weight routine for a lady

Kante

Said I would put one together for girlfriend.
She wants to do the usual lose weight and tone up.
Should I BE LOOKING TO give her a split routine or just a regular 40min full body routine?

below is what i have so far..i dont know the names of the exercises... i reckon each will be 3 sets of 12-15

LEGS
Squats
Lunges
Hip Flexor
Leg lifts
Leg pull


Abs
Crunches
medicine twists
Leg raises

Arms
bicep curls with bar
triceps dips or dumb bell


Shoulders
side raises
bench press with dumbbells


Back
lat pull down
row

Reyman

That's a lot of exercises, probably an hour and a quarter's work. The average lady isn't going to put that kind of time into training.

I'd suggest a basic six or seven combination heavy type exercises, she can do in 30-40 mins max. That's all that's needed to build some muscle and get the metabolic rate up.

arybvtcw0eolkf

I'd recommend going back to basics and get it out of your head this is "for a lady", because a female is well able for the same gym exercises men perform.

The weights might be lower, but the exercises and intensity don't discriminate between the sexes.

Other than that I'll leave it to the other's to post up routines, I never do as there really is no magic formula and other's might hate what works for me.

Best of luck to the lady all the same.

.

ragg

Another method we have used with great effect is to use an undulating periodization routine where we rotate between two workouts

e.g.: Workout A

Snatch Grip Deadlift
Incline DB Press
Seated Row
Chins
Prone Pike

Workout B

Front Squat
Barbell Bench Press
Bent Over Row
DB Military Press
Woodchop - and rotate between 3 rep ranges - e.g. 4-6, 8-10 and 12-15.

The program would look something like this:

Week One
Monday: Workout A: 4-6 reps
Wednesday: Workout B: 8-10 reps
Friday: Workout A: 12-15 reps

Week Two
Monday: Workout B: 4-6 reps
Wednesday: Workout A: 8-10 reps
Friday: Workout B: 12-15 reps

So you hit each muscle group three times a week with different rep ranges, and you hit each workout three times in a two week period. But you don't repeat an exact workout until the third week. Rotating between 4-6 weeks of each approach for 1-2 cycles has been very effective for gaining muscle size with our clientele.

AlwynCosgrove.com

with the right diet of course

EileenG

Women should do the same lifts as men at the same intensity. Just the weight used and the result will differ.

If she's a beginner, I would stick with a whole body routine maybe twice a week, or an upper body followed by lower body 2 or 3 times a week. Do the same lifts as for a man, squat, deadlift, bench press, military press, pull-up, dips, lunges, stiff leg deadlift, bent over row, barbell curl, pull-over, hyper-extension, plank, wood chopper.

If she's more advanced, then you can do a more conventional split.

Oh, for a woman, you can probably don't need to worry too much about traps and forearms....

The important thing is to make sure she is lifting hard enough. There are way too many experts out there insisting that women should spend hours swinging a tiny dumbbell around for endless reps. I'd aim for 8 reps with around 80% of 1RM. This is heavier than she would probably pick on her own, so make sure you spot her properly.

ragg

My missus has said she got the best results from following a program like I posted above.

By all accounts undulating periodization is the way to go for a female.

Reyman

ragg wrote: »

Another method we have used with great effect is to use an undulating periodization routine where we rotate between two workouts

e.g.: Workout A

Snatch Grip Deadlift
Incline DB Press
Seated Row
Chins
Prone Pike

Workout B

Front Squat
Barbell Bench Press
Bent Over Row
DB Military Press
Woodchop - and rotate between 3 rep ranges - e.g. 4-6, 8-10 and 12-15.

The program would look something like this:

Week One
Monday: Workout A: 4-6 reps
Wednesday: Workout B: 8-10 reps
Friday: Workout A: 12-15 reps

Week Two
Monday: Workout B: 4-6 reps
Wednesday: Workout A: 8-10 reps
Friday: Workout B: 12-15 reps

So you hit each muscle group three times a week with different rep ranges, and you hit each workout three times in a two week period. But you don't repeat an exact workout until the third week. Rotating between 4-6 weeks of each approach for 1-2 cycles has been very effective for gaining muscle size with our clientele.

