Women and weights combined with yoga?

H

hardyb

0
So, my girlfriend is an ex high school/college soccer player who has just not been in the kind of shape she wants to be in since she stopped playing. Both of us are working on a strict nutritional plan, as well as exercise. Both of our goals are an approximate 10% weight loss/fat loss as a short term/4-5 month goal. I have seen some pretty decent weight loss myself, however she still seems to be struggling.

I know that women respond differently to exercise and nutrition, but really don't have any understanding of how. I want to help her out, but all I know to do is pump myself full of whey protein and hit the weights. I have heard that women will typically just gain weight if they take whey, and doing so can have some side effects?

Being that she has always been a runner, she has had next to no experience with weights. I feel that she would benefit from weight training, however I'm just not sure what kind of routine she should do. I do a muscle group a day, 5 days a week - should she be doing a similar workout or should it be more of a FBW on alternating days with cardio mixed in? I have ordered The New Rules of Lifting for Women for her, but also trying to see if anyone here can provide any tips or share experiences. :)

On another note, she has recently started doing Bikram yoga (110 degree heat, 90 minute sessions). Being that she dedicates quite a bit of time to Yoga, she hasn't had much else in way of exercise for the last several weeks. She has been pretty sore from holding some of the positions, however she's not really too sure about the weight loss aspect of this kind of yoga. Has anyone had any experience with yoga and weight loss? Should she incorporate yoga into her workout routine or is it more of a thing to do "on the side?"

Any input is appreciated. :)
 
heya

I'm pretty sure protein has the same effect on both men and women as men and Women both use protein for the same things.

Since she has next to no experience with weights, this means that her first time doing weights she'll be able to see great noob gains. For a goal of weight loss. I'd definitely be doing full body workouts 3x a week. There isn't room for isolation in a fat loss goal.

I encourage you to wait for New Rules of Lifting to arrive before jumping into any weight training sessions, it'll save you time and energy. I'm read the original new rules, and it was very helpful for my own weight loss goals (about 25% of my body wieght lost, 55lbs.)

Anyway, to recap. Protein should ahve the same effect on women as men. Full Body Workouts for fat loss.

here is a page I made a while back on this forum with a large lsit of programs you could do for various goals (hypertrophy, strength, Fat loss). Check the programs out, after reading the NROL4W.

http://training.fitness.com/weight-...inefficient-split-maybe-read-first-34522.html

Also on the bottom of the page are various links to other threads on this site, 3 of which pertain directly to fat loss.
 
Thanks for clearing that up, Danger Dave. :) I did read through those articles a few weeks ago, but just unsure if the same types of programs would be ideal for a female vs. a male. I didn't want her to start on something that might be ineffective or possibly harmful. I will wait for the the book to arrive before setting anything up. :)

I do know that FBW is significantly more effective when goal is weight loss. Some of the articles and posts on this forum I've read though suggest that for "noobs" it would be possible to gain muscle while losing weight. I haven't really had a solid exercise or nutrition plan for nearly 6 years, and I just started about 7 weeks ago. I started with an isolation program because I believed that it would be helpful in using my newbie qualities to build muscle while cutting fat.

Is this a recommendable approach? I was planning on starting the Waterbury program on the 9th week.
 
Since you have newbie qualities, I would DEFINITELY go back to the page i linked you to, and do Rippetoe's starting strength. If I could somehow go back in time, I would definitely do that program. I encourage you highly to read the page.

I would definitely do compounds and a full body workout as opposed to 5 body part split.

Think of it this way. On your ucrrent split you work say, the chest once a week.
On a 3 day a week FBW, you work the chest 3 times a week. Mathematically more effective (it only takes muscle 48-72 hours to repair itself).

It would definitely be worth your time to get your noob gains in squats, bench, and deads (as rippetoe has you do). I highly encourage you to do starting strength or some other one of the beginner programs I posted.
 
Thanks for the reply! I appreciate the direction. I will begin the Rippetoe 3day tomorrow. What's recommended for the 2 days that I will not be doing FBW? Just cardio? I'm currently doing 5 days of cardio in the morning, M-F. If I do the Rippetoe routine M, W, F, should I double up on the cardio on T, R, or is that overkill? Thanks again! Appreciate all the advice. :)
 
Hey! though I'm a little late into the conversation, I just wanted to add that Yoga need not be done "at the side" to lose weight. It was and still is my only exercise regimen for the day. I joined a course for weight loss through Yoga at Zendle () and it has helped me. I have lost about 3 pounds in the last two months and have toned up too. This is because Yoga helps you lose weight by inches. Since I practice regularly, it also does help me keep off the inevitable weight gain which I face after other exercises. Yoga generally asks you to follow a certain diet, sticking to it and exercising regularly will get results. And yes, the sore ness will be there for a while :)
 
When you really begin a cut, using deficit and weight training, you will lose at least 1 lb a week. So 8 lbs. in 2 months. I don't know if the above comment was spam or not.

