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Thread: Female Cutting Sets/Reps and Percentages

  1. #1
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    Jan 2021
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    Default Female Cutting Sets/Reps and Percentages

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    My wife (5 ft, 137 lbs, 42 years old) has finished about 3 months on a novice liner progression. There might be a few weeks we can drag this out, by introducing light days, but she doesn’t have interest in that since everything is heavy and she just wants to transition to her primary goal of cutting some body fat.

    She is doing 5x3 on the squat, press and bench and 2x3 on the deadlift.

    1. How many sets and reps should she do for each lift while cutting?

    2. What percentage of the intensity for her current 3s should she start at on this new set and rep scheme?

    3. Would it be best to do this new set and rep scheme on a heavy light medium program, or will she be able to try or run a linear progression, but at higher reps per set?


    On the 7th or 8th Weights and Plates podcast you had talked about this specifically for men, but sets and reps and percentages of 1RM to 5RM, 3x5, etc. are different for women, so I’m looking for help filling on those gaps.

  2. #2
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    The answer to much of this is that it depends but I will give a general illustration of how I approach this to start out. I generally don't go past 6 sets (for triples). If you are starting a new program after having her grind out triples on the LP, I would make the heavy day 10% less than what she finished her LP on because chances are she needs to reset after those grueling sets in the late LP. Heavy light medium is the logical breakdown and you can spread this across 3 days or 4 days. I would not run a linear progression at higher reps because the volume will wreck most people if you are trying to add several times per week. High rep work follows an intermediate split. That said, I only prescribe it to people with very reliable technique so I can't comment on whether it's appropriate for her or not. The sets, reps, and percentages are different for everyone. In general, women can train closer to max for multiple reps than men but that is not always true, which is why I say these things are different for everyone.

  3. #3
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    Quote Originally Posted by Robert Santana View Post
    The answer to much of this is that it depends but I will give a general illustration of how I approach this to start out. I generally don't go past 6 sets (for triples). If you are starting a new program after having her grind out triples on the LP, I would make the heavy day 10% less than what she finished her LP on because chances are she needs to reset after those grueling sets in the late LP. Heavy light medium is the logical breakdown and you can spread this across 3 days or 4 days. I would not run a linear progression at higher reps because the volume will wreck most people if you are trying to add several times per week. High rep work follows an intermediate split. That said, I only prescribe it to people with very reliable technique so I can't comment on whether it's appropriate for her or not. The sets, reps, and percentages are different for everyone. In general, women can train closer to max for multiple reps than men but that is not always true, which is why I say these things are different for everyone.
    I see. This makes sense. When I finished novice linear progression I made a cut on a heavy light medium program doing 5s and it worked quite well, since I’m a male. Listening to your 7th or 8th podcast on cutting though you talked about using higher reps though, like 8 to 12 reps per set, again probably aimed at males. Andy Baker suggested something very similar on his podcast. Both of you mentioned that higher reps on a cut is better because it will minimize the chance of getting injured. My wife does have excellent form on her squat and deadlift, probably because she has had more practice compared with the press and the bench. Her form is still good on those, but not quite as good as the squat and deadlift.

    Since 3s for females are more like 5s for males, would 5s for females be kind like 8 to 10 reps for males? If so would a heavy light medium template with 5s for females be a reasonable choice for higher reps, to minimize the chance of injury while cutting?

  4. #4
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    You'll just have to try it out because not every female responds to training the same way.

  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by Robert Santana View Post
    You'll just have to try it out because not every female responds to training the same way.
    Okay. Thanks!

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