Weight Loss Thread

Let the soreness sustain you.

I usually go S, M, W, Th and then do HIIT stuff on the off days for cardio. The groups usually consist of Chest/Triceps, Legs, Back/Biceps, and Shoulders/Calves/Abs.

It really just boils down to your time constraints and doing what works best for you.

Blazin_sl said:

Have a weightlifting question for the more experienced out there. I've always been taught to lift under a 3 day routine, say M,W,F, I recently met with a trainer who has put me on a cycle of Chest/Back, Legs/Arms, Shoulders/Abs and still wants me not lifting 2 days a week. So I've been doing M-F but with the three separate routines in a five day week I feel like I'm going too long in between cycles, especially on the weekends. I'm only 2 weeks into this and I'm just curious if anybody has any experience with getting results with this kind of time frame.

I'm debating switching it to either doing all muscle groups in same day and just doing three days, or maybe doing three muscle groups in a day. I'm not knew to fitness, or at least cardio, but lifting is rather knew to me so any help is appreciated.

If it helps I'm 5'9" Weight 160-165lbs My body fat % is probably around 15-18% I'm looking to tone up and get that down to 10-12%

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Depends on your experience with lifting. The less experience you have, the higher frequency you can get away with since you can recover faster.

I would generally recommend a full body, push/pull/legs, or 5x5 routine for a beginning lifter. Intermediate would likely be a P/P/L or 4 day split. After that, you should be able to figure out your own routine.

Most trainers suck. I'm a little dubious on your split, since shoulders are a small enough muscle group that it doesn't need an entire day (abs don't count). Chest and back seems like overkill, since your back is fucking gigantic and either it or your chest is going to get short changed depending on the order. And legs should always have their own day since they're by far the largest muscles you'll work.

It's possible your routine is passable (would have to see a breakdown of exercises/reps/sets), but more than likely it's crap. Still, if it's passable, that doesn't mean it's ideal. There are much better, proven routines, that you could be doing.

If you really want help, either post here or the weight lifting thread (if you want to help others), or PM me ((if you want to be a selfish dick) and I can give you a hand.

Elurin_sl said:

Depends on your experience with lifting. The less experience you have, the higher frequency you can get away with since you can recover faster.

I would generally recommend a full body, push/pull/legs, or 5x5 routine for a beginning lifter. Intermediate would likely be a P/P/L or 4 day split. After that, you should be able to figure out your own routine.

Most trainers suck. I'm a little dubious on your split, since shoulders are a small enough muscle group that it doesn't need an entire day (abs don't count). Chest and back seems like overkill, since your back is fucking gigantic and either it or your chest is going to get short changed depending on the order. And legs should always have their own day since they're by far the largest muscles you'll work.

It's possible your routine is passable (would have to see a breakdown of exercises/reps/sets), but more than likely it's crap. Still, if it's passable, that doesn't mean it's ideal. There are much better, proven routines, that you could be doing.

If you really want help, either post here or the weight lifting thread (if you want to help others), or PM me ((if you want to be a selfish dick) and I can give you a hand.

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As usual I agree with Elurin, at a glance your routine looks like crap and guessing from your height/weight (without knowing your lifting numbers) it looks like you are still a Novice. In general I am not a big fan of body part splits and prefer to program by compound movements.

For someone like you there are a good number of decent routines out there. My favorite for someone in your position is Starting Strength because the book that describes the program is ridiculously detailed to the point where you can learn how to lift from it. Good beginner programs include:
* Starting Strength (personal favorite)
* Stronglifts 5x5
* Bill Starr's Beginner 5x5
* Madcow 5x5

Google them and pick one you like. Like I said I lean towards SS because I think it is VERY time efficient, but different strokes for different folks and all.

Also, your Bodyfat% is like 95% diet/genes so if you want to lose your belly you have to eat better and/or be born with different genes.

Blazin_sl said:

Have a weightlifting question for the more experienced out there. I've always been taught to lift under a 3 day routine, say M,W,F, I recently met with a trainer who has put me on a cycle of Chest/Back, Legs/Arms, Shoulders/Abs and still wants me not lifting 2 days a week. So I've been doing M-F but with the three separate routines in a five day week I feel like I'm going too long in between cycles, especially on the weekends. I'm only 2 weeks into this and I'm just curious if anybody has any experience with getting results with this kind of time frame.

