Program for a female

L

luckyfrog

New Member
Hey gents,

I am an aussie lady who has recently started in the area of figure bodybuilding. I have been training hard since January and have just finished my first lot of comps where I placed a nice 2nd, 3rd and 2nd. Not bad for a 35 year old and mother of two!!!
I am now preparing myself for the next comp in April and I am wanting to get some hypertrophy going. I have read through the HST program and would like to give it a try and am hoping you can give me your advice.

I naturally need to have symmetry... so getting my exercises right for all body parts is very important.
I wrote up a program and did my max RM's.
I did my first workout today and it felt weird not lifting heavy and I thought the whole process was time wasting as I didn't push even a sweat and felt very little burn. But, hopefully, that will change.

So.. here is my program. (I work in Kg's, not pounds)

Barbell Squat/45 deg leg press
Standing calf raises
Straight leg deadlift
Barbell incline bench press
Machine Assisted chins - Overhand Wide grip
Machine Assisted chins - Reverse Narrow grip
DB shoulder press
DB lateral raises/Standing barbell upright row
Dips

What do you think? With the leg press/squats and lat raises... i'll alternate.


Because of my busy schedule, I'm doing my workouts on
Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. Hope that's ok.

So... just to make sure I understand i've got the first six weeks organised: I do.......

2 weeks of 15 reps, 1 set each exercise
2 weeks of 10 reps, 2 sets each exercise
2 weeks of 5 reps, 3 sets each exercise.

I increase the weight (roughly 2.5 kg's) each workout over the 2 week period in each phase to eventually reach the max weight by the end of each phase.

Eg: Shoulder press - 15's, 2 week phase - my max is 15kg

Week one
Mon Day 1: 2.5kg
Tues Day 2: 5kg
Thurs Day 3: 7.5kg

Week two
Mon Day 4: 10kg
Tues Day 5: 12.5kg
Thur Day 6: 15kg

So on day 6, i'll push out 15 reps on 15kg's??
And this will apply then to the 10's and 5's.

If I have understood all this wrong, please can someone clarify it for me.

I'm doing a 5 minute brisk walk before i start and a warm up set of each exercise also and I will do cardio 3 times a weeek.

Ok, I think that's it. let me get through the first 6 weeks, and then i'll look at what to do after that.

If you can give me any more advice, i'd really appreciate it.

Thanks for your time
 
firstly if you are doing this and its to light
Week one
Mon Day 1: 2.5kg
Tues Day 2: 5kg
Thurs Day 3: 7.5kg

Week two
Mon Day 4: 10kg
Tues Day 5: 12.5kg
Thur Day 6: 15kg

do this instead
mon 10k
tues 10k
thu 12.5k
mon 12.5k
tues 15k
thu 15k
secondly you have 2 verticals pulls
Machine Assisted chins - Overhand Wide grip
Machine Assisted chins - Reverse Narrow grip
drop one and replace it with a horizontal pull
bent-over-row,low-pulley-row,etc

congratulations on yuor placingsBTW
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just noticed drop these
DB lateral raises/Standing barbell upright row
your shoulder press and incline-bench will work front delts,do rear laterals inplace of these.
also upright-rows are not very good for shoulders you are more likely to have shoulder problems with these
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Glad you said that, I don't enjoy those much anyway!!Lol.
Otherwise, that all sounds good.

I forgot one thing... bicep curls/ez bar... do them??
 
Reverse narrow-grip chins work the foremarm flexors very well. You probably won't need curls. And the reason your workout was so easy is because you didn't use the right loads! As Faz pointed out, you should begin with at least 50% or more of your max and increase from there. For 15kg shoulder press (as your 15 rm) Start with 10kg, then increase after two workouts, etc. as Faz said.

If you can squat 100 KG for your rep max, then for example I would recommend-

Day 1- 75 kg
Day 2- 80 kg
Day 3- 85 kg
Day 4- 90 kg
Day 5- 95 kg
Day 6- 100 kg

in this example the lightest weigth is 75% of your rep max. In your example of shoulder press you started with about 17% of your rep max! That definitely is wrong, and will not work!

Good luck, fitness babe and congrats on your results in competition!
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Thankfully, you can iron out the weight issues during the 15s. These are mainly prep work for the heavier stuff anyway. However, you want to get it right for 10s and 5s. Start each rep range with a weight that is around 75% of your max as Sci suggested. That way you can add 5% each w/o and hit your RM right on schedule. If getting the loads right is not possible don't worry if you have to repeat loads a few times (as Faz explained above). This is often the case with dumbell exercises. It is generally easier to get the load increments with bb exercises and most folks tend to be able to use more load too which helps the progression.

Personally, I would shift calf raises to a point after the rest of your legs have been worked. They are essential for good balance which you will need during heavy SLDLs.
 
Hey great to see another fellow Aussie!

Post up your results from your comps, and pics too (not those sort of pics you dirty pervs
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)

Since symmetry is important, you might find that dumbbell exercises for things like bench press, shoulder press etc. are better, barbell exes tend to favour the right side (if your right hand dominent). You can do single leg leg-press too if you find your right leg is dominating. Do measurements and see if there is any noticable difference in size for your left and right sides.

I'd do the chins narrow supinated grip (for the lats and bis), and do bent over row (or lying row on a bench) wide pronated grip so you work the middle back between the shoulder blades, important for good posture and upper back mass (which will help you win comps).
 
