Ladies & Gentlemen! Please help my GF!

[6_2_/215lbs]

She is 22, 5"7, and honestly, 100lbs or so, she is waaay UNDERWEIGHT!

SHe just joined a women's gym and has no experience in working out, however, she does have a personal trainer who gave her a routine.

I have no looked at the routine, but the trainer has told her that she must do 20mins of cardio per session.

WTF!?? SHe is trying to bulk, cardio will just defeat this purpose! I try telling her this, but she is anal to anything I have to offer, with her rebuttals being, "um your not a personal trainer"

SHe has washboard abs, and a good frame to made a wonderful, appealing, physique, and I want her to do it right the first time around.

I do know she is taking N-Large, I advise her to count her caloric intake (as well as her protein, carbs, and fat), she is anal to this concept too.

She asks me, "if i work out will I get big", I tell her NOT if you are NOT eating properly!

I want her to join this board, but she doesnt do that either, dont ask me why, i dunno. I will send her a link to this thread, and hopefully she joins (after seeing advice some have posted) and begins absorbing info (info attained from other than her personal trainer)

ie. if you could please outline some sort of split for her, and maybe a couple of exercises

I try to give her my routine, with lower poundage and higher reps, but isnt for that either.

ANyone, everyone, please help!

[TrishB]

Since she is not listening to you, why would she listen to anyone else here? I think you need to cut her some slack for a little bit.

She is just starting with a gym, is working out for the 1st time.... let her learn the ropes and get comfortable with lifting and cardio.
Her personal trainer hopefully will give her the basics that she can build on.

In time she may ask for your advice, but for now I think you should just be supportive.

[6_2_/215lbs]

YOu are right, I do not want to scare the poor girl away from the gym, now that she herself has finally taken initiative.

However, cardio for 20mins? A brisk walk is cool (IMO), but cardio @ high intensity for someone with her goals (bulking) & stature.

That is what I am mainly weary of.

But I am supportive.

[Rebecca95833]

Her trainer may be just referring to a proper warm up, which I think is a good habit to get into. Some more advanced trainees will warm up with lighter weight training, but the stardard intro training, usually advocates cardio of some sort to get the blood flowing and warmed up.

She need not do high intensive cardio, just a good warm up. I find a good cardio warm up for 20 or some minutes invigorating, both mentally and physically, and she most likely won't burn more than 100 or so calories (easily compensated for). I've also learned over the years that when you skip warming up, it's when you start getting aches, pains and injuries. Cardio done at the end of routine (again, not necessarily high intensity) can also get the blood flowing, reduce lactic acid build up, and help alleviate some of the muscle soreness.

[6_2_/215lbs]

what would you guys suggest?

the treadmill @ a walking pace.??

[Rebecca95833]

Probably the lowest impact cardio would be bicycle done at around 75 or 80 RPM....enough in most cases to get the heart rate up, but won't burn massive amounts calories.

She would be wise to add a couple of protein shakes a day to her diet...this would add about 400+ calories to her diet. Don't forget, that even a weight workout will work off calories.

Adding/loosing weight (and composition of that weight) is mostly about getting your diet in order.

Have her figure her maintenance calories (in the beginning probably about 12 calories per lb of bodyweight a day), and then add 500 calories a day of the higher protein variety, and see where she ends up in a six weeks or so. If she is keeping a food journal, as well as a workout journal (very important habit to get into in the beginning) she should be able to track her eating trends and get a good idea of what works optimally for her body as far as weight gain/loss and energy levels.

I'm sorry to say this is a short and sweet answer to what could, and does fill pages. I'm sure there is a lot of information on this very web site on eating and training. It would be worth it to spend some time looking it over, if she is serious about getting into the lifestyle. It will help her when she wishes to train on her own (without a trainer) and eliminates developing poor habits that later need to be fixed.

[muscled_up_mom]

Just a gut feeling-maybe your girlfriend doesn't WANT to get bigger.If she is already "very anal" about counting calories and such,it could be that her low bodyweight is of her own doing.She may not be leveling with you because she doesn't want to admit that she might have some issues with her weight.I'd recommend that you back off about the cardio-if you focus too much on the calories it burns,that may be the only place that you find her...for hours.I just bring this up because I've been there myself,and a lot of the new women I train are obsessed with not gaining any weight,and have unrealistic views of their bodies.

[NewAgeLegend]

Just a gut feeling-maybe your girlfriend doesn't WANT to get bigger.If she is already "very anal" about counting calories and such,it could be that her low bodyweight is of her own doing.She may not be leveling with you because she doesn't want to admit that she might have some issues with her weight.I'd recommend that you back off about the cardio-if you focus too much on the calories it burns,that may be the only place that you find her...for hours.I just bring this up because I've been there myself,and a lot of the new women I train are obsessed with not gaining any weight,and have unrealistic views of their bodies.

Sooooo True. I see this girl at the gym EVERYDAY for 2 hours a day on the stairmaster and on the bike she does like 2 sets of 30 crunchs then leaves. Women these days! and her body is very skinny. I can't see her eating too much and she prob weighs 105 pounds at the very most.

[Emma-Leigh]

OP from 2003...
Think the issue has been resolved.