What program should I put my girlfriend on?
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Capt_Apollo wrote: »So my girlfriend wants to workout with me . Her weight is 85 KG and she is 5'3 tall.
Right now I am following the following routine for myself
Mon - Chest and Triceps
Tues - Back and Biceps
Wed - Legs and Shoulders
and repeat
Should I put her on the same programme?
The diet part is taken care by her but I am not sure how female training works.
how is that a routine? you're just listing body parts and days of the week. and you're doing upper body nearly three times as often as you do legs.
He saying he does a push pull legs split which is extremely common for body builders. It's very simplistic to think of the waist up as a whole. As back is pulling chest is pushing different motions, so it's actually a pretty balanced split.
OP from my experience my gf used to lift with me and she would do the exact same programs I was doing, which were pretty heavy volume with compound and isolated lifts. She didn't have any particular goals she just wanted to lift and spend time with me. She gained some serious strength but didn't bulk.
First you need to see if you gf has specific goals like other have said. If her goal is just general fitness/to workout with you then she can do whatever program you are doing.2 -
OP, as a woman who just started lifting, who girl crushes on the ladies deadlifting as much as they weigh or more, let me help a little.
Ignore the quoted post completely. In order to build bulk, you need testosterone, which women's bodies don't have in abundance. Lifting does not make women bulky. At all.
.
Scuse me? When I was lifting I was 5'10" tall, 220 lbs, with a 24" waist (women's size four). If your goal is to build muscle yes, as a woman you CAN build muscle. In fact most of the women I see lifting at the gym build muscle faster than men do and on lower weights. Most of them are lifting 30 and 40 lbs but they have huge muscle definition compared to guys who are lifting 300 lbs 50 times and still rocking the spaghetti noodle arms.
Why do we act like the goal for women is NOT to build muscle? Why is it a bad thing for women to look strong. I only ask because the first couple of commenters took a "women can do anything men can do" approach to the thread and then it went south...."women can do anything men can do....oh except build muscle...but who wants to LOOK like you can lift weights anyway?" Well actually a LOT of women do. There is a whole world of professional female bodybuilders out there and I love lifting. If you want to look like a dying waif, starve yourself and do nothing but cardio. I'd prefer to look as healthy and strong as I am.2 -
As for the OP, Let her devise her own workout routine. She's not five. And if she's treating herself like she's five, then the advice you need to give her is "as an adult female human being, I feel you should think (and post) for yourself".4
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violajunerose wrote: »OP, as a woman who just started lifting, who girl crushes on the ladies deadlifting as much as they weigh or more, let me help a little.
Ignore the quoted post completely. In order to build bulk, you need testosterone, which women's bodies don't have in abundance. Lifting does not make women bulky. At all.
.
Scuse me? When I was lifting I was 5'10" tall, 220 lbs, with a 24" waist (women's size four). If your goal is to build muscle yes, as a woman you CAN build muscle. In fact most of the women I see lifting at the gym build muscle faster than men do and on lower weights. Most of them are lifting 30 and 40 lbs but they have huge muscle definition compared to guys who are lifting 300 lbs 50 times and still rocking the spaghetti noodle arms.
Why do we act like the goal for women is NOT to build muscle? Why is it a bad thing for women to look strong. I only ask because the first couple of commenters took a "women can do anything men can do" approach to the thread and then it went south...."women can do anything men can do....oh except build muscle...but who wants to LOOK like you can lift weights anyway?" Well actually a LOT of women do. There is a whole world of professional female bodybuilders out there and I love lifting. If you want to look like a dying waif, starve yourself and do nothing but cardio. I'd prefer to look as healthy and strong as I am.
Bulking and building muscle may be the same in your mind but I think what people are saying is that a women will not get "bulky looking" which is true. You see women look very strong but it isn't common to see women who looks bulky. Even for most men it takes a pretty strict workout and diet regimen to really bulk up.violajunerose wrote: »As for the OP, Let her devise her own workout routine. She's not five. And if she's treating herself like she's five, then the advice you need to give her is "as an adult female human being, I feel you should think (and post) for yourself".
Also if you read his gf wants to workout with him meaning she's probably very inexperienced and therefore shouldn't be making her own workout routine. Also it's not childish to ask someone with more experience for advice. Did you consider maybe his gf doesn't have an account and doesn't want to make one.6 -
I dont understand why some people are getting pissed off if I asked normal question. First off i am not telling her to workout. Its her choice and secondly you are noone to judge on the relationship we have
I came here for help and most of them here are doing nothing but just flaming me. Please keep yourself out if you don't want to help and keep the relationship advice away as this is fitness forum
The goal is obvious which is weight loss. She is not into sports or anything. Its just general fitness
Those who replied in positive way, thanks for the help
@tillerstouch you nailed it. Yes she is inexperienced and doesn't have an account here and also her English isn't that good(Not saying mine is good enough but still).8 -
I dont understand why some people are getting pissed off if I asked normal question. First off i am not telling her to workout. Its her choice and secondly you are noone to judge on the relationship we have
I came here for help and most of them here are doing nothing but just flaming me. Please keep yourself out if you don't want to help and keep the relationship advice away as this is fitness forum
The goal is obvious which is weight loss. She is not into sports or anything. Its just general fitness
Those who replied in positive way, thanks for the help
@tillerstouch you nailed it. Yes she is inexperienced and doesn't have an account here and also her English isn't that good(Not saying mine is good enough but still).
