Should Women Train Like Men?

[Beefster]

My fianc is wanting to start weight training to get hard and fit for our wedding in Belize. Her goals are that of most women. She is in pretty good shape and may only need to drop around 5 lbs of bodyfat. She has never really lifted, except the occasionaly "circuit of machines" training. What type of program would you suggest.

Thanks,
Beefster

 

[Grizzly]

Well, just to answer the question posed in the title of the thread; most certainly women should workout like men. Personally, I'd have her doing heavy squats, deadlifts and, especially for the fat burning, cleans. Maybe even a little higher in the rep range for the cleans. I don't know about anyone else, but those things kill me.

 

[AnimalMass]

Yeah, I find the 5x5 works excellent for women.

Matt

 

[Beefster]

Thank for the replies...though I am a little surprised. Though I do understand that muscle is muscle, regardless of what gender it is. I guess I was expecting something other than a 5x5.

It will take some time working with her to get the form down for the compound movements since she had never done any of them. Would you suggest something different in the beginning (2-3 weeks)?

Thanks again,
Beefster

 

[Madcow2]

If she's never done anything before, let her train the whole body 3x per week. Have her squat, press, row, chin (pulldown likely), and pull from the floor (you can use a rack on the low setting or even some Reebock steps just to rest the bar on if you don't have full sized discs lighter than 45lbs). Just keep the volume and weight modest at first and let her progress. Nothing is worse than getting a new trainee super sore the first few times in the gym. There's no point in it and it's really discouraging. After a long layoff (like from injury) I generally spend my first week in the gym just going through some basic movements fairly lightly.

You can't do this forever but it works well for a beginner and she'll quickly learn how to coordinate the movements. After a period she can move on to something else but this is fairly result producing.

EDIT: because my spelling stinks when I type fast

 

[Freddy]

Yup, all very good responces so far.

When training women or children, JS usually trains them a lot like men. As people have already mentioned, he'll usually reduce the volume and workload a bit though, and maybe increase the core-work they do (more ab, oblique, and spinal erector work).

 

[kasper2133]

What du you recommend for the older population. Would it still benefit them to train fx the 5x5 program? Or do you suggest a program with lower intensity?

 

[Madcow2]

How old is old? It's going to depend a lot on the condition (general physical and past injuries/problems) of the individual also. A 70 year old novice lifter in average condition is a good candidate for pretty much all machines. Someone in their 40's I'd be more inclined to get prepped up, eliminate/identify weak links, and throw on a 5x5 (beginners' version) after getting them acclimated.