Where is stultus when you need him

if she is looking to lose weight, cardio is good but the stationary bike is a bit sedentary (or, well, stationary). look up HIIT (high intensity interval training) - this training method really cuts your workouts down in time, too. really, you can lose weight by simply dieting. once you figure out your BMR and then your maintenance calories (the amount of calories you need to maintain your weight), you simply decrease that number anywhere from 100-500 and you lose weight. consume less calories than your body uses, lose weight - easy, right? i use the MyFitnessPal app (free) to log all of my food. at first it seems weird, but then you get used to it.

check out this thread on how to calculate your BMR - http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=121703981

i've personally used the Mifflin-St Jeor formula for both my bulking and cutting cycles with good results.

and yeah, 3 sets of 12 reps sounds good for her. but have her do about 9 sets per muscle group with light weight.

edit: rippetoes, eh? you fking sick of milk yet??

Lifting weights is actually a good way to lose weight surprisingly for a couple of reasons. Lifting weights increase your heart rate and by strengthening your muscles you become more efficient at burning calories even when doing cardio. Something like that... I don't really remember all the technical mumbo jumbo I read but incorporating weights into your workout on top of cardio will help.

You don't even need to use heavy weights to start. I think using your own body weight is good for beginners (pushups, situps, pullups, squats, etc).

edit: what jerryjiggler said too, I forgot that diet is important.

I had a roommate do GOMAD and I couldn't understand how he downed that much milk every day. He put on about 15 lbs and looked great though, so it definitely works.

Starting Strength or Stronglifts are the way to go for any first timer. You could maybe sub some dumbbell exercises in there if she wants to feel girly about it. You can't really get a good sub for a deadlift with dumbbells but the rest of the exercises can all be subbed pretty well. Once you've got a good foundation (I started at .75/1.25/2x bodyweight on my big 3) you could try madcow or perhaps 20 rep squats. I don't have experience with madcow but 20 rep squats kicked my ass. When I decided to stop I was squatting 515 though. It definitely works.

As for cardio, there's definitely a place for it. I was strong but I was destroyed after 20 minutes of basketball until I started biking daily. There's nothing wrong with improving cardiovascular health, and it's still a method of weight loss. It's just not as efficient as lifting. If your GF doesn't want to get into lifting (I've met plenty of women who don't) then at least convince her to set some real goals with her biking/running. She shouldn't be sitting there reading a magazine and pedalling at a leisurely pace. Get her to do some bodyweight exercises too while at the gym. Bodyweight squats, pushups, situps, and pullups are all valuable, especially when you don't have much of a base of fitness in the first place.

Simplest way would just be to treadmill and a good diet. Her problem is shes using the bike.

run run run run run run run run run it's fun.

What shlaner said.

Doing some lifting or calisthenics before cardio will shed the fat fast. Body weight is usually enough, esp if your a girl and just tryna get toned. I'd suggest something like this:

3x20 pushups
3x30 abs (crunches, bicycles, planks, w/e ab you like to do)
2x12 legs (lunges or squats)

Depending on what kind of shape shes in now, you can work up to it or build on it if you want. Some lifting beforehand will help, but keep in mind that to access the fat storage you have to keep at the cardio for atleast 15-20 minutes. Also, ending the workout with some high intensity stuff like sprints or maybe some more lifting will keep the metabolism higher for longer afterwards so you'll keep burning even after you stop working out.

edit: and yeah running is way better than the bike

I reccomend her getting on a normal training program (I believe you can find one for free on bodybuilding.com just pick one she thinks she might enjoy). Things like squats/deads/bench are things that she should still do. I wouldn't worry about her getting to "buff" if you are, because it's going to take ALOT of time and dedication to get to that point if you're natural espically as a woman. Its really hard for a woman to get REALLY muscular unless she decides to take testosterone or some form of steroids. Something to keep in mind is a big part of your results is going to come from your diet. Nutrition is key in losing/gaining weight and can greatly hurt or help your results. If you're serious about losing weight and want the fastest possible result i'd reccomend looking into nutrion and learning a little more about dieting, its done wonders for me. Consistancy is key, you can have one of the worst training programs, but as long as you're staying consistant with your training and your diet you are bound to see some results.

