What does your week look like?

giusa

Very new to lifting and interested in adding to my weekly workout schedule, but not sure how, was hoping to get ideas…

What does your workout week look like?
I was trying to keep a M/W/F schedule but this week I have an appointment on Wed, so thinking of changing this week to T/F/S but then it would run into next week’s M/W/F schedule.

How do you make adjustments when “life” interferes, do you skip the day but keep the rest of the week as normal? Or is it more of an endless rotation of 3 day on/2 day off?

How do you add accessories to your weekly schedule if you can’t add accessories to the end of your lift day?
Thinking of adding some type of 3x10 dumbbell work, can I add that to an off day?

Do you alternate cardio/lift or combine to one day? What type of cardio, low impact, HIIT, etc?

Not sure if any of the questions make any sense, but after my monthly measurements…I need to do something! I was reviewing my food intake and made necessary adjustments, and now I’m trying to reassess the fitness aspect. Hoping to get some input, thanks in advance for any guidance.

MissHolidayGolightly

giusa wrote: »

Very new to lifting and interested in adding to my weekly workout schedule, but not sure how, was hoping to get ideas…

What does your workout week look like?
I was trying to keep a M/W/F schedule but this week I have an appointment on Wed, so thinking of changing this week to T/F/S but then it would run into next week’s M/W/F schedule.

I try for M/W/F but sometimes it's T/R/Sa or M/W/Sa or T/F/Su

How do you make adjustments when “life” interferes, do you skip the day but keep the rest of the week as normal? Or is it more of an endless rotation of 3 day on/2 day off?

I prefer to just adjust my workout days so that I get three days in but when that's not possible, I'll just do two days. I just don't like getting in the habit of skipping workouts and only lifting two days per week.

How do you add accessories to your weekly schedule if you can’t add accessories to the end of your lift day?
Thinking of adding some type of 3x10 dumbbell work, can I add that to an off day?

I'm not sure what you mean - do you mean you don't have time in a lift session to do 5x5 plus accessories? Whenever I'm strapped for time, I'll do as much as I can then maybe do some accessory work at home (I have some dumb bells so it's limited). My focus is to do my main lifts and the accessories are just extra. You can also do them on days you don't do 5x5 but be sure you're giving yourself proper recovery. I don't tend to go to heavy on accessories anyway so it's not much of an issue.

Do you alternate cardio/lift or combine to one day? What type of cardio, low impact, HIIT, etc?

Now that the weather is getting nicer, cardio just happens for me. I like to be outside biking, running, walking, kayaking, etc. I also will spend more time doing yard work or house projects that use up more energy than I'm used to. I try to get to yoga at least once a week for cardio and flexibility. I don't like doing cardio for the sake of doing cardio unless I'm training for something but I'd recommend doing it after you lift so that you don't wear yourself out or on alternate days. Again, just be sure you're allowing yourself proper recovery. It takes a lot out of your legs to heavy squat 3x per week plus running, for example.

Not sure if any of the questions make any sense, but after my monthly measurements…I need to do something! I was reviewing my food intake and made necessary adjustments, and now I’m trying to reassess the fitness aspect. Hoping to get some input, thanks in advance for any guidance.

Focus on getting your food intake right for weight loss. Think of exercise as good for your health and do things you enjoy. Don't overthink it!

*My answers are in bold

Llamapants86

My schedule got really hectic for awhile and that's why I moved working out to the wee early mornings. Life doesn't tend to interfere with 4:30 AM. Before that I would do M/W/F and if something happened on Wed (like your example) I would do M/Thurs/Sat and that would give me a day off to get back to M/W/F the next week and my 2 days off would just be in the middle of the week.

I wouldn't add accessories to rest days for a couple of reasons. 1) Accessories work because your muscles are already somewhat fatigued. 2) You need recovery time to well recover.

#2 is also why I tend to keep my running to lifting days where I can. I am currently training for a 5k race and wanting to get to 10k for an event later in the summer so I do a bunch of varied training.

