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Graham's Girls

The Hamburgler

Spotter Loader
As I'm sure some of you are aware, I've got a mini gym in the garage and train a handle full of girls.
Figured I'd start this thread as a way of keeping everyone up to date with how they're going without having to go through the other garbage in my training thread :p

Due to time constraints I currently only have the 4 female clients:
Leah and Rachel, both single mums in their 30s whom are friends of my mum. Both have had a fair bit of gym experience and picked up all the basic movements quickly (if they didn't know them already) and train 3 times a week - Leah on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. Rachel on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.
Emma, interested in running, got sent back to me by my physio (after I told her to see him) with the instructions of giving her more ass muscles and core strength. She'd been having problems with her knee and is missing a ligament in both her right foot and knee. Not much gym experience and naturally pretty weak/unco. She's in her mid-20s and trains Mon/Fri
Then there's Ash who is 18, probably the naturally strongest of them all but also the least mobile and most injury prone. She's got f*cked ankles from basketball so it'll be ages (if ever) before she can do a full depth squat of any description, has stupidly tight hamstrings/glutes/back and tore the rotator cuff muscles in her left shoulder in a car crash 2ish months ago. She plays girls footy and normally leaves training early on Tuesdays and occasionally Thursdays to train.

Not going to go through the entire back catalogue of what they've done with me unless someone asks, but this is what's gone on this month:

Saturday 4/6
Rachel squatted 60kgx1 and 45kgx10, benched 25kg for 2x10, trap bar deadlifted 77kg for 5x5 then did some swings and KB RDLs
Ash came in the afternoon (didn't have football this week) for her first session and squatted 82kgx6 to my bench with the safety squat bar (her shoulders don't allow her to use a straight BB). Did BB floor press with 22.5kg for 8s, trap bar deadlifted 107kgx1, did some assisted chins, swings, single arm o/h press and KB RDLs.

Mon 6/6
Leah squatted 45kg for 2x20, did 30 incline push ups, KB RDL 2x20 w/32kg, o/h BB presses, DB rows and swings
Emma did box squats to parallel with 30kg for sets of 8, single arm o/h press with 7.5kg for 8s, RDL's with 40kg for 2x20, KB Cannonballs with 32kg and 28kg, Lying Russian Twists and timed KB swings

Tues 7/6
Leah and Rachel did KB circuits together
Ash did KB Swings with 20kg, more floor press with bb and kbs and some shoulder rehab exercises

Thurs 9/6
Leah did 19 reps in 2'00" doing 56kg UDLs then 30 reps off the floor. She BB benched 30kgx13 (she actually looks more comfortable benching with DBs/KBs than a BB) then did a couple of KB complexes and circuits, finishing off with some ab rollouts using the double wheel
Rachel hurt her knee playing dodgeball at work (she does after school care) so we just squatted to the bench (about 2" ROM for her lol). She did a set of 85kg for 5, then did some single arm o/h presses, BB Romanian deadlifts with 50kg and some benching (30kgx7, 35kgx2).
Ash did bench squats, single arm o/h pressing, hip thrusters/bridges, assisted chins and external rotation exercises for her shoulder

Fri 10/6
Emma did UDLs with 48kg, thrusters with 10kg and 8kg, bench press with just the bar, DB rows and KB swings with 16kg

Sat 11/6
Rachel trap bar deadlifted 97kgx3, 67kgx10, did Thrusters with 12kg and 10kg, KB swings with 24kg, DB bench and DB row

Mon 13/6
Leah did GVT 10x10 Thrusters with 4kg, Cannonballs with 24kg, DB bench with 12.5kg. She finished off doing 5x20 swings with 14kg and some ab rollouts
Emma did box squats with 32.5kg, single arm o/h press, 2x20 RDLs with 42.5kg, push ups on her knees, BB rows and held the prone bridge for 1'00"

Tues 14/6
Rachel was busy tonight so Leah came in by herself and paid the price lol. She did Markos' Kleenex and Swinging Sixties complex.
The Kleenex is 8kg Thrusters x10, 12kg Cannonballs x10, 32kg Deadlift x10, 12kg Swings x10 done 3 times, and Swinging Sixties is 8kg Thrusters x20, 12kg Cannonballs x20, 12kg Swings x20 done 6 times.
Ash hurt her fingers at footy and couldn't hold anything so she did hip thrusters against a band, some zercher squats and about 20 minutes of PNF stretching.

