Training Women for Fat Loss

"I don't want to get big and bulky".  <----- That statement is usually the first thing I hear from a woman that wants to lose fat but is afraid of weight training.  Even guys come up to me at the gym and ask me how I train women differently than men.  I'll be honest with you... my philosophy is just not that different.  Train with intensity, and yes, that means HEAVY.  Also, don't do stupid stuff.

This includes stupid stuff

However, most guys tend to have a "chest day", which of course, I'm not going to have a mom of 2 kids do a billion chest exercises.  Then again, NONE of my male clients won't do that either. As most of you know, I don't do "body-part" days.

What are a couple of differences you may ask?  Well, for one, I typically have my female clients do more reverse lunges than forward lunges (since most women want to firm up their butts... this hits the glutes a little harder and less on the quads).  And if they are dead-set in thinking they will bulk up, I ease their psychology by implementing more bodyweight moves (push-ups, inverted rows, etc., etc.).   It makes them feel all gooey and fuzzy inside.  I had one client last week say, "Mike... when you have me do Spiderman Push-ups, I feel like it was me that was supposed to be in the Royal Wedding.  I feel that beautiful.  Can we do another set?".

Mikey <----- this guy just lied.




So ladies?  If you want to avoid bulking up, then don't do this:

• Work out 6 days a week with each day devoted to one single body part... why ANYONE wants to spend 2 hours on their calves is beyond me
• Eat like the old Mikey (humongous surplus of calories)

 And if you find yourself one of the few women who claim they can bulk up quite easily, then reduce the volume of your program, but still weight train.  So if your program calls for 3 sets of squats, then stick with just 1 set.

Another trick is to substitute bodyweight moves.  For example, instead of pulldowns, you can do bodyweight inverted rows.

Trust me, you won't bulk up.  I just had a grandmother do chest presses with 30 lb dumbbells this week and she's not bulky.  Last summer, I had a female client blow me away by doing walking lunges with 40 lb dumbbells and it was nothing to her.  By the way, I miss her.  She worked so hard and got freakishly strong and then she got pregnant (because of her husband, not because of the lunges).  And about 2 months ago, I had a client really pleased with her deadlift PR.  She's got that lean, athletic look.  I have a friend on facebook that is doing weighted pull-ups for crying out loud.  She has muscles, but she's not "bulky".  She actually looks awesome.  She has quite a journey.

Oh yeah..., Cynthia, one of the trainers at my gym, can do more pull-ups in her sleep than most guys can after 300 mg of caffeine.  And she is RIPPED.

(Insert plug here) ----------> Oh cool that's what this space is for.

After over a year in the making, I have a 12-week program for both males and females that won't "bulk" you up.  You can check it out by clicking here ------->  New Reflection Training Package

To your transformation success,
Mikey