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Female Intermediate Strength Program
My girlfriend has taken an interest in strength training and has been working out with me for about 5-6 months now using Starting Strength. Her squat has gone from the bar to 145 x 5, deadlift from 65 to 145 x 5, press from 25 to 50 x 5, and bench press from 25 to 70 3 x 5.
Her progress on the squat and deadlift are slowing tremendously, while her bench press is still making slow but steady progress. The press has always been difficult for her and she's still struggling with that weight.
Being that she has followed the plan for about 6 months, and had two resets on the squat, I was thinking she may be reaching a point where she is ready for some new programming on the squat. However I think she may be able to juice Starting Strength for her bench and deadlift a bit longer. I'm not sure what is going on with the press, but the inability to micro-load has been a pain with the smallest weight being 2.5lbs at my gym.
I have previously used the Texas Method with good success for my programming, but I was wondering if you have had success with women using this template as well.
Do you have any recommendations or tips for this transition phase, or what program I should look at for her next?
Member
The Texas Method works fine for women. Muscle is muscle, mostly--the difference is primarily a matter of how much weight and how large the increments should be.Originally Posted by hwholland
Buy some fractional plates or appropriate substitutes so she can microload properly. Search on this site, and you'll come up with tons of ideas.
Bulgaria
There are several women on this board running Texas Method with 8 x 3 sets instead of 5 x 5. I will try to organize everyone and see if we can get some info compiled.
Also, follow Spar's directions and search for some microloading solutions.
What is your girlfriend's age and bodyweight?
Member
29 years old, 130lbs, 5'9. Thanks for the tips so far.
Member
If strength is her primary goal, and she doesn't have a number on the scale that she wants to stay under or issues about putting on too much muscle, then it's too early to assume her novice progression has been exhausted. At 5'9" and 29 yo, her lifts can probably get significantly bigger on novice LP. She needs to eat a lot more and see whether that gives her lifts a kick in the ass. I predict it will, and big time. Also, if she's eating low carb, she should loosen up the carb restriction, particularly post-workout. That should also make a big difference.
Last edited by Gunnhild Bruno; 10-13-2011 at 01:38 PM. Reason: typo
Member
I agree. 5'9" and 130 is a bodyweight that's good for many things, but lifting heavy is _not_ one of them. If she's willing to gain weight she'll continue to progress with linear programming.
Also, why is her deadlift only 145? With a 145 pound squat that is a very low deadlift.
Member
Agreed, for some reason deadlift is tricky for her. She's only able to add 1 rep per workout. My guess is she's not listening to me about food and scrimping when I'm not around. She says she's stuffed all the time, but I'm gonna have to call her out on that.
Last edited by hwholland; 10-13-2011 at 09:27 PM.
Bulgaria
Will she let you video her deadlift to post for form check? If she's squatting 145, then she should be able to manage a 145 deadlift without a problem even if she isn't eating enough. That's just not heavy in comparison to her squat.
Member
Was this a typo? She's should be adding weight each workout, not reps.
Member
Not a typo. She'll get stuck on the same weight for 1-2 sessions only adding a rep or two before finally about to complete the 5 reps and move to the next weight. I'll see if I can get a video of her deadlifting next week.
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