Thanks guys for all your fantastic advice. I really appreciate your help with this.
I did my second workout today on 15's and it was better. Probably still not up there with the weight, so now i've read all your advice, I will get that going on Saturday.
And i'll change a few of those exercises too. So thanks

Pics... I'll try and attach one..
 
I definately need more size in my shoulders, back/lats, tri's and legs.
I will admit, that i'm feeling a little lost with this program, in that, i'm not doing my usual weight training and its all strange. I'm so used to pushing to failure and keepiing reps low as well as only doing 2 body parts per gym session.

I just hope this new progam will be effective and work for my body. Considering my comp is in April, I guess i've got a bit of time to assess it all. But, I don't want to waste my time either. I need to start growing now!!
 
training a bodypart 3x a wk is more anobolic so you will definatly have more chance to grow..ie protein synthises lasts for 48hrs so if you train every 48hrs more chance of gaining muscle.
you will probably be doing the same amount of work you did before its just that it is split into 3 sessions.
as far as gaining size how long before a comp do you start your diet 12wks 16wks
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if its a long diet you will really have to start eating BIG from now untill at least christmas if you want to gain some size ..if your on a comp diet you wont gain much if anything.
and if you have already placed in comps you must be near to the size expected
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<div>
(luckyfrog @ Oct. 26 2006,04:12)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">I definately need more size in my shoulders, back/lats, tri's and legs.  
I will admit, that i'm feeling a little lost with this program, in that, i'm not doing my usual weight training and its all strange.  I'm so used to pushing to failure and keepiing reps low as well as only doing 2 body parts per gym session.

I just hope this new progam will be effective and work for my body.  Considering my comp is in April, I guess i've got a bit of time to assess it all. But, I don't want to waste my time either. I need to start growing now!!</div>
I think you look great.  The only area that stuck out for me was your thighs are small.  Your upper body looks very good though.  Squats, straight-leg deadlifts and leg presses done HST style for a few cycles will help your thighs tremendously, (as well as the rest of you!)

Try to learn as much as you can about HST, it will help you in your workouts, and this will translate into great gains.  The 15s are probably strange for most newbies, as the loads are very light.  Once it is over and you start the 10s you will start to feel more strain in your muscles with should translate into more growth.  Just try to remember to start at roughly 75% of your rm and progress from there.  It is much more improtant to start with the right loads than it is to progress the load every workout.  For example if you can only curl a small amount like most people and your rep max. is only 20 kg, it is ok to start at 15 kg and use it for two or three workut in a row.  then you can go up to 17.5, etc.  I know this advice is redundant, but it is the most common mistake newbies make on HST is to miscalculate the load progression and they start with loads that are way too light as you did.  Keep it up, you WILL make gains!
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edit- (you probably already know this, but as Faz said, remember to eat enough when you are trying to grow, no amount of lifting will make you grow if the calories aren't there.)
 
Just to add my 2¢ Luckyfrog: I feel a little extra mass all over would be great but a BIG 'Well done' for getting in your current shape.

What kind of shape were you in before you started training? (ie. Have you lost a lot of excess weight or have you mainly been trying to gain?) I only ask because gaining muscle mass does involve adding a bit of fat, even if you do it slowly and carefully. That can make it hard to do if you want to try to stay in close-to-contest shape. I don't mean to imply that you should throw caution to the wind and just shovel in the calories but you may have to accept that you will lose some definition in order to add the mass you desire.

There are loads of knowledgeable folks here who can help you with this plus there are lots of previous threads about this very subject which are only a search away.
 
You guys are great... thank you so much for your advice.. I'm learning a lot from you.

In January, I started out on 63 kilo's. At comp time in October, I weighed in at 52.5kg. I have totally lost the plot since finishing my last comp and have been eating waaay over and above what I should be and lots of naughty things too!! I've got to get discipline back together and get back on track now otherwise I'll be gaining too much fat.

Where I was on 850cals a day pre comp, my new diet consists of 1500cals per day. 160g protein, 120g carbs, 45g fats. So that's what I should be consuming so as to have the energy in the gym and gain size. I hope!!
On the weekends, I'll pretty much have what I like.

As for restarting the precomp diet, I will begin that on the 2nd January!! And drop back to the 850cals...

So.. with the HST program between now and Christmas and my 1500cals a day, I hope to get some decent size.

Yes, my lower body does need more.. so i'll work hard on the squats, deadlifts and leg press.
I'll also be doing cardio (spin classes) 3 days a week.

This first lot of 15's is a real learning curve. With your advice, I like that I can now work with the same weight for 3/4 sessions and increase to max rep at the end. That makes sense. I should definatley get it right by the time i start the 10's.
I have noticed though, that doing the 15's really does start to strain and wear you out. I'm not used to doing such high reps.... its absoultely exhausting!! lol. I'll be stuffed by the time I get to my max set!!!

I will continue to read all these threads for HST and i'm learning so much from them. So thank you guys for contributing and giving your input to all areas in the forum.
 
I don't have anything to add except to say you look absolutely gorgeous in your pictures. Thanks for posting them.

P.S. WOW
 
I just saw this thread. I think you are doing great. I see that having the weights wrong has already been well covered and I guess you have corrected that.

Stick with your program and you'll make simply amazing improvements. Not that you need much improvement. I just noticed one thing from what you posted. No ab work? How did you get them to look like that without it? Just your compounds hitting them?
 
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