Thread: Program for my sister in law

I'm dealing with a similar issue, hence my similar thread LOl

I love this "I want to get toned" idea. Trying to get a girl to eat more is like pulling teeth! hahaha

But, I do think that any bit of lifting is better than not at all, and she'll probably see some improvements. Just not sure if they'll be as quickly as she wants.

Originally Posted by Doublebase

Her wedding is coming up and she wants to be "toned" by then. I explained to her that either you are cutting or bulking and to be "toned" you need to gain some muscle then cut. I also explained the importance of diet. She is really tiny. I'd say 5' 4" about 100lbs. Really skinny. With that said, here is the program I suggested for her. To help her get "toned". Let me know what you think.

I tried to keep it real basic.

Workout 1:
Squats 3 sets x 10 -12reps
DB lunges 2 x 10 -12
pikes 3 x 10
tricep extensions 2 x 10

Workout 2:
Flat DB press 3 x 10 - 12
T-bar rows 3 x 10 -12
Arnolds (standing) 2 x 10
curls 2 x 10

She also runs a couple times a week. Also uses the elliptical.

I don't see any type of deadlift on here. And I think I'd prefer to have her split up shoulder and chest work. Also, does she have implants? If she does, I'd ditch bench pressing entirely and just have her do flyes or pec dec.

Has she lifted before, Doublebase? Because the high-ish rep ranges here might be a bit much for someone whose form may deteriorate quickly.

Originally Posted by Built

I don't see any type of deadlift on here. And I think I'd prefer to have her split up shoulder and chest work. Also, does she have implants? If she does, I'd ditch bench pressing entirely and just have her do flyes or pec dec.

Has she lifted before, Doublebase? Because the high-ish rep ranges here might be a bit much for someone whose form may deteriorate quickly.

I had her deadlifting the other day. Her form was really bad. I tried correcting it but it just looked awful. No she never really lifted before. I kept the rep range high to help strengthen her tendons and get her used to the movements. She has really small boobs, like A cups. She can't even squat an olympic bar. I have her using a 1" bar with 5lbs on each side. So thats about 25lbs. Her squat form was good. Maybe I could have her do rack deadlifts instead for of regular deadlifts.

Originally Posted by Doublebase

Maybe I could have her do rack deadlifts instead for of regular deadlifts.

I thought you said she had no rack?
I kid, I kid!

I def. think rack deads would be a good place to start, if you feel those are important.

Originally Posted by Doublebase

I had her deadlifting the other day. Her form was really bad. I tried correcting it but it just looked awful. No she never really lifted before. I kept the rep range high to help strengthen her tendons and get her used to the movements. She has really small boobs, like A cups. She can't even squat an olympic bar. I have her using a 1" bar with 5lbs on each side. So thats about 25lbs. Her squat form was good. Maybe I could have her do rack deadlifts instead for of regular deadlifts.

Okay. Have a look at the link in my sig and have her do the workout in there if she's never lefted before.

If her squat form is good, leave it alone and get her to squat the Olympic barbell in five-eight rep sets. She should be able to build that up to the bar plus a dime a side within a few months.

For deads, teach her Romanian deadlifts, starting with the bar in the cage, set up at mid-shin. Make sure she keeps the barbell in contact with her body the whole way down and the whole way up. If she tries to bend her knees to squat it up, tell her to bend FORWARD, while pushing the barbell into her body.

Novices often respond better to multiple low-rep sets than to high rep sets since they don’t yet know form. You'll learn what you practice the most, so if you try doing 12 reps and only the first three or four are good, but the last 8 are bad, guess what you've just patterened?

Its been a little over two months now. She has been progressing really well. She works out 3 days a week. She actually squatted 135 x 4 the other day. I assisted her on the last couple reps. She got up to rack pulling 135. We went back to deadlifting the other day. She is still struggling with that. She can do 95lbs pretty good but anything heavy then that her form gets sloppy. Her bench press isn't progressing as well as her other lifts. She can do 55lbs or so. I had her write her diet down for me. Its pretty pitifull. Here are two sample days.
Day 1
6:00AM - waffle & piece of wheat toast
11AM - soft pretzel & strawberries w/ yogurt
3:20PM - protein bar
5:30 pm- chicken, lettuce, pasta in creamy caeser dressing

Day 2
8AM - waffle , toast
10:30AM- piece of banana bread
12PM- 2 eggs, porkroll and cheese on wheat toast
2:30pm - orange
5:45 pm - fried chicken, pasta

Again, she is really really skinny. About 105lbs at 5' 4". Her goal is to be more "toned" lol! I explained to her that whole deal. So basically what I'm trying to do is have her build some muscle. With this diet I doubt her seeing much after these newbie gains plateau.

