Advice on my current fitness regime. Want to add hand weights to my exercise.

colleendodd642

Hello All,

I have just resumed gym at Uni after putting on 7lbs over the Xmas break! I now weigh 10st 12 and I want to ideally get back to my smoker weight of 9st 7lb. ( I stopped 3 years ago and gained 2 stone without changing a thing )
I have lost 3lb in the last 2 weeks and an inch allover, so I am definitely heading in the right direction, but at 34 with Uni having me do an additional 30 hours home study on top of classroom based study, commuting 60 miles a week (to uni), placement 5 hours a week, 2 kids and a husband to look after, I am finding time and energy to exercise difficult.

I currently attend the gym 3 times a week and have managed to do:
20 minutes on the treadmill, at 7kmph.
20 minutes on the elliptical, or exercise bike, depending on which is free
30 minutes strength training using the weight machines. I normally have these set at 15-20kg weights and do 3-4 reps of 8 sets each machine. I don't know the names of these machines, but there is 4 of them and they work shoulders, triceps, biceps and back.

I really enjoy the weights and have some hand weights at home that weight 7.5k each. I am thinking of doing half an hour zumba and some handweight exercises at home twice a week, but I don't know if this will be enough to see results.
In addition I have no spare money for equipment such as benches etc, so I really could do with some pointers on which exercises I can do with just my weights and a mat, and how many reps/sets as a beginner is realistic.

Any advice would be great!

Many Thanks

Colleen

colleendodd642

.

ivanpaparaka

I suggest you flip your routine around:
1. Warm up (10-15 light jog on the treadmill)
2. Weights
3. Cardio

For the resistance, you have to figure out what is you ORP (one repetition maximum) - that is at how much weight you can do only one rep.

Then you can use a char like this to figure out how much weight to do at different number of reps.

If I were you, I would do 10-15 reps for 3-4 sets. Lower weight, higher reps.
This will help you build just enough muscle to help you burn the fat, but you won't bulk up.

Also cardio is very important for fat burning, consider doing interval training.

ana3067

see results for what? I would recommend transitioning from machines to free weights, where you'll truly be able to work your body in more natural ways. Also, where are your lower body exercises? Nothing for your chest either? What about lower back? A good full body routine for beginners would be a good place to start.

And you really don't need to do 8 sets. 3-5 reps for 3-4 sets while dieting down is more than enough, and usually trying to do more volume just results in burn out while dieting.

Assuming you perform full body lifting routines at the gym 3x a week, yuo don't need to perform even more at home. you could use the dumbbells while doing Zumba just for added resistance/difficulty, but I don't see the need to do any more weight bearing exercises at home. Recovery and rest are important!

You don't need to work out to lose weight. As a student I also understand that time is precious. So you could just do a 3x a week lifting routine followed by a 20 minute cardio session either after weights (usually works best for most people int his order) or on your rest days. Assuming you are using net method (MFP default) and eating back exercise calories, your weight loss shouldnt' change too much because your deficit would still be similar even if you decrease how much exercise you do.

parkerpowerlift

I agree with Ivan---focus more on weights, less on cardio! I need to do the same thing, personally. I've been learning how to run & have been running for most of the past 8 months! I'm 40 pounds down, but now that I'm getting close to goal weight, I'm still displeased with my body comp. I need some weight lifting to tone up & lose more inches!!! My main problem area now is my stomach

detholman

Depending on what you want to accomplish. If you are wanting to build muscle you need to weight lift with a weight that you can get 8 to 10 reps with, sets depend on what muscle group you are working. If you just want to tone the muscle up, 15 to 20 reps 3-5 sets would be good. However you need to do a full body workouts. You do not need expensive equipment you can use what you have at home. Milk jugs with water or sand in them and a broom stick makes a good weight set. If you have several jugs you can vary the weight in them. Also body weight exercises can help quite a lot. They are so many ways to do this, just have to use a little imagination.

colleendodd642

Hi everyone,

Thanks so much for the advice and replies.

I will try work through questions as best I can.

ivanpaparaka wrote: »

I suggest you flip your routine around:
1. Warm up (10-15 light jog on the treadmill)
2. Weights
3. Cardio

For the resistance, you have to figure out what is you ORP (one repetition maximum) - that is at how much weight you can do only one rep.

Then you can use a char like this to figure out how much weight to do at different number of reps.

If I were you, I would do 10-15 reps for 3-4 sets. Lower weight, higher reps.
This will help you build just enough muscle to help you burn the fat, but you won't bulk up.

Also cardio is very important for fat burning, consider doing interval training.

Thanks Ivanpaparaka, I will look at the chart. In terms of the routine, this is something I did today because the cycles were all taken when I wanted to use them. I decided to opt for a more intense workout so I did 20 minutes jogging on the treadmill at 6.5kmph, then did my weights on the machines, and finished off with 15 minutes on the exercise bike, where I did 2 minutes at 75rpm and then 1 minute at 95-100. ALternating as a form of HIIT in a sense.

At the moment I can only manage about 20kg on the machines weights per rep.

ana3067 wrote: »

see results for what?
Hi Ana, thanks for your advice. I really need to lose weight allover. I want to be able to look toned too.

I would recommend transitioning from machines to free weights, where you'll truly be able to work your body in more natural ways. Also, where are your lower body exercises? Nothing for your chest either? What about lower back? A good full body routine for beginners would be a good place to start. This is what I need to do, but at our gym the free weights are almost always being used (it is only a small uni gym with a huge amount of male and female lifters, seriously everyone does it!!) as are the tables etc. This is why I have to use machines. I can't change my times neither because of tight schedule

Assuming you perform full body lifting routines at the gym 3x a week, yuo don't need to perform even more at home. you could use the dumbbells while doing Zumba just for added resistance/difficulty, but I don't see the need to do any more weight bearing exercises at home. Recovery and rest are important!
I think I may be putting Zumba to one side after finding an adult swim class nearby which is far more my cup of tea!

sarah_K_parker wrote: »

I agree with Ivan---focus more on weights, less on cardio! I need to do the same thing, personally. I've been learning how to run & have been running for most of the past 8 months! I'm 40 pounds down, but now that I'm getting close to goal weight, I'm still displeased with my body comp. I need some weight lifting to tone up & lose more inches!!! My main problem area now is my stomach

Thanks Sarah, I have only just really started to run after an ankle injury last year. I really need to increase my cardio because in May I am doing the Yorkshire 3 peaks, which is 24 hours of walking so really hope the treadmill helps with this and I also hope that by combining strength and cardio I won't have any saggy areas.It is so hard though because I have never done anything like this before.

detholman wrote: »

Depending on what you want to accomplish. If you are wanting to build muscle you need to weight lift with a weight that you can get 8 to 10 reps with, sets depend on what muscle group you are working. If you just want to tone the muscle up, 15 to 20 reps 3-5 sets would be good. However you need to do a full body workouts. You do not need expensive equipment you can use what you have at home. Milk jugs with water or sand in them and a broom stick makes a good weight set. If you have several jugs you can vary the weight in them. Also body weight exercises can help quite a lot. They are so many ways to do this, just have to use a little imagination.

Thanks detholman, I never thought to use a broom and my own weights! Thanks so much for the idea! I defo only want to tone. My husband would be devestated if I got muscles when he has none!