all the t-vixens please help!

Training Bodybuilding
1

A friend of mine started lifting with me last week. She is a little overweight who is trying to get in shape and all the cardio in the world does not work for her so she turned to me. Last week I showed her all of the main exercises that she would do if she were to work with me and she loved them all (cleans, squats, deads, rows, bench, military, etc. :)). Now that the introductory week is over and she had a little practice with the movement and the form, I want to make up an exercise for her to follow. She can only work out 3 days a week with me (Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday) because of classes. My question is whether I should break up her days into upper body and lower body days or should she, for the first month, do the whole body in one day 3x week.
An example of a break-up would look like this:
Day 1:
Squats 5x10
Front Squats 4x10
Lunges 4x10
Alessi’s calf workout
Abdominals

Day 2:
Bench Press 4x10
Military Press 4x10
Lat Pulldowns 4x10
Tricep Pulldowns 4x10
Horizontal Rows 4x10
Abdominals

Day 3:
Good Mornings 4x10
Deadlifts 4x10
Cleans 4x10
Alessi’s Calf workout
Abdominals

Or the full body workout
Day 1:
Squats
Lunges
Bench Press
Lat Pulldowns
Skull Crushers
Alessi’s
Abs

Day 2:
Deadlifts
Cleans
Military Press
Horizontal Rows
Dips
Aless’s
Abs

Day 3:
GM’s
Pull Throughs
Bench Press (Maybe Incline)
Pullups
Tricep pulldowns
Alessi’s
Abs

I know that she will try every exercise except for the stuff that I do for westside, she’s a little scared of that :slight_smile: (for now)

Ohh and by the way, some of these will be switched from bar to dumbbells to keep variety. Also I understand that it looks like a lot of sets and reps but the reason for that is 1. first set is always warmup, and 2. for the first 3 weeks I want her to get her form in and then drop the reps to 6-8 and maybe add another set. Her cardio is walking uphill for 25 mins on either off-days (3xweek) or the same days in the evenings.

I appreciate all the feedback.

Thanks.

2

I’m not a T-vixen, but I’ve trained a few. If I were you I’d go with the whole-body workout for at least the first couple of months. And yes, that does look like a LOT of volume for a beginner. I’d drop the sets a bit, at least at first.

When I start someone training, I usually start them off at 2 sets per exercise. Once they’re okay with the movement, I add a third (which basically serves as a warm-up, as they can now use more weight on the other two), and then a fourth later (for compound movements.

I like your basic set-up, but why are you working abs every workout? No need for that at all. If she’s like most women, she’ll be able to use some grip work a lot more than endless abs.

In any case, the main thing at this point is to get her into the habit of working out regularly. Once she’s committed and in the groove, you can start tweaking the program.

3

Ok, I have a silly question for you. What is her diet like? The best workout in the world won’t help if she isn’t eating right. Make sure she is eating enough too…body won’t give up it’s fat stores if it isn’t getting enough fuel for body function.

During her cardio of 25 minutes of walking uphill, what is her pace like? So many people believe that walking…at any pace will serve the purpose. Is she really working at that cardio?

Are you planning on inviting her to the tailgate party? We need more Vixens.

4

Thank you for your responses. First of all, i really don’t know why i included all those abs in there ( me working westside and doing abs every day I work out so I just subconciously think abs) I will definitely drop a set on each exercise taking a second look at what i wrote. Her diet? :slight_smile: we’re gonna need to work on that. She needs carbs (diabetes) so i tell her to eat most of her carbs in the morning with protein and eat less and less carbs and more fats as the day goes by. I know it’s not a good plan yet but I dont want to scare her. Of course she has yet to follow my suggestions but I will keep pushing her about her diet.

Thank you for your suggestions. Let me know if you have anymore.

Thanks

5

That seems to be a LOT for a beginner. She is gung ho about it now, but when the newness wears off she may burn out quickly.

I’d go with the full body stuff and cut it back a little. You want to keep her wanting more, not start resenting the endless ours in the gym.

You can always add more later!

(2,3)

6

Let me start with the program layout:

[quote]Day 1:
Squats 5x10
Front Squats 4x10
Lunges 4x10
Alessi’s calf workout
Abdominals [/quote]

Okay…Why a seperate calf workout? Why not just have her perform some calf raises to begin with? Plus, that’s alot of sets for a newbie. Really unnecessary at this point. 3-sets MAX per exercise. Skip the lunges, she’ll get plenty from the squats and front squat combo.

