I try and get my overweight wife to start lifting. she also have a really bad shoulder. a lot of body weight exercises are thus ruled out as she is too heavy for her bad shoulder. she also wants to feel like she accomplished something at the end of the training. she has also no understanding for the importance of form and no patience for practicing form. she is actually mostly interested in burning fat, whereas i however want her to build strength and muscle. i thought of the following workout to get her to think she is torching fat while at the same time sneaking in some strength and hypertrophy without too much form to master:
6 reps of dumb bell or kettle bell 1-leg dead lift
12 reps of back step lunges per side
6 reps of dumb bell or kettle bell dead lift
6 reps goblet or body weight squat
6 reps of split squats per side
20 sec plank or pushup position (will see what her shoulder allows for here)
20 reps of dumb bell curls
20 reps of dumb bell shoulder presses (again, shoulder issue)
20 reps of lateral raises (can’t believe this one is torching fat, but it might be good for her shoulder)
20 crunches (or maybe start with the crunches?)
very little rest between the items above, about 90 sec of rest after sequence is completed and then go again until a feeling of accomplishment is obtained.
so guys, what do you think? is this pure crap or can it be improved with small tweaks?
To put it in Scottish terms: that’s pure pish by the way.
Ditch the single leg deadlift.
Ditch the curls
Ditch the laterals
Ditch the sets of 6 for everything.
Keep the reps high for everything and rest periods at 60 seconds. Treat it more like circuit training than strength training. Something tells me your wife wants to lose weight more than she wants to increase her 6RM on her deadlift, so train her accordingly…
i had her perform 2 rounds of the original workout. i have no idea if she burned fat. she felt accomplishment though and her shoulder didn’t get cranky.
in light of suggestions, workout 2 to be performed in 2 days:
12 reps of back step lunges per side
12 reps of dumb bell or kettle bell dead lift
12 reps goblet or body weight squat
12 reps of split squats per side
25 sec pushup position
20 reps of dumb bell shoulder presses
20 reps of lateral raises (against advice, because it might be good for her shoulder)
20 crunches
60 sec of rest between items and repeat sequence
I appreciate your willingness to accept criticism. It’s quite the rarity in these parts.
I much prefer this new routine although there are still one or two changes I would make:
-I would take the push up hold out or do it as a standalone exercise outwith the sequence. So have her do the whole sequence as many times as you guys want, then do a few sets of holds afterwards. My reasoning is it’s not really a get your blood pumpin’ kind of exercise, and so will disrupt the flow of the sequence. Some light core/stretching can be a good cool down that still has a training effect after hard circuits.
-Rear delt flyes are a better choice for shoulder health than laterals. Depending on the nature of her cranky shoulders laterals could be contraindicated (although admittedly the light load used means it’s not a huge deal).
Other than that, looks like a fairly solid home routine to me.
well, second session completed on day 3 instead of day 2, as she had a lot of DOMS and also skipped carbs on day 2. the advice about a nice walk i had already thought of, but she hates walking and refuses.
the final outcome of the second session:
2x25 sec push up position (this is kind of a strength move for her so i put it first)
2 rounds of:
12 reps of back step lunges per side
12 reps of dumb bell or kettle bell dead lift
12 reps goblet or body weight squat
12 reps of split squats per side
20 reps of dumb bell shoulder presses
20 reps of rear delt flies
20 band pull apart
20 band face pulls
20 curls (wifey insisted on doing curls, i had ditched them)
If she decides she has had enough of the circuits, may I suggest an approach that works with her a bit more?
You will need one sandbag, a tyre, a rope (tie the rope around the tyre for some of these, you may be able to get away with a band) and some way to mark height (eg a line or band tied across two trees). You should be able to make these pretty cheaply.
Circuit 1:
Run the sandbag from the height marker to some distance and back then throw it over the heigh marker
pick up the tyre, repeat with the tyre
Repeat a bunch of times
Circuit 2:
Lunge the bag some distance
throw the bag down, pick up and press overhead x5
repeat a bunch of times
Circuit 3:
carry the bag overhead to the tyre
throw it on the tyre
drag the tyre backwards to the start point
Repeat
Circuit 4
toss the bag as high as possible 5 times
tie tyre around yourself sprint away
get rid of the tyre and run back
Repeat a bunch of times
You can do lots of variations (set goals, eg shave 10% off your time in 4 weeks or add 3 “sets” in 6 weeks), can use multiple bags, pick up a keg or even a tyre you can flip to make it more interesting.
This will burn a bunch of fat and if you go heavy enough will build muscle. Also, people, especially women, tend to love this kind of training… even if they hate it while doing it.
ok, i havent managed to get my wife to train, except for one 7 km walk in 25 days. i think she has gained a lil weight lately. sigh she talks about doing some diet, not superexpensive, but still. maybe i should by a whip?
naaah, i have promised to be faithful and try to love her through good times and bad times, so thats not an option.
i tell her everyday, she says she hates walking
i think ill go for this last resort. actually, i have tried to make a deal with her. she will get 50 000 SEK if she manages to reduce to 63 kg and keep the weight for a month before a date, but if she fails, she has to pay me 25000 SEK. i reckon this will be the easiest 25000 SEK i ever earned. i plan to buy supplements for myself for the money.
Stop bothering her. Set a good example and have a plan for when she is ready to get on board. It’s probably best if you can point her where to get help rather than doing it yourself.