I’ve been helping some female friends at work etc on a cardio/lifting program very similar to my own. Recently I have been thinking about coming up with a new - as simple and efficient as possible and for beginners - program for the vixens wanting primarily to get leaner and more functional with little increases in muscle mass. Diet is and will remain Dont Diet with a p/c meal post workout but no shakes. Exercise wise I was thinking of something like 1> 20mins cardio (jog, machine whatever) 2> leg raises, crunches and hypers 3> Military Press 4> Pull Down/Chin 5> Bench 6> Row 7> Curls (for fun) 8> Squat or DL 9> A calf raise 10> further cardio session if desired and if energy levels are still good. I was thinking of making the aim 3 days per week with one day in between and cardio on off days if desired. Lifting wise I was thinking of focusing on free weight 2-3 sets per exercise for 10-15 reps. I am keen to maximise simplicity to make it easy to focus and understand the basics of how to work each muscle group. Any thoughts?
Sounds like a good way to meet women, (just kidding, I couldn’t resist!). Actually, it sounds a bit wimpy to me, but that’s probably perfect. You probably won’t scare too many girls off with that one. Good Luck. Maybe a few will even find a passion in training.
I’d get VERY specific as to what their goals are. What you described is the very typical resonse of “I just want to get in better shape”, when they really have an ideal body in mind, but don’t want to hear that they can’t get there. Usually it’s “I don’t want to get bigger/smaller, just firm up what I’ve got.” Do they think you’re an alchemist? You can’t turn fat into muscle. Hey, we’re talking about increasing muscle mass. Get a variety of pictures for them to look at, and let them point out the body they’re looking for (99 percent of the time it’s the fitness model type). Then you KNOW what kind of training they need to do, and it becomes your job to motivate them on a day-to-day basis to keep it up. Of course, they are beginners, so they’ll need to ease into it…
Remember that women have different goals then men…It’s hard to get a man to train his lower body…its hard to get a woman to train her upper body…So in this situation I would include more lower body glute and hip work…women love that stuff. Everything else looks pretty good…just play around with it and experiment and see what all you can come up with.
May I ask why you would make a different routine for them then you would make for a man? Ok, fine, they don’t want to ‘get bulky’ but most women can’t when they want to!! I don’t mean this as a slam, but it sounds a bit patronizing…and not at all challenging. If they are interested in working out then challenge them. Why not do your workout with less weight?
My thoughts exactly, Michelle! My girfriend and I trained and ate exactly the same except her portions of iron and food were less. The trick is getting the lady comfortable with exercises she may perceive as for men only. She was a self-proclaimed “carb-a-holic” when she started. After 1 year from start, she transformed her body! Even her hair and nails grew out nicer and prettier than ever, from all the good nutrition. Nice side benefit!
Remember this: ALL VIXENS MUST SQUAT!!! This simple instruction should be issued to all females by the federal government upon reaching the age of 12! And they must squat with a FREE BAR!!! No smith machines, no hack squats, no “donkey kick” machines - just a friggin’ bar and some plates. SQUAT, vixens!!!
Damici - ass to the grass, baby!
brider… get them! some pictures to look at… don’t you mean get us some pictures to look at? 
Dale – Only the ones of Michelle with her ass to the grass!! LMAO. Oh, the images!
What I meant was women typically have different bodypart development goals then men. In the original posting there was only 1 exercise for the lower body.
Thanks for the feedback guys. What Im aiming for is a rank beginners program with simple compound stuff to start on a mind muscle connection and give a good, and not too daunting, introduction. It may be a little wimpy though so I was sort of hoping for some suggested changes or sample beginner vixen training programs from the likes of ironbabe, michelle and kelly. Either that or a link to a good SUPER SIMPLE program to get a girl leaner and more functional/GPP the tmag way.
Not to offend any of the women on this forum who have a lot of training experience…these suggestions would be for typical female beginning weight trainers. Dre oftentimes the women I train don’t really feel they’re getting a good workout unless they’re working out at a rapid pace going from exercise to exercise in typical circuit fashion. Many of them are also are totally paranoid about lifting anything heavy enough to stimulate muscle growth. The way I deal with this is set up antagonistic supersetting routines or circuit routines similar to G.B.C. so they can train at a fast pace and still hit some decent weights. I involve a lot of hard uni-lateral leg exercises similar to the ones Ian King suggests and bodyweight upper body exercises. You might have a hard time convincing a woman to squat or bench heavy but you won’t have near as hard a time having them do assisted bodyweight dips, close grip pushups, one legged squats, split squats, barbell lunges, one legged deadlifts, and assisted pull-ups. You also might want to look into some of the G.P.P. exercises coach Davies has been prescribing as of late…several of these put together would make an excellent workout on a non-weight training day or even a warmup/G.P.P on weight training days.
Dre - ok, I see what you’re looking for, but honestly I would give them the same workout you do. If you are worried you’ll scare them off, then try some reverse psycology. Make sure each of them have a workout book and record every weight and exercise every day. Start them on the same plan as you, now, if you think they can bench 75, have them start at 40. The first week have them do every lift with enough weight for it to take a bit of effort but make sure it’s easy. This will build confidence, allow you to make form corrections if necessary, and make them say “I can lift more next week” Don’t move the weights up between sets, make the first time through the entire cycle very easy. The next week start moving them up, they’ll see their weights move up weekly, feel that they’re making progress, and also see that they are not getting ‘big’ while they are adding weight to their lifts. Yes, I know this seems like coddling, but it will help breakdown the myth that they will ‘get too big’ if they lift weights. As for them getting lean, cardio will do it, but try adding in stuff for variety. Keep the time the same but do stairs one day, treadmill, bike, whatever…you need to avoid the boredom that always sets in when the novelty wears off. If you gym has aerobics encourage them to take a few classes…they help break up the monotony. Is that what you were looking for?
Dre–
I think the program looks good for a rank beginner. I think it is important to let the vixens know that this will produce changes, probably fairly quickly . But, after a few months, the changes will dry up, and they will need to change things. They won’t (can’t) gain lot of “manly” muscle really, like Michelle said.
Taking it slow and easy in the beginning to motivate them is very important, and the other thing is diet. Don't overwhelm them with too much other stuff, focus on diet and form for the first 3-6 months. A solid foundation will go a long way to keeping them in the game.
And as far as goals, this is an important point. While many women may have an ideal body in mind, I find that they are often not realistic. So the point about getting them to define goals is 2-fold: Make sure they have something concrete to work towards and show progress (which is motivational), but also to discuss those goals and make sure they have a realistic expectation.
Have you thought about changing the order Maybe starting with bigger muscle groups (squat, then DL, then back, etc...), and working your way down?
Dre, thank you for showing these vixens the "iron way"! I know they will love it, and you are changing their lives for the better.