My girlfriend is not in the best of shape so I am going to get her started on a workout program... she does not have that much a base physical fitness level at all so I was think 2-3 times per week something along the lines of
Warmup (jump rope) other dynamic warmups
Lunge Variation 2x10-15
BW Squat Variation 2x10-15
Single Leg RDL 2x10-15
Some Balance Board Work
Pushups (on knees) 20 total
Bent DB Rows 2x10-15
Light OH Presses 2x10-15
assisted pullups
Opinions or suggestion to keep it fun so she will continue are welcome
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"...this is the way it goes, sometimes you're flush, and sometimes you're bust... and when your up its never as good as it seems... and when your down you never think you can be up again, but life goes on, remember that..."
Ryan, I commend your desire to help her start to love fitness. If she's going to be your girlfriend she's going to need to love it!
I think you're basically on the right track, especially since you said you want to keep it fun for her. When you say she's "not in the best of shape," what do you mean? Is she overweight and weak or is she frail and weak? Has she ever expressed any interest in any particular physical activity before? If so, can you incorporate any portion of that activity into your plan?
Here's an excellent article from Julia Ladewski on getting girlfriends/wives started--“Honey, You’re Getting Fat”. Even if your girl isn't overweight, the part I want you to "get" is that your attitude toward your girlfriend is what's most important, much more important than what kind of activity she actually does or doesn't do at this point. The goal is to get her to find some kind of physical activity that she can call her own, that she loves to participate in and will continue. Better, more effective fitness modalities can be introduced over time. Right now you just want her to fall in love with that feeling of being able to move her body and do stuff.
As far as your specific plan, it looks fine as long as she enjoys it and it makes her feel good about her body. You want her to leave the workout feeling more competent that she did before. If any of the movements are awkward for her, then modify them until she can complete the movement with confidence. You've covered all the movements except for a specific core stability move, so you might want to add planks (except those are really no fun) or maybe stability ball knee tucks (a bit more interesting?). I don't see the need for the balance board work unless you've got something specific in mind or unless you know she's going to get a kick out of that. Or did you have the balance board work in there as your core stability movement? Hum. That might work and hit the fun meter too.
Jumping rope is a fine warm-up if she's good at it. It's a terrible choice if it makes her feel uncoordinated. Don't forget the option of doing dynamic flexibility work as a warm-up. Some of that stuff can be really fun, especially when you're doing it with her. Skipping, lateral hops, carioca, that sort of stuff.
I love that you've included push-ups, but I like inclined push-ups better than push-ups from the knees. Get her going on easy inclined push-ups while you do really hard (maybe declined, weighted, or one-armed) push-up in the same rep scheme.
You be the assist for her pull-ups (from the waist or shins). Then you do a comparable amount yourself.
Tell her when she does well. Compliment everything you can legitimately compliment. Find something she does better than you and make a big deal out of it. You can only overdo the compliments if they're not honest. Tell her how much you love seeing her body move. Tell her how impressed you are if she out-performs your expectations in any area (e.g., balance, flexibility, determination, consistency). Stress how much you love spending time with her while doing something physical. Always remember the main goal is for her to enjoy a new sense of confidence, body awareness, and strength that she's never experienced before. That's what will keep her coming back and give her a desire to find even better ways to improve her fitness level.
She's not overweight. I would say shes just frail and weak. She's expressed an interest in learning to play tennis but it hasn't gone much further than that. I'm shooting for tennis 1-2 times per week and this full body routine twice for starts.
Thanks for the article it definitely is good. We have played around on the balance board before and she gets a kick out of it so i put it in there to break things up. I would say it's somewhat of a core stabilization and a lot more building confidence and athleticism. Thats a good idea for the pushups I will do that instead, while I do upside down pushups I can do them now without my feet supported.
I will be assisting her on the pull ups.
Thanks for all the tips! It is going to be different working with her as opposed to coaching or watching a fellow O lifter.
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"...this is the way it goes, sometimes you're flush, and sometimes you're bust... and when your up its never as good as it seems... and when your down you never think you can be up again, but life goes on, remember that..."
Training new women is 99.99% mental, as Lisa was getting at.
The specifics of it matter little when compared to adherence. Somebody that's caught the iron bug and likes working out is a different matter compared to somebody that doesn't actually like it and is just doing it "cause they have to". These people suck and are not worth the effort.
So yes, make it fun, and assuming she's not the type to get scared off by a little soreness/hard work/effort, you can gradually work her into the real lifting.
Beyond that is the matter of the diet, which is where most women end up having trouble in the getting in shape department, as compared to men.