My week looks like this (keep in mind I do a 4 day split so it is a little different)
Mon: OHP day
Tues: DL day, Sprints
Weds: Rest
Thurs: Bench day, Tempo 5k
Fri: Squat day, recovery 5k
Sat: rest
Sun: long run

Most of my "weight" workouts end with a HIIT session of about 10 - 15 minutes.

mirrim52

My schedule gets a little crazy because I work shifts and weekends, so sometimes I have to improvise.
My ideal week is:

Sunday - derby practice - 3 hrs
Monday - rest or another derby practice 2-3 hrs (depends on mood and whether I need the attendance hours, usually rest)
Tues - SL 5x5 and a couple accessories (plank, assisted pull ups)
Wed - derby practice 2 hrs
Thursday - SL 5x5 and accessories
Friday - rest
Saturday - SL 5x5 and accessories

Now, if I work Sundays, I can't go to practice, so I go on Mondays.
This week, Tues evening is super busy, so I am lifting tonight instead.
My cardio is my practice days. There is no way I could lift and attend practice on the same day, so they are on different days by necessity.
I try to move a day instead of skipping it completely, but that isn't always possible. I just make sure not to make it a habit.

Graceious1

My weekly schedule is:
Monday - 30 min jog
Tuesday - 90 mins Taekwondo (tkd)
Wednesday - Strong Lifts (all these days involve accessories)
Thursday - TKD
Friday - Strong Lifts
Saturday - Rest
Sunday - Strong Lifts
TKD is the only thing I do at the same time every week. On the other days I can be flexible with my time. What I can't do in the morning I can do in the afternoon or evening. Because I work from home I guess I can afford to be flexible.

psych101

My schedule is like this

Days I lift, I don't run
Days I run, I don't lift

haha

I don't really have a set schedule - I plan to lift every second day and run every second day. Sometimes life gets in the way and I have an extra day off here and there. I'm in this for the long haul, so its not a make/break situation. I add in accessories most lifting days, but listen to my body and back off them if I need to.

parkerpowerlift

giusa wrote: »

Very new to lifting and interested in adding to my weekly workout schedule, but not sure how, was hoping to get ideas…

What does your workout week look like?
I was trying to keep a M/W/F schedule but this week I have an appointment on Wed, so thinking of changing this week to T/F/S but then it would run into next week’s M/W/F schedule.

How do you make adjustments when “life” interferes, do you skip the day but keep the rest of the week as normal? Or is it more of an endless rotation of 3 day on/2 day off?

How do you add accessories to your weekly schedule if you can’t add accessories to the end of your lift day?
Thinking of adding some type of 3x10 dumbbell work, can I add that to an off day?

Do you alternate cardio/lift or combine to one day? What type of cardio, low impact, HIIT, etc?

Not sure if any of the questions make any sense, but after my monthly measurements…I need to do something! I was reviewing my food intake and made necessary adjustments, and now I’m trying to reassess the fitness aspect. Hoping to get some input, thanks in advance for any guidance.

I try to keep with a MWF lifting schedule. However, my work week sometimes screws that up, so I try to get in at least 2x/week. I'm not opposed to a T, Th, Sat schedule. I made the mistake of doing Monday, Wednesday, Thursday last week, due to not being able to get in Friday or Saturday at my school's gym. I injured my left hip flexor...this week's schedule is very similar.

Life is interfering, but I learned my lesson last week and am going to lift 2x this week.

Lift 3x/week and run 2-3x/week. At least have one full rest day!

Deena_Bean

I lift Sun/Tue/Th...cardio M/W/Sa, rest Friday. Sometimes "cardio" just happens extra for me on any given day. I'm an outdoors fan, so I won't say no to catch or soccer or tennis or basketball or bike rides when the question comes up LOL. My kids love it when I play with them, so I try never to say no. Unless I'm totally exhausted from scheduled workouts. Lifting happens early, before work. Cardio usually happens before work, too, but if I feel too tired I just postpone it to lunch walks or evening workouts. No pressure really. I just focus on keeping it sustainable.

canadianlbs

i live by a fairly sloppy schedule, but i'm in a position where i'm able to do that better than some - grownup kid, and (at least technically) freelance flexibility around my work hours.

i don't really try to keep it to a rigid schedule because i kind of hate that kind of just-because-it's-tuesday way of life. and the realities of this current contract i'm in make the idea not work anyway. instead, i just function on the more general principle 'try not to let more than 2 days go by between your workouts.' sometimes it's three and sometimes it's even four, but if that happens then that just is what it is and i do the workout when i can get to it, and then carry on.

