Advice for Gf needed

[The Tall Man]

My girlfriend wants to start working out with weights in 2004, asked me what she should do... I somehow don't think my workout (basic core exercises, like squats, bench, military press, etc) would fit her.

Her objective is to get tone overall, not really build a lot of muscle. She wants to stay feminie looking (she's a shapely 5'4 130 lbs right now and doesn't want much more weight) but get stronger and more tone. She does cardio, palites, and ab work 4 times a week now, she's been doing that for many months, so she has a pretty good foundation.

She is pretty enthusiastic, I want to give her good advice RE

- routine/frequency
- diet- she basically watches fat intake only
- supplements, if any

TTM

[peregrine]

i would go with a low volume light to medium weight with reps 10-12 intially.
she can up the weight and lower the reps later.

i'd say stick with the routine for 2-4wks till her body is used to lifting.

any routine could be used. you may want to use a legs, back, chest, arms. you need to teach her the proper techniques if she is to use free weights as i see so many people both males and females train incorrectly where they can get hurt. itsbest to take it slow, and better train her right the first time so you don't have to repeat.

i would keep volume low and workouts brief.
chest
incline dumbell bench 2x12
flat dumbell 2x12
machine flyes 2x12

legs
squat 2x12
leg curl 2x12
calf raises 2x12
seated calf raise 2x12

back
assisted wide grip pull up or lat pull down 2x12
t bar row 2x12
pull over 2x12
hyper extension 2x12

arms
barbell curl 2x12
bench dips 2x12
hammer curl 2x12
tricep pushdown 2x12
wrist extensions 2x12
wrist curls 2x12

these sessions will be really fast. tell her take it slow at first and move to her needs. warm up with 5min of cardio then light stretching followed by the weights. go light for the first set to warm up good. better to learn properly first, then she can up the tempo and increase pounds. after the first 2wks you can add another set.
i'd highly advise whey protein after training. maybe 25gm for a female.

she can do cardio after weights if wanted or needed.


__________________

if shes interested begin to teach her about diet. basic stuff first. differences in carbs and its effect on insulin. appropriate snacks. post workout nutrition.

this workout was just an example but keep it basic.

[FitMandy]

I'm a female trainer/fitness competitor and I couldn't have said it better myself. I agree with this routine!!

[peregrine]

thanks for the compliment FitMandy

hey another great exercise that really builds stunning legs are walking lunges. they really bring the legs balance and build up the butt.

[FitMandy]

yeah lunges can't be beat. i've gone as heavy as 50 lb. db's for walking lunges (sets of 12 reps) yikes!! gotta have straps though. my fiance made me pink ones. also, for the girl who wants a bigger butt, step-ups onto a bench with db's are great. just remind her not to use the other leg to push off with, but to squeeze the glute of the working leg in order to step up. it's a killer.

** also, most girls' quad strength exceeds that of the hamstring by 4 to 10 times. try some stiff-legs and curls if this is the case.

[egoatdoor]

Originally posted by peregrine
chest
incline dumbell bench 2x12
flat dumbell 2x12
machine flyes 2x12

legs
squat 2x12
leg curl 2x12
calf raises 2x12
seated calf raise 2x12

back
assisted wide grip pull up or lat pull down 2x12
t bar row 2x12
pull over 2x12
hyper extension 2x12

arms
barbell curl 2x12
bench dips 2x12
hammer curl 2x12
tricep pushdown 2x12
wrist extensions 2x12
wrist curls 2x12


__________________

I think this program has too much volume and too many exercises for a beginner. If she is just starting, she may need to develop coordination and learn the proper form and doing for instance, six different exercises for arms will make this much more difficult. The chest and leg routines look fine. I would suggest dropping one back movement and maybe doing three sets instead of 2. It is entirely unnecessary for a beginner, male or female, to be doing forearm exercises. Ditch the wrist extensions and wrist curls.

On the subject of "I somehow don't think my workout ( basic core exercises)......) would fit her.... This conclusion is totally erroneous. Now, if you are more advanced, then she obviously should not do the volume you do and allowances may have to made for some upper body movements where she may have to use dumbbells instead of barbells until she develops more strength, but her routine should start out solely with basic exercises.

A little more on this subject here:

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/ms-fit3.htm

[peregrine]

egoatdoor
this is for a 4 day split spread out over a week-8days. hitting the entire body, you may have interpretted it for an entire workout.

too many exercises. ?well my suggestion was to use this or a similar routine to train her correctly how to train and use weights. with that in mind her first set is unlikely to be a working set as an intermediate or advanced lifter would use. the sets per exercise are 2. the first to warm up and rehearse the movemnt for muscle memory and the second for the working set. by teaching her various exercises you are following your own sig of teaching your client how to train themselves. i wrote how teaching a person correctly is most important. i also wrote that a set could be added in 2-4 weeks to add intensity. on the subject of 6 exercises for the arms, it is still a total of 12 sets. one can use a variety of exercises as long as the volume is kept relative. why did i suggest so many arm exercises and have arms on a seperate day? to teach her various moves, also to work on any possible imbalances and so as not to create an imbalance like is often seen when 2 exercises are chosen for the arms, such as french presses and cable curls. there is no movement for the lower arms and many women have weak grip and carpal tunnel syndrome.

reps are high to elicit capillary development and prepare her body for heavier weights. reps could be lowered if the same routine is kept after a couple of weeks. that or adding a set. both can be used seperately or in combination for this style of training. the repetition method.

