Girl Friends Routine

[Gaz Man]

Hi all.

My Girlfriends trying to loose about a stone and a half and tone up a bit, and has asked me to help advise her. Could you guys please take a look and share any thoughts for improvement you may have. Routine and diet as follows:

Cardio:
30 mins of HIIT jogging/running (at a 2:1 ratio) five times a week
45 mins cycling approx 3 times a week

Weight Training:
Deadlifts, squats, overhead press, and crunches 2/3 times a week. The weight routine is hi rep but low sets and low weight.

Diet:
This can be a bit changeable, but generally she has porridge for breakfast, soup for lunch, and fresh fish/chicken and salad/vegetable meals in the evening. occasional evening meals can be spag bol, shepherds pie, sometimes a curry but that's about as bad as it gets.
She's trying to avoid sugary and starchy carbs as much as possible, and instead eat carbs like cous cous, sweet potato, and whole wheat bread, rice, and pasta.

Thanks for reading this. Any advice anyone can offer would be greatly appreciated, particularly if anyone knows any good links to do with female training.
I was also wondering about switching to a low carb diet so if anyone has any good advice or links on that it would be great too.

Thanks again

[Was_once_fat_dave]

other than the cardio being whey whey OTT the rest looks good, perhaps try to get some flat or incline pressing and rowing in there too.

[CoN]

^ agreed with dave far too much cardio

i'm actually surprised she can do so much with little food in her

what does a weeks training look like? i.e what time does she weight train, hiit and fit in bike cardio?

[Gaz Man]

Thanks for your thoughts guys, and thanks for the links Lionhair, I've been struggling to get her to understand the need for weights so that article's great.

Thanks for the tip Dave I will add some press and rows in the weight routine.

CoN the training schedule can differ from week to week but should look something like this.

Sunday
11:00 Running 30 mins, followed by weight training

Monday
17:30 30 mins running 30 mins of cycling

Tuesday
Rest day

Wednesday
17:30 30 mins Running

Thursday
10:30 30-40 mins cycling followed by weight training

Friday
17:30 30 mins running

Saturday
11:00 30 mins running followed by 40 mins of cycling

Point taken on the cardio, I can see that it's a bit high, although I should have pointed out a couple of things:

1 The running/jogging is a goal, and at the moment she still has some walking intervals mixed in when they're needed.

2 The cycling is far less intense than the running. It's something we do together for fun and to help cool down after her runs, the pace is fairly slow (although it is a bit hilly where we live).

3 When she exercises in the evening she will eat a banana about 45 mins prior to that. Likewise when she exercises in the morning it's about an hour and a half after eating porridge, so although her diet is a bit light there is always a pre workout meal in there.

I was trying to work in daily HIIT sessions to bump start her metabolism, do you lot think that's best or should I lighten it. I can also lose the cycling for now if you think that could be overloading her.

I think that maybe a sandwich or pasta would be better for lunch, I expect just soup is a bit too light for her. Any other suggestions for improving the diet would be great.

Thanks again for your responses, all suggestions gratefully received.

[CoN]

I guess there isnt much you can do with regards to amount of cardio if she is enjoying doing it daily.

IMO

i would suggest HIIT after he weight sessions, and try do cardio after he breakfast to make sure all are fueled.

Main point to take home is, are the results happening?

[allan5790]

How intense are the HIIT sessions?

How long does she do her all out sprinting intervals for?

I would make sure the HIIT is intense enough and do them 2/3 times a week. I would do the cycling the morning after the HIIT after breakfast as an active recovery so keep it at an easy pace.

[Martin Brown]

Why is she using "low weight"?????????????

[suj]

Quote

Why is she using "low weight"?????????????

i think like most women, their misconception is that if you do bigger weights you will look like a bloke, hard to change their minds! lol

[griff]

i dont think she could be doing any better for the average girl lol

encourage her to keep that up - im going to show my gf this as she slacks about in the gym sometimes (*sorry babe)

[Martin Brown]

Quote

i dont think she could be doing any better for the average girl lol

encourage her to keep that up - im going to show my gf this as she slacks about in the gym sometimes (*sorry babe)

Good point - keeping at it is the key to success.

But you asked for advice - see if she can up the weight on the key exercises - sq, DL, OH press etc. It will be beneficial to her figure over time.