Building a Program for Girlfriend who is a Beginner

[twillcox94]

Hi, I have been trying to re-search and put together a workout plan for my girlfriend who I would classify as a beginner. Her main goal is fat loss and toning just like the average female. To go with her cardio I wanted to implement a good weight lifting routine. My question is what rep range and workout should I start her at? Should I stick with generic 3 x 10 full body or split routine or start her with a 5 x 5 to teach basic compound lifts? I have had good success with the 5 x 5 in terms of weight loss and toning myself. I know 90% of weight loss is done in the kitchen, but what routine should I start her with?

[darrenash]

Introduce her to a body weight circuit. Do some research with her to discover which exercises she likes the look of.

Examples are body weight squats, jumping squats, body weight lunges, jumping lunges, waling lunges, step ups, etc. for legs and glutes. For upper body, think of pull-up and chin-up varieties, press ups, bench dips, etc. With regards to press ups there are hundreds of varieties to select from. Raised feet (harder), raised palms (easier), close grip, wide grip, etc. If she struggles to perform press ups, start with press ups from the knees.

A goo circuit would include a range of differing exercises of 10 reps. No rest between exercises. Perform maybe four circuits initially with 60 second breaks between each circuit. After she gets used to it, she can increase the number of circuits, increase the number of reps, add in exercises, choose a more intensive variety of certain exercises, etc. to make it more challenging.

Alternatively, she could perform exercises for a specific time frame as opposed to reps, say 30 seconds for each exercise.

Most people will spout the dogma: "you need to use weight". This isn't so. And since she doesn't want to gain large mass, I would say body weight exercise are the best method. The greatest thing about such a program is that she can perform this routine anywhere. At the gym, at home, in the park, on the beach, in a hotel room, wherever. It gives her complete freedom and makes performing workouts much less hassle.