TL;DR Version of article :-
– Calories in vs calories out diet
– Train for strength with weights and for fitness with cardio
– Work hard and consistently.
– Enjoy what you’re doing and don’t become obsessive find exercise you really like and do that.
– Example programmes at the end.
If you’re a woman who wishes to change the way you look through diet and exercise your in for a bad time, I can tell you now the vast majority of what you have been told is bullshit. We all have the same physiology fundamentally so if you’re a female or a male your training should really look identical when it comes to your core philosophies. What I am going to go through in this article is to the best of my knowledge 100% factually correct I am not going to tell you anything special or new but what I am going to do is tell you in a no fluff manner what you need to do to achieve the body change you desire.
A crash broadstroke course in human physiology.
- Fat is lost globally as part of a reaction to an energy deficit created in your body via increased energy expenditure or decreased energy intake. You can’t spot reduce fat and there is no such thing as good foods or bad foods people are trying to sell you ideas and chat shit. The things the government have been telling you are for the most part factually accurate as best as we know with the current research this is of course will probably change as the science progress but this change isn’t going to be led by glamour magazine if you catch my drift.
- Muscles and fatty tissues can do three things – get bigger, stay the same or get smaller – there is no magical property known as muscle tone if you want to get rid of the bingo wings you’re gonna have to do some strength training or some bodybuilding for your triceps to make them bigger and diet to lose some body fat.
- Cardiovascular training is like weight training for your heart and lungs it make’s them stronger and more efficient. You should train to get fitter and healthier and forget about burning calories through exercise because you can’t out train a bad diet.
If your a 60 kg female you would have to run 27.3 miles to burn off a large pizza from dominos (a marathon and then some) so you can either run for hours on end every day or just eat a bit less… choice really is yours.
The fitness industry isn’t really here to help.
- The fitness industry is a business like any other they are selling you a lifestyle and products with the sole aim of making money they really don’t care for your wellbeing outside of maybe increasing customer satisfaction.
- Supplementation on the whole is a crock of shit if these compounds where effective they would be controlled as drugs.
- You can become a “qualified” personal trainer in a matter of days or weeks. For the vast majority of cases the people in this industry aren’t qualified professionals they are a slightly skilled workforce with a high school education.
- If you want to change your body shape you’re gonna need to induce adaptation, you’re going to sweat, it’s gonna hurt and at the start you’re probably not going to like it.
Why crossfit has been such a smash hit with women and men a like?
- Crossfit preaches hard training! Your heart rate is gonna go through the roof at least 4-5x a week so you will become fitter through a stress/adaptation response. In a general sense it is a very good general fitness programme certainly much better than what is the mainstream at the minute.
- You lift weights using big compound movements! If you want to “tone” your legs and thighs doing squatting and olympic lifting is one of the most efficient ways to achieve these goals (because it builds muscle mass in the lowerbody :O )
- They teach a low carbohydrate diet through “paleo”. It’s not the smartest way to eat but it works! (via calorie restriction but don’t tell anyone I said that)
- Bottom line is It gets results. Crossfit gets a lot of hate in the strength training community but if you want to get fitter and look better you can do a damn sight worse then taking up crossfit.
What do I need to do then to change my body shape the way I want it?
- Start a calorie controlled diet and eat 300-500 kcal under maintenance every day with a cheat day once every 14 to 16 days. Eat 3 main meals with 2-3 snacks throughout the day (see below for a calorie calculator).
- Drink non calorie containing beverages (water, black coffee, green tea, diet cokes etc)
- Start a total body strength training programme 3x a week (see below for a sample programme). Taking up weightlifting, crossfit or powerlifting is really a good place to start you don’t have to compete but it’s a fun and community based way to get the change from your body you’re looking for.
- Train for fitness 2-3x a week using programmes based on achieving goals and reaching targets. Jogging, cycling, rowing machines, circuit based training like crossfit are all great places to start (see below for a sample fitness programme). Taking up an active sport or hobby you enjoy is a great way of getting into this (pole fitness, exercise classes, gymnastics, badminton you name it you can do it!).
- Don’t obsess on your weight or on anything in particular just get into a routine do the above systematically or habitually and I guarantee you will be blown away by the results you can obtain in 3-4 months.
Calorie counter.
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Three day total body strength routine (for girls or guys if you fancy it).
nb – click on an exercise name for a video tutorial 😀
Weekly structure
Monday – Session one
Tuesday – Off
Wednesday – Session two
Thursday – Off
Friday – Session three
Saturday – Off
Sunday – Off
Day One
Overhead Squat – 3 sets of 10 reps
Back Squat – 5 sets of 5 reps
Walking Lunge – 3 sets of 10 reps
Press Up – 5 sets of as many reps as possible
Body Row – 5 sets of as many reps as possible
Plank – 3 sets of 45 seconds
Day Two
Overhead Walking Lunge – 3 sets of 10 reps
Front Squat – 5 sets of 5 reps
Stiff legged deadlift – 3 sets of 10 reps
Barbell shoulder press – 5 sets of 5
Pull up progression – 5 sets of as many reps as possible
Rev Hyper – 3 sets of as many reps as possible
Day Three
Overhead Squat – 3 sets of 10 reps
Deadlift – 5 sets of 5 reps
Step Up – 3 sets of 10 reps
Press Up – 5 sets of as many reps as possible
Body Row – 5 sets of as many reps as possible
Plank – 3 sets of 45 seconds
Beginner Fitness programme for a treadmill.
Weekly structureMonday – Session one or off
Tuesday – Session one or off
Wednesday – Off
Thursday – Session two or off
Friday – Session two or off
Saturday – Off
Sunday – Off
Base line Testing use a route you know to be 1600 meters (a mile) or on a treadmill and run it as fast as you can – record the time
Weeks 1 to 3
Session one – 5 sets of 4 minutes @ 9 to 15 km/ph (increase speed as the distances get easier) – 2 minutes rest between intervals
Session two – 4 sets of 8 @ 10 incline / 9 to 18 km/ph – 30 seconds on 30 seconds off – 2 minutes rest between intervals.Weeks 4 to 5 –
Session one – 5 sets of 6 minutes @ 9 to 15 km/ph (increase speed as the distances get easier) – 2 minutes rest between intervals
Session two – 5 sets of 8 @ 10 incline / 9 to 18 km/ph – 30 seconds on 30 seconds off – 2 minutes rest between intervals.
Retest – Run the same route again and see how much you have improved by!
Important note – you must be able to complete the session at the same speed if you’re not able to complete the workload at that speed then reduce the speed and complete all of the volume at that intensity. Once that speed is easy then you can increase the pace for the next workout!
I sincerely hope this article challenges and changes the mindset of a lot of females since it can bring a lot of happiness to people if they knew how easy it was to drastically change your body, feel more confident and healthier through using a bit of common sense and hard to work.
Marc
