So a few friends of mine recently asked me what to do if they want to lose fat (probably cause I'm usually at the gym like clockwork) and i hit a stump, if it was a guy I'd tell him what's common knowledge around here, deadlifts, bench, squats etc.... but because these friends are women and they almost killed themselves squating the bare barbell i figured i'd just give them a couple exercises that are not weights orientated. Could i get a few ideas please? I know theres the squat you can do holding a weights ball, sit ups etc... but yeah... i have no idea really.

Another thing, I'm on break so I've switched up my cardio plan. Before i was walking/jogging in the morning for 30-40minutes for 4-5x a week + weights 5x a week. (monday- back, tuesday- chest, etc.) For the holidays i've thought of going really hard to jump down a few % bodyfat wise so I've been thinking of something like this for cardio;
monday- 20min high intensity (evening)
tuesday- 30-40min walk/jog (morning)
wednesday- 20min high intensity (evening)
thursday- 30-40min walk/jog (morning)
Friday- 20-30min high intensity (evening)
saturday- low intensity lap swimming
sunday- rest
+ weights x5 week.

Anyway just wanted to ask if this sounded alright. Also does it matter when i do the high intensity? i do the morning cardio after waking up and eating a piece of fruit of drinking some water, the high intensity will most likely come after a weights session which i do at around 8pm. So the HI cardio will start around 9:30pm or so. Does this affect the cardio? Also i might switch in swimming instead of the low intensity cardio on some days just for the hell of it.

Anyway, information and input for both issues would be really appreciated.
Btw, i eat x3 solid meals a day and x3 protein shakes a day... i'll try and fit in a 4th meal somewhere if i can.

really? haha awesome. So just treat them like men but a weaker version. Also is the cardio decent?

how the hell did they almost kill themselves squatting a barbell ??

Tell them to take up Martial Arts. Any good MA class will make a woman FIT.

Drum&Bass said:

how the hell did they almost kill themselves squatting a barbell ??

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kinda funny really, they had the initial posture and all that down but they didnt know how to sit and kind of started to fall, hard to explain...

@sharingan, they've got a gym membership not a martial arts membership. I'm just helping them with what they've got

Might want to start them off with the basics...leg press machine, chest press machine, shoulder press machine, lat pull down machine for a couple of weeks to build a foundation of strength. Eventually move them over to cable or free weights.

If they are doing squats, make sure they have the leg strength and flexibility to do so. Start with limited range of motion until they are comfortable with parallel to the ground.

Kerpal said:

Sounds like a waste of 2 weeks... I don't think the leg press machine, the chest press machine, the shoulder press machine or the lat pull machine are going to build a "foundation of strength" for squatting/deadlifting, benching, OHPing, and pull/chin ups.

If you want to build a "foundation of strength", why not just start them off with squats, deadlifts, overhead and bench presses with light weights?

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It will set them up for better form after the two weeks. Free weight demands a lot of coordination and stability. If they have never touched a weight in their life, they will probably not know which muscles they should be activating while doing compound movement. I start with the basic

Kerpal said:

How is using machines going to "set them up for better form" or teach them "which muscles to activate"? The leg press machine is nothing like a squat. Using machines is more likely to hurt their form, not help it.

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Okay....Let's start with the basics...
For beginners who has never lifted weight a day in their life. Place them on a machine to restrict their movement. They can push and they can pull. There is not much coordination/stability/balance work done. There is no one side is weaker than another. If they are more advance, you move to cable or free weights.

Different trainers will train differently. OP was asking for other exercises he can show the girls. I gave him what was easy to do. He sounded like he does not know what to check for if someone is squatting properly (i.e. hip to shoulder width stance, knees in line with toes, butt out, backs flat, abs engaged, chest up...). If you know what to check for when someone is doing a squat correctly, deadlift correctly, and bench correctly, you can teach them right off the bat.

