A Friend Has Asked Me About Strength Training

[strengthstarter]

A friend of mine (Female, 28 YO) has asked me about adding strength training into a program. She wants to start to get in shape for her wedding. She's skinny, and in the military, which because of the PFT means she wants to do 20-30mins LSD on the treadmill, which leaves about 20 minutes for strength training to work out in the time frame she's allotted for herself. She wants to go three times per week.

She originally was thinking some kind of circuit strength training but I got her interested in barbell training. I was thinking a reasonable program might be Squats Monday, Press/Bench Wednesday, Deadlift/PC Friday. Linear progression.

I'm not going to be able to convince her to spend more than an hour in the gym. I'm also not going to be able to convince her to eschew her treadmill time. (I might be able to get her to try a metcon instead though)

So, given these parameters-- 20 minutes 3x/week-- does what I am proposing seem reasonable to get someone started?

[Baker]

imo yes, most bang for your buck with the time restriction.

[nisora33]

Just fuck her and get it over with. Problem solved.

-S.

[Dastardly]

Just fuck her and get it over with. Problem solved.

-S.

+1

If this were a guy you would tell him to lift the goddamn weights or piss off.

Make her understand that the treadmill is achieving precisely nothing bseides burning precious calories. Which can be done more effectively with a barbell anyway.

Precisely 20 minutes of treadmill and precisely 20 minutes or "strength" training is going to be very difficult to work with. Would she consider doing strength days & cardio days separately?

40minutes of cardio one day (ideally not on a treadmill) and 40 minutes of strength on another day sounds like it would work better.

Or just mix up the cardio-fitness-weightloss thing with strength, like barbell complexes, kettlebells, ross enamait stuff. I am not sure how the progression with stuff like that works though.

[gzt]

+1

If this were a guy you would tell him to lift the goddamn weights or piss off.

Make her understand that the treadmill is achieving precisely nothing bseides burning precious calories. Which can be done more effectively with a barbell anyway.
Understand that she is probably graded on her 3 mile run time. Some amount of time on the track or treadmill is probably necessary. She is also not being graded on maximal weight lifted or calories burned. As for effectiveness at burning calories, that's a complicated assertion that depends on a lot of things, not the sort of uncontroversial assertion that can just be tossed off, especially by a tosser with a 100kg squat. There's probably room for improvement in her program based on her goals, sure. But she'll need to keep up her aerobic base a little bit because she's graded on her 3 mile run.

[PVC]

If this were a guy you would tell him to lift the goddamn weights or piss off.

If I had wheels, I'd be a wagon. So the fuck what.

[jameson]

Just my opinion, which ain't worth much, but I don't think a barbell-focused strength program is in order given her time constraints. Perhaps sprints though. As a past runner, sprints brought up my speed and created more muscle throughout my body. I wasn't aware of metcon, etc, but sprints will help her keep her 3 mile time down and build muslce. Just ensure she's eating correctly. Then again, try the metcon. I can only provide advice on what I know works for both her goals.

EDIT: As she sprints more, her time will go down and she'll be less worried about her 3 mile time. Then she can involve more strength training perhaps...

[Mr.City]

I find the OP's name very appropriate for this thread.

[matclone]

I was thinking a reasonable program might be Squats Monday, Press/Bench Wednesday, Deadlift/PC Friday. Linear progression.
...
So, given these parameters-- 20 minutes 3x/week-- does what I am proposing seem reasonable to get someone started?

I think your proposed program sounds reasonable given the trainee and her stated goals (wants to add strength training)--although I would suggest making sure she can do the basic lifts before starting her on power clean. Also, I might suggest starting her with either the bench OR the press (it doesn't matter which), since she would be doing these only once a week.

[gzt]

Q: does anybody outside of @Fit use the "word" "metcon"? Every time somebody uses it, I feel my genitals wither a little.

[matclone]

After reading people use the term "metcon" about a thousand times, with no definition, I found out that it is short for "metabolic conditioning".