Oh cool, an update!

She's doing well - lucky girl to have you to guide her!

Is she doing the fitday ritual?

Originally Posted by Built

Is she doing the fitday ritual?

No. I was doing one step at a time. She is such a picky eater. I'm going to print her out the grocery list and have her circle foods she likes. Then I can draw something up for her. She hates veggies and protein drinks.

Okay, here's the deal: you can't fix her.

Have her go into fitday and track her intake. Once she has a week's worth of entries, go in to her account and set up a sample day that's built, initially around her own food choices.

If not, I guarantee this will not stick with her.

I will be following this. Interesting from the other angle; slim and young. I'm coming from old and chunky.

Originally Posted by Kathybird

I will be following this. Interesting from the other angle; slim and young. I'm coming from old and chunky.

Oh honey, me and you both lol!

So it has now been about 4 months. She has been slacking for the past month. She is getting frustrated because she isn't really seeing any results. She feels them but does not see them. I'm having a hard time figuring out what to do with her. My approach was to have her lift basically like I do. Squats, deadlift, bench etc... She got a lot stronger. Her main issue is her diet. She literally eats like a bird. I explained that she won't grow unless she feeds her body properly. Well her response is "I don't eat that bad". Well anyway, her goal is to lose her love handles. The girl is a twig but def has some hips. I told her that everyone is built differently. The only way she will look proportional is if she bulks up and then goes on a cut. She can't afford to cut now. She is already to skinny. She just carries weight in around her hips, like a lot of women. So now I'm at a crossroads with her. What is the point of having her lift all these weights if she isn't fueling her body? I tried HIT with her and she liked that but that isn't going to get her where she wants to be. I believe the only way is for her to bulk and cut. Am I wrong here? What do you personal trainers do when you have someone like this? Someone who wants to lose their belly but is skinny everyone else? Thanks for the help so far everyone.

She's skinny fat. That diet is horrid.

Here's my question, like Dr. Phil says, "How's that workin' for ya?" She's getting stronger, but the shape isnt' changing, which is another way of saying your body composition is not changing. She's been working on 2 of the 3 legs of a solid program - diet & some cardio it sounds like. The CORNERSTONE of any program is your diet.

Has she done the fitday thing? YOu posted a diet at the top of this thread that, to me, looks massively devoid of a lot of good food and stuff to buidl muscle with. She's not necssarily fat, but the lack of muscle to make her fat look better, and the lack of anythign to really build muscle with (and this optimize fat burning) is obviously the hindrance.

Copying down the 2 day meal plan posted:

Day 1
6:00AM - waffle & piece of wheat toast
11AM - soft pretzel & strawberries w/ yogurt
3:20PM - protein bar
5:30 pm- chicken, lettuce, pasta in creamy caeser dressing

Day 2
8AM - waffle , toast
10:30AM- piece of banana bread
12PM- 2 eggs, porkroll and cheese on wheat toast
2:30pm - orange
5:45 pm - fried chicken, pasta


I see about MAYBE 50-60 g of protein per day, some processed carbs and minimal good fats. If she even added in a little more protein she'd be seeing some better results. I'm trying to come up w/ some really minor tweaks to get this better, but its hard because this is a really not all that great diet for someoen who is willing to put in the time in the gym but not make some minor changes to a diet.

Originally Posted by sassy69

I see about MAYBE 50-60 g of protein per day, some processed carbs and minimal good fats. If she even added in a little more protein she'd be seeing some better results. I'm trying to come up w/ some really minor tweaks to get this better, but its hard because this is a really not all that great diet for someoen who is willing to put in the time in the gym but not make some minor changes to a diet.

I hear you Sassy. You made some good points in that post that I can bring up to her. I really need to concentrate on diet with her. She basically needs to double her protein intake and eat some better carbs. It doesn't help that she is a picky eater also.

As for the training, should I just stick with the compound movements? Or should I split it up with cardio? Or just do a circuit style training?

I know from personal experience that compound movements and a lot of food is key to gaining weight.