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defiantly start of slow with fun movements. make sure she is having a good time, than gradually increase the intensity and workload in till she is is in a full blown program. You have to start of fun or you will scare her away
defiantly start of slow with fun movements. make sure she is having a good time, than gradually increase the intensity and workload in till she is is in a full blown program. You have to start of fun or you will scare her away
Either be defiant or have fun with her. But, don't try for both.
tell her she's fat and doesn't turn you on anymore. that will motivate her to work harder and look better. girls love that kind of inspiration.
Haha. No I will stick with the "my old g/f could... ATG squat 120lbs/3 and Push Jerk 66lbs/3 all weighing under 110lbs"
__________________
"...this is the way it goes, sometimes you're flush, and sometimes you're bust... and when your up its never as good as it seems... and when your down you never think you can be up again, but life goes on, remember that..."
I introduced my girlfriend to lifting a coupple of months ago. She really likes it. Not to long ago she actually told me "I don't really care how strong I get, I just want to get bigger"
Im like I like a girl with some muscle.
That's a good idea. They love it when you compare them to your ex's.
Could you sense my sarcasm? I was responded to someones post saying tell her she's fat and doesnt turn you on anymore...
Progress is going well she is doing the workouts with my younger and both are doing well, a little sore but overall going well.
Lisa could you give some descriptions of some of these dynamic warmup movements. When training specifically my g/f not my younger sister I realized she definately has a lot of trouble keeping her back straight in various lower body movements any suggestions?
__________________
"...this is the way it goes, sometimes you're flush, and sometimes you're bust... and when your up its never as good as it seems... and when your down you never think you can be up again, but life goes on, remember that..."
Lisa could you give some descriptions of some of these dynamic warmup movements. When training specifically my g/f not my younger sister I realized she definately has a lot of trouble keeping her back straight in various lower body movements any suggestions?
Here's one I think might be fun for them to do together as a warm-up. The can move up and down half court on a basketball court or maybe up and down one portion of a running track.
Each drill for 10 yards
High knee walk
Cradle walk
Heel to butt (using same side hand)
Opposite hand heel to butt
Heel to butt single-leg RDL (they say SLDL) (same side hand hold foot, opposite hand to floor)
One-leg RDL forward (same side hand to floor)
One-leg RDL backward (contralateral hand to floor outside of foot)
Lunge to hamstring (a spiderman lunge, rock back to hamstring stretch forward leg)
Overhead lunge walk with side bend (bending to same side as forward leg)
Reverse lunge walk with twist (twisting to same side as forward leg)
Lateral lunge walk right (trailing leg remains straight)
Lateral lunge walk left
Crossover walk with hamstring stretch (switch sides half way)
Backward inchworm/cobra
Do you think they can do those movements? There are easier ones from Magnificent Mobility that you can use (stuff where you're down on the floor on a mat). There are also all stationary choices if you don't have a place big enough for the Holy Cross warm-up. I just thought that one might be fun.
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"...this is the way it goes, sometimes you're flush, and sometimes you're bust... and when your up its never as good as it seems... and when your down you never think you can be up again, but life goes on, remember that..."
I have a bit of experience with this. My girlfriend has gone from cardio bunny when I met her, scared to 'bulk up'.. To training westside with me.
Off the bat.. Shes going to be reluctant to take all your advice. (proximity bias I think is what chris shugart says..) The stuff we read about here is pretty cutting edge and goes against what most average people know. If shes seen you get good results, its more likely that shell follow your lead.
She likely wont have the same drive as you to goto the gym, not saying that is a female thing at all.. Just newcomers link the gym with sweaty people and hard work.. not PR's and Fun. Just try to get her to stick with it.
One step at a time. The first program my girlfriend followed was more or less Push/Pull/Legs 3x per week. Only 9 things to lean (and most of them pretty easy). I didn't workout with her exactly, I was there and gave advice, but I was doing my own thing. Over months, things just progressed.
Teach her the best you can, and get others to help. If she is comfortable with the movements she will do much better with them. I know for a fact my girlfriend squats much nicer then I do, as well as has far better flexibility/mobility (WORK ON THIS LOTS. YOU CAN ONLY BENEFIT). Lisa is very right about giving compliments and encouraging. Yes, its one sided at first, but if you do end up training together, or at the same time or whatever, she'll do the same.
Getting my girlfriend training with me was one of the best things I ever thought of.. And I was very skeptical since I like to train hard/heavy. But now, its just awesome. Nothing like hearing
"Frank, nice PR!.. it looks like you blew a blood vessel in your eye. Are you going up 10 more lbs?" - Girlfriend quote.
that looks fine Lisa I will try it either today or tomorrow!
__________________
"...this is the way it goes, sometimes you're flush, and sometimes you're bust... and when your up its never as good as it seems... and when your down you never think you can be up again, but life goes on, remember that..."
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