Zeroskillet

My female friend wants to start hitting the gym with me and asked me to guide her....but dont know where to begin with setting up a 3 day routine for women.

Split? Full Body?

All I know is that Ill have her squatting, doing lunges tricep extensions and such...

Anyone care to help or link me to something good?

dnyc99

From another BB forum... a good friend of mine BUILT posted this routine and it's one that many friends I know have made huge amount of progress, including myself.

Hope your friend gives it a try.

~D~



This is a push-pull split that divides back workouts into vertical and horizontal planes, and hits legs twice a week with two separate workouts.


Baby got back

The back can be thought of as vertical and horizontal planes. Back training should really be split into two workouts - one devoted to horizontal pulling (thickness based workout / rowing movements) and one devoted to vertical pulling (width based workout / pull ups).

The hit you get from heavy deadlifts on leg day will round out your back workout.

Horizontal Pulling

* Barbell Rows (vary the grip between pronated and supinated)

* T-Bar Rows (vary the grip between pronated and supinated)

* Rack Pulls (vary the pin height, usually set them set below the knee/mid shin area)

* Seated Cable Rows


Vertical Pulling

* Lat Pulldowns (various grips and widths)

* Pull Ups

* Chin Ups

* Pull overs (Nautilus, cable, bar)


Grip
Pick one and stick with it throughout the course of the program - then switch when you want to change exercises. This would be most consistent and you'll be able to tell whether you're progressing or not. If you take a bent BB row - you'll find that you can probably lift more weight with a supinated grip because the biceps are assisting the movement. So if you're switching back and forth between grips during each workout, or every other workout, then it may be difficult to gage progress.

Supinated grip means palms facing your body. Pronated means palms facing away from your body. Semi-supinated means palms facing each other. A pull-up uses a pronated grip, palms facing away from your body. Chin-ups use the other two grips.

TYPES OF DEADLIFTS

SLDL


SLDLs are decent for the hip extension function and therefore your lower back, but not so much for great upper back development, at least comparatively speaking.

Regular Deadlifts


Regular deadlifts are a 'hip dominant' exercise. They hit the whole posterior chain - from hamstrings up to traps. They are the king of back development.

Do them first in your back workout.

You can be pretty sure you're doing it right if you're getting war wounds on your shins. It's basically a sign that the bar is staying really close to your body, which is correct.

You keep your sets short for two reasons:

* 1. It is a complex movement and form tends to break down with higher reps.

* 2. It is a strength movement. Your goal is to get strong on this exercise.


Keep the reps under 5 with regular deads. You can go higher with stiffs.

There IS overlap between these two exercises. SLDLs obviously hit some back, and regular deads obviously hit some hams. But stiff leg deads will not do for your back what regular, off the floor deads will.

Rack Pulls
A rack pull is like a regular deadlift off pins.

Click here for rack pulls

Pulling from the floor is more difficult. The weight has more distance to travel, and uses more glutes and hams. If you pull from pins you can focus on your back, which is essentially what’s working on the upper portion of a deadlift, and because your ROM is shorter you should be able to lift a bit heavier. Vary the pin height, but not set to set or workout to workout. It's a matter of being able to gauge your progress. If you change things too frequently, you really can't tell, from a strength standpoint, if you're progressing or not. You might stick with something for four weeks, and then switch it up a bit.

BUILDING IT INTO A WORKOUT
You could pair the horizontal pulling workout with horizontal pushing (chest) and the vertical pulling with vertical pushing (shoulders) to ensure that volume around the joints is kept constant.

However, this assumes for the most part that muscle groups are being trained once per week. An upper/lower split or an undulating split (with increased frequency, where everything basically gets hit twice per week) is better for hypertrophy. The one thing you have to consider when doing this is that the volume per bodypart per workout is lower, but the weekly volume, since you're hitting the muscle more often, is still fair.

4 DAY SPLIT

DAY 1 - HORIZONTAL PUSH PULL
Horizontal plane back (pull)
Select from:

Bent barbell rows (vary the grip between pronated and supinated)

T-Bar Rows (vary the grip between pronated and supinated)

Rack Pulls (vary the pin height, usually set them set below the knee/mid shin area)

Seated Cable Rows

Dumbbell row

Hammer Strength row

Horizontal plane chest (push)
Select from:

Flat barbell press

Dumbbell press

Low incline press.