don't really know too much but this is what I do
lift weights free body, not using machines, because this adds more resistance to training= burning more calories. Standing while you lift for arms can make a big difference for burning more calories
for tone body, do high reps, relatively low mass, like you should do 15-20 reps each set.
I've been told bikes are the best warm ups so stick to that I guess.
also if your GF wants nice legs do squats, I didn't think they were that beneficial until I did them almost every other day

she should be losing weight with the SS alone. Tell her to get off the sweets. Doesn't matter how hard you work out if your diet is bad.

Also you should probably try SL and not SS.

attach weights to her arms then have her play scout v scout mge with a 40 inch 360.
:>

swimming

I see where this is going...

losing/gaining weight is all about calories. lifting, running, etc raise the amount of calories you need to consume. You can use a calculator like this to estimate how many calories you need each day and then eat 200-500 less than that to lose weight.
http://www.thecalculatorsite.com/health/bmr-calculator.php

swimming and treadmills,also definitely the diet plays a large part in any serious workout plan

Push ups, sit ups and suicide runs.

Go running together. I am sure she would love that. And do some exercises/warmups that involve 2 people. :)

Don't forget about intermittent fasting, that works as well (for bulking or cutting).

http://simplesciencefitness.com/

This site is really helpful, there's a section for exercise, diet, and everything in between, give it a read.

Also, women don't get all buff and weird when they work out with weights, but they get pretty toned.

EDIT: Losing weight/getting fit is 80% diet 20% exercise.

diet is everything. If she wants to lose weight, she needs to diet properly. Working out is gonna help sculpt her, and she will feel better, but she isn't gonna lose weight without the diet part.

Unless she is in poor health, lose the easy beginner mentality. Light weights and trying to tone isn't going to do anything remarkable. As some people have pointed out, she should be doing squats and lifts also.

Bottom line: Eat less, lift heavy weights, and do more intense cardio. That goes for anyone trying to lose body fat. Most important thing is consistency.

Those two basically contradict each other. If you plan on doing heavier weights you need to be consuming more calories and proteins to help repair muscles after the fact. As some others have said dieting and intense interval training (or cardio for long durations) is usually viewed as the most effective way to lose weight. Heavy lifting is great for burning calories but the issue is it forces you to also consume much more before/after the fact.

That's assuming you want to put on muscle mass. You have to consume less calories than you burn, is what I mean. I lost more than 50 lbs - that's what worked for me. :)

there is no reason your gf cant do starting strength with you. just start with no weights on the barbell and work up.

http://i.imgur.com/gBNyoMf.jpg

Exactly.

Diet is more important than exercise for losing weight. Unless you take it very seriously (30 mins of high intensity a day or 50 of moderate and up) or are very overweight, you will most likely maintain weight through exercise, though your fat % will drop. And cardio > lifting for losing weight.

The first 20-30 minutes of exercise are by far the most important if you are doing only cardio or only lifting (http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/05/04/the-surprising-shortcut-to-better-health/, http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/04/23/ask-well-double-the-workout-double-the-benefits/ ). You can do both and some research suggests this is more efficient in a long workout (http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/05/02/mixing-weight-training-and-aerobics/).

HIIT is the most efficient form of exercise for cardio but it can be unpleasant. Some find it easier as part of a class. For lifting, there's practically no good research (so go w/ whatever plan you find) but as beginning lifters you can both become much stronger with comparably little effort.

What TLR said, find out your calorie maintenance, and then eat 200-500 below maintenance.

As for workouts, I would recommend doing body-weight workouts 3x a week, and doing cardio 3x a week. Doing cardio twice a week, walking for 30 minutes, and one HIIT session a week for 20 minutes.

Women generally require significantly less calories than their male counterparts.

If you're both eating the same food and amount of food it probably means she's going above her BMR(google this) while you are either at or below it.

#20 is a very useful link I suggest you check out.