Need Tips - Workout Advice for a Girl
 

Hello,

I've never posted in this forum before. I'm hoping some of you guys can give me advice. Size-wise, I'm small enough - let's say goal weight, and I'm pretty short as well, 5'3. I'm interested in becoming stronger, for two main reasons: to look better naked and to burn more calories. I also just want to be healthier and have more endurance in general. Here's the problem: I have a horrible, profound anxiety of going to gyms or otherwise working out around strangers.

I've decided I'd be interested in things I can do at home, by myself. I want to look into getting some small weights, and perhaps do other exercises using my own body weight in order to reach my goal. I'm interested in advice in what sorts of weights I should get, what sorts of exercises I should do. I would love to know, specifically, what to do in a given workout session. Any information you can provide would REALLY help. I know a lot of people might be tempted to tell me to "get over it and go to the gym," but for right now, or at least until I feel more comfortable with some sort of workout regimen, that is not going to happen.

I'll be happy to answer any questions or provide any further information. I basically just want to improve the composition of my body without becoming much bigger, if that makes sense. One fear is becoming bulky - I have a friend who is like this. Are there certain ways I can eat to avoid this? I am incredibly timid and insecure on this topic so please, be easy on me. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] And thanks in advance.

Re: Need Tips - Workout Advice for a Girl
 

Read the FAQ. Do starting strength.

You're friend isn't too muscular; she's fat.

Re: Need Tips - Workout Advice for a Girl
 

you get the same advice as a guy would get...shocking...

squat, deadlift, rows/pullups, presses, lunges etc...dont' always use light weights, lifting a soup can 30x is not helping you change your body comp...do the same programs we recommend to guys...use weights that are challenging...

Re: Need Tips - Workout Advice for a Girl
 

also, check out this site... www.musclewithattitude.com

Re: Need Tips - Workout Advice for a Girl
 

This might help a bit. Some of the girls I find someone gross and could stand to fatten up a good bit, but the vast majority look fine out of contest shape (mostly just fitness bunnies, the BB girls look like trash year round).

http://www.musclewithattitude.com/

Take these two articles for example:
http://www.musclewithattitude.com/re....do?id=1500416
http://www.musclewithattitude.com/re....do?id=1504047

If you throw in a couple slayer references, eliminate pictures of not so hot girls replacing them with pictures of actual hotties, eliminate all the feel good stuff, and a couple lame attempts at talking about competition, you could slap this up on T-nation with no one any wiser.

In fact to echo thirddan, almost all their articles are either trip report style or just stuff off T-nation "dumb downed".

Re: Need Tips - Workout Advice for a Girl
 

[ QUOTE ]
also, check out this site... www.musclewithattitude.com

[/ QUOTE ]

Ironyaments.

Re: Need Tips - Workout Advice for a Girl
 

"This might help a bit. Some of the girls I find someone gross and could stand to fatten up a good bit, but the vast majority look fine out of contest shape (mostly just fitness bunnies, the BB girls look like trash year round)."

i agree, a lot of the chicks are kind of nasty when they are in contest shape...i don't need to see the veins on your abs...but most of the out of contest pics are really hot...

Re: Need Tips - Workout Advice for a Girl
 

http://img502.imageshack.us/img502/5...3fdressda2.jpg

Hot.

Re: Need Tips - Workout Advice for a Girl
 

[ QUOTE ]
Read the FAQ. Do starting strength.

[/ QUOTE ]

did you even read the OP?


Example A.
Target Audience
The exact intended target audience of the book Starting Strength is the coach of pubescent/teenage kids who want to get bigger and stronger, frequently for a sport.


Example B.
The Main Exercises
*****1. The Squat
*****2. The Bench Press
*****3. The Deadlift
*****4. The Power Clean
*****5. The Press
*****6. The Row



Starting Strength, not exactly a workout designed for a woman is it?

Re: Need Tips - Workout Advice for a Girl
 

chair, you are really off base here...those are the kinds of exercises that she needs to be doing...

a standard women in the gym routine looks like this...

5lb dumbbell - 3x50 tricep extensions
5lb dumbbell - 3x50 bicep curls etc...

most women in gyms make no progress and are fat...

WOMEN NEED THE SAME TYPES OF PROGRAMS AS MEN...compound movements with a weight that challenges them for the specified amount of reps/sets...

Re: Need Tips - Workout Advice for a Girl
 

Check it out:

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

Re: Need Tips - Workout Advice for a Girl
 

[ QUOTE ]
"This might help a bit. Some of the girls I find someone gross and could stand to fatten up a good bit, but the vast majority look fine out of contest shape (mostly just fitness bunnies, the BB girls look like trash year round)."

i agree, a lot of the chicks are kind of nasty when they are in contest shape...i don't need to see the veins on your abs...but most of the out of contest pics are really hot...