Flat flyes


(Standing calves, short, heavy sets)

DAY 2 - QUAD DOMINANT LEGS
Go short and heavy on two quad dominant exercises and lighter with higher reps for one ham dominant exercise. (Here, hams are accessory, so they go lighter, with higher reps)

(Biceps)

DAY 3 - VERTICAL PUSH/PULL
Vertical plane back (pull)
Select from:

Lat Pulldowns (various grips and widths)

Pull Ups

Chin Ups

Pull overs (Nautilus, cable, bar)

Vertical plane shoulders (push)
Select from:

Standing barbell press

Dumbbell press

Arnies

Laterals, etc


(Seated calves, long sets)

DAY 4 – HIP/HAMSTRING DOMINANT LEGS
Opposite from day 2. Go short and heavy on 2 hip/ham dominant exercises and light with higher reps for one quad dominant exercise. (Here, quads are accessory, so they go lighter, with higher reps)

(Tricep work)


Some notes on this programme

To clarify how BGB works

You have a four-day workout

Day one is an upper body day: horizontal push-pull. This means back and chest, opposite movements so they don't tire each other out.

Back will hit back hard, biceps light. Chest will hit chest hard, triceps light. Chest also hits front delts a bit.

Since there's no leg work on this day, I toss in a calf exercise, and sometimes I'll toss in an ab exercise as well.

If you do seated calves on this one, do standing calves on the next upper body day.

Day two is lower body: quad-dominant, hamstring accessory.
So you're hitting quads heavy and hard, hams lightly. I toss in an arm exercise to round this out. Either biceps or triceps - if you do tris here, do bis on the other leg day. Usually I'll do biceps on this day, two different ones, one heavy and hard, one a little lighter, slightly longer reps.

Day three is upper again: vertical push-pull. This means more back (but mostly lats), and shoulders. Bis get another small hit here with lat work, tris a small hit with some of the shoulder work and possibly some of the lat work.

Since there's no leg work on this day, I toss in a calf exercise, and sometimes I'll toss in an ab exercise as well, just like horizontal push-pull day. Pick a different calf exercise, and a different ab exercise than you did on horizontal push-pull.

Day four is lower: hamstring dominant, quad accessory.
This workout you're hitting hamstrings hard and heavy, and going a little lighter and longer with the quad work. You're still working all muscles HARD, but with different rep ranges.

Because arms aren't tired on hamstring-dominant day, I toss in two arm exercises - if you did biceps on quad-dominant day, do triceps on hamstring-dominant day.


So, to summarize:

Day 1
Horizontal push pull, calves, abs
Thickness-Back: direct, hard, strength range and hypertrophy range: (first one 5x5, second one 3x8, if you do a third, 3x10-12)
Chest: direct, hard, strength range and hypertrophy range (first one 5x5, second one 3x8, if you do a third, 3x10-12)
Bis: indirect
Tris: indirect
Front delts: indirect
Calves: if seated, soleus, direct (longer sets). If standing, gastrocs, direct (shorter sets).
Abs: direct (3 sets of 8-12, weighted)

Day 2
Quad dominant, hamstring accessory. Arms.
Quads: direct, heavy, short sets, strength range and hypertrophy range: (first one 5x5, second one 3x8, if you do a third, 3x10-12)
Hamstrings: direct, longer sets: (3 or 4 sets of 12-20)
Arms: either biceps or triceps, direct, hard, strength range and hypertrophy range: (first one 5x5, second one 3x8)
Calves: indirect
Abs: indirect

Day 3:
Vertical push-pull, calves, abs
Width-Back: direct, hard, strength range and hypertrophy range: (first one 5x5, second one 3x8, if you do a third, 3x10-12)
Shoulders: direct, hard, strength range and hypertrophy range: (first one 5x5, second one 3x8, if you do a third, 3x10-12)
Calves: if seated, soleus, direct (longer sets - 12-20 reps). If standing, gastrocs, direct (shorter sets - 6-10 reps).
Abs: direct (3 sets of 8-12, weighted)
Bis: indirect with pullups, chinups, pulldowns
Tris: indirect with shoulders and some lat work
Chest: indirect with some lat work, possibly, such as dumbbell pullovers

Day 4:
Hamstring dominant, quad accessory, arms
Hamstrings/glutes: direct, heavy, short sets, strength range and hypertrophy range (first one 5x5, second one 3x8, if you do a third, 3x10-12)
Quads: direct, longer sets (3 or 4 sets of 12-20)
Arms: either biceps or triceps, direct, hard, strength range and hypertrophy range: (first one 5x5, second one 3x8)
Calves: indirect
Abs: indirect

__________________

BobThePotato

There is no such thing as a split for women. Sure there a different splits for different goals, but her being a woman dosent change anything.

