Training women [Forum Archive]

Pages: 1

Training women

(CLICK HERE here to view the original thread with full colors/images)

Posted by: animalmachine

I am fairly knowledgeable in training and diet programs to promote lean body mass in men from personal experience. I'd like to get into personal training and 4 girls have asked me to help them get into shape in exchange for before and after pics and testimonials (all college age). I've helped many guys in the past make incredible gains but this is my first time training women. Is there anything different I should be concerned about? Obviously I have them at lower calorie diet plans than I would normally recommend. I usually have guys start out in the 8-10 rep range for the first few weeks and then move them to 4-6. These girls do not want to pack on a ton of muscle, they are your typical college party girls looking to get a tighter ass and midsection with some definition. Any suggestions?

Posted by: Witchblade

There are no major differences in training men and women.

Posted by: Duncans Donuts

Quote:

Originally Posted by Witchblade

There are no major differences in training men and women.

I would respectfully disagree. I incorporate very demanding exercise for men and usually higher reps/sets for women. I do this because women TYPICALLY can't tolerate the same intensity of work, are not interested in brutalizing them selves. I also consider the degree of intensity and imposition on the body to be what stimulates the most muscle gain (as do hormonal differences in the sexes) so I usually shirk away from training them in similar ways.

Posted by: CowPimp

I usually train them in pretty much the same way. Most of the women I come across need to put on some muscle mass if they want to look as they think they should, so I train them accordingly.

Just be aware that women generally have less upper body strength potential in particular. As well, from my experience females tend to be more mobile/flexible than men.

Posted by: JonnyStead

Its worth asking the PTs on here even if its OK to 'train' other people unqualified. You might be taking a bit of a risk if it goes wrong and you arent insured etc...? Maybe I'm just being a buzz kill...

Posted by: AKIRA

Quote:

Originally Posted by CowPimp

I usually train them in pretty much the same way. Most of the women I come across need to put on some muscle mass if they want to look as they think they should, so I train them accordingly.

Just be aware that women generally have less upper body strength potential in particular. As well, from my experience females tend to be more mobile/flexible than men.

Ditto.

Posted by: Tatyana

Recent research has shown that newbies to training will respond to just one set of resistance work.

When I first took on regular weight training, I worked out with Nautilus equipment, which was one set, 8-12 reps to failure. I made great gains with that.

Most women are not going to like the 4-6 rep work, if anything, move into 3 sets of 15-20, in particular for lower body, however, have them get that it has to be a bit intense, not just waving the weights around.

Women's legs often respond quickly to weight training as well.

x
x
x

T

Posted by: Duncans Donuts

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tatyana

Recent research has shown that newbies to training will respond to just one set of resistance work.

When I first took on regular weight training, I worked out with Nautilus equipment, which was one set, 8-12 reps to failure. I made great gains with that.

Most women are not going to like the 4-6 rep work, if anything, move into 3 sets of 15-20, in particular for lower body, however, have them get that it has to be a bit intense, not just waving the weights around.

Women's legs often respond quickly to weight training as well.

x
x
x

T

I think it's probably smarter to train newbies for a month or at least a few weeks with more sets to establish good motor understanding of the exercises.

After that, though, one set to failure is probably the best method for intermediates (as far as I'm concerned) - with appropriate levels of warm up sets and such.

Regarding women, in my experience women do NOT like lower reps, do not like hitting muscle failure in that range, are paranoid about becoming muscular, and do not want to push themselves. These things require a different style of training from men, at least from me.

Posted by: P-funk

I try to get them down to the 6-8 rep range at some point in training. If they are an athlete, then we need to get into more intense lifting. But for the general populations ladies, I will cycle rep ranges and try and work down into the 6-8's a some point.

I have a pair of girls right now that are general population clients and they will pretty much do anything. Last week, they were squatting sets of 3-5 reps. They like how their body looks when they lift heavier (their words, not mine).

Posted by: Duncans Donuts

I cycle the rep ranges, too.

Posted by: Witchblade

Quote:

Originally Posted by P-funk

I have a pair of girls right now that are general population clients and they will pretty much do anything.

You hornball, you!

Posted by: P-funk

Quote:

Originally Posted by Witchblade

You hornball, you!

i can't help myself sometimes.

Posted by: animalmachine

Thanks for the help guys. I've got them on a 5 day split with 3 sets of 12-15 reps per exercise - around 8 sets per muscle group. They seem to be liking this much more than the lower reps, and my first goal is to just get them in the gym doing *something*. If they stick with it, I'll try and move them down to 8-10 in 4 weeks, then 6-8 in 8.

Posted by: P-funk

5 day split? what exactly is taking place on these 5 days?

Posted by: Double D

It simply depends on their goals. With DFM we do alot of dynamic work, active rest, and everything really revolves around the core. I have a few gals come in looking to increase strengh, but for the most part they are looking to drop bodyfat. I train mostly the men and the women the same depending on their goals......

Content Relevant URLs by vBSEO 3.1.0

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36