[egoatdoor]

Originally posted by peregrine
egoatdoor
this is for a 4 day split spread out over a week-8days. hitting the entire body, you may have interpretted it for an entire workout.

too many exercises. ?well my suggestion was to use this or a similar routine to train her correctly how to train and use weights. with that in mind her first set is unlikely to be a working set as an intermediate or advanced lifter would use. the sets per exercise are 2. the first to warm up and rehearse the movemnt for muscle memory and the second for the working set. by teaching her various exercises you are following your own sig of teaching your client how to train themselves. i wrote how teaching a person correctly is most important. i also wrote that a set could be added in 2-4 weeks to add intensity. on the subject of 6 exercises for the arms, it is still a total of 12 sets. one can use a variety of exercises as long as the volume is kept relative. why did i suggest so many arm exercises and have arms on a seperate day? to teach her various moves, also to work on any possible imbalances and so as not to create an imbalance like is often seen when 2 exercises are chosen for the arms, such as french presses and cable curls. there is no movement for the lower arms and many women have weak grip and carpal tunnel syndrome.

reps are high to elicit capillary development and prepare her body for heavier weights. reps could be lowered if the same routine is kept after a couple of weeks. that or adding a set. both can be used seperately or in combination for this style of training. the repetition method.

No, I did not think it was one workout. A 4 day split for an absolute beginner is entirely inappropriate. This person has never trained before and is supposed to jump right into a 4 day split routine??? Any sensible training guide would start out with either a whole body workout a couple of days a week, or a push/pull or upper body/lower body two day split. The key is to get the person into the routine of training and again, LEARNING THE BASICS.

On the number of exercises and volume, I stand by my original statement about about developing coordination and learning proper form on a limited number of basic exercises. You would not try to teach a 16 year old on their first driving lesson how to make left turns. You would not make the first math lesson for a first grader eighth grade algebra.

Finally, the time to start adding sets and volume is much longer than 2-4 weeks for a beginner. More like 2 to 4 months.

[peregrine]

yes a whole body workout is often subscribed to beginners, but i do not like that idea for several reasons.
1. they are done 2-3 times a week, my suggestion for more is based on burning more total calories by spreading it out over several days
2. so called beginners routines are more like cookie cutters, the exercises are genrally prescribed without adherence to special considerations of frame, body disorders, etc. "acl/mcl problems" , my suggestion was to correct many preexisting disorders and to head off any that may arise due to certain "beginners" exercises
3. my workout suggestion was brief and intense, maximizing hormonal changes and keeping
4. the exercises i posted are basic and the volume kept low with a total of 36reps for chest, 48reps for legs and back, and 60reps for arms.

in a basic whole body or push / pull split workout the prescribed often consists of 10exercises @ 10-15reps x 2-3 sets=
200-450reps per day, x 2-3 times a week.

mine is total reps over an entire week of 192reps

so which exercise program has lower total volume?

as far as changing exercises i suggested that so that she could be exposed to various other types, not because she has gotton stale using them. by teaching her various exercises correctly and to rotate some of them every 2-4 weeks her overall strengh gains and muscle fullness will be much better, along with correcting and preventing imbalances. coordintion and neural adaptation may not be the same but by teaching her the variety of exericses correctly from the start you will allow her to learn how to train correctly by herself in the future.

you say it is entirely unecessary for any beginner to do forearm exercises. but why would you want to neglect a major portion of the body like this? also these moves were put in to the routine to help correct potential problems she may have, females as a whole are much more susceptible to wrist injuries.


with your opionated mind why didn't you just post your own beginners routine for his gf and justify its existence instead of telling me and everyone else why my suggestion is wrong.

[peregrine]

by the way ego at door
follow your name.

[imperfectly_lou]

Originally posted by peregrine
by the way ego at door
follow your name.

Personally, I have always appreciated advice from both of you. What works for one person may not work for another. Personally, I started on a split routine but I was already in quite good fitness and shape so it worked for me. I tried to write a similar program for a friend and it was too much for her and she went back to a whole body workout for awhile.

I don't think there is a wrong or right answer in thise case - it entirely depends on how the individual involved responds.

I have never really seen any form of forearm training in any females routine. My forearms seem to get enough of a workout from things like deadlifts, pull downs and BB curls.

[peregrine]

good point that i should have mentioned earlier, thanks imperfectly lou.
another question would be how much gym time is she actually willing to spend? if its 2 days, a whole body routine might be better, if its more time then a split might be appropriate.

ok this is a sample of a whole body workout that many trainers have beginners use, and is my interpretation of a basic weight conditioning program, often used for athletes. i do not like it. but someone else might.

highschool athletes use a variation of this all the time m/w/f
often in circuit

squats 2-3x10-12
bench 2-3x10-12
leg curl 2-3x10-12
lat pull down 2-3x10-12
calf raises 2-3x10-12
lateral raises 2-3x10-12
tricep pushdown 2x10-12
barbell curl 2x10-12
crunches 2-3x10-30

a circuit might also be an option if she is pressed for time. but insure she has proper form and mechanics before letting her train alone. i agree with egoatdoor on this. teach them how to train self sufficiently and correctly.

[peregrine]

Originally posted by imperfectly_lou


I don't think there is a wrong or right answer in thise case - it entirely depends on how the individual involved responds.

good point

in general i think egoatdoor's idea of his split or a whole body workout is the prescribed workout by the majority of trainers, but my suggestion was just that. i have my reasons for that style of training.

Tallman mentioned she is already fairly active doing pilates, abwork, and cardio.

supplements-insure multi w/ iron, protein pwo if she tolerates,

diet-continue to watch saturated fat intake, teach her the difference between sat fat and other types, get some omega 3s from things like almonds, salmon at minimum a couple of times a week.

hope we didn't hijack your thread. good luck.