Help with helping my partner.

metalgear2k2

Hi folks,

just wondered if ye could help with a workout routine for my partner. We are both members of the same gym but up to about last week she hasn't really attended as much as she wants/should (not at all really!)

She does some classes in the evenings, spinning and few others of a similar type and does zumba dancing on Thursday nights.

She's been doing all this the past 6 months and it hasn’t really helped her lose the weight she wants rid of. She is 5ft 6.5" and 11 stone. She wants to come down to 9.5 stone, but wants to do it right, toning up etc. She has a pretty good diet I think, small portions and lots of fruit and stuff.

I asked her if she came to the gym with me would that motivate her more to actually go to the gym and she said yes so I said I would try to help her out best I can.

I have tried to put a good starter routine together for her:

15mins on upright bike, level 8 intervals
1000m on the rowing machine, aiming for under 5 mins.
10mins on cross trainer on "cross country"
10mins on thread mill 2 degree incline at level 4 speed
I do mat work with her too, press ups, sit ups, plank, side plank, crunches, side to side with medicine ball.

I would like you thoughts on how help her reach her goals, I think she needs to do some weights too but not sure what.

I'm no great sakes myself but I’m trying to help to the best of my ability and any help I get on here will be greatly appreciated.

Transform

man she is doing plenty of cardio so save the gym sessions for weights mainly with bits of cardio thrown in .

Here are all the basics she should be doing and they are well broken down into how to modify and what to look out for. Do all this to begin with -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4kPACReAiXE

stretch and foa roll also and the obvious big point is she needs to sort her diet out as all this will make little difference until she gets that right

pachey100

I would strongly suggest her doing some HIIT training do some research and get a program together. She could do a HIIT session then some of her toning work. It really does work.

Transform

pachey100 wrote: »

I would strongly suggest her doing some HIIT training do some research and get a program together. She could do a HIIT session then some of her toning work. It really does work.

she is already doing hit type training if she is doing a spinning class - i really do not think more aerobic work is going to help in any major way.

Hit the weights (body weight mainly) and sort diet out

metalgear2k2

Thanks for the replies so far.

Just to clarify, she wont be doing the classes anymore, she is concentration on the gym, might be doing a little swimming, an hour or 2 a week and the zumba on a Thursday but that’s it.

So at the moment that is the routine I have her doing, just wanted to get yer opinion on it and how to get her doing so weights too. That video is very helpful and will defo try to get her doing some of that.

I will look into the HIIT as well, thanks

pachey100

I wasn't thinking of her doing HIIT on top of what she is already doing. I would think HIIT session one day then body weight stuff the next and so on. I always find that doing circuit training really gets the heart going. So maybe take a look on here
http://www.sport-fitness-advisor.com/circuit-training-exercises.html

G86

No harm to you OP, but I did the same kind of program for 2 years - just running between cardio machines for an hour, and got nowhere fast. It can be really boring too, which isn't going to help her motivation. Would you not get her training with you on your weights days? Show her the exercises you do - there's absolutely no reason why she couldn't be doing them also.

metalgear2k2

pachey100 wrote: »

I wasn't thinking of her doing HIIT on top of what she is already doing. I would think HIIT session one day then body weight stuff the next and so on. I always find that doing circuit training really gets the heart going. So maybe take a look on here
http://www.sport-fitness-advisor.com/circuit-training-exercises.html

I will, thanks for the help.

G86 wrote: »

No harm to you OP, but I did the same kind of program for 2 years - just running between cardio machines for an hour, and got nowhere fast. It can be really boring too, which isn't going to help her motivation. Would you not get her training with you on your weights days? Show her the exercises you do - there's absolutely no reason why she couldn't be doing them also.

That’s exactly what I don’t want and why I'm asking for advice.

I have no problem with her being with me while doing weights, just not sure what weights she should be lifting.

How many days a week would you recommend doing, like would it be Monday cardio, Tuesday weights etc or would you mix it up each evening?

G86

metalgear2k2 wrote: »

That’s exactly what I don’t want and why I'm asking for advice.

I have no problem with her being with me while doing weights, just not sure what weights she should be lifting.

How many days a week would you recommend doing, like would it be Monday cardio, Tuesday weights etc or would you mix it up each evening?

Well, what do you do yourself? Have her squatting, deadlifting and benching - then add in supplementary work alongside that. Maybe say 2 weights sessions and 3 cardio sessions a week, dependent on how often she'll be going? Keep it simple to start with, and then as she gets more confident she can look at mixing it up a bit. She'll get the bug in no time