How do ladies usually work out?

[Kronz]

Personally during my (short) entire fitness life, I've been focusing on muscle and strength gain only. So when my homegirls ask me for advices on fitness, I really don't have much to give. All the girls I see in the gym seem like they have no idea what they're doing. They're always on the cardio machines then the pusssy machines (hip ab/adductors) and ab crunch machines.

I enjoy sharing whatever fitness knowledge I got with my homeboys that wanna get in shape, and I wanna be able to help some homegirls as well. So hook me up with some tips here.

Assuming the following...
- They want to lose weight and get "toned up"
- They do not want to look "buff"

Here are the questions...

1. Rep range, sets & weights: Higher reps (15-20?) and same number of sets (3-4) per exercise? No lifting to muscle failure?

2. Will pectoral exercises have any effect on breast size? I heard the whole "pectoral exercises make boobs smaller" thing was a myth. Will pectoral exercises make boobs look bigger by pushing out the goodies with muscle?

3. What's the best training split (let's just say 4 times a week)? Full body? Upper/Lower? Push/Pull?

4. Is it common to completely ignore muscle parts that makes them look "manly", i.e. lateral delts? (Girls usually don't want that wide shoulder look) Or just train all muscles using low weight/high rep?

5. Cardio before or after lifting or both? (For guys I always go against cardio before lifting because it wastes all the energy they can use in lifting... but since girls aren't doing intense weightlifting like the guys I can see some benefits in doing cardio)

Let me know if there are any helpful tips to add here.

[Procrastinating]

All the girls I see in the gym seem like they have no idea what they're doing. They're always on the cardio machines then the pusssy machines (hip ab/adductors) and ab crunch machines.
They are under the illusion that they can spot train.


I enjoy sharing whatever fitness knowledge I got with my homeboys that wanna get in shape, and I wanna be able to help some homegirls as well. So hook me up with some tips here.
Assuming the following...
- They want to lose weight and get "toned up"
- They do not want to look "buff"
Here are the questions...
1. Rep range, sets & weights: Higher reps (15-20?) and same number of sets (3-4) per exercise? No lifting to muscle failure?
2. Will pectoral exercises have any effect on breast size? I heard the whole "pectoral exercises make boobs smaller" thing was a myth. Will pectoral exercises make boobs look bigger by pushing out the goodies with muscle?
If she really really really works them out, they might look a little more lifted at the top, but if she loses body fat overall, she is likely to lose some in the chest area too, and breasts are mostly fat tissue.

4. Is it common to completely ignore muscle parts that makes them look "manly", i.e. lateral delts? (Girls usually don't want that wide shoulder look) Or just train all muscles using low weight/high rep?
For all the above questions, women cannot get buff or bulky easily at all. We simply don't have enough testosterone to get large muscle mass or quickly gain it either unless there is a serious addition of supplements. And she should increase higher weight and use low or medium reps, she will increase her daily fat burning rate this way.

5. Cardio before or after lifting or both? (For guys I always go against cardio before lifting because it wastes all the energy they can use in lifting... but since girls aren't doing intense weightlifting like the guys I can see some benefits in doing cardio)
Lifting first, then cardio. Trying to lift heavy weights after you are tired= injury and bad form.

Let me know if there are any helpful tips to add here.

[Kronz]

Good looking out :)

I was thinking about a 4 days/week program... 3 days weightlifting/cardio (chest/tri's/shoulders, back/bi's, legs, and 30 mins of cardio at the end) and 1 day of group exercise class 24 Hour Fitness offers.

This is the program I came up with...

Day 1: Chest & Triceps & Shoulders(Anterior & Lateral)
#1: BB/DB Flat Bench Press 3 x 10
#2: (Assisted) Dips 3 x 10
#3: Cable Pushdown 3 x 10
#4: Front Raise 3 x 10
#5: Lateral Raise 3 x 10

Day 2: Back & Biceps
#1: (Assisted) Chin up 3 x 10
#2: Lat Pulldown 3 x 10
#3: Hyperextension 3 x 10
#4: Barbell Curl 3 x 10
#5: Reverse Pec Deck 3 x 10

Day 3: Legs
#1: Squat 3 x 10
#2: Leg Press 3 x 10
#3: Leg Curl 3 x 10
#4: Hip Adduction 3 x 10
#5: Hip Abduction 3 x 10

How does this look?

[caramellady85]

Good looking out :)

I was thinking about a 4 days/week program... 3 days weightlifting/cardio (chest/tri's/shoulders, back/bi's, legs, and 30 mins of cardio at the end) and 1 day of group exercise class 24 Hour Fitness offers.

This is the program I came up with...

Day 1: Chest & Triceps & Shoulders(Anterior & Lateral)
#1: BB/DB Flat Bench Press 3 x 10
#2: (Assisted) Dips 3 x 10
#3: Cable Pushdown 3 x 10
#4: Front Raise 3 x 10
#5: Lateral Raise 3 x 10

Day 2: Back & Biceps
#1: (Assisted) Chin up 3 x 10
#2: Lat Pulldown 3 x 10
#3: Hyperextension 3 x 10
#4: Barbell Curl 3 x 10
#5: Reverse Pec Deck 3 x 10

Day 3: Legs
#1: Squat 3 x 10
#2: Leg Press 3 x 10
#3: Leg Curl 3 x 10
#4: Hip Adduction 3 x 10
#5: Hip Abduction 3 x 10

How does this look?

um... are you just gonna give her this list and expect her to know what to do? and what proper form is?

[angel_baby]

um... are you just gonna give her this list and expect her to know what to do? and what proper form is?

exactly... u need to show her the proper form too..

and what about cardio?

i'd throw in some hiit training or at least 1/2 hour on the x trainer (min 3 x a week)

[Kronz]

I'm showing her the proper forms, of course, as well as spotting and explanation of target muscles and etc...

She said she can only go 3 times a week so we decided on this split.

Day 1: Upper body & cardio
Day 2: Cardio & abs
Day 3: Lower body & cardio

Day 1
10 mins of warm up cardio
Bench Press 3 x 8-10
Assisted Pull Up 3 x 8-10
Assisted Dip 3 x 8-10
Lat Pulldown 3 x 8-10
30 mins of cardio
(I was gonna get her to do bicep curls and lateral raises too, but she was completely spent after lat pulldown. I'll get her to do those 2 after she builds some strength and endurance. She said she was sore as fukk for like 4 days :p)

Day 3 (planned for tomorrow)
10 mins of warm up cardio
Squat 3 x 8-10
Leg Press 3 x 8-10
Leg Curl 3 x 8-10
Hip Adductor 2 x 8-10
Hip Abductor 2 x 8-10
30 mins of cardio (probably on elliptical or stationary bike since her legs would be tired)

I'll get her on HIIT later on when she gets more into working out. I don't wanna completely destroy her until she learns to enjoy the pain :laugh:

[angel_baby]

yup that sounds good, i'd get her on the hiit sooner rather than later so that she is losing weight quicker. also she probs doesn't need a 10 min warm up before the weights.. a 5 min light jog should be more than enough.. and lastly get her doing a few pushups (on her toes) and building her core strength from now. she only needs to do 4 or 5 for now and gradually build them up..