Originally Posted by Doublebase

I hear you Sassy. You made some good points in that post that I can bring up to her. I really need to concentrate on diet with her. She basically needs to double her protein intake and eat some better carbs. It doesn't help that she is a picky eater also.

As for the training, should I just stick with the compound movements? Or should I split it up with cardio? Or just do a circuit style training?

I know from personal experience that compound movements and a lot of food is key to gaining weight.

How's she doing w/ the current training? Is she getting bored or anything? Then maybe switch it up. I hesitate to say add in cardio, because she's sort of already catabolic w/ so little stuff fueling the lifting.

Food wise she could start by just putting in some protein in breakfast & that second meal. She could do it in the form of a handful of almonds or peanut butter, or a chicken salad w/ some balsamic vinaigrette (vinegar & Oil, where the oil will give more cals & good fat source.) In fact adding in a chicken salad w/ vinegar & oil, and some almonds each day would be a nice increase w/o too much food, covering more cals, more proteins and more fats, very easily, at least I think.

If she's into the waffle thing, has she ever looked at protein pancakes? Also would cover some of the proteins but still get in good carbs.

Originally Posted by sassy69

How's she doing w/ the current training? Is she getting bored or anything? Then maybe switch it up. I hesitate to say add in cardio, because she's sort of already catabolic w/ so little stuff fueling the lifting.

Food wise she could start by just putting in some protein in breakfast & that second meal. She could do it in the form of a handful of almonds or peanut butter, or a chicken salad w/ some balsamic vinaigrette (vinegar & Oil, where the oil will give more cals & good fat source.) In fact adding in a chicken salad w/ vinegar & oil, and some almonds each day would be a nice increase w/o too much food, covering more cals, more proteins and more fats, very easily, at least I think.

If she's into the waffle thing, has she ever looked at protein pancakes? Also would cover some of the proteins but still get in good carbs.

She likes the training. Especially the HIT. She has puked twice from it.lol! The HIT makes her feel like she has really worked hard. Where as my training is few exercises with long RI's and heavy weights. I thinking about keep the compounds and supporting exercises but just shortening her RI's. Something like this:

Leg day:
Squats 4 x 2 - 10
Bulgarian squats 3 x 10
SLDL 2 x 12
Pikes 3 x 10

Her form is pretty good now. So she can maintain it through the higher reps.

Thanks for the diet advice. This will be my first priority with her.

DB, have her read this:
Got Built? » The “Do It Yourself” Diet – Comfort food for life.


DB, why have her train so hard she pukes? And why such short rest intervals?

Originally Posted by Built

DB, have her read this:
Got Built? » The “Do It Yourself” Diet – Comfort food for life.


DB, why have her train so hard she pukes? And why such short rest intervals?

Ok.

She only puked during the HIT sessions. They were only 10 minutes long. She feels better after she does the HIT style lifting verses the way I train. I guess cause she is out of breath after the HIT and her heart is pounding a mile a minute. We only did a few HIT sessions though.

Now, I'm assuming that by "HIT" you mean "HIIT", right, high intensity interval training?

What is the purpose of doing this type of training with an overweight, not particularly condititioned woman? Are you trying to exercise off the weight - because I assure you, it won't work. Not only does it burn far fewer calories than it feels like it ought to, but in women, this type of activity often overstimulates appetite. Effects of exercise intensity on food intake and appetite in women -- Pomerleau et al. 80 (5): 1230 -- American Journal of Clinical Nutrition

She may need to decide between "feeling like she had a great workout" and "getting results".

In my own case, I only do HIIT when I'm well below 20% bodyfat and trying to get at some stubborn fat (this is all outlined in "Daredevils are Shredded", linked in my sig).

Otherwise, I diet off the weight and lift heavy to prevent muscle loss. She should surely do the same, no?

Originally Posted by Built

In my own case, I only do HIIT when I'm well below 20% bodyfat and trying to get at some stubborn fat (this is all outlined in "Daredevils are Shredded", linked in my sig).

Otherwise, I diet off the weight and lift heavy to prevent muscle loss. She should surely do the same, no?

She is not overweight. She is very skinny but has some fat around her hips her that she desperately wants to lose. I explained the spot reduction myth and the bulk cut deal. Yes I mean HIIT. I tried HIIT as a way to change the way we workout so she would feel "winded" so to speak after her workouts. We have only done 3 HIIT workouts. I think I need to stick with the compound movements with normal RI's and concentrate on her diet.

I will try to get a picture of her so you can see what body type I'm talking about here.