[/ QUOTE ]

Hot

http://www.musclewithattitude.com/fo...21d5-Sarah.jpg

Not hot

http://www.musclewithattitude.com/im...g/image001.png

Re: Need Tips - Workout Advice for a Girl
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Read the FAQ. Do starting strength.

[/ QUOTE ]

did you even read the OP?


Example A.
Target Audience
The exact intended target audience of the book Starting Strength is the coach of pubescent/teenage kids who want to get bigger and stronger, frequently for a sport.


Example B.
The Main Exercises
*****1. The Squat
*****2. The Bench Press
*****3. The Deadlift
*****4. The Power Clean
*****5. The Press
*****6. The Row



Starting Strength, not exactly a workout designed for a woman is it?

[/ QUOTE ]

Actually I did read it in passing. In fact, I usually write the same answer for almost every question I respond to. Inevitably no one who has any idea what I'm talking about corrects me. Is that a coincidence? I think not.

Side note: I like how FFK posts a thread and it has a million responses. Though I spent the better part of the day deriding the fat/ugly/poor. So maybe I should contribute to the betterment of everyone.

Re: Need Tips - Workout Advice for a Girl
 

I think the second girl is still pretty attractive, a little muscular, but certainly not excessively so. Fwiw, this is about my ideal physique for a girl.

http://www.t-nation.com/forum_images/ef908-Je.jpghttp://www.t-nation.com/forum_images/3a97d-jamie.jpg

Re: Need Tips - Workout Advice for a Girl
 

[ QUOTE ]
chair, you are really off base here...those are the kinds of exercises that she needs to be doing...

a standard women in the gym routine looks like this...

5lb dumbbell - 3x50 tricep extensions
5lb dumbbell - 3x50 bicep curls etc...

most women in gyms make no progress and are fat...

WOMEN NEED THE SAME TYPES OF PROGRAMS AS MEN...compound movements with a weight that challenges them for the specified amount of reps/sets...

[/ QUOTE ]

thirddan,

I've got no problem with a woman doing compound movements...and I see your point. I guess I was just kind of grossed out by the image in my mind of my gf dead lifting 200lbs...lol.

Anyways, the main point of the OP was for recommendations on a workout that can be done at home, with minimal equipment (dumbbells).

Re: Need Tips - Workout Advice for a Girl
 

Goose,

I think thats suppose to be a walking around photo though (or atleast to give the image as such) and not one in comp. Theres a couple others where I wasn't terribly excited. In comp I'm sure its pretty brutal. I don't think most girls hit the gym and are like "I want to look like her."

Jamie Eason is amazing.

Re: Need Tips - Workout Advice for a Girl
 

[ QUOTE ]
Hello,

I've never posted in this forum before. I'm hoping some of you guys can give me advice. Size-wise, I'm small enough - let's say goal weight, and I'm pretty short as well, 5'3. I'm interested in becoming stronger, for two main reasons: to look better naked and to burn more calories. I also just want to be healthier and have more endurance in general. Here's the problem: I have a horrible, profound anxiety of going to gyms or otherwise working out around strangers.

[/ QUOTE ]
Well, lots of people in this forum like to post before and after pictures - it can really help with motivation [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]. Seriously though, I've picked up the book "Never Gymless" from this site and I've really enjoyed it. It teaches you a ton of bodyweight exercises and shows you some that you can do with minimal equipment. Fitness bands can be a nice thing to pick up and are used a ton in the book I recommended. There is even a suggested routine that can help if you are clueless on how to set one up yourself. Anyway, I've been following the program in the book and have used my spare bedroom as a gym and I've been very pleased with the results so far.

Re: Need Tips - Workout Advice for a Girl
 

do alot of pilates/yoga and run.

Re: Need Tips - Workout Advice for a Girl
 

I think I'm going to find a girl when school starts up again and get her to come to the gym with me every time I go. I'd have her doing the same workouts as me, and wouldn't be too worried about her getting too big. Of course I wouldn't want her taking in 4000cals a day either, but a body composition change is nice.

This is my project for the new school year, TR sometime in the future to follow.