__________________
"Geadelt ist wer Schmerzen kennt vom Feuer das in Lust verbrennt."

DarkFalcon

I've heard you have the same philosophy with dating, man/woman.. no difference.

Succio

maybe u should ask prodigy for a girl routine

__________________


SUPPLEMENTS.NET REP

BobThePotato

...

__________________
"Geadelt ist wer Schmerzen kennt vom Feuer das in Lust verbrennt."

DarkFalcon

Post whore! One away from 500!

BobThePotato

Lets not get to off topic..

__________________
"Geadelt ist wer Schmerzen kennt vom Feuer das in Lust verbrennt."

dukebrown

Hey what is the difference between men and women??

Answer: The hormones

That being said women and men work out the same. Women might take a day more to recover, Oh ya might not want to squat during their period.

Beside that training is the same

__________________
If you aint sweatin you aint workin
If you aint hurting you aint growin

shsumofo@cyber-rights.net

DJSTARER

she should concentrate on squating and pulling.

__________________
My philosophies on training:

"Extreme training yields extreme results"

"Just because you can, does not mean you should"

"The best program is the one you are not doing"





Penn State Powerlifting-181 lb weightclass

PGA Professional of America


Current Stats:
474 Squat
601 Deadlift
320 Bench


Goals for next training cycle:

500lbs squat and a total over 1400 in competition

wildman1717

I second this.

Zeroskillet

I know there is no difference but Im just baffeled on what type of a routine to give her...she has never weight trained before.

TestFreak

what are her goals, stats, diet, and current training regimen like, but mainly you will be looking for a routine with lower weight and higher reps, but for me to give you more detailed info i will need more info

__________________

Zeroskillet

Ill get back to you on that.

TestFreak

sure thing bro ill keep an eye on the thread

__________________

dnyc99

Also check out the Female Forum on IM...towards the last threads there are various articles posted by PJ-Max and other members on female beginners routines...etc.


http://ironmass.com/showpost.php?p=25604&postcount=1


Here's a great site for women bb.


http://www.stumptuous.com/cms/index.php


and here's another post by my friend BUILT...borrowed from BLC bb forum. She gave this routine to me so this is what I also started out with.


"This is how I started lifting.

A friend of mine helped get me started, and this is a compilation of what he has written to me over the years I've been fiddling with this.

Info for beginners
I'd suggest for those starting out that they follow a basic, full-body routine for a few weeks. Then, they should do a well-rounded routine that has them working out three days per week, working each bodypart 1-2 times per week. Then, after a few months of this, they could think about specializing.

Chest, lats, shoulders concentration
That said, if they want to specialize on chest, lats and shoulders, they should work those bodyparts early in their workouts, e.g Day One - Chest, Quads, Calves, Day Two - Back, Traps, Hamstrings, Day Three - Shoulders, Biceps, Triceps. Abs and other core work should also be thrown in a couple of days a week, and don't necessarily have to be done at the gym.

For chest, I quite like incline dumbbell presses, and cable flyes or cable crossovers. For shoulders, I like dumbbell presses with elbows held back, laterals (standing, bent over and cable), and upright rowing movements (which can often be incorporated on back day, e.g. cleans). For lats, I like pulldowns to the front, dumbbell rows (a sawing motion, arms in tight), cable rows (again, arms in tight), and cable pullovers.

The two-day program I gave you to start (see below) would probably be OK for the first while, although a couple of weeks on a full body routine like this beforehand would be OK, too, especially for someone who has very little lifting experience (but it's also good for a change of pace for experienced lifters, too):

BEGINNER’S FULL BODY ROUTINE

Squats 2 X 10
Deadlifts 2 X 10
Calf raises 2 X 15
Lat pulldowns 2 X 10
Incline Dumbbell Presses 2 X 10
Seated Dumbbell Presses 2 X 10
Barbell Curls 2 X 10
Dips 2 X failure

Twice per week for someone who's quite active (e.g. rides his bike a lot) would be good to start on this. If they wanted to do more, they could do this three times per week (non-consecutive days), and on one of the days just skip the squats and deadlifts and do leg extensions and leg curls instead.