My experience is that when you start people off like that, especially women, they get sore for a week and never train with you again. Yes, great exercises, but not everyone can handle it as their first experience in the gym.

L B said:

My experience is that when you start people off like that, especially women, they get sore for a week and never train with you again.

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Fvck them then.

Or explain to them that initially all exercise will cause a lot of soreness until adaptations occur and the soreness will not be as drastic.

Then when they inevitably whine and complain and quit anyway then still fvck em. Who cares

I'm tired of weak people. Weak of mind, weak of body, all kinds of weakness. They can pulled their own selves out of the muck and leave me alone especially when i offered to help.


Women should train like men.

I've been doing deads and squats for awhile and i can't say i have perfect form or anything because there seems to be so many opinions on what is perfect form but so far it's been alright. With that in mind i tried to tell them all that stuff but i found that you have to actually work the muscle in order to understand, but the weight was too much for them off the bat for the squat (20kg barbell i think, or was it 10kg) either way they're really weak... And they're women so it's not like i can just grab their ass/stomach etc and force it into the correct position.

My main concern was that women don't train like men but seeing as how you guys seem to think it's all good then i'll just start them on core lifts? dead, squats and benchpresses and stuff? Also, they have some phobia about becoming those muscly women you see in bb magazines. I'm assuming this phobia is grounded on baseless facts- as in lifting like that will not make you huge in that amount of time. Still, i'm not all that sure...they really just want to lose fat and tone up.

on a side note i've been doing my cardio that i planned out above. It's alright i think, first few days i came home a little tired but i think i'm regaining the balance.

edit: i just read that milk was bad for me. I drink milk with my protein powder cause it just tastes better that way (kind of like a milkshake) but should i stop this?

lol.

I'm surprised no one mentioned lots and lots of sex.

I'm not a fan of weakness either however I know with myself that when I start lifting after not lifting for awhile I get bad DOMS. This is often much less painful and faster for me to adjust if I go real light for the first 2 weeks back.

I think applying this toward those new to lifting (men or women) is a smart choice. Lessen the impact of doms and don't scare them off is the way to go.

Flyer said:

lol.

I'm surprised no one mentioned lots and lots of sex.

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Sex + HIIT = great workout + huge satisfied smile

my advice is to train a female just like you would a male, but be prepared to lower expectations both with respect to initial starting weights (respectable dumbbells, not the pink 5 pounders, in place of the bar unless they have prior athletic experience/training) and with respect to potential gains.

i've found that the hardest thing is to convince the skinny girls to eat enough, and the fat girls to give up the carbs and pound the protein (this may not be the time to fight the dietary fat/cholesterol fight -- if you can get them to eat a few eggs & lean meats, you're ahead of the game).

Kerpal said:

Why not? Perfect opportunity for kino

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yeah...these girls are more likely to turn around and slap me in the face or never talk to me again. Or it might make them really horny for me...hmm either way this isn't a risk i'm going to take with these girls...haha

Anyway, following the advice you guys gave me i've given them some general ideas and eating habits.. theres a big girl in the group but she might start eating properly...the others are usually always on the bloody treadmill. I mean its good and all but 1 hour of Low intensity followed with the bike for another hour or so doesn't seem all that good to me.

seems like pretty solid cardio sessions, hows that workin out for ya?

But yeah, you can probably tell them to just do squats as a warm up and then start adding the bar, you should have those olympic bars which are 20kg, but there should also be the lighter ones (15 kg, 10 kg). Just work on that and work your way up... i'm sure they can handle it, if not try doing dumbell squats.

Do you have a boxing bag at your gym? thats pretty awesome cardio work right there. Nice way to finish off a weights session

No boxing bag, it's a ... pretty 'prissy' gym i guess. 'Studio's' for sessions and not a lot of people on the barbell racks and stuff. The Cardio's alright, i think I'm seeing some loss but i shall have to see if its good fat loss or a bit of both. I also feel a lot hungrier these days with the increased protein intake and stuff... Guess it's a good thing.