[quote]Day 2:
Bench Press 4x10
Military Press 4x10
Lat Pulldowns 4x10
Tricep Pulldowns 4x10
Horizontal Rows 4x10
Abdominals [/quote]

I see right now, you have her performing ab work every training session. Is this necessary right now? You have her doin’ deadlifts on her next training session and you have two back exercises here? Throw out the lat pulldowns, maintain the horizontal rows; since I see you train Westside, I know why she needs ‘em. My preferance would be to get her to do DB Push Presses rather than Military. You’ve got her doin’ a lot of static stuff. Why not some sort of rack presses for her triceps; why do the norm? Get her excited on training by the fact that she’s doin’ stuff that’s different than any other chick in the gym.

Again, cut down the sets to MAX of 3.

[quote]Day 3:
Good Mornings 4x10
Deadlifts 4x10
Cleans 4x10
Alessi’s Calf workout
Abdominals [/quote]

Ditch the calf workout for just a one or two additional calf exercises. Start with deadlifts, NOT good mornings. NO cleans on the same days as deadlifts. BOTH take considerable amount of work to perfect; both deserve their own day. Perhaps alternate the days - have a clean day one week, the next would be deadlift day. Again, cut down the sets to MAX of three.

[quote]Or the full body workout
Day 1:
Squats
Lunges
Bench Press
Lat Pulldowns
Skull Crushers
Alessi’s
Abs

Day 2:
Deadlifts
Cleans
Military Press
Horizontal Rows
Dips
Aless’s
Abs

Day 3:
GM’s
Pull Throughs
Bench Press (Maybe Incline)
Pullups
Tricep pulldowns
Alessi’s
Abs [/quote]

On any day that we train oly-lifts, we do not perform any ab work. Just a note.

Okay: get rid of the Lat pulldowns; lunges; military press (but if you insist on keepin’ it - make it a standing military press. She’ll thank you later…). I’d also ditch the tricep pulldowns in favor of the Skull Crushers.

Oh…I think that’s it for now.

One more thing: sit down with her. And talk. Find out if she has some sort of mental deadline to accomplish her goals. If it’s something like:

“I want to get REALLY lean, like drop (some sort of ungodly amount of weight), in one month…”

That’s your que to slap her. Knock some sense into her. Right there. Tell her this is all for the rest of her life. There’s no timeline when it comes to improving one’s performance or physique. This is her beginning of her journey of physical activity.

And if she hands you a Oxygen or Shape magazine as some sort of reference; throw it away. Really. Just throw it in a dumpster. Tell her that stuff is NOT based on reality. That she has physical potential that is untapped and that you are here to help her in that journey. And you want to see her succeed. And she will.

Let me know if this scares her. Then have her begin to post her in the forum.

7

Oh, and for a newbie: I wouldn’t have her perform both GM and pull-throughs in the same session. You can always alternate as well. Have her begin with GM’s and as her posterior chain becomes stronger, show her pull throughs as another option or addition to.

8

Patricia - I can’t believe you suggested that he physically assault this girl. How wretched. :slight_smile:

9

I second Patricias advice and wish to add one thing- Why direct tricep work? You seem to be on the right track with a group of multi-joint exercises to call upon the greatest amount of muscle mass as possible, but then you drop in the single joint tri movements… Just seems like a waste of time and energy to me, but then again, what do i know?

10

Looks pretty good for the most part, although probably too many sets for a newbie. I think the amount of calf work is a little excessive – better to focus on a general goal like getting leaner and stronger, than on minutiae. I agree that lots of ab exercises won’t be necessary, especially if you have fat over your abs and it just makes your gut look bigger.

I’d suggest a moderate amount of ab work, and a program that strengthens the transverse abs as well (search for “The Lost Secret of Ab Training”.) Good transverse abs will make someone’s waist smaller even if they don’t get leaner.

11

First off, thanks for all the responses. Her goals are to be lean in 10 days :). While there was no slapping or other physical abuse, there were some goal-changing conversations. I think she understands (or tells me that she understands) that this is for the rest of her life. The abs are gone. Full body seems to be the way to go so I think this is what she will end up doing. With all of the suggestions, this is how it looks right now.
Tuesday:
Squats 3x10
Bench press 3x10
Skull crushers 3x10
Abs (maybe)

Thursday:
Deadlifts 3x10
Standing press 3x10
Rows 3x10
Dips 3x10

Saturday:
Cleans 3x10
Incline press 3x10
Pullups 3x10
(suggest tri exercise here; i’m thinking maybe jm press but i dont know if that’s too advanced for now…if all else fails, skull crushers again)

While it seems i’m throwing abs out altogether, she’ll end up doing 'em here or there. She has those fitness magazines :slight_smile: a lot of 'em. They were the biggest pain for me because from her perspective they’re professionals who know what is going on and i’m just a 21 year-old kid.