Of course, they should check to make sure they're doing all the exercises properly. If something hurts (in a bad way), stop doing it and find out why. And these routines assume no previous injuries, so if someone has a really bad back or something, they will need to adjust things.

This was my first training programme

(TWO DAY split, three training days a week)

WORKOUT 1

LEGS
squats 3 sets of 8-10
seated leg extensions (quads) 3 sets of 8-10

BACK
seated back cable rows 3 sets of 8-10
front lat pull downs 3 sets of 8-10
shrugs 3 sets of 8-10

BICEPS
seated alternating dumbbell curls (sit, with back support) 3 sets of 8-10
drag curls 3 sets of 8-10 like a barbell curl, but drag it up the front of your body and back down again. Works like a preacher curl, but works better.

ABS
2-3 minutes

WORKOUT 2

LEGS
split squats (stationary lunges): these are basically lunges, but do all one side for one set, and then switch. I don't put my foot up on a bench, so ignore that part of the movie. Take a step, and stay there. Now do 8 squats in this position, then switch sides. 3 sets of 8-10 each side
lying leg curls (hamstrings) 3 sets of 8-10

SHOULDERS
Dumbbell lateral raises (imagine you are pouring really full pots of tea) 3 sets of 8-10
dumbbell shoulder (military) press 3 sets of 8-10 http

CHEST
incline dumbbell flys (do it on the slant bench, or flat if you prefer) 3 sets of 8-10
incline dumbbell press (squeeze chest at top) 3 sets of 8-10

TRICEPS
overhead tricep extensions, (I hold ONE dumbbell with both hands, hold it overhead, drop it down to elbows at 90 degrees, then raise it straight up) 3 sets of 8-10
standing tricep cable pull-downs, using rope 3 sets of 8-10 keep elbows glued to your sides, hold the rope ends, push straight down, then back up to 90 degrees. Your hands end up at your sides because the rope will open up and let you.

ABS
2-3 minutes

4 DAY SPLIT

DAY 1
Quads/Calves

*5 sets of 5 squats
followed by
*5 sets of 12 reps inverse leg press
then
*two supersets of sissies and leg extensions (8-10 of each)

Seated calf raises, three sets of 8.

DAY 2
Back and Biceps

*Assisted chins, up any way you can, down for a count of 5 (5 sets of 5)
*close grip seated rows (3x8)
*lat pull downs (3x8)
*Dumbbell pullovers (3x8)
*shrugs (3x8)

Biceps
*5 sets of 5 seated alternating dumbbell curls
followed by
*2 or 3 super-sets of incline alternating curls with lighter dumbbells (to stretch the fascia - excentric movement) then
*pull-down cable curls to pump.

DAY 3
Hamstrings

*Inverse leg press pushing on heels, toes hanging off platform 3 sets of 10
*SLDL 4 sets of 5
*leg curls 5 sets of 5 pausing and curling at the top,
*Hyperextensions, squeezing ass at the top and holding.

DAY 4
Shoulders, chest and triceps

SHOULDERS
*Incline one arm laterals, 3 sets of 8
*Dumbbell presses, 3 sets of 8
*Upright rows, 3 sets of 8

CHEST
*Flat bench, 3 sets of 8
*Incine flyes, 3 sets of 8
*Incline dumbbell press, 3 sets of 8

TRICEPS
*Between bench weighted dips, 3 sets of 8
*Standing tricep cable push-downs , 3 sets of 8

ANOTHER 4 DAY SPLIT

DAY 1
LEGS
Quads
Squats 3 X 8
Leg extensions 2 X 10(drop and do another 5) Drop sets

Hamstrings
Stiff-legged deadlifts 3 X 8
Leg curls 2 X 10(drop and do another 5)

