Recommend me a workout for my girlfriend.

Apart from the obvious suggestions. 😀

After getting fed up with going to the gym for various reasons, I offered to help her with a workout.
What do you recommend? We go out walking together a lot but she doesn’t do cycling. So she needs some cardio.
Also.
I have been doing Stronglifts 5×5. Is there anything there that I could use in her workout? Or should I be looking elsewhere? Ta

my genuine advice would be don’t bother!

after trying to enthuse the OH with several ideas i have now suggested she do whatever she chuffing likes as all i get is an ear bending!

EDIT: or swimming 😉

I’m not sure thomthumb is in the best of moods!

My missus likes things based on what she enjoyed as a kid. Start there.

In ours- that works out at close to my worst nightmare – dancing! Then there’s swimming, and any derivative of tennis.

Arf arf.

Seriously though, what the bloody hell are you asking us for? You know, you can talk to women and ask them how they actually feel about things…

No wonder people have relationship troubles!

Well my missus used to like cross country racing at school so I know that I can get her to do plenty of hill walking.

What about other work outs?

Has anyone mentioned The Sex yet? Because if they haven’t, they probably will.

What about other work outs?

BMF classes? Pretty full-on workouts and always lots of wimminz at them.

Ok, i’ll open….

How about boxing? Bash her about the ring a bit.

mol grips: perhaps he thought there would be loads of wimmin here to give him a wide range of responses.

I used to enjoy aerobics and also swimming. I expect that these days there are all sorts of aerobixy classes of different sorts available… something organised by someone else is good cos it makes you do it. Of course, cycling or running to work is also like that – cos you have to do it to get home.

jules

BMF classes?

Big Massive F…..?

She hasn’t woke up yet so give us a clue. 🙂

British Military Fitness…honestly. 😀

Tend to be circuit classes in the outdoors – using parks (hopefully somewhere near you). They’re excellent for general fitness, strength, conditioning etc. There are three levels: blue, red, green according to how intense you want it to be. The blue class at my park is mostly wimminz and they seem to love it. The red class is about half wimminz and the green is reserved for awesome people. 😉

EDIT: actually, are you in chorlton, Manc?

Cheers DD. We’re in Rossendale.

I think I just need drag her up our hills whilst doing some mild weight workout. 🙂

Climbing.

Christ, another East Lancs reprobate. Hiya.

A good routine will include… ironing, washing up, hoovering, general cleaning and cooking. When she’s proficient get her moved onto more complex ‘work outs’ such as washing the car and mowing the lawn.

Zumba? Mrs Spider rates it.

BMF is great if you love running hill reps in the pouring rain 🙂

mrs peterfile has never set foot in a gym in her life, is remarkably fit and has the body of an 18 year old prom queen.

Mrs Peterfile goes for walks/climbs[/url]

The Great Outdoors…..sling a big rucksack on her back and march her up a big hill. She absolutely loves it. It’s intense exercise without feeling like it’s exercise, because the rewards are so much more than just fitness, and they are immediate (i.e. the experience of being in the hills etc).

Seriously, being out and about in the hills is cheap, fun, healthy, something you can enjoy together in relative privacy and is remarkably good for the soul 🙂

Mrs FD likes Aqua Running. It sounds gay, but to be fair is a reasonable workout.

I went a few times with Mrs FD when I was recovering from Pneumonia and it certainly helped me get basic fitness back.

My gf does about:
20% cycling
20% body conditioning (gym)
40% Body pump (gym)
20% Davina McCall workout DVD things

I don’t really know what the difference between body pump and body conditioning is but they both seem to be aerobics/toning/strength things.

She’s not averse to gyms but the virgin active in Didsbury seems to be ticking a lot of boxes for her.

Zumba has taken over my wife’s life. She loves it,

if not that, then my suggestion would likely involve back doors..

the womens only classes; or similar based on wherever you live seriously good. I do the generic classes and my fitness surpasses many plus its cheap

I’d always prefer clubs to classes, particularly ludicrously expensive thing like bmf – things like swimming club, triathlon club, running club, usually way cheaper and with a good club you should get just as good training.

bmf always seemed essentially gym prices, but for a pretty basic potter round the park workout with no overheads for them

Same situation here.

I’ve been trying for six months to get my wife to go to the gym or, at the very least, do more than just pootle out for a walk with the dogs. Ever since she broke her leg she’s been taking it easy and is now scared of doing just about anything in case she breaks it again.

She’s even talking about going skiing this winter, but the very next sentence was about whether her leg would be up to it. Well, if she never does any exercise it won’t ever be and that’s the way she’d heading.

Oh, and she won’t go to the gym with me either because she is “too tired from work” to do anything.

My mrs does sweet f a – my daughters seem to spend half their life at Zumba and spinning classes

Has anyone mentioned The Sex yet? Because if they haven’t, they probably will.

REVERSE COWGIRL…. 🙄

Zumba? Mrs Spider rates it.

