and I hurt myself so bad, I was unable to workout for week. I can only tell you what I'm doing, which is a whole body routine 3x weekly and cardio 20mins interval 2x weekly and no working to failure yet. Right now I'm starting out slow, with 1 set 12-15 reps of each exercise and each week I will add a set. The workout that was linked looks similar to the one that I'm doing. At some point, she will be able to lift heavy, but you want to allow her to progress slowly so that she doesn't hurt herself.

[abhishek77]

As a beginner, I can tell you that your routine may be too much for your wife, especially if she hasn't picked up weights before. I've tried to workout to failure without a base and I hurt myself so bad, I was unable to workout for week. I can only tell you what I'm doing, which is a whole body routine 3x weekly and cardio 20mins interval 2x weekly and no working to failure yet.

I have suggested the following workout until she gets some more strength.
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/ulti...for-women.html

[abhishek77]

As a beginner, I can tell you that your routine may be too much for your wife, especially if she hasn't picked up weights before. I've tried to workout to failure without a base and I hurt myself so bad, I was unable to workout for week. I can only tell you what I'm doing, which is a whole body routine 3x weekly and cardio 20mins interval 2x weekly and no working to failure yet. Right now I'm starting out slow, with 1 set 12-15 reps of each exercise and each week I will add a set. The workout that was linked looks similar to the one that I'm doing. At some point, she will be able to lift heavy, but you want to allow her to progress slowly so that she doesn't hurt herself.

You mention that u do 12-15 reps of each excercise. do you lift heavy that after 12 reps or so, you cannot do another rep?

[lqtech00]

I don't lift heavy at all right now. I pick a weight that allows me to get through the reps comfortably. So basically, the feeling at the end of the set is that I could do more if I wanted to. I'm working more on form and how to do the exercise properly rather than how much I can lift. That will come in time.

[kbmaxwell]

I have read some articles regd female weight training here on bodybuilding.com and decided to design a workout for my wife which is similar to mine. She is 5 feet 2" and weight 125lb (58kg). She had a baby last year in June and she is now planing on going to the gym for first time.
I have suggested her the following routine.

Monday and Thursday (Chest, shoulder, triceps)
Wednesday and Saturday (Only Cardio)
Tuesday and Friday (Back, biceps, legs)
Sunday (rest)

Each bodypart mentioned above will involve 2 exercises consisting of 4 sets each and each set will be worked to failure. For example 2 exercises for the chest, 2 for shoulders and so on. Also i have advised her when it comes to lifting, she should lift heavy and not really light weights and when it comes to diet, i have advised her on a good high protein diet but with 40g to 50g of carbs daily which would come in the form of healthy carbs or from fruits.

Before workout, i have advised for a 5 to 10 minute warmup on rowing machine and after workout, cardio for around 30-40 minutes. Any suggestions?

If she has never lifted she shouldn't go straight for the heavy weights. She should start lower and work on her form and doing it right before progressing. Lifting heavy weight with improper form is just going to cause her to get hurt. Plus if someone told me that I had to lift heavy and then I wasn't able to I would be discouraged and not want to go back.

[Rowyn]

If she has never lifted she shouldn't go straight for the heavy weights.

Uhm, wut?? A 3-5 rep range and its heaviness is relative to the individual. A noob female, for example, may very well have to start with DBs versus the barbell. Her starting point should be what SHE can do for the required rep range. Who said she would ever use improper form? Irregardless of doing 3-5 or 12-15, form should always be good. Certainly for the first couple of sessions/weeks she may need to stick to easy work to get the form, but no reason at all she can't go heavy after that.

I am kinda skert by some of these replies, lol. As OP did state at one point, a female can train exactly like a male. I am of the opinion that a tried and true program is the best place for most people to be, novice or not. Competitors use programs, after all. Follow the rep scheme of the program, some will have lifts to failure, others will not. Some will have both low rep/heavy days in which failure may be desired, others will have volume days. More is not always better, follow the program.

As for training programs, here is the "sticky" we use in the Fem Forum as a basic guideline

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...hp?t=127023861

I dislike when people call full body workouts for novices, that's a rather uneducated thing to say. So don't agree with that point, either.

As far as the program you have chosen, the idea is to start her out on the right foot. Why not teach her the big lifts from the start versus so many machines? That way she learns proper form and technique early on.

[kbmaxwell]

Uhm, wut?? A 3-5 rep range and its heaviness is relative to the individual. A noob female, for example, may very well have to start with DBs versus the barbell. Her starting point should be what SHE can do for the required rep range. Who said she would ever use improper form? Irregardless of doing 3-5 or 12-15, form should always be good. Certainly for the first couple of sessions/weeks she may need to stick to easy work to get the form, but no reason at all she can't go heavy after that.

