Program for woman starting out

rustynutz

I'm posting this for the missus, she's looking for a good program for a beginner. She's in good enough shape but is finding it hard to shift the last few pound after having a baby in April.
Time is limited so going to the gym isn't really an option for her but I do have a small 'gym' she has access to. This consists of an eliptical trainer, punch bag, power rack, olympic bar and weights and a few lighter dumbells, going to buy a swiss ball too.
Her goals are: loose a small amount of weight & tone up.
At the moment her only form of excersize is walking 3 times a week.

Has anyone any interesting programs that might be of use?

rustynutz

Anyone?

Tigger

Stronglifts.com and some yoga/streaching
on the rest days

SpookyBastard

Congrats on the baby. I have a friend who was in pretty much the same position. She got a fitness ball and dvd from 'The Firm' and said that once you ignored the instructors hyper-cheery voice it was actually a really good dvd. She didn't have time to go to the gym (single mom) so it allowed her to just clear a bit of space in front of the tv every day and exercise. I'm sure there are lots of other options but she came to mind when I saw your post.

Barry.Oglesby

rustynutz wrote: »

I'm posting this for the missus, she's looking for a good program for a beginner. She's in good enough shape but is finding it hard to shift the last few pound after having a baby in April.
Time is limited so going to the gym isn't really an option for her but I do have a small 'gym' she has access to. This consists of an eliptical trainer, punch bag, power rack, olympic bar and weights and a few lighter dumbells, going to buy a swiss ball too.
Her goals are: loose a small amount of weight & tone up.
At the moment her only form of excersize is walking 3 times a week.

Has anyone any interesting programs that might be of use?

That's a great set of equipment to get going on with. If I were you I'd save my money on the swiss ball. You have more than you need.

Here's my programme I wrote for my wife post baby, the gym was the garage, a punchbag, 2 kettlebells and a kitchen chair
- Warm up
- Bag 3x3min rounds
- workblock 1, 15mins of
16kg kettlebell row 5 each arm
push up 10
lateral step up 5 each side
- Bag 3x3min rounds
- workblock 2, 15mins of
dumbell press 10
bar row 10 (a bar threaded through a kettlebell handle)
lunges 10
- bag 3x3min rounds

All in all this took just over an hour once per week which was all she had time for. Like your wife she walked a good bit too which helped a lot. Bear in mind that my wife is an experienced kickboxer and trains Muay Thai so she was able to be quite intense on the bag which others might not be able to be. So perhaps some interval training or even just steady state stuff on the eliptical might be best. On any other days I'd do some bridging (aka "plank), stay away from sit ups or crunches as they may aggravate any lower back or pelvic issues that women may have post-pregnancy and stick to stuff that keeps the trunk tight and the spine in alignment for the moment.

Watch out for hip/pelvic issues, lumbar spine issues ie. difficulty in getting into squatting or lunging positions without rounding the back. That's a long 9 months with a big bump in front so take it slow and easy at first.

rustynutz

Barry.Oglesby wrote: »

That's a great set of equipment to get going on with. If I were you I'd save my money on the swiss ball. You have more than you need.

Here's my programme I wrote for my wife post baby, the gym was the garage, a punchbag, 2 kettlebells and a kitchen chair
- Warm up
- Bag 3x3min rounds
- workblock 1, 15mins of
16kg kettlebell row 5 each arm
push up 10
lateral step up 5 each side
- Bag 3x3min rounds
- workblock 2, 15mins of
dumbell press 10
bar row 10 (a bar threaded through a kettlebell handle)
lunges 10
- bag 3x3min rounds

All in all this took just over an hour once per week which was all she had time for. Like your wife she walked a good bit too which helped a lot. Bear in mind that my wife is an experienced kickboxer and trains Muay Thai so she was able to be quite intense on the bag which others might not be able to be. So perhaps some interval training or even just steady state stuff on the eliptical might be best. On any other days I'd do some bridging (aka "plank), stay away from sit ups or crunches as they may aggravate any lower back or pelvic issues that women may have post-pregnancy and stick to stuff that keeps the trunk tight and the spine in alignment for the moment.

Watch out for hip/pelvic issues, lumbar spine issues ie. difficulty in getting into squatting or lunging positions without rounding the back. That's a long 9 months with a big bump in front so take it slow and easy at first.

Thanks all, some good advice there