what i've been telling girls about exercising

[ewker]

i'm a guy, and i only know a handful of girls personally who workout. and even the ones who workout don't do it very often nor are they dedicated. i always hear "i don't wanna get big muscles", but i honestly think this is mostly a copout to not have to exercise (am i wrong?). I think most girls who don't exercise regularly (or just don't know much about exercise) do realize that weight training will help them look better, they just don't want to do it. a lot of the hottest girls i have ever seen workout on a regular basis, but i still have a hard time convincing girls i know to go to the gym. so here's what i tell them.....

1) how much a girl weighs doesn't matter to me. i'm more than likely not going to find that out anyway, but i don't need to either because i can tell if a girl is fat or not by just looking at her. and believe me, super skinny is just as nasty as super fat. i don't understand the logic of the less a girl weighs the hotter she is?
2) girls should lift weights twice a week. upper body then lower body. do the same basic exercises that guys do, but do higher reps with lower weight for toning and a little bit of size. you're not accidentally going to turn into arnold overnight. i'm a guy, and i've tried. it's not gonna happen.
3) run and do cardio on the other days you don't lift. burning fat to girls seems to be about the equivalent of guys builiding muscle. so i tell them to work on it more than lifting. and this should also help reduce the chances of bulking from lifting.
4) eat right. stay away from the atkins and other fad diets, but just concentrate on eating a well balanced diet.

obviously, i'm no expert on women, so there are probably errors or other things i should or should not mention to them. so i'm asking you all, is what i've been telling girls good advice?

[AnnaD - TX]

I basically tell the same thing to my girlfriends! ALL the sissy girls I know are SCARED to get big muscles!! But then they turn around and tell me, "oh you are so fit" blah blah blah! I just ask them, "does it look like I have big,huge muscles???" There's their answer!!

Anyways I read somewhere's that if you want to dramatically change your body and shape it, you gotta do cardio and WEIGHT training and eat right! Sounds easy to me!
and I ALWAYS hear the same excuse, I DON'T HAVE TIME. The same people that dont have time are the ones watching MTV all night long!

ahhh, some people will come around!!

[rrouleau]

Its really easy just to lift weights, run and eat. How hard is that. One hour a day, even less then that. Damn you dont even have to work out to change your body shape. Just eating right can get you there. Its just about how bad you want something.

[Andrea]

Originally Posted by rrouleau

Its really easy just to lift weights, run and eat. How hard is that. One hour a day, even less then that. Damn you dont even have to work out to change your body shape. Just eating right can get you there. Its just about how bad you want something.

I totally agree with everything you just said!!

[nikmucha02]

Coming from a female, i weight train 3 times per week and do cardio 3 times per week. I'm looking to just keep my weight the same but toning up. So i think you are giving great advice. Workout and eat right and you should be fine.

[ajarvis]

I think you're giving good advice, whether or not they listen is another story. rrouleau is 100% right about so many people I know, if they'd stop eating doritos for breakfast along with pop they'd see a difference just from that!

[Timbers]

I've been training five days a week for months now. Before that it was months of training 3 times a week. I work my butt off in the gym. It is NOT easy. If I leave the gym feeling like I can run a marathon after my workout then that tells me I didn't work hard enough in there.

Giving your all to get out that last rep can be excruciating. I love it though. I like the way I feel and the way I look. I do it for me.

Many people, men included, want a magical pill to do all the work for them. It wont happen. Laziness is a major problem with people today.

[Lady C]

Originally Posted by ewker

2) girls should lift weights twice a week. upper body then lower body. do the same basic exercises that guys do, but do higher reps with lower weight for toning and a little bit of size. you're not accidentally going to turn into arnold overnight. i'm a guy, and i've tried. it's not gonna happen.

Why only twice a week? :confused: I've lifted as many as five times per week. Women should train NO different than men.

I don't think they should concentrate on TONING (whatever the hell that means anyway). They should concentrate on gaining mass just like a man. They just won't be able to add near as much as a man without some droids or more test. Lift heavy and lift often!

[pbody]

Originally Posted by ewker

i always hear "i don't wanna get big muscles", but i honestly think this is mostly a copout to not have to exercise (am i wrong?).

From my experience talking to women, it's not a copout, but misinformation. Many honestly believe that if they lift weights they'll end up looking like a female bodybuilder, so they stay out of the weightroom. Another group believe it takes heavy weights to end up looking like a bodybuilder- these women end up in the gym, but they stick to light weights that really don't tax them at all.

It defies logic. Even if the big muscles came easy, it's not like you'd wake up one morning with hideous monstrous muscles, so you could just cut back on the weights if you felt you were getting too musclular (for the record, I've never met a woman I thought was too muscular- fit is sexy ).

[arbit]

Yeah, look at Laura - she trains close to bw, does bw pullups etc, and shez skinny. She aint big. What was it that Sillyme said about her? She has the body of a 12 year old?

[laura817]

Arbit -- I believe it was 13.

Reference

[arbit]

Originally Posted by SillyMe

I've also seen Lauras photos (I think that was her name), while she is slim, I thought it was more of a diet photo than a photo of a woman trying to build muscle mass.

And this is a girl who tosses 40+lb dumbbells around

[SurfinAmy]

Originally Posted by pbody

From my experience talking to women, it's not a copout, but misinformation. Many honestly believe that if they lift weights they'll end up looking like a female bodybuilder, so they stay out of the weightroom. Another group believe it takes heavy weights to end up looking like a bodybuilder- these women end up in the gym, but they stick to light weights that really don't tax them at all.

I've heard that a lot from people, "I don't want to get bulky" or "I'll end up wearing a larger size"

-Amy

[midgetcop]

Originally Posted by SurfinAmy

I've heard that a lot from people, "I don't want to get bulky" or "I'll end up wearing a larger size"

-Amy

Yeah, and that's SO not true. I lift TRES heavy, and I still look like a l'il teeny girl.

[SurfinAmy]

Midget, there's some pics on this site I'm wanting to show my friend next time I get a chance, the progress. Why the aversion to lifting weights from some women? Don't get it at all!!!!!?????
-Amy