Hey Christian,
Im trying to put together a workout plan for my sister and was wondering what you thought. I was considering using hypertrophy because it has worked for me. Of course i would lower the required weight per rep. Her stats are around 5’5 135 lbs. She trains with cardio and some light lifting. Any information would be great. Thanks
Not trying to answer for CT, but i think he could give you a better answer if u give a little more info on ur sister, like her goals, training age, and whats available to you…
Sorry about that, Stats- 5’5, 135lbs, Bf ??, as for goals…tone her body, increase strength and energy without building too much muscle. I’ve read the T-vixens roundtable and understand that women can not get “big” like men.
Heres an article that CT wrote about how women should train.
I designed a program for my sister, with
Day 1-pick two upper body exercises(A push move and pull move)-build up to 5RM
Energy system work-Card game with 1)Star Jumps 2)Hip Thrusts 3)Boot Strappers
Day 2-High rep DB move(perform 5 reps, rest 15 sec, repeat until 50-100 reps are reached) and an oly move(power, hang, off blocks below or above knees)
Day 3-Pick two lower body moves(a deadlift variation and a)RDL b)Jump RDL c)S.L. RDL d)Hack Squat
Energy System Work-Card game with 1)Push-Ups 2)Dips 3)Mountain Climbers
She likes the workouts and has had success with them loosing a good amount of fat and gaining muscle, strength, and speed. The diet and her genetics had a large factor(by genetics I mean her bodies high response to high intensity work and her athleticism, at 5’7" 155lbs she beat my schools varsity 55m indoor girl runner)
I indeed wrote a good article on ho women should train (the link was posted in this thread). The important thing is that your sister understands that even if she trains hard, she won’t achieve the same degree of muscularity as that of a man. Print my article and give it to her!
I also found recently that women respond well to accentuated eccentric training (lowering the load in 5-6 seconds, lifting fast) I suspect that it’s because females tend to be less neurologically efficient then men. Eccentric training has an important neural component which helps them improve very fast. And progress IS motivation!
Furthermore, accentuating the eccentric portions means that she can use slightly less weights while stimulating as much muscle growth and strength increase.
Thanks guys, all your information has really helped. I’ll keep you posted with what she decides and results.