on sequencing: i just rotate the workouts regardless of day. this hasn't been very true for the past two or three months because of my shoulder issues. i've been much more casual and just-do-what-you're-able-to about it just because there were so many days when i was supposed to do [x] lift but doing it honestly felt like it would damage something. or i just didn't feel like inducing the pain. so then i'd do whatever didn't feel dangerous, even if it was out of sequence. or even not part of an sl workout at all.

but that's the principle even if i haven't been practicing it. if i did workout b last time, i do workout a next even if it's been four days since i did workout b. it's not which days of the week i do which things on that matters to me, it's more about distributing the lifts evenly so i don't end up with (for instance) much stronger pecs than back muscles because somehow it's always workout-a day when i can't get to the gym.

giusa

Thanks ladies! Truly appreciate all your input. This is not quick fix for me, I want to do this for the long run, no more chasing the next 30/60 day program.
I think I was overthinking all of it, sparked by three consistent bad monthly weigh in's. So bottom line, as @sarah_K_parker stated, as long as I have one full day between working sessions, don't worry about weeks running into each other if I need to alter my lifting schedule.

@MissHolidayGolightly - with accessories I'm doing low weights/high reps. some nights i can't get them in and if i have time i would like to fit them in on nonlift days. some say nonlift days should be strictly rest/repair days, so it's a little confusing. With food intake, I was trying to gradually up my total cals each month from 1200 to TDEE - 10%, but each month I've not only regained ALL scale weight but gained inches. Have a food scale and use it, log everything (good, bad, ugly), I usually take Sat/Sun off from logging but will resume. And *again* try to increase water intake (this has been a monthly goal for me, obviously I have a hard head lol).

Thanks again ladies!

MissHolidayGolightly

You don't need to totally rest unless you're an elite athlete and you go hella hard on your workouts so feel free to do some cardio or something else you enjoy to have some active rest periods. You'll get the most benefit from doing accessories during your lift days, however, so if you can't fit them in, I wouldn't worry too much about them. It helped me to work on time management at the gym. I know this isn't always possible but I put myself on a strict time limit the last time I was at the gym and it really helped me stop dilly-dallying. At first I didn't think I'd be able to do any accessories but, lo and behold, I was able to get in three different ones. I did some lighter work in between my squat sets and OHP sets, some extra dead lifts, and pull ups afterwards. My long winded point is, if you plan our your workout, you may be able to get more done in the allotted time you set for yourself.

For upping your intake, the advice I've always heard is to do it gradually such as adding 100 calories each week until you're where you want to be. Your body may retain water in doing this so don't get freaked out by what seems like a gain. Especially if you've started lifting, too, that will also cause you to retain water and seem bigger than you really are. It's normal to take it easy on the weekend but if you're significantly overeating, you may be going over your TDEE for the week so be careful.

LaarainNYC

I'm on Tues/Thurs./Sat for lifting. I take a Zumba class on Saturday after lifting.
I try but usually fail to make an early morning Zumba class on Tuesday so the rest of my cardio is usually 20-30 minutes of dance at home on rest days and/or walking. It's very easy for me to fit in walking, especially now that the weather is finally warm.

DawnEmbers

My week has changed several times over the past few months because my work schedule is not consistent. Like now I'm going to have tuesday off and thursday and before it was thursday and friday. Couple weeks from now, that may change again. So right now, exercise schedule is:

mon-wed-fri = couch to 5k training
tues-thurs-sat = New Rules of Lifting for Women
sun = rest

I'm glad I finally got my week situated with C25k as I was having the 2 days off after day 2 instead of day 3 in the first few weeks. Now it fits in the week time I have to work on it, and that makes it a bit easier to follow. The lifting has varied and any works as the stages are now short in the program. Before my vacation, as I was nearing the end of stage one, I did lift/walk/lift/walk days without a day off for almost a week but I knew I'd have days off with nothing for my vacation, so that's why I did it that way and it was very short term. The rest of the time, I make sure there is some type of rest involved.

arabianhorselover

I live out in the country and try not to go into town on the weekends, so if my M-W-F gym schedule gets messed up I generally just do Tuesday and Friday. I also walk 1/2 hour most days of the week, and 1 hour on Sat and Sun. My gym days always include accessories.