Yeah my missus does it too. But here it’s only one hour a week (when she can go) and she despite it apparently being “really intense” she doesn’t appear to have broken a sweat when she comes back. 😕

Go for a tandem ride, with her sat in the front.

You can then scream words of encouragement, such as, “you’re not even human, look at those jelly rolls!!”

Seriously, being out and about in the hills is cheap, fun, healthy, something you can enjoy together in relative privacy and is remarkably good for the soul

This whole thread is typical of fit exercisey types. They simply can’t comprehend how anyone might not enjoy it all.

Some people just don’t want to do any of it. And if you try and make them it’s doomed to fail. The ONLY way you can get into an exercise habit is it if’s something you enjoy. Otherwise it’s just another chore.

All you can do for your partner is show as many things as you can in a positive light and listen very carefully. She might just not care, or she might secretly want to do it but feel intimidated by you and/or the rest of the sporting community.

Zumba? Mrs Spider rates it.

mrs donk has just embarked on this too.

anything I suggest gets shotdown

mrs peterfile is lovely – where do i get one of those?
and to answer the op – pointless despite the moaning of “im fat” and “i need to exercise” it will never happen…

The ONLY way you can get into an exercise habit is it if’s something you enjoy. Otherwise it’s just another chore.

I do not enjoy exercise. It’s painful and not fun in almost all cases. However, I do it because I need my body to be able to move quickly from time to time and potentially run/job/walk reasonable distances carrying heavy stuff for a length of time. It’s a lot easier for me to do stuff like that if I train beforehand, so I make a point of doing as much cardio and weight training as I can cram in.

True, some of the exercise is fun (cycling with the dogs out front, kayaking on the local river), but the gym is not. I go there specifically to try and knacker myself as much as possible in the hope that I will come back better next time. It sort of works too. The same thing with running.

Maybe I’m odd like that.

put the fridge at the end of an obstacle course and make it very hard to get into 😈

mrs peterfile is lovely – where do i get one of those?

+1, also “hubba hubba” 😉

You’re a lucky man Mr File.

(and I mean that with the upmost respect)

Otherwise it’s just another chore.

Yes get her to start with a spot of ironing for a warm up then she can make you a sandwich, then she can clean the pots. Maybe some vacuuming prepare tea pots again.

I’m sure there are more chores that she could do but start her off with the basics and eventually get her onto clearing the gutters, pointing etc.

This whole thread is typical of fit exercisey types. They simply can’t comprehend how anyone might not enjoy it all.

Nah, the point I was trying to make is that “exercise” doesn’t necessarily have to be something which requires effort.

I don’t know many people who enjoy spending 2 hours in a city gym, but I’ve yet to take someone on a mountain who didn’t enjoy it. It’s not the exercise they enjoy, it’s the activity. There are very few (if any) activities in a gym which could be described as enjoyable, it’s just a means to an end.

Unless you’re training for something, exercise can be pretty sedate and still have noticeable benefits. My mum HATES any sort of controlled exercise, and doesn’t like the idea of going for long walks (particularly up hills), but it’s still easy to get her to do woodland walks or anything that has a point to it other than simply expending energy.

I can fully understand that some people just don’t like the idea of fitness/exercise, but i’d suggest that’s because of misconception more than anything else (i.e. you have to do hard exercises, you need to be knackered to see any benefit, you’ll hurt for days, it’s boring etc). Once you get them out there, doing something interesting/fun, and keeping it easy, it’s surprising how many become hooked on the activity rather than the physical benefits associated with it.

Apparently (I don’t know about these things…) there’s a good excercise book for females out at the moment that’s proving quite popular.

“Fifty Grey Things to do with Shades on” or something. I think it’s about dynamic tension, involves a certain amount of restraint.

+1 for asking her what she’d like to do. I have friends who hate outdoorsy type exercise but like zumba and the like (zzzzzzz).

During winter, the bf and I run, road ride and climb together, plus i do weights at the gym on my own. Its different in summer as i’m training hard and have no time for anything other than cycling 😕

Climbing is a lot of fun and a good workout too when you get onto harder grades.

+1 Peterfile and DGOAB

Re cardio activities – personally I hate the gym, so spend most of my time road cycling, mountaineering, swimming and (occassionally 😳 ) mountain biking. I get real enjoyment out of pushing myself physically, but have noticed that others maybe don’t get the same ‘pleasure’ from having a mental mantra of ‘yes my legs hurts, but I’ll not get any better if I don’t try harder!’

Working on what your OH already enjoys, it sounds as through increasing cardio activity through walking would be the best option. It’s already something you enjoy doing together, and it can easily be made into a ‘workout’ by just increasing the pace. Walking at a speed which makes you feel breathless / light sweat, will be just as effective as cycling. Alternatively, things like oreinteering can balance physical activity (anything from a brisk walk to a full run) with the mental challenge and competitive aspects, plus the social scene.

wii boxing

chase her, everywhere.