I'm debating switching it to either doing all muscle groups in same day and just doing three days, or maybe doing three muscle groups in a day. I'm not knew to fitness, or at least cardio, but lifting is rather knew to me so any help is appreciated.

If it helps I'm 5'9" Weight 160-165lbs My body fat % is probably around 15-18% I'm looking to tone up and get that down to 10-12%

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My suggestion is to do whichever routine fits your schedule and keeps you motivated. If going 5 days a week makes you tired and burns you out, either physically or mentally, it's going to be a failure no matter how hard you work because you'll quit eventually. The best routine is one that sees you doing it consistently.

Tuco_sl said:

Don't you mean the opposite? If I haven't lifted in months and try to lift I'm pretty much toast for 5-7 days, but after lifting for a few weeks I can lift every other day np.

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Negative. I think you're looking at it from a much shorter time frame than I am talking about. A novice lifter is someone who can still make consistent linear progress. That can take anywhere from a year to infinity (infinity being the people who lift and never make progress because their programming or, more likely, diet, is shit). By the time you've been lifting for several years, something like deadlifting twice a week would fucking destroy you.

What you're talking about is getting DOMS from not lifting regularly. I actually just recently had experience with this again as I started training a female coworker of mine. After her first day in the gym she felt demolished. 2 days later it was time for her 2nd workout and she absolutely didn't want to go. She was complaining about how she could barely walk that day and there was no way she could squat. I actually lied to her and said we wouldn't do legs, just to get her to go, and because I knew what she was dealing with. But she lifted through the DOMS and was shocked when the next day didn't feel nearly as bad as she had the previous few.

A novice lifter can get away with doing the same muscle group with about 72 hours of recovery. That's why you see a lot of beginner routines where you squat 3 times a week.

McCheese_sl said:

My suggestion is to do whichever routine fits your schedule and keeps you motivated. If going 5 days a week makes you tired and burns you out, either physically or mentally, it's going to be a failure no matter how hard you work because you'll quit eventually. The best routine is one that sees you doing it consistently.

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This is actually the best suggestion there is, to be honest. It's also the same reason I mentioned all or nothing diets being shit a few days ago. Why make yourself miserable if it's just going to make you want to quit? Find something youenjoydoing first. If you think the plan he's got you on sucks, find something you like more.

Also, regarding Denaut's suggestion regarding Starting Strength, I mostly agree. If you see yourself making lifting an actual habit for a long time, I definitely recommend reading the book and learning how to do the lifts correctly. Starting Strength does leave a bit to be desired though, and in the past few years people started questioning whether it was really the best way to go for novice lifters. The consensus is generally that there are better routines. It's still not a bad starting point. I did it for the first 4 months or so that I lifted, personally.

Elurin_sl said:

This is actually the best suggestion there is, to be honest. It's also the same reason I mentioned all or nothing diets being shit a few days ago. Why make yourself miserable if it's just going to make you want to quit? Find something youenjoydoing first. If you think the plan he's got you on sucks, find something you like more.

Also, regarding Denaut's suggestion regarding Starting Strength, I mostly agree. If you see yourself making lifting an actual habit for a long time, I definitely recommend reading the book and learning how to do the lifts correctly. Starting Strength does leave a bit to be desired though, and in the past few years people started questioning whether it was really the best way to go for novice lifters. The consensus is generally that there are better routines. It's still not a bad starting point. I did it for the first 4 months or so that I lifted, personally.

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I admit I don't follow lifting as much as I used to (I changed sports a couple of years ago and therefore my training), what is considered better now and why?

Denaut_sl said:

I admit I don't follow lifting as much as I used to (I changed sports a couple of years ago and therefore my training), what is considered better now and why?

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There are a bunch of other 5x5 programs that are apparently better. To be honest, I don't pay much attention to these types of routines anymore since I do my own 4 day bro-split and have outgrown novice routines. But from what I gather, the problem is that there just isn't enough variation in Starting Strength. If your goal really is to build a "strength base" like SS says, it still misses a bit. If you're wanting to bodybuild (and I don't mean compete), it's fucking terrible.