FFK,

You can do just about any kind of exercise, just don't eat too much (make sure you get enough protein though) and you'll tone up, not bulk up. I eagerly await some after pics [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Re: Need Tips - Workout Advice for a Girl
 

goose:

i think that girl is a bit too fit

this is ideal (yes i know butterface w/e)

http://img237.imageshack.us/img237/1346/06ba5.jpg

Re: Need Tips - Workout Advice for a Girl
 

[ QUOTE ]
I think I'm going to find a girl when school starts up again and get her to come to the gym with me every time I go. I'd have her doing the same workouts as me, and wouldn't be too worried about her getting too big. Of course I wouldn't want her taking in 4000cals a day either, but a body composition change is nice.


[/ QUOTE ]

now THIS is interesting. this brings the conversation back to my dichotomy thread... if a girl doesn't eat enough calories to build too much muscle yet does the same type of workouts as men i would imagine they would get very lean and fit but NOT big?

Re: Need Tips - Workout Advice for a Girl
 

Snafu'd,

Thanks! That is just the sort of information I was hoping to get with this thread.

[ QUOTE ]
if a girl doesn't eat enough calories to build too much muscle yet does the same type of workouts as men i would imagine they would get very lean and fit but NOT big?

[/ QUOTE ]

This is exactly my aim.

Re: Need Tips - Workout Advice for a Girl
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I think I'm going to find a girl when school starts up again and get her to come to the gym with me every time I go. I'd have her doing the same workouts as me, and wouldn't be too worried about her getting too big. Of course I wouldn't want her taking in 4000cals a day either, but a body composition change is nice.


[/ QUOTE ]

now THIS is interesting. this brings the conversation back to my dichotomy thread... if a girl doesn't eat enough calories to build too much muscle yet does the same type of workouts as men i would imagine they would get very lean and fit but NOT big?

[/ QUOTE ]

That's right. The actual workout is what we're trying to figure out here. Personally, I'd recommend starting strength which you could do from home if you have a room you could use, barbell + plates + bench.

Re: Need Tips - Workout Advice for a Girl
 

she could also substitute dumbbell versions for all those exercises if she doesn't want to buy a bench and barbell (for space reasons or whatever)

Re: Need Tips - Workout Advice for a Girl
 

[ QUOTE ]
she could also substitute dumbbell versions for all those exercises if she doesn't want to buy a bench and barbell (for space reasons or whatever)

[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah, at the moment I am in a small 2 bedroom apartment with 2 roommates and not a ton of extra room. We will be buying a house soon where I can hopefully use more room for workout purposes, but until then, what lb dumbbells would you guys recommend? I am REALLY REALLY weak - but hopefully not for long. Do you guys have any particular brands you recommend or retailers that have especially good deals?

Re: Need Tips - Workout Advice for a Girl
 

[ QUOTE ]
I've never posted in this forum before. I'm hoping some of you guys can give me advice. Size-wise, I'm small enough - let's say goal weight, and I'm pretty short as well, 5'3. I'm interested in becoming stronger, for two main reasons: to look better naked and to burn more calories. I also just want to be healthier and have more endurance in general.

[/ QUOTE ]

Your goals aren't quite clear to me.

Being stronger won't necessarily make you burn more calories or look better naked. Getting stronger is a function of your central nervous system becoming more efficient. Getting stronger will not make you burn more calories unless you also gain muscle mass. That's why body builders can eat 5,000 calories a day and still have ridiculously low bodyfat. Someone who lifts purely for strength, like a powerlifter, does not burn many calories during their lifts or while resting. I find it weird that you list burning more calories as a goal in and of itself. Is maybe that another way of saying that you want to lower your body fat? Also when you that you want to get stronger so that you look better naked, do you actually mean that you want to look a little more muscular? Being stronger does not necessarily correlate with being more muscular or looking better naked. In fact, someone can greatly increase their strength while looking virtually identical on the outside.

So if you explain a little bit better about what your looking for, I can give you better advice about what to do.

Re: Need Tips - Workout Advice for a Girl
 

slick,

Its very hard to get get stronger without getting bigger.

Re: Need Tips - Workout Advice for a Girl
 

[ QUOTE ]
Snafu'd,

Thanks! That is just the sort of information I was hoping to get with this thread.

[ QUOTE ]
if a girl doesn't eat enough calories to build too much muscle yet does the same type of workouts as men i would imagine they would get very lean and fit but NOT big?

[/ QUOTE ]

This is exactly my aim.

[/ QUOTE ]

First of all, from your pictures, you already look pretty lean. Second of all, if you lift weights but don't eat well (and I'm not talking about eating like a dude who wants to get huge) your outward appearance will not change much.

