Training Program for my Wife

[Steve Shafley]

Hahahah. I don't know. I think I was tired when I read it. Damn, that's funny.

I think 5x5 for 5 exercises is still a bit much when it comes to most folks. Something more focused on her goals is probably.

[Eva Claire Synkowski]

yeah, i agree with steve. doesn't seem like she's doing much lifting now, even 5 sets by 5 reps may be a bit much.

ive enjoyed pavel's PTTP approach of 2 sets x 5 reps (second second is ~10% back off set) for all my strength lifts. she would def have time for metcon with that rep scheme on don's program.

[Dave Van Skike]

Originally Posted by Eva Claire Synkowski

yeah, i agree with steve. doesn't seem like she's doing much lifting now, even 5 sets by 5 reps may be a bit much.

ive enjoyed pavel's PTTP approach of 2 sets x 5 reps (second second is ~10% back off set) for all my strength lifts. she would def have time for metcon with that rep scheme on don's program.

My wife is doing a modified version of this. PTP with presses and front squats. She loves it.

[Steve Liberati]

First don't underestimate the benefits of walking....women have been practicing this art from the beginning of time. Its engraved in their genetic makeup. Nothing beats a light walk first thing in the morning or one after dinner. Its easy and fun and preferred by most women over metcon or rowing type of workout.

For specific workouts, Art D has some good thoughts on this topic here:
http://www.arthurdevany.com/2006/12/...and_worki.html

When my wife was into working out a few months ago, mixing it up and keeping workouts short and simple seem to be the key.

I would typically pick 4-5 exercises for her workout depending on how she felt that day. 2-3 days a week was enough. Anymore and we walked the line of turning exercise into a chore.

For example:
Squats: 15, 8, 4
Shoulder dumbell press: 10, 6, 3, 2 x 1, 2 negatives
Incline DB press: 10, 8, 6.
Thrusters 15, 8, 4

Here is the full article for more suggestions:
http://www.arthurdevany.com/2005/04/...rent_work.html

Above all, I'm sure we can all come up with a thousand different workouts for your wife here, but the most important thing is to find out what she likes to do. Expose her to as many programs as she is willing to try and find the one that she enjoys doing the most. Then go from there.

[-Ross Hunt]

Since no one's addressed this-- what exercises would be appropriate to addresss the specific areas that Derek says his wife wants to address? Suggestions:

Glutes--Front or back barbell lunges or split squats, bulgarian split-squats.
Abdominals--gymnastics stuff, obviously, but also incline sit-ups or glute-ham sit-ups, going only to back parallel to ground, and pausing there for 4-8 seconds. Weight held behind the head.

Does she want to develop her obliques, as well, or mostly just the abdominals? Windmills, in my experience, will add improve oblique size very quickly, but that may or may not be what she wants.

[Derek Simonds]

Great stuff from everyone. Tracy and I have some reading to do.

[Don Stevenson]

As I said, i'm biased towards simple programs and I'm biased towards O lifting. Hopefully that doesn't make me a bad man

[Daniel Myers]

I'll give this one a shot. This is based on some things I've been trying lately, and it seems to work well.

Four workouts per week, each one should take about an hour.


Day 1, Squat Focus:

Squat
Farmer's Walk: three trips, as far as possible on each
Metcon
Core/Abs: Sit-ups with weight behind head


Day 2, Vertical Push/Pull Focus:

Overhead Press
Pullups: if she can't do pullups, do jumps and negatives, working on a full rep
Metcon
Core/Abs: Side Bends


Day 3, Horizontal Push/Pull Focus:

Dips: you said no bench pressing, hopefully this is okay
Bent-Over Row
Metcon
Core/Abs: Turkish Get-Up


Day 4, Deadlift Focus:

Deadlift
Lunges
Core/Abs: L-Sits
Yoga: 5-10 sun salutations, then several minutes of savasana (corpse pose)


Notes:

Begin every session with a quick warmup.

Sets and reps are at your discretion. 5x5 is a good starting place, and you can manipulate from there to find the scheme that matches your wife's personality. For the abs and lunges, I like higher reps -- say 3 sets of 10 -- and doubles or triples on the deadlift.

Metcon workouts should be 10-15 minutes. Use your own favorites. If three metcons per week is too much, replace Day 2's metcon with yoga, as on Day 4.

If you want more variation, keep the same template but substitute exercises. For example, squats can be back, front, or overhead. Your vertical push can be presses, jerks, or handstand pushups, etc.

Walk as much as you can on the off days. It helps with recovery, and more movement is always good.


Pretty basic. Let me know what you think.


P.S. This is my first post. Big fan of the community here.

[Jamila Bey]

Just my humble opinion as a woman who used to follow the Shape/Self/Fitness routines: 5X5 is nothing extreme. Most of the routines to (allegedly) get you a JLo booty or a Halle Berry back have you doing 3 sets of 10 reps of 5 or 6 different exercises.

I'd love to weigh in (ha ha) more specifically, but running like a slave toward freedom has let me drop 25# in the past two months... I'm pretty biased toward football-centric workouts.

**And DAMN RIGHT I can make that joke!!!***

[Jamila Bey]

(whistling and looking away)

Make one joke about slavery and the whole thread dies out...