Thread: Workout for GF

My best recommendation is get a copy of Bill Philips' BODY FOR LIFE book (or women's version- either is good). I like the diet structure and explanation - its a diet framework instead of a strict diet. The point should always be to learn how to put together a meal plan for your goals, that includes foods that you like, instead of a strict meal plan that you don't enjoy and will eventually throw away. This diet also includes and encourages a cheat meal. Even if your gf doesn't want to be relegated to a really strict diet as if its for competition or something - the real value of this approach is to mentally schedule your 'cheats' for a specific time of week and not randomly. This way you can set aside, e.g. Saturday night to go out, enjoy, eat whatever, etc. But also the random cheats are usually what kill progress. People think they should be making amazing progress because they follow a diet a few days a week, and then randomly throw shit in the piehole - and then get frustrated and claim "the diet doesn't work for shit". I can tell you from several years of competition prep dieting - it is EXACTLY those random cheats, even little ones, that kill progress. Your progress is only going to be as good as the consistency of your diet. Again, not saying you need to follow a rigid protocol - but rather just keep the cheating to a predictable time of the week. The body works very well when it knows what to expect. And lastly, just simply throwing down some "different" food keeps the body's ability to digest different foods up & running. To illustrate, a few times when I've followed very restricted varieties of food for a competition, I've actually become lactose intolerant. I've seen people get very sick on show day because they ate something they haven't digested in a really long time and their bodies just weren't prepared to digest it. Resulted in huge bloating and terrible stomach cramps. One girl actually had to drop out of her show ON show day after prepping for 4 months and had a very strong chance of winning her category.

The other part I like about this book is the training program - it is a MWF upper body / lower body split and gives good training suggestions. But also you could easily make it a more than 3 day split if you want. I also recommend checking out the muscle / exercise directory at ExRx (Exercise Prescription) on the Internet - they have a whole index of exercises - pick a body part or an exercise and it lists several variations of the same exercise - using machines, using cables, using DBs, using a barball. There's no reason to be stuck to only machines. The same exercises can be executed a variety of ways. Personally I rely on machines mostly when I have a sore, tired or injured muscle. Otherwise using the free weights, cables and DBs further exercises your body's stability and balance. IMO if you're going to bother, get the most out of your training. There's absolutely no reason "women" need to train like "women". Feeling you need to stick to machines or pink weights because you're female is just an insult to a very strong human body. It is obviously important to lift at a level that makes you work, but still lift weights that allow you to maintain tight form.

I think there are plenty of different workouts for your girlfriend you said she has three years
experience so she would be great for a complete intermediate workout for sure. I think that
would be best. How many days a week is she trying to workout? How many off days?

Thank you for all the input, she is open to whatever days/routine i pick for her.
I would probably guess Friday and Sunday off for rest days.

Originally Posted by MuscleGauge1

I think there are plenty of different workouts for your girlfriend you said she has three years
experience so she would be great for a complete intermediate workout for sure. I think that
would be best. How many days a week is she trying to workout? How many off days?

Originally Posted by larry79

Thank you for all the input, she is open to whatever days/routine i pick for her.
I would probably guess Friday and Sunday off for rest days.

Generally schedule your rest days where your body needs the recovery time.