Training for a women? Heavy?

[tazman03]

Ok, My girlfriend has been making it to the gym with me 4 days a week. I am very proud of her as she has never been in the gym before in her life and it is one of my hobbies so I am always there, or try to be atleast.

So far it has just been teaching her different lifts and how to do things correctly.

My question is,
When designing a routine for a woman, what is the best approach? I dont know if she needs to be lifting heavy for less reps or doing moderate weight/ mod. rep or light weight high reps......?

Her stats:
33yrs.
5'7"
106lbs
BF: Unknown

Training:
Fresh into it

Goals:
Build muscle and tone up.

I have been reading alot of articles trying to determine where to place her in a routine, but would like some real world opinions from real world women who are in the gym.

All opinions are much appreciated

[tazman03]

bump

[push-it]

Yes she should definitely be lifting heavy. Just make sure she's safe. I find 3x8 a good starting point for female clients. Most start on a full body split. Something like:

Squats
DB row
Pushups
Lunges
Pulldowns
OHP

I may even superset some of these together. Women tend to be able to hit muscle groups more frequently than men so full body works best for most - in the beginning.

[mikea]

Yes heavy and intense but in rep ranges of 5-20reps. Low volume is a must. If shes a newbie i would go with 10+reps on everything.

If shes starting out through out the isolation stuff and teach compounds movements. A split looking like squat-bench-deadlift wont fail you, man or a woman.

I have trained a couple of ex AAS using female bodybuilders, when they came over to PL, dropped the juice and started lifting high intensity/low volume and continued making gains in muscle size.

[tazman03]

Originally Posted by push-it

Yes she should definitely be lifting heavy. Just make sure she's safe. I find 3x8 a good starting point for female clients. Most start on a full body split. Something like:

Squats
DB row
Pushups
Lunges
Pulldowns
OHP

I may even superset some of these together. Women tend to be able to hit muscle groups more frequently than men so full body works best for most - in the beginning.

Thats exactly what I had her do tonight was 3 X 8-10 shooting for 8 though.
All those movements are in her current routine.

Is it wise for women to throw a week of lighter weights at higher reps in once in a while? say 12-15reps maybe once a month or so to break it up?

[Miss Muscle]

When a woman first starts training don't go too low of reps. She should get used to the movements....medium reps. I say 3 x 10 at least.

4 days a week is perfect and do the basic movements. Push-it has named some good ones.

Here are some great ones to start with...

Quads...squats/lunges/leg press
Hamstrings....deadlifts/hamstring curls
Calves....standing and sitting calf raises
Back....assisted pull ups/bent over row/pulldowns
Chest....bench press/push-ups/incline bench
Tris....skull crushers/tri-pushdowns/assisted dips
Bis...standing curls/preacher curls/assisted chin-ups
Shoulders....front raise/side/raise/bent over lat raise

It's best to start with basic movements and mostly compound to build up the body. I find isolation movements are almost for fine-tuning.

I like the 4 days a week....rest is important!

Remember...if she wants to build muscle make sure her nutrition is spot-on with adequate protein!

Being new at this she will see results the first little while regardless.

[tazman03]

Originally Posted by Miss Muscle

When a woman first starts training don't go too low of reps. She should get used to the movements....medium reps. I say 3 x 10 at least.

4 days a week is perfect and do the basic movements. Push-it has named some good ones.

Here are some great ones to start with...

Quads...squats/lunges/leg press
Hamstrings....deadlifts/hamstring curls
Calves....standing and sitting calf raises
Back....assisted pull ups/bent over row/pulldowns
Chest....bench press/push-ups/incline bench
Tris....skull crushers/tri-pushdowns/assisted dips
Bis...standing curls/preacher curls/assisted chin-ups
Shoulders....front raise/side/raise/bent over lat raise

It's best to start with basic movements and mostly compound to build up the body. I find isolation movements are almost for fine-tuning.

I like the 4 days a week....rest is important!

Remember...if she wants to build muscle make sure her nutrition is spot-on with adequate protein!

Being new at this she will see results the first little while regardless.

Thank you Miss muscle
So my 8-10 was pretty close. I told her I wanted her doing basic movements to get used to fully working out then maybe switch up to different movements.

By the way She says "thank you" to everyone that posted as she is sitting here reading it with me

Any opinions on a week of lighter weights @ higher reps once in a while to break it up, or is it really unnecessary as a beginner?


I am getting her used to eating right and getting me back into it as well.
For women what is a general rule for protein per pound of body weight?

[Miss Muscle]

Hey......tell her to join up! We are trying to get this women's section active with women chatting about anything!

A week with lighter weight and higher reps every once in awhile won't hurt. Once she plateaus something will have to change anyway!

I would say minimum protein she should intake is 1 gram per pound of bodyweight.

[mikea]

Originally Posted by tazman03

Is it wise for women to throw a week of lighter weights at higher reps in once in a while? say 12-15reps maybe once a month or so to break it up?

I wouldnt time it per say, but try and feel when shes feeling tired, or not getting pr`s, then its good to ´´cruise´´ for a week or two.

Recovery is one of the most important aspects in training.

I would do 3x a week, if going heavy tho, with cardio on offdays to boost recovery.