[gzt]

A quick googling reveals it is only used by @Fit, @Fitters, and @Fit knockoffs. And it's the name for some sort of industrial company. So I will go back to pretending I have no clue what anybody is talking about when they use the "word".

[jameson]

It took me a while to figure out what they were talking about, too. It seems to be lingua franca now so whatever... This whole speak of WOD gets to me even more.

[gzt]

Lingua franca... for @Fitters. Proclaim ignorance. Stop using it. Life will be easier that way. Read your Mel Siff. Cleanse your soul.

[strengthstarter]

For those that gave constructive feedback, thank you. Keep it coming, if you have it.

[nisora33]

For those that gave constructive feedback, thank you. Keep it coming, if you have it.

Dude, I'm joking with you.

-S.

[strengthstarter]

Dude, I'm joking with you.

-S.

Yeah, I know. But watch out, because it looks like "+1" Dastardly might want to ROFLOPTER your balls.

[nisora33]

Yeah, I know. But watch out, because it looks like "+1" Dastardly might want to ROFLOPTER your balls.

Woah, I feel dirty...

[JAM]

Q: does anybody outside of @Fit use the "word" "metcon"? Every time somebody uses it, I feel my genitals wither a little.

I guess I could refer to it as "GPP Conditioning" in my logs......nah, I'll keep using the term "metcon" till gzt's genitals impload. ;)

[Dastardly]

Understand that she is probably graded on her 3 mile run time. Some amount of time on the track or treadmill is probably necessary. She is also not being graded on maximal weight lifted or calories burned. As for effectiveness at burning calories, that's a complicated assertion that depends on a lot of things, not the sort of uncontroversial assertion that can just be tossed off, especially by a tosser with a 100kg squat. There's probably room for improvement in her program based on her goals, sure. But she'll need to keep up her aerobic base a little bit because she's graded on her 3 mile run.

Ha ha, I did sound a bit of a tosser. And my squat isnt even at 100kg yet to boot.

But the whole idea of some treadmill, and a bit of strength, without dedicating any actual time to it just sounded silly. Everyone here is so quick to rip the piss out of anybody not 110% focused on strength and eating. I am not being so harsh, I just think the woman needs to evaluate goals and plan an effective way to achieve them. Not do a half-arsed mix with a little bit of this, and a little bit of that. With not enough time to focus on the necessary intensity/duration to cause adaptation for anything.

You are right that maintaining a good 3 mile run time is important. But in general, a little time on a treadmill isnt really the best way to maintain or improve it.

As someone has already suggested here. Sprints are good, series's of them. Just like we do sets with our strength training. This provides an opportunity to push oneself to improve/cause adaptation with intensity.

You of course cannot sprint on a treadmill. Full length endurance focused runs are good too, but take more time and are generally no fun and innefficient to do on a treadmill too.

Maybe I am just being a snob here, but actual running is best done outdoors. It is more practical and more enjoyable there. Weather should not be an issue here, the woman is in the military! Just check this picture of my friend on one of his runs: http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd194/gnargoyle/christmasa.jpg
Weather is an important training factor which should not be left out.

[DaveN]

Your friend is in the military, so I am guessing she already has daily PT where she gets her runs done. If that is the case, then she doesn't need treadmill time. She needs to do work to improve her strength (esp. leg strength) in support of her training goals (better run time, and depending on the service, better push-ups, sit-ups, pull-ups, etc.). For someone training for the Army or Marines PT tests, I would recommend something that works towards those goals directly.

squats, presses (standing or bench, your call), chin-ups/pull-ups, deadlifts for strength

Sprints and other GPP work to improve her overall conditioning and recovery times.

The hard part will be balancing this stuff with any existing PT work. Overtraining is ridiculously easy to do if you layer weightlifting on top of intense PT. I had that problem pretty much the whole time I was on active duty. If she is already doing PT daily, then adding just one or two lifts a couple of days a week, and a day of sprints or other GPP might work.

Then again, if she is in teh Navy, I don't think they do daily PT (except for the spec ops types), so you may have more flexibility with the programming.