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Thread: Questions Regarding Female Lifters

  1. #1
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    Default Questions Regarding Female Lifters

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    I have recently begun training a female friend, and I realized how little I knew about the female side of training, to the extent there is one. I either have had or will have a number of questions that I am looking for help on from experienced females and coaches with female clients:

    1)What is the usual range for the lifts that you have seen females finish LP around?
    -I'm fully aware that LP is not about hitting a number goal, but I'd like to have some idea here.

    2)What size belt should I recommend to her? (See stats below)

    Question 3 is geared towards nutrition, but I figure some of you coaches likely have encountered this:

    3)How do I get her to increase her animal protein intake?
    -My issue here is that she gets sick of certain meats very quickly, and whey hurts her stomach. She also doesn't like the taste of any protein shakes.

    Stats:
    -5'4"
    -140 lbs
    -115/85/155 for 3x5 weights

    Thank you guys in advance.

  2. #2
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    Trainees vary wildly in how far they can push a linear progression, but this woman, assuming she is a young-ish adult, probably has a good deal more progress left in her. Don't be afraid to make 2.5 pound jumps on the big lifts and 0.5 and 1 pound jumps on the presses. Also, putting in a lighter squat day, when appropriate, coupled with moving to triples, also when appropriate, should keep the train on the tracks for a good long while. At 5'4", she would probably want a 3-inch belt. Alas, Dean Best is swamped. He was a go-to recommendation for these things. Diet is tricky. If she becomes serious about lifting, my guess is that getting bored with food will be less of an issue.

  3. #3
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    Hi Tom, just wanted to jump in here to say I am slightly shorter 5'2" and I got an excellent 3" belt made from General Leather Craft. I am extremely happy with it at this time. I would recommend this for other women as an option at this time- they will make any of their standard Power Lifting belts (10mm, 13mm) to 3 inches on request, or just go with the 6.5mm belt in 3" like I did.

  4. #4
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    If it helps at all, my gf got her squat up to around body weight 3x5 while losing fat, and we moved into 5x3 for a little bit to try to get some more out of LP. We could've done a reset and built back up, but to keep her motivated and interested, I changed her programming around. She wears my 3" deadlift belt from Best Belts, just closer to the last couple of holes, while I'm usually between 6-8.

    Animal protein tips--cottage cheese? greek yogurt (oikos triple zero FTW), quest bars, chipotle?

  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by tzanghi View Post
    3)How do I get her to increase her animal protein intake?
    -My issue here is that she gets sick of certain meats very quickly, and whey hurts her stomach. She also doesn't like the taste of any protein shakes.
    Have you tried whey protein isolate, vs. whey protein concentrate? Is the whey flavored or sweetened with anything? I know several women (including myself) who have difficulty with WPC, but not a high-quality unflavored WPI. Blending it with fruit (berries or pineapple is particularly good) and milk or cream (lactose-free, if necessary) makes a surprisingly tolerable beverage. The Rise honey almond protein bar also uses WPI, and is also surprisingly tolerable.

    Regarding your larger question of "how do I get her to eat more meat": Ultimately, you can't. Sorry. Unless you can lock her in the basement and threaten her with the hose. What you can do is get her to understand that progress from here on out is going to be very slow and frustrating if she doesn't; letting her fail lifts a few times may assist with this goal.

  6. #6
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    Whey bothers my digestion, too. But 100% whey protein isolate does not. It costs a little more but it's worth it.

    I have found that sets of 3 reps works to keep the progress going.

  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by gtl View Post
    If it helps at all, my gf got her squat up to around body weight 3x5 while losing fat, and we moved into 5x3 for a little bit to try to get some more out of LP. We could've done a reset and built back up, but to keep her motivated and interested, I changed her programming around. She wears my 3" deadlift belt from Best Belts, just closer to the last couple of holes, while I'm usually between 6-8.

    Animal protein tips--cottage cheese? greek yogurt (oikos triple zero FTW), quest bars, chipotle?
    My training partner is female, and I found that she can tolerate liquid egg whites for a low calorie/ low fat but high protein source.

  8. #8
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    Thank you, everyone, for the responses. We picked up two packs of greek yogurt(one of which didn't go down well) and are picking up some whey isolate later today. The liquid egg whites are tough because she will never like them cooked and probably not raw either.

    And, Tom, I am holding out hope on her not becoming bored...

  9. #9
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    Keep in mind here that your job is not to force feed someone. If your trainee likes to lift and wants to progress, she will make the decision to eat to support that training. Liquid egg whites sound really nasty. I recommend food, such as normal eggs. Food is tasty and fun. Greek yogurt sucks, too. Sorry. I even like eating plain yogurt and Greek yogurt tastes pretty bad me. There was a time I ate a lot of cottage cheese, but I burned out on that. Now, I try to avoid it. Burgers are the gifts that keep on giving.

  10. #10
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    Skyr is traditional Icelandic 'yogurt'. It has between 2 - 3 x the protein value of ordinary yogurt. As a result i get about 25g of protein per skyr.

    In the Europe the brand to look for is Arla. Not sure what the brand would be in USA, but somebody there makes it.

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