Basic girl weight training

[Insomniator]

The GF wants to start to do some weight training instead of just running all the time. She's a complete beginner and extremely weak, like I have to open most doors for her. I've been working out for years but I'm really not that knowledgeable outside of the stuff I've been doing and even that is probably just enough to not get me hurt.

Besides squats, what are some good beginner exercises for women? I'm guessing most of what I do would be OK just with little to no weight (squats, pullups, pushups, dips, flies/bench etc)? I asked my personal trainer friend and he's like make sure you do X as a superset of Y and rest for 15 seconds then drink 2 ounces of recovery blah blah blah... she's not gonna be into that.

 

[jaedaliu]

Your idea sounds good. She'll see a lot of improvement quicky as she learns the mechanics and learns how to recruit her muscles to lift the weights. Long term results will be slower due to hormonal differences.

And in case she's worried, she won't get huge arms from lifting weights. It takes a LOT of work to get huge arms.

 

[Saint Nick]

My GF just does stronglifts routine with me and it has worked great for her. She isn't even doing heavy weight but her figure is amazing now.

 

[blackdogdeek]

She should probably start on a program like Starting Strength or Strong Lifts 5x5. These programs were designed for beginners.

 

[Pantlegz]

Strong Lifts is prefect for female lifters, it's a little less intense that SS and it's simple. I've had a few women ask me for suggestions and that's always where I point them in that direction after having the talk about weights not making them too bulky. So far they like it and are seeing good results

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Strong Lifts is prefect for female lifters, it's a little less intense that SS and it's simple. I've had a few women ask me for suggestions and that's always where I point them in that direction after having the talk about weights not making them too bulky. So far they like it and are seeing good results

I would agree - it's functional, they improve strength and bone density, and squats do amazing things to a girls' lower body I had my girlfriend do more of a Starting Strength-like program with higher rep accessory movements. She liked it and I was surprised by how strong she got.

 

[NickelPlate]

If she's just starting out and probably doesn't want bulk like a guy then just the basic body weight exercises should do nicely I think: squats, pushups, pullups, dips, crunches etc. You can get in remarkable shape without lifting a single dumbell or bar.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

If she's just starting out and probably doesn't want bulk like a guy then just the basic body weight exercises should do nicely I think: squats, pushups, pullups, dips, crunches etc. You can get in remarkable shape without lifting a single dumbell or bar.

You can also get strong, but not bulky by lifting dumbbells an barbells. Girls don't get big by lifting unless they lift and EAT a ton.