I am kinda skert by some of these replies, lol. As OP did state at one point, a female can train exactly like a male. I am of the opinion that a tried and true program is the best place for most people to be, novice or not. Competitors use programs, after all. Follow the rep scheme of the program, some will have lifts to failure, others will not. Some will have both low rep/heavy days in which failure may be desired, others will have volume days. More is not always better, follow the program.


I dislike when people call full body workouts for novices, that's a rather uneducated thing to say. So don't agree with that point, either.

As far as the program you have chosen, the idea is to start her out on the right foot. Why not teach her the big lifts from the start versus so many machines? That way she learns proper form and technique early on.

I didn't mean she shouldn't lift heavy at all. I was just simply trying to say if it was her first day lifting don't make her think she has to lift super heavy if that not a comfortable weight for her.

[rockangel]

Uhm, wut?? A 3-5 rep range and its heaviness is relative to the individual.

I agree, i started benching with the bar for only 5 reps, and i have never been able to go over 5 reps on unassisted pullups (yet, still working on it!!), but yet i have seen some fine progress. It doesnt all have to be pink dumbells, but i think Op should watch the wife and not let her try and lift too much at first, since you will sacrifice form if it is too heavy, but i can always tell this within one rep. If i load the plates or pick up the dumbells and cant do one in good form, i drop the weight and try again. So watch the form, and watch the weight, she can still work heavy but make sure the weight you pick is appropriate for the program/lifter.
But get on a professional program, and dont try and make one up unless you understand the why's of what you are doing. Why are you choosing the excercise, why are you choosing the reps and sets? what are the risks vs benefits? why are you putting chest and shoulders together with triceps?? Why are you putting back and biceps together with legs which is the biggest muscle group, and then only doing 2 excercises for the legs which has the most muscles Whto hit???? Why do you have her lifting only on 2 days and cardio on one day?? I do hope you are starting to see some of the issues with your program. And why is a whole muscle group missing?

[abhishek77]

But get on a professional program, and dont try and make one up unless you understand the why's of what you are doing. Why are you choosing the excercise, why are you choosing the reps and sets? what are the risks vs benefits? why are you putting chest and shoulders together with triceps?? Why are you putting back and biceps together with legs which is the biggest muscle group, and then only doing 2 excercises for the legs which has the most muscles Whto hit???? Why do you have her lifting only on 2 days and cardio on one day?? I do hope you are starting to see some of the issues with your program. And why is a whole muscle group missing?

When i workout, i mainly focus on compund movements. I avoid isolation exercises. Thats why when i workout chest or shoulders, certain movements always workout the triceps. originally i had planned her to workout for 4 days and 2 days cardio which as some ppl suggested it would be too much for a beginner.

This was the planned workout which is similar to mine. And how am i missing a whole muscle group? If u see the workout below, it does involve all the bodyparts even when focusing on compound movements.

Monday and Thursday (Chest, shoulder, triceps)
Wednesday and Saturday (Only Cardio)
Tuesday and Friday (Back, biceps, legs)
Sunday (rest)

Usually i used to go to the gym 6 times a week and workout each bodypart twice a week. So now i go only 4 days a week and still workout each bodypart twice a week. The other two days, i keep optional for cardio only. And with one day of rest.

As i have also mentioned above, i have suggested her the follwing workout as on this link.
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/ulti...for-women.html

when it comes to how heavy she would be required to lift, for example If she could do ten reps on a set of leg press machine but she knows that she could have done 15 or more, that is not heavy enough. She would need to finish her sets knowing that she could have done one absolutely no more than two more reps.

could also anyone recommend any good female bodybuilding books as a good guide? i was thinking abt buying the arnolds bodyshaping for women.

[rockangel]

I see nothing about abs in your program, you work back, and then dont work abs at all. Doesnt make sense why you would do no ab work at all, even if you are doing other lifts in which the abs are used, they would still benifit from some direct work for balance.

Also, you do legs, the biggest muscle group, with a whole bunch of other stuff. Makes no sense. Legs need to be hit from different angles to incoroprate all of the muscles. If you are only doing 2 excercises for legs, you are not hitting everything and making muscle imbalances. You need to hit the hams, quads, calves and glutes and that right there is 5 to 6 excercises alone.

There should be more than 2 excercises for body parts. The triceps have 3 heads, which means you need 2 or 3 excercises at least for balanced development, the back needs to be at least 3 to 4 excercises to hit lats, traps, rhoms and lower back. The shoulders should at least be three exercise to hit all three heads. And i would include abs at a minimum of 2 exercises to balance back work.