Wed 15/6
No tafe tonight so Emma did an extra session
Did 56kg UDLs for sets of 6,6 and 12, KB thrusters with 10kg, bench press, DB row and swings with 20kg

Thur 16/6
Leah did the Kleenex circuit in 7'15", Box squatted 50kgx7- she has a habit of her right knee collapsing in as she squats, even BW, so we did a few sets with 30kg really focussing on pushing the knees out. She attempted 10x10 doing 10kg DB o/h presses and missed a few sets, but completed 10x10 doing 40kg KB deads

Mon 20/6
Leah trap bar deadlifted 107kgx1, 67kgx8 then did some self assisted Nordic H'string curls, back extensions, KB swings, Lying Twists and Ab rollouts
Emma did box squats with 35kg, single arm o/h pressing, RDLs with 45kg, push ups, BB row and side bridges for 1'00" ea side

Tues 21/6
Leah and Rachel did a 'bench and arms' session lol.
They did BB bench with 25kgx3rx8s using varying grips, and every rep paused, KB bench with 12kg for a warm up set of 15 then a max set of 26 reps. DB rows, triceps extensions, BB curls, rear delt work before doing 10x10 Cannonballs with 28kg.
Ash came in after and did swings with 20kg, BB close grip bench with the bar, slightly modified Bulgarian split squats, trap bar shrugs ss w/band pull aparts and finally some KB deadlifts with 56kg. Normally she complains any deadlifting gives her a sore back but said the KB was fine, so we tried a sumo stance with the BB (just 40kg) and even though she said it felt funny it didn't hurt her back like conventional.
 
You are such a ladies man Graham....lol...will be keeping an eye on your girls and their progress....
 
what kind of results are they getting?

are they impressed with what they have achieved so far (or just with you :p )
 
Yeah only girls atm lol. Couple of guys I used to play footy with are going to stop by tonight. They're sick of having to catch push presses/cleans and getting told off for dropping deadlifts. Plus they have never used Olympic bars with revolving collars before

haha well Rachel had gone from 110kg+ to about 84kg when she came to me, I think she's done to around 81ish atm. She started on 24/2. Leah started a few weeks before her, and I reckon once a month I get a 'complaint' that she's dropped a clothes size.
Emma no longer has any knee pain and says she feels heaps better overall.
Ash has only been training a couple of weeks, but her back especially has loosened up heaps because I message her every morning telling her to stretch it lol
 
Amongst other goings on Leah and Rachel tandem deadlifted 200kg last night.
Looked funny cos Rach pulls conv and leah semi-sumo.

Will post a full update when I have their training journals handy lol
 
Sorry!

Rachel has had to, and will have to miss the next couple of sessions due to work.

Another brief update, should be able to make a more complete one over the w/end:
Leah push pressed 41kg on Monday then tonight did 3x5 parallel bar dips on her first go doing them
 
Ash came in after and did swings with 20kg, BB close grip bench with the bar, slightly modified Bulgarian split squats, trap bar shrugs ss w/band pull aparts and finally some KB deadlifts with 56kg. Normally she complains any deadlifting gives her a sore back but said the KB was fine, so we tried a sumo stance with the BB (just 40kg) and even though she said it felt funny it didn't hurt her back like conventional.

What do you do for her ankle mobility? Is she tight in the calves when stretching or does she just feel like she gets stuck?
 