I'm sorry that your thread got side tracked
And understand that your girlfriend may be a beginner.
When I first started, programs like nrolfw or stronglifts 5x5 where great. Tell her to look into them. She'll be able to pull up step by step guides that will show her exactly what she needs to be doing.
If her goal is weight loss, then tell her that she must eat at a calorie deficit. For weight loss, one must be at a calorie deficit. Calories in - calories out. All she needs to do is eat less then she burns.
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I dont understand why some people are getting pissed off if I asked normal question. First off i am not telling her to workout. Its her choice and secondly you are noone to judge on the relationship we have
I came here for help and most of them here are doing nothing but just flaming me. Please keep yourself out if you don't want to help and keep the relationship advice away as this is fitness forum
The goal is obvious which is weight loss. She is not into sports or anything. Its just general fitness
Those who replied in positive way, thanks for the help
@tillerstouch you nailed it. Yes she is inexperienced and doesn't have an account here and also her English isn't that good(Not saying mine is good enough but still).
How are people supposed to know her goals if you didn't put it in the OP? :huh:3 -
violajunerose wrote: »If your goal is to build muscle yes, as a woman you CAN build muscle. In fact most of the women I see lifting at the gym build muscle faster than men do and on lower weights. Most of them are lifting 30 and 40 lbs but they have huge muscle definition compared to guys who are lifting 300 lbs 50 times and still rocking the spaghetti noodle arms.
What kind of bizarro world do you live in where women have bigger muscles than men?
3 -
TavistockToad wrote: »In what way do you think 'female training' would be different?
It's pretty obvious. Women and men's bodies are different. I don't understand all the hate against the OP.
Just because it's PC to say that women and men are equal doesn't mean that they are. Have the men's olympic soccer team play the women's olympic soccer team. The women will get smoked.
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beaglebrandon wrote: »TavistockToad wrote: »In what way do you think 'female training' would be different?
It's pretty obvious. Women and men's bodies are different. I don't understand all the hate against the OP.
Just because it's PC to say that women and men are equal doesn't mean that they are. Have the men's olympic soccer team play the women's olympic soccer team. The women will get smoked.
For weight though most of the best programs work for both genders and a lot of the women's only ones (except ones like strong curves, nrolfw, etc) aren't that great0 -
beaglebrandon wrote: »TavistockToad wrote: »In what way do you think 'female training' would be different?
It's pretty obvious. Women and men's bodies are different. I don't understand all the hate against the OP.
Just because it's PC to say that women and men are equal doesn't mean that they are. Have the men's olympic soccer team play the women's olympic soccer team. The women will get smoked.
I'm not talking about strength, but in terms of training, in what way does the women's soccer team train DIFFERENTLY to the mens?1 -
beaglebrandon wrote: »TavistockToad wrote: »In what way do you think 'female training' would be different?
It's pretty obvious. Women and men's bodies are different. I don't understand all the hate against the OP.
Just because it's PC to say that women and men are equal doesn't mean that they are. Have the men's olympic soccer team play the women's olympic soccer team. The women will get smoked.
No-one said the body said male and female bodies were the same. The functionality is identical so why would the training differ? Less weight same routine similar results. Pretty simple really.0 -
Monday - pink dumbbells, eleventy million reps.
Tuesday - abductor/adductor machine.
Wednesday - legs, bums, tums and unreasonable expectations class.
Thursday - light shopping.
Friday - cookery class.
Weekend - surgery to replace her uterus after it fell out while lifting the vacuum cleaner.
I literally just snorted1 -
Good god. So much snark on this thread. People come asking for advice. They might not be as articulate, or "in the know" as some, or explain a situation well, but geesh people, if you can't offer some constructive advice, control yourself and find your entertainment elsewhere. Kudos to those who are actually helpful on this thread. SMDH.7
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Monday - pink dumbbells, eleventy million reps.
Tuesday - abductor/adductor machine.
Wednesday - legs, bums, tums and unreasonable expectations class.
Thursday - light shopping.
Friday - cookery class.
Weekend - surgery to replace her uterus after it fell out while lifting the vacuum cleaner.
You sir, win the internet.4 -
tillerstouch wrote: »Capt_Apollo wrote: »So my girlfriend wants to workout with me . Her weight is 85 KG and she is 5'3 tall.
Right now I am following the following routine for myself
Mon - Chest and Triceps
Tues - Back and Biceps
Wed - Legs and Shoulders
and repeat
Should I put her on the same programme?
The diet part is taken care by her but I am not sure how female training works.
how is that a routine? you're just listing body parts and days of the week. and you're doing upper body nearly three times as often as you do legs.
He saying he does a push pull legs split which is extremely common for body builders. It's very simplistic to think of the waist up as a whole. As back is pulling chest is pushing different motions, so it's actually a pretty balanced split.
