So, my girlfriend wants to join the gym (well, she already has a card, but she's been lazy for half a year :D ), and she has no idea what to do there, and I thought that I could make a proper workout-schedule for her, but I can't :doh: So I need your help...

So, basicly, she's 17 years old (hey, I'm 19, so she's not THAT young ;) ), she does alot of DDR'ing (dancing/jerking around on a machine basicly), at least once a week... She's about 160cm tall and pretty skinny (46kg maybe?)...

She wants ONE program, no 3-day split basicly. Something that works the whole body and something she can do twice a week...

can someone help me with a good work out schedule?

Also, sorry if this is in the wrong forum, but I thought that she's a girl and this part of the forum is for girls... Well, you get my thinking ;)

Sure I can help you.

What do you have so far?

Sure I can help you.

What do you have so far?

Well, not much really :o I was trying to do a good schedule, but I realised that having it all on one day isn't working, so I'll have to talk her in to having a 2-day split at least... Also, she's not really into dumbells and free weights... So I thought that I'll let her use some machines at first, and then gradually get her into free weights. And she's not into building huge arms, so just something that'll give her some muscles, but not anything out of the ordinary...

This is what I've come up with (2-day split), each set is about 8-12 reps...

Day 1:
Shoulders/Traps:
They have some pretty good machines for this at the gym, one that makes you flap your arms like a chicken :D You look like an arse, but damn it hurts when you're done. Also, I'll have her doing some upright rows as well.

2 sets chicken machine
1 set upright rows

Chest:
Some machine that does the same as bench pressing, and the same for flyes...

2 sets of bench pressing machinery
1 set of flyes

Biceps:
Just some regular biceps-curls, either with dumbells or with a cable...

2 sets of biceps curls

Triceps:
2 sets of Cable pulldowns

Day 2:

Back:
Some sort of rowing machine and hyperextensions...
2 sets of rowing machine
2 sets of hyperextensions (with weights, if she can)

Abs:
Just some crunches and/or a machine that does the same as crunches... Maybe something for the lovehandles or whatever its called as well?

2 sets of crunch-machinery, 12-15 reps

Legs:
2 sets of legextensions
1 set of legpress
2 sets of lying leg curls

Calves:
Either Barbell Seated Calf Raise or some machine doing the same thing...

1 set of barbell seated calf raise


So, what do you think? Anything more/less?

Okay, good, now we have somewhere to start from.:)

Some advice from another female weight lifter:
http://www.stumptuous.com/cms/displayarticle.php?aid=61

She won't get huge arms unless she's eating at a caloric surplus. I lift pretty heavy (22 pound dumbbell curls) but I don't think my arms are "huge". (See profile picture. They're just over 10 inches around, if that means anything)

If she's really set on a full body split, she can find one here (http://www.hypertrophy-specific.com/hst_II.html).

Unfortunately, I'm not very familiar with weight machines, so I don't have very good advice for you on what exercises to include. I prefer working with free weights, because then my stabilizers are getting a workout at the same time.

For legs, squats and lunges are very important. I also think pull-ups or cable pull-downs are pretty important back exercises. Lateral raises are my favorite for the shoulders, but maybe this chicken thing you're talking about will do the trick. For abs, I like to do reverse crunches once in a while, and hanging leg lifts or lying (on your back) leg lifts (very slow). You could add in a move for the obliques, but some people find that their waist gets bigger with oblique work. They should get enough of a secondary workout with a properly balanced weight lifting routine, or twist to the side for some of the hanging leg raises.

Sorry I couldn't be more help.

I love Krista's site. Here's (http://www.stumptuous.com/cms/displayarticle.php?aid=133)the full body workout I started with, then varied a bit when I found other exercises on different sites. Have your girlfriend check it out, Krista's humor and knowledge is great!
:tucool:

Most gyms have a complete "circuit" of fitness machines. They are generally arranged so that a novice can complete two sets of ten reps of fifteen exercises and be finished in one hour. Here's what to look for (and the order to do them in):

1) Seated Leg Press
2) Lat Pulldown
3) Chest Press
4) Leg Extension
5) Leg Curl
6) Seated Row
7) Chest Fly
8) Calf Raise
9) Overhead Shoulder Press
10) Shoulder Raise (or as you called it the "Chicken")
11) Tricep Extension
12) Bicep Curl
13) Back Extension
14) Abdominal Crunch
15) Rotary Abdominal Twist

Two sets of each would be thirty sets total. Allowing six seconds per rep (60 seconds of exercise) and 60 seconds of rest between sets calculates to one hour of weight training.

Hope this helps.

She won't get huge arms unless she's eating at a caloric surplus. I lift pretty heavy (22 pound dumbbell curls) but I don't think my arms are "huge". (See profile picture. They're just over 10 inches around, if that means anything)

Ah, I'm not so familiar with how the female body react without either suppliments or a caloric surplus, I'm a kinda big guy with suppliments, and she's a small girl without... :D

Unfortunately, I'm not very familiar with weight machines, so I don't have very good advice for you on what exercises to include. I prefer working with free weights, because then my stabilizers are getting a workout at the same time.

Yeah, I used to be all into machines as well, but I realized that you get more gains and you work your stabilizers with free weights... Too bad my girlfriend doesn't care about that :bang:

For legs, squats and lunges are very important. I also think pull-ups or cable pull-downs are pretty important back exercises. Lateral raises are my favorite for the shoulders, but maybe this chicken thing you're talking about will do the trick. For abs, I like to do reverse crunches once in a while, and hanging leg lifts or lying (on your back) leg lifts (very slow). You could add in a move for the obliques, but some people find that their waist gets bigger with oblique work. They should get enough of a secondary workout with a properly balanced weight lifting routine, or twist to the side for some of the hanging leg raises.

Ah, I'll look into squats, I'm not doing any type of squats either :o

Sorry I couldn't be more help.[/QUOTE]

Actually, you helped out alot, thanks :)

Yeah, I used to be all into machines as well, but I realized that you get more gains and you work your stabilizers with free weights... Too bad my girlfriend doesn't care about that :bang:

does she not care, or does she truly just not understand much about lifting? one can masquerade as the other.

very little about lifting and working out is gender-specific. however, here are some awesome resources for her to review that might help her think about how and why she wants to work out: Krista's site (http://www.stumptuous.com/cms/index.php) and Renee's site (www.skwigg.com). FYI, there's a great beginner's squat tutorial on Krista's site you should take a look at.

does she not care, or does she truly just not understand much about lifting? one can masquerade as the other.

When you say lifting, I suppose you mean with free weights? Actually, I think it's a little of both; She feels more comfortable with machines I guess, and I do think that she knows that free weights are better...

very little about lifting and working out is gender-specific. however, here are some awesome resources for her to review that might help her think about how and why she wants to work out: Krista's site (http://www.stumptuous.com/cms/index.php) and Renee's site (www.skwigg.com). FYI, there's a great beginner's squat tutorial on Krista's site you should take a look at.

Ah, I think she knows that :) She has been loosing alittle weight recently, and while she's happy with it, she wasn't in need of it at all from the beginning, so she want to put on some muscles...