My wifes routine so far

[Gunner]

Morning:

2 mile walk
60 crunches
60 right oblique crunches
60 left oblique crunches
60 reverse crunches
100 bicycle manuevers
60 tricep extensions (3lbs)
60 inner thigh lifts
60 outer thigh lifts
60 chest presses (3lbs)
60 butt bridges


Night:

2 mile walk
60 crunches
60 right oblique crunches
60 left oblique crunches
60 reverse crunches
100 bicycle manuevers
60 chest presses (3lbs)
30 cable tricep pushdowns (24lbs)
30 cable kickbacks (10 lbs)
50 cable leg abductions (10 lbs)
50 cable leg adductions (10 lbs)

Here are the areas she is wanting to work on...
thighs (inner and outer)
butt
tummy
triceps

Is she headed the right direction so far? Any suggestions?

Gunner

[CF-OC_gal]

Well can you be more specific about her goals? That looks like a breakdown of the ab portion of a workout and with three pound weights, once she is done she will be good and warmed up for a decent strength training routine with reps of 4-8 per set.

So did you miss posting the rest of the routine or is that all she is planning to do? If so it is unlikely she will see much change in the body parts mentioned.

I think a more challenging program would be in order to get real benefits and changes.

[.V.]

More weight, less reps...builds muscle and burns fat. End result is the "toned" (I hate that word) body that women strive for.

[Gunner]

She isn't wanting to build "mass" or bulk up...just burn excess fat...every thing I've read said "more weight, less reps" would build mass, and thats not what she wants. She is just looking for any possible better ways to work her target areas...

Gunner

[Lady C]

Originally Posted by Gunner

She isn't wanting to build "mass" or bulk up...just burn excess fat...every thing I've read said "more weight, less reps" would build mass, and thats not what she wants. She is just looking for any possible better ways to work her target areas...

Gunner

This is EXACTLY what she wants. She wants to lose the fat and look toned, right? To do that she has to gain muscle mass. Women will NOT look bulky because she does not have enought testosterone to do so. Go look at my progress pics and see if I'm bulky. I lift heavy, less reps.

Muscle burns more calories than fat. The more muscle mass she has the higher her metabolism will be. Also, eating more smaller meals throughout the day will increase her metabolism too.

Read these
http://www.discussfitness.com/forums...ips-21713.html
http://www.discussfitness.com/forums...day-30550.html

[Gunner]

She is wanting to burn more fat and build some "muscle tone", but not quite to the extent of Linda Hamilton in T2. She has came a long way since she started her dieting/excercise routine this January. So far, she has lost a total of 80 pounds. What kind of routine would you suggest to help her the most with her target areas? Just keep in mind, she has 3 kids to chase after, but she works out about 2 hours each day now. Here are some pics of her before she started and now.

[.V.]

Tell her not to worry. Unless she is a genetic freak (very few of them out there) she cannot gain huge slabs of muscle without chemical support.

Good nutrition, heavy lifting, build the amount of muscle possible for a natural female...that will increase fat burning and make her look good.

Oh, tell her to stay off the scale and pay attention to how her clothes fit instead. She will likely gain scale weight as she builds muscle and burns fat.

Here is the scientifically proven formula for toning.
More muscle + less fat = toned.

Get her to make this adjustment to her workout, remind her that it's physically impossible for her to accidentally turn into Ronnie Coleman, and if in a few weeks she isn't moving in the right direction, post it and we can help her design a metabolism boosting, fat burning nutrition plan that she can live with. My favorite are the higher fat, timed carbohydrate plans because they are so effective and motivational. But there are many very effective ways. Just get her started and we can go from there based on the results she gets.

The methods I used were too effective. In spite of having the testosterone level of an 87 year old woman I still managed to lose about 160lbs of fat and add enough muscle so that I'm now at 193 at 10% body fat. However, my metabolism got so jacked up I'm having to eat like a horse now to make any gains - actually I'm eating a horse every day. Neighbors are about to run out of horses.

Seriously it can be done with proper attention to nutrition, lifting the right way to get the results she is seeking, and getting enough but not too much cardiovascular exercise.

And 2 hours a day is simply too much for a beginner - even most very advanced lifters don't work out that long. She can get better results with a much shorter, somewhat heavier workout.

[Lady C]

I would do the Body-for-Life eating and exercise plan. It is a good beginner way to understand how to tax your body and eat right. Go buy the book if you can it will show you each exercise you need to do or check them out here.

Body-for-Life is an upper body/lower body split mixed with High Intensity Interval aerobics. It is how I got my start and your wife could benefit greatly from it.

Here is the eating plan in a nutshell
• Eat six small meals a day, one every two to three hours.
• Eat a portion of protein and carbohydrates with each meal.
• Add a portion of vegetables to at least two meals daily.
• A portion is the amount of an authorized food approximately the size of the palm of your hand
or your clenched fist.
• Drink at least 10 cups of water per day.
• Plan your meals.
• Plan your grocery list.
• Once a week on your free day, eat whatever you want.

Choose a portion of protein and carbohydrates from each column to make a meal. Add a serving of vegetables to at least two of your daily meals.
Proteins
chicken breast
turkey breast
lean ground turkey
swordfish
orange roughy
haddock
salmon
tuna
crab
lobster
shrimp
top round steak
top sirloin steak
lean ground beef
buffalo
lean ham
egg whites or substitutes
low-fat cottage cheese

Carbohydrates
baked potato
sweet potato
yams
squash
pumpkin
steamed brown rice
steamed wild rice
pasta
oatmeal
barley
beans
corn
strawberries
melon
apple
orange
fat-free yogurt
whole-wheat/ 7-grain bread

Vegetables
broccoli
asparagus
lettuce
carrots
cauliflower
green beans
green peppers
mushrooms
spinach
tomato
peas
brussel spouts
artichoke
cabbage
celery
zucchini
cucumber
onion

I've attached my old notes when I started doing the BLF workouts. Download it and fit it into her routine.