More complete update:

Emma
27/6 - UDLs, thrusters, Bench press, DB row and swings
4/7 - box squats, single arm o/h press, RDLs, push ups on her knees, BORs
8/7 - BB squats w/30kg (struggled to break parallel every rep, she complains it feels weird without the box lol), single arm o/h press, RDLs w/50kg, Bench Press and BORs w/30kg

Leah
23/6 - 10x10 6kg thrusters, 56kg KB Deads, 27.5kg BB Bench
27/6 - few sets of 80kg BB Deadlifts playing around with stances, goblet squats, back extensions, kb swings and ab rollouts
28/6 - bench press up to 42.5kgx2, then reverse bands w/yellow bands to 50kgx5, DB floor press, DB rows and band pull aparts
4/7 - squats, push pressed 41kg, kb swings, DB row and DB bench w/15kg DBs
5/7 - BB Deadlift, o/h press, swings, thrusters, push ups and band pull aparts
7/7 - parallel bar dips 3x5, hyperextensions, KB circuit, DB rows, mixed circuit and a KB complex

Rachel
23/6 - had a sore back so just did some pressing and arm work
28/6 - Bench press to 35kgx5, then reverse yellow band to 50kgx1, DB floor press, DB rows and band pull aparts (plus the 200kg tandem deadlift w/Leah)

Ash
28/6 - box squats w/56kg, single arm o/h press, hip thrusters against the red band, assisted chins and some rotator cuff exercises
1/7 - BB Deadlift 3x5@70kg, alternation o/h KB press, back extensions, KB rows, KB Bench press and rotator cuff exercises
5/7 - had a sore/stiff back from the deadlifts and sore shoulders from boxing at footy training so struggled a bit tonight. KB swings with 24kg then 14kg, assisted pull ups, split squats and some shoulder exercises
8/7 - SSB box squats w/60kg, KB Floor Press, hip thrusters, trap bar shrugs and band pull aparts
 
Dave, it is a combination of both. She has had previous issues with her ankles from basketball

11/7/2011

Leah
BB deadlifts with 80kg for 3rx2s and 60kgx5reps, 10x10 goblet squats w/12kg KB, Hyperextensions holding the 4kg KB for sets of 10, KB swings and Farmer's walks over 20m with all my KB pairs (4kg through to 16kg and back)

Emma
Deadlifted 85kgx1 ugly (her dodgy knee is always going to be a limiting factor on her absolute strength I feel), worked up to 10kgx6rx3s on KB thrusters, same deal on swings 24kgx10rx3s, managed 26 reps on floor press with 10kg KBs, did single arm DB rows then Farmer's Walks the same as Leah

12/7/2011

Leah
Back extensions w/BW to loosen up, 2 sets of 6 and a set of 5 on dips, High Pulls w/32kg, DB bench w/15kg, Single arm row w/16kg KB, alternating o/h press w/10kg and band pull aparts

14/7/2011

Leah
3sx6s dips, pull ups assisted by red band for sets of 8 then circuits consisting of battle rope, medicine ball slams, swings, thrusters and high pulls

15/7/2011

Emma
Deadlifted 60kg 5x5, Thrusters 3sx7r w/10kg, Swings 24kgx12rx3s, KB bench w/10kg for 10rx2s, single arm row w/16kg KB and band pull aparts

18/7/2011

Leah
push press up to 35kgx1 in a pyramid, box squatted 75kgx3 to above parallel, thrusters up to 14kgx10 in a pyramid, kb floor press drop setted from 14kgx19

Emma
Deadlifted up to 80kg but missed 90, did thrusters up to 10kgx10rx3s w/band around her knees, bb row 32.5kg, hip thrusters against the red+yellow band, kb floor press drop setted from 14kgx20 and kb swings for 2x1'00"

19/7/2011

Leah
Did KB circuits consisting of high pulls and swings w/24kg, 20kg, 16kg, 12kg and thrusters with 10kg, 8kg, 6kg, 4kg

21/7/2011

Leah
Total of 66 reps using Pavel's ladder (1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,8,1,2,3,4,5,5), box squat 70kgx5, bb squat 20kgx50, db row from push up position w/12.5kg, hip thrusters against red+yellow band (she likes these because she can feel her bum working lol), upright rows ss w/high pulls for 10 reps ea w/24,20,16 and 12kg, o/h press ss w/thrusters for 10 reps ea w/8,6,4kg and swings with 20,16,12 kg for 15 reps each
 
Emma meandered back in tonight for a session.

She's been going to a commercial gym and the trainer there put her on 5/3/1 for some reason (she can barely o/h press an empty bar).

