Trying to figure out a good rutine for a couple

[drewooo5431]

Hey everyone,

So my girlfriend and I are attempting to get back into shape and actually be serious about it this time. Unfortunately we live about an hour apart and with our work and school schedules we see each other about once a week so we can’t workout together. So in that I am trying to figure out a good way to determine a baseline for where we currently are and how to set goals for each other as well as keep each other motivated or possibly set an incentive at a certain point in time. She is attempting to lose weight and tone up the usual trouble spots. I however am trying to put on more weight and put on more muscle. My main problem is trying to figure out how to keep each other on track seeing we have different fitness goals and any ways to gauge our progress.

Any suggestions?

 

[dswithers]

Just because you have different goals doesn't mean you can't do the same exercise routine. In fact, at a base level, you both have the same goal: increase lean body mass and decrease body fat. What is commonly called toning is just replacing body fat with muscle! The biggest difference might be in nutrition, where you would probably want to take in a caloric excess to enhance lean body mass gains, while she might want to take in a maintenance level or slight deficit to enhance body fat reduction. For exercise I would recommend alternating 3 days of resistance training and 3 days of cardio a week.

 

[oliverb]

It may better to not set a particular "goal". Simply map out each program (making sure they are both proven, realistic programs that you can follow) and let the programs do their thing. You certainly want to monitor your progress, but setting goals will only set you up for disappointment and possibly failure.