I think I'm starting to get the picture of what you want to accomplish. Correct me if I'm wrong: you want to lose maybe a little bit of body fat while also gaining a little bit of muscle. IE you're going for an Anna Kournikova look as opposed to an anorexic model look? If thats true, I can give you some advice on how to lose a little bodyfat and gain a little bit of muscle.

Re: Need Tips - Workout Advice for a Girl
 

[ QUOTE ]
slick,

Its very hard to get get stronger without getting bigger.

[/ QUOTE ]

Not necessarily, especially for a girl, who obvi has much lower testosterone and is more likely to have undereating habits. Many years ago I was a chronic undereater (still am to some extent), but lifted like an animal and got twice as strong while only gaining maybe 5-10 pounds. Most people will get bigger as they get stronger, but my point really is that if FFK's main goal is to improve her outward appearance, getting stronger is not necessarily the optimal way of achieving that. Now maybe she wants to get stronger just for the hell of it, but that would be unusual for a girl who isn't playing a sport, as far as I can tell.

Re: Need Tips - Workout Advice for a Girl
 

"Yeah, at the moment I am in a small 2 bedroom apartment with 2 roommates"

That's an interesting arrangement. Need gender(and pics!) to determine how interesting.

You can buy adjustable weight dumbbells pretty much anywhere. The "right" weight of dumbbell is going to be by exercise, not total.

You aren't going to be able to do any of the good compound movements without a barbell and bench and a ton of different weights, though, and that isn't going to work without a spare bedroom or something.


If you're doing bodyweight squats, real pushups, and get a range of reasonable dumbbells for raises, rows, and curls you could do alright. Quick googling shows that walmart sells a 40 lb adjustable dumbbell set for $30.

Re: Need Tips - Workout Advice for a Girl
 

"You aren't going to be able to do any of the good compound movements without a barbell and bench and a ton of different weights, though, and that isn't going to work without a spare bedroom or something. "

this is not true, you can do dumbbell versions of all the compound movements...

Re: Need Tips - Workout Advice for a Girl
 

I think, especially for a girl, grip strength limitations would make doing decent weight dumbbell deadlifts very hard.

Re: Need Tips - Workout Advice for a Girl
 

Join Curves
Pilates really though is great.
eat good

Re: Need Tips - Workout Advice for a Girl
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I've never posted in this forum before. I'm hoping some of you guys can give me advice. Size-wise, I'm small enough - let's say goal weight, and I'm pretty short as well, 5'3. I'm interested in becoming stronger, for two main reasons: to look better naked and to burn more calories. I also just want to be healthier and have more endurance in general.

[/ QUOTE ]

Your goals aren't quite clear to me.

Being stronger won't necessarily make you burn more calories or look better naked. Getting stronger is a function of your central nervous system becoming more efficient. Getting stronger will not make you burn more calories unless you also gain muscle mass. That's why body builders can eat 5,000 calories a day and still have ridiculously low bodyfat. Someone who lifts purely for strength, like a powerlifter, does not burn many calories during their lifts or while resting. I find it weird that you list burning more calories as a goal in and of itself. Is maybe that another way of saying that you want to lower your body fat? Also when you that you want to get stronger so that you look better naked, do you actually mean that you want to look a little more muscular? Being stronger does not necessarily correlate with being more muscular or looking better naked. In fact, someone can greatly increase their strength while looking virtually identical on the outside.

So if you explain a little bit better about what your looking for, I can give you better advice about what to do.

[/ QUOTE ]

Dude you know what she meant, stop trying to sound smart.

Re: Need Tips - Workout Advice for a Girl
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I've never posted in this forum before. I'm hoping some of you guys can give me advice. Size-wise, I'm small enough - let's say goal weight, and I'm pretty short as well, 5'3. I'm interested in becoming stronger, for two main reasons: to look better naked and to burn more calories. I also just want to be healthier and have more endurance in general.

[/ QUOTE ]

Your goals aren't quite clear to me.

Being stronger won't necessarily make you burn more calories or look better naked. Getting stronger is a function of your central nervous system becoming more efficient. Getting stronger will not make you burn more calories unless you also gain muscle mass. That's why body builders can eat 5,000 calories a day and still have ridiculously low bodyfat. Someone who lifts purely for strength, like a powerlifter, does not burn many calories during their lifts or while resting. I find it weird that you list burning more calories as a goal in and of itself. Is maybe that another way of saying that you want to lower your body fat? Also when you that you want to get stronger so that you look better naked, do you actually mean that you want to look a little more muscular? Being stronger does not necessarily correlate with being more muscular or looking better naked. In fact, someone can greatly increase their strength while looking virtually identical on the outside.