OP from my experience my gf used to lift with me and she would do the exact same programs I was doing, which were pretty heavy volume with compound and isolated lifts. She didn't have any particular goals she just wanted to lift and spend time with me. She gained some serious strength but didn't bulk.
First you need to see if you gf has specific goals like other have said. If her goal is just general fitness/to workout with you then she can do whatever program you are doing.
I agree with @Capt_Apollo, this really isn't a routine. Its a workout plan with a little structure, yes body builders train in a similar vain but don't be so naive to believe a well trained body builder would explain their "routine" in such a way. Yes they split sessions into push/pull/legs but that's probably as far as the similarities go, a BB plan is far more complicated and extensive than a 3 day rotation.
That said, nothing wrong with the way you are training as long as you're enjoying it OP and taking adequate rest, the way you've worded it suggests otherwise but that is probably the language barrier like you've mention. If you are training together its best to stick with something pretty similar to your training partner, if she likes the look of it and it suits here goal, just reduce weight and possibly increase reps. Like someone mentioned, BB train in a similar fashion and I'd take a guess that is not her current fitness goal.
Alternatively, there are lots of great starter programs online that you both might enjoy starting together, even if its a 12 week plan just to have you girl get with the routine.1 -
violajunerose wrote: »OP, as a woman who just started lifting, who girl crushes on the ladies deadlifting as much as they weigh or more, let me help a little.
Ignore the quoted post completely. In order to build bulk, you need testosterone, which women's bodies don't have in abundance. Lifting does not make women bulky. At all.
.
Scuse me? When I was lifting I was 5'10" tall, 220 lbs, with a 24" waist (women's size four). If your goal is to build muscle yes, as a woman you CAN build muscle. In fact most of the women I see lifting at the gym build muscle faster than men do and on lower weights. Most of them are lifting 30 and 40 lbs but they have huge muscle definition compared to guys who are lifting 300 lbs 50 times and still rocking the spaghetti noodle arms.
Why do we act like the goal for women is NOT to build muscle? Why is it a bad thing for women to look strong. I only ask because the first couple of commenters took a "women can do anything men can do" approach to the thread and then it went south...."women can do anything men can do....oh except build muscle...but who wants to LOOK like you can lift weights anyway?" Well actually a LOT of women do. There is a whole world of professional female bodybuilders out there and I love lifting. If you want to look like a dying waif, starve yourself and do nothing but cardio. I'd prefer to look as healthy and strong as I am.
I find it incredibly amusing that you get offended when people assume the most likely scenario for this woman (that she doesn't want to look bulky) and act like you're taking a feminist stance...then you insult those who would rather be thin and willowly and not have bulk by comparing them to dying waifs and saying they have to starve themselves. I guess your righteous anger is reserved for women who are just like you and everyone else can go pound sand 7 -
If her primary goal is weight loss (as opposed to building muscle or strength), then I suggest a program that's heavily cardio based (say, 80% of the time on cardio and 20% on lifting). A person can be strong and still be fat (we've all seen them at the gym). Don't confuse the goals and waste her time focusing on the 'wrong' goal.The goal is obvious which is weight loss. She is not into sports or anything. Its just general fitness
At 5'3" and 85kg, that's obese and women at high body fat should not worry about losing muscle because majority of weight loss will be body fat. If her diet is on point and she's aware of how many calories she's consuming, then she simply needs to concentrate on calorie expenditure to maximize calorie deficit. And cardio will be more efficient at burning most calories.
At her weight and level of unfitness, you want to minimize risk of injury so I would not advise running. Try stuff like brisk walking or hiking on hilly terrain or even treadmill at a high-ish incline, OR, elliptical with high resistance, OR cycling, spinning etc. These are all low impact but provide a way to torch maximum calories (compared to lifting). She needs to find something she enjoys and can stick with. Adherence and consistency is the cornerstone of weight loss and maintenance.2 -
I dont understand why some people are getting pissed off if I asked normal question. First off i am not telling her to workout. Its her choice and secondly you are noone to judge on the relationship we have
I came here for help and most of them here are doing nothing but just flaming me. Please keep yourself out if you don't want to help and keep the relationship advice away as this is fitness forum
The goal is obvious which is weight loss. She is not into sports or anything. Its just general fitness
Those who replied in positive way, thanks for the help
@tillerstouch you nailed it. Yes she is inexperienced and doesn't have an account here and also her English isn't that good(Not saying mine is good enough but still).
OP, I am going to suggest that you post questions related to exercise in the Fitness and Exercise section.1 -
ItsyBitsy246 wrote: »Good god. So much snark on this thread. People come asking for advice. They might not be as articulate, or "in the know" as some, or explain a situation well, but geesh people, if you can't offer some constructive advice, control yourself and find your entertainment elsewhere. Kudos to those who are actually helpful on this thread. SMDH.
Kudos for the snarkiest post on the entire thread
Doubtful. I think it's less snark and more calling people out for kind of hating on someone just looking for advice.
EDIT- That's not so say I don't enjoy well placed snarky comments, and I'm prone to sarcasm myself; I just don't care for people who denigrate or make fun of those who are trying to learn something. Personal preference of course.4
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