So basically the program you wrote and are following, just makes no sense to me. You dont need 4 sets necessarily. 1 good set is better than 4 crappy ones, and no way would i go to failure on 4 sets. Doesnt make sense. If you are following the program that you linked, then just follow it. Dont add sets or reps or anything. Follow the program.

I dont like the program you listed, it makes no sense at all. If you want a good book, the go for New rules of lifting for women for your wife. It has everything she would need to get started.

[abhishek77]

I see nothing about abs in your program, you work back, and then dont work abs at all. Doesnt make sense why you would do no ab work at all, even if you are doing other lifts in which the abs are used, they would still benifit from some direct work for balance.

Also, you do legs, the biggest muscle group, with a whole bunch of other stuff. Makes no sense. Legs need to be hit from different angles to incoroprate all of the muscles. If you are only doing 2 excercises for legs, you are not hitting everything and making muscle imbalances. You need to hit the hams, quads, calves and glutes and that right there is 5 to 6 excercises alone.

There should be more than 2 excercises for body parts. The triceps have 3 heads, which means you need 2 or 3 excercises at least for balanced development, the back needs to be at least 3 to 4 excercises to hit lats, traps, rhoms and lower back. The shoulders should at least be three exercise to hit all three heads. And i would include abs at a minimum of 2 exercises to balance back work.

So basically the program you wrote and are following, just makes no sense to me. You dont need 4 sets necessarily. 1 good set is better than 4 crappy ones, and no way would i go to failure on 4 sets. Doesnt make sense. If you are following the program that you linked, then just follow it. Dont add sets or reps or anything. Follow the program.

I dont like the program you listed, it makes no sense at all. If you want a good book, the go for New rules of lifting for women for your wife. It has everything she would need to get started.

when i work out legs, i do leg press or squats/lunges, both are compound movements that work more than one muscle. i also do workout my calves.
when i work out my back, i do lat pull downs, back rows on rowing machine, Bent-over Rows. For shoulders, i do shoulder presses, rear delts, alternatate front raises and side raises. For chest, i use machine presses, dumbell incline, dumbell flat bench and chest extensions. And i do lift heavy. so how this workout not making sense? Like i mentioned above, i only focus on doing compound movements.

The reason why i listed doing two exercises is not for myself but for wife.

[abhishek77]

i am bumping this thread.

[SaraLee315]

I see nothing about abs in your program, you work back, and then dont work abs at all. Doesnt make sense why you would do no ab work at all, even if you are doing other lifts in which the abs are used, they would still benifit from some direct work for balance.

Also, you do legs, the biggest muscle group, with a whole bunch of other stuff. Makes no sense. Legs need to be hit from different angles to incoroprate all of the muscles. If you are only doing 2 excercises for legs, you are not hitting everything and making muscle imbalances. You need to hit the hams, quads, calves and glutes and that right there is 5 to 6 excercises alone.

There should be more than 2 excercises for body parts. The triceps have 3 heads, which means you need 2 or 3 excercises at least for balanced development, the back needs to be at least 3 to 4 excercises to hit lats, traps, rhoms and lower back. The shoulders should at least be three exercise to hit all three heads. And i would include abs at a minimum of 2 exercises to balance back work.

So basically the program you wrote and are following, just makes no sense to me. You dont need 4 sets necessarily. 1 good set is better than 4 crappy ones, and no way would i go to failure on 4 sets. Doesnt make sense. If you are following the program that you linked, then just follow it. Dont add sets or reps or anything. Follow the program.

I dont like the program you listed, it makes no sense at all. If you want a good book, the go for New rules of lifting for women for your wife. It has everything she would need to get started.

I agree.

[terracotta]

I think that you got some good advice already, but I think your wife (and you) would benefit by taking a look at my website for beginner/intermediate nutrition/weightlifting/fat loss - www.hotnfit.com

Be sure she does some ab work, pregnancy/child birth is not kind to the abdominals.

Feel free to send me an email at the address on that site for further guidance.

[abhishek77]

I agree.

how much do u work out? how many sets and reps do u do per exercise and do u work out to failure? do you also increasing the intensity by adding more weight after each set?

I do 4 sets per exercise, that is a total of 12 to 16 sets if doing between 3 to 4 exercises.

My workout is focused on the main big exercises that work multiple muscles: squats/leg press, chest press, shoulder press and rear delts, back rows and lat pull downs and for lower back, i do deadlifts. The only muscle i am not working out right now are abs but when i do dumbell pullovers, it not only work outs ur chest but also puts pressure on your abs.