So if you explain a little bit better about what your looking for, I can give you better advice about what to do.

[/ QUOTE ]

Dude you know what she meant, stop trying to sound smart.

[/ QUOTE ]

Blow me. Stop trying to sound like you aren't trying to sound smart.

Re: Need Tips - Workout Advice for a Girl
 

[ QUOTE ]
Dude you know what she meant, stop trying to sound smoove 4 da ladiez.

[/ QUOTE ]

Re: Need Tips - Workout Advice for a Girl
 

slickpoppa,

I want to remain at, or perhaps slightly smaller than, my current size, with less flab and more sexiness. Does that answer your question?

FlyWf,

Thanks for the info! $30 is beyond reasonable.

[ QUOTE ]
First of all, from your pictures, you already look pretty lean. Second of all, if you lift weights but don't eat well (and I'm not talking about eating like a dude who wants to get huge) your outward appearance will not change much.

[/ QUOTE ]

How do you define eating well? In terms of calories, I think I eat extremely well. But if you're defining "well" as high in lean proteins, whole-wheat breads only, lots of vegetables... nah, I don't do that. I eat a lot of Lean Cuisines, Smart Ones, South Beach meals, and ramen.

[ QUOTE ]
I think I'm starting to get the picture of what you want to accomplish. Correct me if I'm wrong: you want to lose maybe a little bit of body fat while also gaining a little bit of muscle. IE you're going for an Anna Kournikova look as opposed to an anorexic model look? If thats true, I can give you some advice on how to lose a little bodyfat and gain a little bit of muscle.

[/ QUOTE ]

I wouldn't say Anna Kournikova but I also wouldn't say anorexic model. How about this:

http://img206.imageshack.us/img206/5...albaxinkh1.jpg

Re: Need Tips - Workout Advice for a Girl
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
she could also substitute dumbbell versions for all those exercises if she doesn't want to buy a bench and barbell (for space reasons or whatever)

[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah, at the moment I am in a small 2 bedroom apartment with 2 roommates and not a ton of extra room. We will be buying a house soon where I can hopefully use more room for workout purposes, but until then, what lb dumbbells would you guys recommend? I am REALLY REALLY weak - but hopefully not for long. Do you guys have any particular brands you recommend or retailers that have especially good deals?

[/ QUOTE ]
FFK,
I've got the bowflex brand but I don't think you should have to spend that much on dumbbells. I noticed that they had several different brands for less at Target the other day and I'm sure they are fine. A medicine ball would be a good thing to pick up too. Throw those in with some fitness bands and you'll be able to do a ton of workouts in your spare bedroom. But there is no need to jump out and buy all these things at once - just pick up the one you think you'll use the most and go from there. Good luck!

Re: Need Tips - Workout Advice for a Girl
 

FFK,

I guess what I was saying was a long winded way of asking whether you wanted to gain muscle or lose fat, or both. Now I'm pretty sure you're most interested in losing a little bit of fat. In that case, you don't need to do much work with weights, which is good since you don't want to go to the gym. Anyways, what you should be doing is high intensity interval training, often referred to as HIIT. HIIT is essentially doing really intense cardio, like sprinting, for very short periods of time, taking a brief rest, then repeating. The bad news about HIIT is that it can be somewhat painful, the good news is that it does not take a lot of time. If you're willing to go to a track, check out this article for a couple of examples of HIIT running programs: http://www.t-nation.com/findArticle.do?article=251run2 .

If you're looking to stuff strictly in your apartment, then that's a little more difficult. One option is doing burpees, which is described here: http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/rossboxing2.htm , though that might be more likely to get boring after a while.

Building muscle is a little more difficult because that requires eating more frequently and more protein (ramen and weight watchers is probably not enough) as well as using weights. Since you're just starting out, I would suggest doing the running HIIT stuff that I linked above, and doing pushups, pullups, and bodyweight squats as substitutes for weight work. If you decide to also buy dumbbells, there's a lot of other stuff you can do with those as well. But at this point I think the HIIT will give you the most pronounced effect on your outward appearance. If you enjoy that for a while then maybe you'll decide to join a gym and then you can really start utilizing the weights.

Re: Need Tips - Workout Advice for a Girl
 

[ QUOTE ]
I think I'm going to find a girl when school starts up again and get her to come to the gym with me every time I go. I'd have her doing the same workouts as me, and wouldn't be too worried about her getting too big. Of course I wouldn't want her taking in 4000cals a day either, but a body composition change is nice.

This is my project for the new school year, TR sometime in the future to follow.

[/ QUOTE ]

Plz move to Georgia [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]