AlwynCosgrove.com

with the right diet of course

That's a good tight programme Ragg. But help me - what is a 'Prone Pike'?

Transform

the program is fine but for gods sake its wayyyyyyy to complicated for a person who is possibly only getting the basics right.

KISS

When is the last time you even saw a woman do front squats never mind teaching them when your not qualified to do so (correct me if i am wrong kante).

Lunges, press ups, rows, swiss ball leg curls, reverse ab curls, bench dips - and you do not even need to give it a fancy name like undulating period blah blah - change the reps from week to week!!!

Any programs i design do not look like the above but if you look at the logs of some of the guys/girls here you can get a better idea.

ragg

A front squat is difficult, but it could be easily swapped for a dumbell squat with a swiss ball. Like you said, if it s a beginner, whats the harm?

that program was made for a female too, A prone pike is like a jack knife prone pike

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kk12FXgkFgU

you do not even need to give it a fancy name like undulating period blah blah - change the reps from week to week!!!

I wasn't being pretentious, just what was in the article, but this is built into the program. 99% of girls want to be told what to do, this is much more specific then just saying, mess about with the rep ranges. Like I said, my missus followed it, as a beginner, she has lost loads of weight

Roper

ragg,

I'll buy that if you can explain undulating periodisation in your own words.

It's far too complex especially for a beginner and saying things like

By all accounts undulating periodization is the way to go for a female.

is just idiotic. Have you heard "all accounts"?

ragg

Jesus, what do you want me to say. My missus started using the programme, she had amazing results, This guy asked for a good female programme I passed it on.
I qualified what I said, by saying that, the periodization is built into the routines.

I can of course explain undulating periodization in my own words. Do you really want me too?

If I'm honest you "qualified" trainers really piss me off, I offered a great program, that my missus used, to great effect. All you have done is try and discount what I said, while offering nothing of your own. Instead, you want to pick holes in the language I used? WTF

No offense but I'd listen to Alwyn Cosgrove before i'd listen to you

j@utis

I quite like that little program. it includes some big serious moves. I'd say it's fine for beginer once you explain how the exersices are done.
And also I have to add that it's quite rare on this forum when somebody actually writes down a full program.

what's the prone pike anyway? too lazy to google

p.s. I've seen somebody doing front squats once in my gym. and guys doing lunges are very rare too.

TysonFaulkner

I'd focus on multi-joint lifts as much as possible. Do things like squats and power cleans that move lots of weight a long distance.

Avoid any kind of isolation lifts like curls, etc.

I'd agree with some of the other posters that the exercises don't need to change, just the weight to something she can do while maintaining good form.

celestial

Seriously doubt that programme is intended for a beginner! The whole point is that it doesn't have to be complex to be effective. If a similar programme proved to be effective with someone else, it wasn't because of the undulating periodisation - it was cos the person was just...exercising!

Keep it simple as mentioned, try 3 x 8 reps (heading towards fatigue at around 8 reps) with the following exercises:

Push-ups
Lunges/Back Squats
Leg curls
Reverse Curls
Plank
Shoulder Press
Dumbbell Rows
Lat Pull-Down

etc

TysonFaulkner

Yah I think the key is just making a workout that you can do, that you enjoy doing, and that moves a lot of weight. As said before, keep it simple. The key is doing the basic workouts, not focusing on difficult 'programs.' In this case, brawn is better than brains!

arybvtcw0eolkf

Roper wrote: »

ragg,

I'll buy that if you can explain undulating periodisation in your own words.

It's far too complex especially for a beginner and saying things like
is just idiotic. Have you heard "all accounts"?

+1.

Just as I got my head around 'tracker mortages' someone comes along with "undulating periodisation"...

Ragg, honestly I'm not jumping on the band wagon here - but I haven't a damned clue what that means either and would appricate it being explained.

.

ragg

I think the word "undulating" seems to be the problem here.
Put simply "undulating" is essentially moving up and down like a wave. Or waveform training.

In the workout i posted yesterday, it is structured using heavy, medium and light weight days. Each uses a different rep range.
I’m sure at some point everyone, while training full body, has used the Heavy , medium, light day training concept.