Elurin_sl said:

There are a bunch of other 5x5 programs that are apparently better. To be honest, I don't pay much attention to these types of routines anymore since I do my own 4 day bro-split and have outgrown novice routines. But from what I gather, the problem is that there just isn't enough variation in Starting Strength. If your goal really is to build a "strength base" like SS says, it still misses a bit. If you're wanting to bodybuild (and I don't mean compete), it's fucking terrible.

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As I recall from reading the book any "bodybuilding" program would be considered intermediate because once past your novice stage is where you would start to specialize and SS is designed to get you through it and milk it as much as possible. If I think back to my most successful stint with SS I can't think of any gaps that weren't covered by the Squat, Deadlift, Press, Bench Press, Power Clean, and Pullups.

My routine is kind of sporadic, but I basically build my workouts around the main compound lift(bench, squat, deadlift, overhead press) for the day even though I may not enjoy doing them (hi2u squats). After that, I'll basically throw in 4-5 exercises that supplement the compound lift that I "enjoy" doing. Like McCheese said, if you don't enjoy the routine and lifts you do then I can't see what would give you motivation to go at all. I've been lifting consistently for about years straight, but the past six months I've become basically an addict to going and have to argue with myself to take a day off for rest. I guess there could be worse things to be dealing with in life.

How the hell do people use MyFitnessPal? I made an account today and put in my height (5'10"), weight (201lbs) and a goal of losing 2lbs/week and it's telling me I need to have net calorie intake of 1320/day? What the hell? I know for a fact I've lost 2lbs/wk at this weight in the past ingesting a total 1700-1800cal/day with little to no exercise and lost 2lbs/wk.

Not only that but I tried to put in my gym routine for today and it's telling me that every single strength exercise I did burned 0 calories... I've got to be doing this wrong...

I always thought 3 days a week wasn't enough either but I'm seeing good results doing that now, working 12-14 hour shifts keeps me from going any more than that.

Khane_sl said:

How the hell do people use MyFitnessPal? I made an account today and put in my height (5'10"), weight (201lbs) and a goal of losing 2lbs/week and it's telling me I need to have net calorie intake of 1320/day? What the hell? I know for a fact I've lost 2lbs/wk at this weight in the past ingesting a total 1700-1800cal/day with little to no exercise and lost 2lbs/wk.

Not only that but I tried to put in my gym routine for today and it's telling me that every single strength exercise I did burned 0 calories... I've got to be doing this wrong...

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For some reason Myfitnesspal doesn't remove calories for lifting but it does for cardio, you can also go into the options and change how active you are and it will change your daily intake goal. It's probably set on the lowest active setting.

Best way to use MyFitnessPal is just make the shit unique for yourself, don't worry about the stupid height and weight input. It's really good for counting macros if you want to start doing that.

I think MyFitnessPal is best used simply to keep track of how many calories you're taking in. I've never trusted the numbers it provides you in terms of calories burned, calories needed weekly, etc.

Basically, use it as a user-friendly, accessible food journal and nothing more.

*Edit* Bastard posted exactly as I did. Yes, what Itlan said.

Khane_sl said:

How the hell do people use MyFitnessPal? I made an account today and put in my height (5'10"), weight (201lbs) and a goal of losing 2lbs/week and it's telling me I need to have net calorie intake of 1320/day? What the hell? I know for a fact I've lost 2lbs/wk at this weight in the past ingesting a total 1700-1800cal/day with little to no exercise and lost 2lbs/wk.

Not only that but I tried to put in my gym routine for today and it's telling me that every single strength exercise I did burned 0 calories... I've got to be doing this wrong...

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Sounds like it's just doing the math and not really trying to give a realistic answer (no parameters for that?). It's probably taking your TDEE, adding calories for activity, and then subtracting 1000 calories per day (7000 calories for 2 lbs per week).

That all makes sense. I am indeed just using it as a food journal just because I've never counted anything except carbs when trying to shrink the waist line and I just wanted to see how I actually really do eat on a daily basis. I just can't believe how ludicrous that number is. I can just imagine people who have no experience with diet and exercise logging in and setting it up thinking "WTF? I need to eat like a 12 year old girl to lose 2lbs/week?" and just giving up.