Question for the ladies or anyone expierenced

[Huge_C2]

So someone who i train is starting to learn that she loves the sport. She has seen the way my training partner and i lift heavy weights and make big gains and she has decided that she wants to make an attempt at a figure comp. Im good at what i do as far as designing workouts and such but i am by no means ready to do something like this. What im looking for is some advice to get started with her.. What kinds of lifting do you do? Cardio? Diet? She is
5'2 120 in VERY good shape, use to run marathons, has visable abs and all. I would say around 13-14% bf. I would really would like to make this happen for her and i know that women go about it differently than men so i wanna gather as much info as possible!! Thanks guys...

 

[tkav1980]

Huge id see if big A can move this to the female forum. every time ive had a question reguarding female training it got answered much faster there. the girls of pro muscle are awesome and always ready to help.

 

[phoenix13]

In my opinion, the main differences in men and women regarding training, diet and cardio are:

- women cannot recover as well as men due to hormonal differences, therefore volume should be appropriate to facilitate recovery. Intensity is inversely proportional to volume (if she doesn't push herself HARD, increase volume to compensate for lack of overall stimulation).

If she is too muscular training the way you do, I'd just have her increase reps and pull back on the weight a bit. If she is making adequate progress and it's inline with the look she needs to achieve, there is no need for her to train a different way.


- women don't need as much food as men and more often than not have slower metabolisms due to differences in endogenous hormones and LBM so overall calories will be lower. As far as macronutrient ratios are concerned, you will have to find out what works best for your friend/client. As with men, some ladies can handle more carbs than others. For me, low carb/fat and high protein with 1-2 cheats per week does the trick well.


- I don't see much difference regarding cardio. Use the same approach as you would with a guy... increase as necessary to get desired results. If she's too muscular, she may have to use high volume cardio to eat away at some muscle or impair her recovery so she does not develop anymore.

I hope this is helpful.

 

[Huge_C2]

Very insightful.. Thank you!! She is not really use to eating much at all so the whole eating thing is hard for her and it really upsets her a great deal. Even though its pretty small amounts. Also we found out she is alergic to whey, is there a good substitute besides soy?

 

[Sassy]

I was very skinny when I first started lifting weights. I was just the opposite of Phoenix. I didn't put muscle on very easy not until I started training heavy. At that time I started working out with guys and trained just like they did keeping the weight heavy and my reps in the 6 to 8 range. Once again, if she adds too much muscle, she can always back off on the weight and do higher rep range.

She must make sure she gets plenty of protein and adjust her carbs and fat ratios to keep her bf low. Her cardo will depend on how lean she wants to stay.

 

[Huge_C2]

This girl is doing amazing, im so proud of her!!! I swear she gets bigger and more defined everyday!!! All i can say is if she sticks with it she might be giving some ladies fits Thanks again for all the kind words and advice, we both appreciate it!!!

 

[Ehren]

Very insightful.. Thank you!! She is not really use to eating much at all so the whole eating thing is hard for her and it really upsets her a great deal. Even though its pretty small amounts. Also we found out she is alergic to whey, is there a good substitute besides soy?

Just curious: How did you realize that she was allergic to Whey? Was she bloating, or was it something else? I've got a suspicion that a female friend/athlete may have a similar problem...

Great insights for training women in this thread. Thanks!

 

[Huge_C2]

Just curious: How did you realize that she was allergic to Whey? Was she bloating, or was it something else? I've got a suspicion that a female friend/athlete may have a similar problem...

Great insights for training women in this thread. Thanks!

ll she is lactose intollerant for the most part. She can eat small bits of cheese like on pizza and such but if she was to eat more she just violently throws up!! But most people that are lactose intollerant can tollerate whey..She used whey for a couple days and she was ok, just a small stomach ache and she thought that she may get use to it. However the small stomach aches turned into very bad ones and she knew the feeling that she was having..So..... She has been using soy.. Hates it and is looking for one that doesnt taste awful..

 

[phoenix13]

Sound like y'all are on the right path.

Protein powder alternatives to whey are egg, gemma (pea), beef isolate, hemp.

Personally, I'm a fan of the gemma protein powder. It's cheap, has a good amino acid profile, and has an interesting taste/texture. I order it in bulk with a custom blend to get a variety of aminos.