Monday - Heavy 5*5
Wednesday - medium 4*8
Friday - light 3*12

By cycling that with 2 similar workouts, ie dumbbell bench press vs barbell bench press, it is said that you get best results.
The concept is basically means that you don't train to exhaustion all the time.
In its most detailed form, Its primarily used by professional sports people, to ensure they peak at the right points of the season.
Alwyn cosgrove reckons it is the best way to train a female.

Loads of reading on strengthcoach.com & on the strengthcoach.com podcasts

Transform

you offered a cut and paste program NOTHING more.

I like the program like i said but when you deal with normal people week in week out the first exercises you select are not what you picked and your wife lost weight most likely because she sorted out her diet AND trained hard NOT because of undulating periodization.

It requires more skill and education to put something into easier to digest words and programs. Finally please remember ALL the people in t-nation have the massive task of trying to re-invent the wheel almost every week when it comes to training and diet where as boards.ie tends to focus on getting the basics right and with no motives to sell a book or a fat loss product.

Plus there are lots of trainers on this forum who can and do get better/equal results that MR Alwyn gets (i like the guy but i do not look at his programs and think 'jesus that's what my clients are missing')

ragg

you offered a cut and paste program NOTHING more.

I never said I didn't

Transform

i know you didn't but the program you offered is something you just cut and paste rather than something you have done or modified for your own use. Again as i said the program is great but not for a beginner with no athletic background.

I will try to do a short video of my own suggestions later as many moan that there are not enough programs listed for use.

ragg

I like videos :pac:

Tiriel

Transform wrote: »

i know you didn't but the program you offered is something you just cut and paste rather than something you have done or modified for your own use. Again as i said the program is great but not for a beginner with no athletic background.

I will try to do a short video of my own suggestions later as many moan that there are not enough programs listed for use.

Would like to see that Transform, thanks

d'Oracle

Is that pike thingy not a bit hard for a beginner?

Would some reverse curls not be better to start with?

Gumbo

Transform wrote: »

i know you didn't but the program you offered is something you just cut and paste rather than something you have done or modified for your own use. Again as i said the program is great but not for a beginner with no athletic background.

I will try to do a short video of my own suggestions later as many moan that there are not enough programs listed for use.

off topic sorry, but was that you on Spin 103.8 last weekend Dominick?
gave a great talk and a big big plug to the boards fitness forum, stating it it was one of and if not the best fitness forum in ireland at present.

Transform

kceire wrote: »

off topic sorry, but was that you on Spin 103.8 last weekend Dominick?
gave a great talk and a big big plug to the boards fitness forum, stating it it was one of and if not the best fitness forum in ireland at present.

it was indeed - i actually said that if you're looking to get in shape and look your best and you are NOT looking/reading boards then your an idiot. Its free and has the best advice around. As opposed to celebs spouting all maners of crap.

Was in my gym doing a retest on crossfit fran and was going to do a vid on what i mentioned but battery ran out. will do it either later today or tomorrow, sorry guys/girls (well i got my fran videoed so it was not a total waste!)

Transform

not going to get back to this before next week so can some one remember to bump this so i remember to do a vid on it. cheers

Transform

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkhwmRUD3iI

Just getting back to this - basic exercises for all to do at first when doing weights. Most are not up to doing deadlifts, chins etc at first (especially women) so there is enough here to get you going.

I would do it as a circuit all done for 8-15reps or done in pairs like 1) lunges + band pulls 2) Swiss ball leg curls + Press ups 3) Reverse curls + Plank

Rest 1-2mins between rounds and add weights when you can

rubadub

Every time I see this thread title I keep picturing yer man from little britain saying "oh, I couldn't lift those, I'm a Lady!".

Transform- I am guessing you were trying to embed the link?
you only need the code after the equals sign on youtube, click up in the URL and highlight only the last bit, and copy then click the youtube tag thing and paste it in.
i.e. you only need this

dkhwmRUD3iI

which then becomes this (with out the *)

[*YOUTUBE]dkhwmRUD3iI[/YOUTUBE]

to give you...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkhwmRUD3iI

Transform

ahhhh cheers for that as have to load my box hop up in a while for all to laugh at my first few failed attempts!