Ohh, and about her trying different stuff… :)… i train westside. Today my workout consisted of GM’s, GH raises, pull throughs, abs, and front squats. She got SCARED so i told her that she won’t be doing that until she gets the basics. She hasn’t lifted before and she seems to really enjoy it and is already doing everything different from every other girl (or guy) in the gym. If she stays around for a month or so (i hope she will), i’ll introduce her to the “weirder” stuff.

Also, one more thing. I haven’t done a bicep exercise or a quad exercise in a year. Do you think I should implement it into her routine? My goals are different from hers and my biceps and quads did grow from westside but I am wondering what you guys and girls think.

Please let me know what you think of this new scheme.

Thank you.

12

DA MAN: it’s the westside in me talking :). I am experimenting with triceps right now, but if it is too much for her, it’s going to be the first thing to be replaced.

13

Ohh I forgot to mention that she does power breathing for abs (not as a part of workout but whenever she has free time at home or something…at least i hope so :)). But that is an interesting topic though. Do you guys/girls do any direct ab work? Or are they mostly worked indirectly with compound exercises? I do them for westside every day but that is because I have very weak abs and therefore need to strengthen the base for my squats (only 255, compared to 400 deads).

Thanks

14

I perform about 3-sessions a week of ab work. Some at home, where I have a SWISball. Okay, don’t laugh. But at least it’s AT HOME.

I perform reverse hypers and various ab work while watching TV. And we also maintain one day a week at the gym for ab work. BOTH (at home and at gym) include various Coach Davies-styled midsection work.

Also, I wanted to mention that when putting a program together for a newbie, I always think about the following: will this newbie be able to follow this program, when I’m not around?

Don’t forget another exercise, often easily overlooked but is a effective strength builder for front delts, chest and triceps: the pushup (and all it’s variations). Something your friend could perform at home, too.

15

Also, keep us updated as to her progress!

16

Thanks,

Well, today she started with:
-incline press 30 lbs x 10 reps, 40x10, 45x10
-squats 30x10, 50x10, 60x10
-horizontal rows 30x10, 40x10, 40x10
-tricep pulldowns (all the bars were taken) 30x10, 35x10, 35x10
-some heavy ball ab work
Diet-wise I have NO idea what she’s doing…I’ve asked her to tell me but she said that She had a dinner w/a friend and some cafeteria food so I just assumed the worst. Her form (which is my primary objective right now) is perfect so I will start putting more weight on that bar. In and out in 45 minutes.

17

I was reminded that I have not updated my friend’s progress lately so for all who are interested here it is:

First of all, her diet did not change. I STILL have no idea what she is doing but I am not giving up on her even though it seems I care about the way she looks more than she. Exercise-wise (the only thing that I can really control), she has gone up leaps and bounds. I have not changed her workout yet (planning to do that next week), but her numbers went up, her self-esteem went up (after she got diabetes, she really changed physically so her self-esteem took a plunge) and she is feeling good about herself. My plan now is to somehow get her to control her diet, which is not as difficult as it should be since she cannot eat many carbs anyway. I am hoping for a T-dawg diet but we will see.

18

Just curious, whats the next phase of her routine going to look like?

19

New routine that she started was push/pull routine…please feel free to critique:

Day 1-Push
Squats
Box steps (w/weight)
Bench Press
Shoulder Press
Rope pressdowns

Day 2-Pull
Deadlifts
Good Mornings
Horizontal rows
Pullovers
Upright Rows

Sets range 3-4 and reps range 7-10.

Her strength really improved during the past month and a couple days ago she told me how excited she was that on a trip that she was going during the winter, there was a fitness room with a SQUAT RACK. I think I taught her well :). In her own words, “before this I was always lazy and tired; now I have an abundance of energy. I love this!”

I think we can all take credit for that transformation.

thanks in advance for replies

20

Also, concerning her diet (but i’ll post it as part of this thread). She finally started listening to me and already is seeing results (it feels good to be right). Her diet includes about 30g of fiber to about 100g of carbs (she’s diabetic). She only eats 60g of protein b/c of lack of $$ for protein shakes/bars and she does not own a fridge to store meat (campus dorms). Her sat fat is 10% of her total fat which breaks up into a 45/27/28 (carb/pro/fat). I am trying to figure out how to up her protein intake, which consists of tuna and cafe. meat (not too healthy) right now.

thanks for all the suggestions.