I thought her progress would have slowed a little but if anything she has gone backwards strength wise :confused:

Anyway tonight we did
Back squats - 20kgx20, 30kgx20x2 she still has difficulty getting depth, when i first started training her i thought it was just a posterior chain strength issue but now i feel it could be hip mobility related as well
Front squats - 30kgx3x2 still struggling to hit depth and because she leans forwards so far it strains her wrists too much
Zercher squats - 30kgx5 YES finally hit depth lol
Bench press - 20kgx20, then with 30kg we did 5 reps to chest then 5 reps to each of a 1 board to a 5 board without re-racking (so 30 total reps). don't think he tri's liked this lol
BB Rack pull - off 10 mats (just below the knee) 40kgx3, 50kgx3, 60kgx3, 70kgx3, 80kgx3, 90kgx1 then 70kgx15 touch n go
Single arm o/h press - 5kgx5, 8kgx5, 10kgx5, 12kgx0
Seated DB press - 8kgx10
GHR - had a go and struggled lol
Band lat pulldown - orange bands x20x2
Seated band row - yellow x20
 
Looks like Emma will come once a week, and I will control her programming at her normal gym so hopefully she doesn't go backwards this time lol

Tonight she did

BB PARTIAL PULL (off 16 mats)
40kgx3
50kgx3
60kgx3
70kgx3
80kgx3
90kgx3
100kgx3x3
finally got her to a triple figure lift, planning on taking out 2 mats her week so fingers crossed in 8 weeks time she can pull 100kgx3x3 from the floor. 16 mats had the bar starting at the very bottom of her knee cap, if not slightly on it

BB OVERHEAD PRESS
10kgx10
15kgx10
20kgx10
25kgx0
20kgx9
15kgx10

BB ZERCHER SQUAT
20kgx10
25kgx10
30kgx10

BB GOOD MORNINGS
10kgx15
15kgx10
20kgx10
25kgx10

BAND LAT PULLDOWN
red powerbands x12x3

SEATED BAND ROW
orange powerband x12x3
 
If you saw the way I trained them you realise that they do most of the work, I just tell them what to do. Emma needs a bit of motivation (which would explain how she went backwards by herself) but she isn't too bad. She turns up though which is better than some.
"Where have you been the last month?"
"Oh umm I've just been busy"
Talk to their friend and turns out they complain it's too hard *shakes head*

Anyway
Emma -

Goblet Squats
10kgx10
Zercher Squats
20kgx5
25kgx5
27.5kgx5
30kgx5
32.5kgx5
35kgx5

Triceps Bar O/H Press
13kgx10
15.5kgx10
18kgx9
20.5kgx3
23kgx2
18kgx10

BB Romanian Deadlift
40kgx8
50kgx8
60kgx8
70kgx8

Seated Band Row
red x 12 x 5
ss Band Lat Pulldown
orange x 15 x 5
 
Emma again tonight

Goblet Squats
10kgx10
Zercher Squats
20kgx5
27.5kgx5
30kgx5
32.5kgx5
35kgx5
37.5kg

DB/KB Overhead Press
4kgx10
6kgx10
8kgx10
10kgx3
8kgx10
6kgx10

BB Romanian Deadlift
42.5kgx8
52.5kgx8
62.5kgx8
72.5kgx8

Seated Band Row
Blue x 6 x 3
ss Band Lat Pulldown
orange x 20 x 3

Prone Bridge
BW x 30" x 5

She has poor ab strength (amongst other things) so we'll focus a bit more on that
 
Emma paid the price for not doing anything for 7 days

Goblet Squats
8kg x 8

Hip Thrusters
bw x 8

Partial BB Pulls
off 22.4cm of mats
40kg x 3
60kg x 3
80kg x 3
100kg x 0,1,1,2,0
seriously wtf!?!?!??!

BB Overhead Press
15kg x 10
17.5kg x 10
20kg x 10
22.5kg x 4
25kg x 3
least she did better on overheads tonight lol

BB Good Morning
20kg x 10
22.5kg x 10
25kg x 10
27.5kg x 10
30kg x 10

Band Pulldown
Red x 10 x 3
ss Band Row
Blue x 8 x 3

Prone Bridge
5kg x 30" x 3
 
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