A girl friend of mine has just joined the gym.
She has asked me for some help with a program.
She knows im a fitness freak and is impressed with the results Ive obtained over the past few years (thank you Testosterone)so she has asked for some help. To be honest Ive never really given anymore than some friendly advice to anyone and I have not being a women Ive never bothered learning how they should train.
So I thought I would start in the best place in the world for training information. Can you guys tell me what articles I should read and possibly recommend a beginner training split for a young woman 5’5 130# 20%bodyfat. Also I was wondering if some of the ladies could tell me what they wish they did ,didn’t do when they started training.Thanks everybody.
No specific articles or regimens to recommend -just train her the way you’d train yourself if you were a beginner again and knew what you know now. 20% bodyfat isn’t high per se for a woman, but I imagine her goals are like most women’s - to lose some fat and build a bit of muscle. If so, diet will be much more important in reaching her goals than the workout routine you make for her. Have her get plenty of protein, eat maintenance calories or slightly (<500) below, and stay away from refined carbs, soft drinks, junk food, etc.
IMHO women shouldn’t train differently than men. Obviously you would train her toward her goals, ie powerlifting, bodybuilding, etc. The main thing I have come upon with women (no offense to any here) is the pink dumbell crap, you need to dispell these myths.
Find the “Beginner’s Blast off Program” in an old Dawg School article. That would be great for her. Then have her read “foods that make you look good naked.”
I had a girlfriend a few years ago who did nothing but squats, deadlifts, and bench press for sets of 2. she would do eight to ten reps. she made pretty impressive gains.“toned” up a whole lot.
Charles Poliquin has said that women can lift a given percent of their one rep max for more reps. For example, while a guy may only be able to get off 6-7 reps with 80% his one rep max, your friend could probably lift her 80% 12 times. How might this affect her taining? After working with women atletes I think it’s important to keep a close watch on volume. Since she will be lifting a higher % of weight, it is important to make sure that she doesn’t overtrain, and if she hasn’t done much weight training in the past, have her take it easy for the first couple weeks. As far as a split, I like Poliquin’s “begginer bodybuilding” routine in his “Poliquin Principles” book. Best of luck.
Women should train just like men. However, the biggest obstacle is convincing them it’s the best way to train. She’ll naturally gravitate to two pound pink dumbells for thirty reps per set, so she won’t get “big”.
Cheers to all of you who posted.Should they still aim at increasing there lifts all the time if shape is the main concern? Where are the T-vixens I was hoping to hear what they had to say?
I would encourage you to increase your lifts. Take a look at the article about Miriam Power. OMG!
I’m 5’5" like your friend, small framed, and have been lifting for a year. I suggest you help your friend work out a well-rounded program that hits all body groups, even if she thinks she doesn’t need to. Encourage her to have a recovery drink/meal after the workout. It took me awhile to learn than. Also at first I didn’t believe how much protein I needed to eat. Keeping a log helps track progress and organize workouts. I wish I had started hitting my forearms hard right away, they are my limiting point now (I don’t want to use straps) and they are responding slowly. I’ve done endurance sports for many years, so general conditioning and pain threshold weren’t problems, but some women have to learn how to work hard and sweat. The Back to Basics article is great, it will get her to bodyweight chin-ups and pull-ups. Negatives work great for me in a lot of movements. Help her learn gym etiquette so she feels comfortable and not like she’s in the way. Offer to spot on bench & squats so she won’t be afraid to go heavy. That’s all I can think of right now.
I’ve been training my GF for over a year now - and as the others have said - squats and deadlifts are the way to go. If you are going to do this tho I would also really focus on doing core stabilisation to the TA [transverse abdominius]. I have just started her on clean and presses now and she is reponding well to those too. Personally, I am of the belief that establishing functional strength first the going from there towards “shaping” is the most logical process.
With regards to progress be honest, don't let your friend get hung up on how she looks, focus on results. For example, my GF recently finished her latest strength rotation and improved he ass to the floor squat from 62.5 kg to 75kg. She wasn't happy about this until I pointed out that it was a %20 improvement - I would kill for a %20 lift improvement in 4 months.
Finally, and I think most importantly, make her learn - it’s enthusiasm that gerneates efforts and results, once she starts getting some knowledge adn buy-in to what you are doing with her she’ll become more passionate. If people know WHY they are doing something they work heaps harder…
Okay BG you wanted to hear from T-vixens, well here I am. I have been weight-training consistently for nearly 7 years now and my best advice is to keep it simple. Stick with basic compound movements like squats, deadlifts, bench press etc. Forget the complicated shit. Encourage her to go heavy and not be afraid of getting big - because she won’t. Women just do not have the genetic make-up or the testosterone to get huge (unless they are roided up). Encourage her to use strict form and a slow, controlled tempo. My next recommendation would be for her to sort out her diet. You can’t grow if you don’t have the bricks. She needs to increase her metabolic rate by eating regularly, at least 5-6 times a day and ensure protein is taken at every meal. Get her taking a good multi-vit and ensure she has EFA’s in her diet too, ie: flax oil,oily fish etc. It’s best for her to keep a food journal at first so she can keep track of when and what she is eating, then if the results don’t come you can go back to the diet journal and see why. I can’t stress how important the food journal is. For years I was frustrated wondering why I wasn’t growing - the reason was because I wasn’t eating enough. I also recommend her trying creatine too but perhaps not for another 6 months. It is important for her to get her technique right and get used to training first. Ensure she is having protein and high-glycemic-carbs immediately after her train too. And lastly, be careful of over-training. This often happens with beginners becuase they are so ensthusiastic and tend to get results fast in the first 3 months and then they think that if they just increase the volume/intensity a bit more they will get even better results - wrong! She should be aiming to train with weights no more that 4 times per week and don’t let her train to failure every time. Best of luck.
- Keep her away from “fluffy” gyms. 2. Encourage her to develop good habits (proper form, diet discipline, motivation) EARLY. 3. Encourage patience-change with free weights may come relatively fast, but it doesn’t happen overnight. 4. Get her addicted to T-mag. 5. Shower together, and feel free to wash each other. Sorry, it’s been a long day and I’m a pig. But really, 1-4 will work.