routine for a 40 year old women...

[JB2k3]

i recently was asked by a friend to make a workout routine for her...she is 40 years old and i said i would build a routine and a diet for shedding a few pounds and shaping up. anyways my real question here is would a 3 day split with 3 full body workouts be a good starter? it would consist of things like:

incline/flat db press
rope
skullcrushers
deadlifts
lat pulldown or assisted pullups
db pullups
db lateral raises
db shoulder press
hammer curls
preacher curls
leg extension
leg curl
calve raises
leg raises

my other question would be what is a good rep range for her...i was thinking 12,10,10. something light but still works for her. how does all that sound? i might take deadlifts out because i dont think thats a good exercise to start her out on. any input would be very helpful...i normal work with people in there 20's. thanks alot!

[TrishB]

I hate full body workouts.
And for a beginner, I think it would cause her to burn out really fast.

I would suggest if you are going to go with a 3 day split-
monday- back/biceps
wed- legs and abs
fri- chest/shoulder/triceps

forget the leg extension and have her do squats
forget the leg curls and have her do walking lunges.

I would go higher reps/low weight on the legs and lower reps/higher weights for the upper body.


Good luck.

[Hibiscus09]

I did full body workouts for the first year I worked out. (That was in my early 30s -- I'm early 40s now.) I did not particularly love them as far as putting mass on goes. They're fine for maintaining. She'll see much quicker gains doing a three or four day split. Just make sure you don't get her going too heavy too quickly -- that will definitely burn her out. I believe slow and easy wins the race.

It really depends on her shape to me as far as what she needs to do with which bodyparts as far as reps and weights go.

I love walking lunges, single leg reverse lunges on the Smith Machine, Step Ups, lighter weight high rep squats, SLDLs, drops sets for extensions, high rep leg presses, etc. for my legs. I am not real tall and tend to put on muscle easily in the legs. I don't want to be stocky, so I prefer to go higher rep (25 to 30), light to moderate weight there.

For upperbody, I tend to keep the weight moderate and do anywhere from 12 to 20 reps. For shoulders, I do supersets of Side, Rear and Front raises for the delts and military presses. I also use the cables for side raises and do wide grip upright rows with lighter weight. I do go up to 25lbs on alternating dumbbell curls. I also do straight bar, cable and EZcurl Bar curls, along with hammer curls and preacher curls. For triceps I do pushdowns, skullcrushers, overhead dumbbell extensions, kickbacks, etc. My favorites for back are Wide grip pullups (palms facing away) either bodyweight or assisted, Pulldowns -- both wide and close grip, Lat pullovers, dumbbell rows, machine rows, hyperextensions and goodmornings.

There are so many things from which to choose. What are her stats and what kind of nutrition plan do you have in mind?

[DanMc]

A 39 year old man? ...oh come on I can't be the only one that thought of it.

I did full body workouts for the first yr also it really helped me cut the weight and gut I was taking with me every place I went. It has been about six months I have actually been thinking about working it into my routine. If only a couple times a month I have some body fat to lose. It really does depend on a persons current physique and the goals they have in mind. For myself i was getting way over-trained which is why I would not do it very often.

Good luck
Dan.

[egoatdoor]

Originally posted by JB2k3
i recently was asked by a friend to make a workout routine for her...she is 40 years old and i said i would build a routine and a diet for shedding a few pounds and shaping up. anyways my real question here is would a 3 day split with 3 full body workouts be a good starter? it would consist of things like:

incline/flat db press
rope
skullcrushers
deadlifts
lat pulldown or assisted pullups
db pullups
db lateral raises
db shoulder press
hammer curls
preacher curls
leg extension
leg curl
calve raises
leg raises

my other question would be what is a good rep range for her...i was thinking 12,10,10. something light but still works for her. how does all that sound? i might take deadlifts out because i dont think thats a good exercise to start her out on. any input would be very helpful...i normal work with people in there 20's. thanks alot!

Way way too complex. How can a person who has never trained before do skullcrushers and hammer curls properly? Deadlifts can be extremely dangerous if not done properly. She'll never be able to do pullups until she develops some basic strength first.

Start with a whole body workout 2-3 days a week for at least 6 weeks and probably two months. Stick to basic compound exercises, 12 reps and her focus should be on getting her body used to working out and learning proper form. She should not be training to failure. If after 4 weeks some of the weights are too easy at 12 reps, then she can be encourage to increase some of the weights.

I would suggest the following exercises to start;

Dumbbell bench press
DB Shoulder Press
Lat Pulldown
DB Curl
Two Hand Tricep Overhead Extension
DB Squats or Leg Press
Leg Curls

Leave the complicated exercises, isolation movements and stuff for smaller parts like calves and forearms for later.

An excellent book for her to read which will show her a lot of the basics is Strength Training for Women by James and Susan Peterson. Its available in most book stores or via Amazon or Barnes and Noble online.

[~*IronBelle*~]

I'd agree ego and also Trish had it spot on too. Simple and split.