Calves
Single leg standing raises 2 X 15
Seated calf raises 2 X 10-15

DAY 2
SHOULDERS CHEST AND TRICEPS
Shoulders:
3 Drop sets of incline rear lateral raises
3 supersets: 8-10 Arnies, supersetted with 6-8 Dumbbell lateral raises with 2 or 3 sets of one arm bent over rear delt rows (elbow perpendicular to body)

Chest:
Incline dumbbell flys, 3 sets of 10
Incline dumbbell press, 3 sets of 6-7

Triceps:
Overhead tricep extensions, 3 sets of 8
Standing tricep cable push-downs, 3 sets of 8

DAY 3
BACK AND BICEPS
Back

My fake version of assisted chins (I use the squat rack at eye level, assist with the backs of my toes), holding at the top for 5 seconds, negative drop count of 5 seconds. 5 sets of 5
Seated Straight-back rows, 3 sets of 7
Dumbbell pullovers, 3 sets of 8
Cable straight-arm pulldowns, 2 sets of 8
Biceps
Alternating dumbbell curls, three sets of 7
Incline seated dumbbell curls, 2 sets
Close grip cable pull-downs, two sets of 8
(These last two sometimes done in super-sets)

DAY 4
And then the "extra" leg day:
2 sets of 8 leg press, heavy
2 drop sets of leg extensions, 10(then drop and do 5 more)
2 sets of 8 split squats
2 sets of SLDL
2 drop sets of leg curls 10(then drop and do 5 more)
Standing single leg calf raises, 15 reps each leg, two sets
Seated calf raises, 2 sets of 10

YET ANOTHER 4 DAY SPLIT

Notes on this next split
Four days per week (if you miss day four occasionally, it won't be the end of the world, since it's the second day of the week for those bodyparts). The nice part about day four, though, is that the Cleans and High Pulls give you a bit of extra secondary shoulder work (think dynamic upright rows). I've tried to include either a second day per week for each bodypart, or some indirect work on various bodyparts on their off days (e.g. chest gets a bit of indirect on triceps day with the close grip bench). This will help keep the workload up.

FYI - For Static Contractions, you pick a weight that you figure you can hold in the contracted position for 20 seconds. You just do one rep, holding the contraction as hard as you can for as long as you can. Once you can hold it at least 30 seconds, increase the weight.

For hang pulls, start with the barbell hanging at arm's length. Then, with some help from your legs and back, pull the bar quickly up to your chin, like a dynamic upright row.

Cross face extensions - lie on your back on a flat bench. Hold a dumbell in one hand, with your arm across your face, and your elbow bent. Straighten your arm until your triceps are fully contracted. It's not a big movement, but it works the long head of the triceps quite well.

Here it is:

DAY ONE
(Back, Chest, Biceps)
Lat pulldowns 3 X 10,6,8
Seated rows (wide grip, for mid-back) 3 X 10,6,8
Dumbbell Pullovers 2 X 10
Cable Pullovers 1 X Static Contraction, 1 X Drop Set

Incline Dumbbell Press 3 X 10,6,8
Flat Flyes 2 X 10

Curls (Dumbbell, Barbell or EZ Curl) 3 X 10,6,8
Cable Curls 1 X Static Contraction, 1 X Drop Set (with the preacher bench, if you like)
Incline hammer curls, 3 X 10,8,6.

DAY TWO
(Legs, Calves, Traps)
Leg Press 5 X 5
Split Squats 2 X 8
Leg Extensions 1 X Static Contraction, 1 X Drop Set
Sissies 1 X Failure
Stiff Legged Deadlifts 3 X 10,6,8
Leg Curls 1 X Static Contraction, 1 X Drop Set

Standing One Legged Calf Raises 2 X 20
Seated Calf Raises 2 X Drop Set (12, 8 or something close to that)

Shrugs 3 X 10,6,8

DAY THREE
(Shoulders, Triceps, Calves)
Superset
Incline Laterals 3 X 8
Dumbbell Press (elbows back) 3 X 8

Superset
Bent laterals 3 X 8
Laterals 3 X 8

Close Grip Bench Press (or weighted dips across benches) 3 X 10,6,8

Superset
Overhead Tricep Extension 2 X 10
Cross-face Extension 2 X 10

Seated Calf Raises 2 X 20

DAY FOUR
(Legs, Back, Traps)
Squats 2 X 20

Hang cleans 5 X 5
High Pulls 5 X 5
Shrugs 2 X 10

__________________