If it's the first time you're doing those kind of lifts, I would just do some light cardio activity, and only if you wanted because cardio is not, in my opinion, necessary (I dind't really do any type of running to facilitate my weight loss), I mean, my plan for you doing rippetoes was for you to get some strength first, then it'll be easier for you to cut later. After about a month or so, or your lifts stall, then I would move to a fat loss program. I would do HIIT if you do any cardio. Read "The Hierarchy of Fat Loss" on that link I gave.
 
Cool. I already have a strong basis for some of these exercises. Here are my most recent 1RM:
195lb flat bench
155lb bent barbell row
155lb squat
175lb dl
95lb press)

However, I do agree that an increased strength training, esp incorporating all of these compound moves, would help me out. As you can see, like many other novices, I've focused a lot on upper body and have not done much with the big compound movements. Hence, my squat being significantly lower than bench. I will follow this routine to build up some strength, and then will continue on to a more intense cutting routine. :) Thanks again!
 
If her goal is to drop fat, she's probably better off with a full body workout 3x a week. On a related note, adequate rest/sleep and good nutrition will get her that goal much sooner than a workout schedule, because you can't out-train a bad diet. All that said, NROL4W would be a good starting point - it has Cosgrove-designed programs, Forsythe-designed nutrition, and Schuler-penned text tie it all together.
 
That's kind of what I'm getting as well. Both of us are doing really well with eating and sleeping/rest - have that part dialed down. She actually has had a VERY healthy diet, but since she met me about 4 years ago, the "going out" craze happened. ;) I'm to blame!
I know what you mean though. Just our change in diet alone has contributed a large amount to energy levels, motivation, and weight. :) I'm really looking forward to NROL4W, and I decided I would pick up the original NROL for myself, since so many people on these forums love the advice provided.
As suggested by Danger Dave, I'm going to do Rippetoe's workout for probably about 6-8 weeks, take a week rest (that will be 14-16 weeks of steady training, in addition the last 7 1/2 weeks that I've been doing), and then start on the NROL program myself, about the same time she will start her NROL4W (she is committed to yoga for another 8 weeks, paid in advance).
Thanks for the input! :)
 
Hmm, when you get done checking those two out, you should let us know the differences. I odnt' think I know anyone who has gotten both books. I can't imagine that Schuler would say anything different in NROL4W as he's still be advocating the 6 big movements. It's probably dispelling various myths about women lifting weights and telling thme not to be afraid to go heavy (which they shouldn't).

anyway, let us kno, and good luck!

btw, I encourage you to start a journal in the journal section, and maybe join the competition we're having, it could be an excellent opportunity to keep yourself committed to the goal.
 
If she likes yoga, she should continue to do it, and add on the strength training. Both NROL and NROL4W are excellent books - I used NROL myself for about 6 months before I hired a personal trainer who uses similar methods. Just keep in mind the programs are different - NROL is built around a modular idea where the programs can be mixed and matched, and doing all 10 will get you about a year's worth of training. NROL4W is a six month staged program, where each stage builds on the previous one, so there's no mixing and matching allowed.

Still another book you might want to look at is Power Training by Robert Dos Remedios - unlike other exercise texts, he provides you with a template of what type of exercise to do and when, but you get to pick which of those exercises you want to do. For example, the workouts typically start out with explosive work, so you might choose plyometric push-ups or jump squats.

At any rate - sounds like you're off to a great start.
 
btw, you may want to actually get the book "Starting Strength" by Rippetoe. I don't have it myself (don't cheap to cough up 30 bucks), but I've heard it has quite a few pages on form of the main exercises, probably a worthy buy if you're also investing in NROL.
 
Good recommendations! :) I will pick up both of those reads here in the near future.

Danger Dave, if you look at Amazon.com, they should have used versions of the books for a pretty decent discount, usually. I found Starting Strength for $17.00.

NROL is built around a modular idea where the programs can be mixed and matched, and doing all 10 will get you about a year's worth of training. NROL4W is a six month staged program, where each stage builds on the previous one, so there's no mixing and matching allowed.
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I was wondering if the two would be more or less the same, and I'm glad that they're not. Appreciate the clarification. :)

btw, I encourage you to start a journal in the journal section, and maybe join the competition we're having, it could be an excellent opportunity to keep yourself committed to the goal.
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I'm with you 100%. I definitely want to start a journal, although I've never actually had one. I'm really bad about things like those... journal entries are tough. However, seeing as to how I gravitate to this site at least several times daily, I don't it will be too hard to follow through. :) I have also signed up for the competition as a draftee, and will be looking forward to the draft. :)
 
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