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Hi! My girlfriend and I want to get in shape, be healthier, all that jazz. I've been doing nerd fitness off and on for 2 years, started NF coaching (really enjoying it) and have a gym membership. She had lap band surgery a couple years ago, lost some weight, but still has a ways to go as do I. I am 6'5" she is 6'1". Yeah, its pretty awesome. I'd like to help her with her fitness-the exercise part- we are already working on our nutrition side. I know men and women are different (thanks for the talk, dad), so I'm curious as to what we should look into for her strength training, and how that might differ from mine.

EDIT: This thread, which started as you see below, has evolved into a discussion on self defense(especially for small women.) It's turned out to be an interesting discussion, so if self defense is an interest of yours, check it, yo. (It's a huge passion of mine!) Hello! Former lurker here, finally decided to post. Cool community. Basic info, I'm a 5'4", 100lb, 24 y/o female. I've been into fitness for years and I'm in fairly good shape for my current size. Certainly fit enough to run to save my life if necessary, fit enough for regular krav maga training(including ground fighting with men 2x my bodyweight,) etc. I *think* I have pretty functional fitness for a small woman. I'm at a point now where I'd really like to start building more strength and gain some bodyweight(especially to have a little more weight to throw around in training.) I'm currently a private investigator, and have the opportunity to get into some bail bonds investigations in the fall(not on my own, with a team), so I'd like to be as fit as possible for that. Also, on a more superficial note, I'm tired of *looking* like a skinny ass little girl, ha! I have good muscle definition, but I'm also kind of lean, so I'm sure that's a factor. I'd like to be stronger, look, and feel stronger, and have more functional strength for my training and future work. I'd also like to build my sprinting speed up a bit. I've been on paleo/primal for 2.5 years, so my diet is good, I feel good, and I have few health problems(low progesterone/mild hormone imbalance, some patellar pain/tracking probs that I manage, and that's it.) All of that said, I could really use some more direction on how to start building/gaining. Right now, I do bodyweight, 10/15lb kettle bells, sprints, some longer distance runs, and heavy bag striking. I can do 5 dead hang pull ups, 5 dead hang chin ups, I'm generally in the 75-80 total reps range on kb goblet squats, 15 pushups(not my best area), 2 min max plank. That's not all I do, but I definitely struggle with structure on workouts, and I KNOW I have to get that shit sorted out if I'm going to build. If I need access to free weights, I can figure that out. I haven't gone there, yet. I'd so appreciate any assistance anyone can offer, especially since I'm totally new and haven't really contributed at this point!! Thanks so much!

Hey Nerd Fitness Buddies! I've been lifting since January and have seen INSANE results. I'm stronger than ever and super proud of myself. Here's my issue. I want to ramp up my training. Currently I train my legs 3x week and upper body 3x week. I alternate days. On days I do legs I also do 20 minutes of HIIT running. On days I train my upper body I do runs between 3.5 and 7.5 miles. I'm not looking for muscle gains. My current goal is to shed body fat and improve strength. I still want to lose around 5% of body fat. I'm 5'4 and 135. Not really concerned with the scale, though, just body fat. Anyway, I was looking at some different fat loss plans on bodybuilding.com and noticed that many only train legs once a week. This advanced plan is what I'm looking at. http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/ashley-conrad-21-day-clutch-cut-day-1.html Do you think switching to one of these plans would yield better results? I'm nervous to essentially decrease the amount I'm training and was wondering if the plan trains different body areas once a week for the sake of time. Time isn't a big deal to me because I spend anywhere from an hour to a couple hours in the gym 6 days a week. I truly enjoy it. Also, the plans don't call for as much cardio as I do. Really I focus on cardio because heart disease runs in my family and I LOVE being able to run. It's a blessing. Anyway, thoughts? Thanks in advance!!

Hi there, thanks for dropping by! I'm Paradigm and this is my third challenge! In my last challenge I noticed that I had lost a lot of flexibility that I took for granted over the last year and all the travelling. So I really, really want to rectify this. I also want to keep losing weight and get wedding dress ready! My Main Quest: Well, I have the same goal but really two quests. I am training to go to Tough Mudder 2014 in Manchester, UK. I have a lot of friends counting on me now as we reserved our spot and our name for the team! Along with that, I am looking to get in amazing shape for my future wedding. It is a bit further off, in 2015. But I hope to achieve my weight loss goals before the end of 2013 anyways so the rest will be toning, working on muscle building and just improving. So... to clarify... My main quest is to be able to fit in to my jeans, my favourite jeans from when I was 18. The Holy Trinity (Three goals): 1) Work out 3-4 days a week ( +2 STR + 3 CON if recieve a grade B or higher) I always have a hard time working this into my day, I make excuses and or find it difficult. So I want to make this and the flexibility training the parts of my challenge I focus on. I want to get healthy and then everything else will fall into place! Grade A - Consistent across all six weeks, Grade B - Missing minor days due to mishaps. Grade C or lower - I'm slacking if I get this. 2) Increase Flexibility to Pre-Surgery Abilities (+1 CHA +1 WIS + 1 DEX if receive grade B or higher) I had back surgery last summer and I think that's where I started being less bendy. I want to get back to where I used to be. I was incredibly flexible. And I have been told by my rehab for my back that yoga is a necessity to keeping my back healthy. So yoga will be a very important part of this challenge, I must do it every day to achieve a grade of A. 3) Reduce my waist by another 2" (+4 STR +2 DEX + 2 STA + 1 WIS on grade B or higher) I had huge success in the last challenge, but I still have a long way to go. So I'm hoping to lose another 2" off my waist by the end of this challenge. I will be keeping track of all my stats, but this is my measurement point for the goal. My goal is a 30" hip as I feel comfortable with that. But that will take more than 6 weeks, so I think that will be for next time. Side Quest: My life related side quest is to get my bank balance 5k into the positive before the end of the 6 weeks. This was my side quest last challenge, and due to lifes little curve balls we didn't make it. BUT we got a lot of things life wise (and expense wise) done, as well as setting our selves up for making money. But now, this challenge I need to get this in to the 5k or more balance. My Motivation(same as last time): I already hinted at it... But I've had a rough time in life. Not all bad or anything but I have been through a lot, especially over the last few years. I now have a business, which is my dream. I'm working on a video game with some friends which is going to launch soon, another dream. I'm getting married to an man who makes my past seem like it was all worth it just so I found him. Now my motivation is to feel comfortable in my skin. I feel like I am not the person I want to be, despite all my changes because I don't feel comfortable with how I look. I have always had a hard time realizing that I am better than I think I am, because even when I was skinny as hell I thought I was fat. So it's why it's not necessarily a weight goal but a comfortable in my skin. I want to feel good about myself and I want to look absolutely f'in killer at my wedding! (I'll stop mentioning it soon it's still just very exciting to me lol) Reward: If I complete these goals, we are going to take a weekend away up in Whistler.