Is my workout plan a good one?

workout_ninja

So I have recently created my own workout plan to stop me from going out on steady cardio runs - which are not helping me lose weight anymore. My body seems to have gotten too used to running so my calorie burn is alot less and im certainly not gaining muscle.

I read a couple of magazines (mens fitness mostly) and researched on the internet and came up with this plan:

I workout with weights 4 days per week on 2 day splits (lower body, upper body, I got the exercises from NROWL). I lift quite heavy so its a struggle to do my last set (3 sets of 8,10,12), then in between every 2 weight exercises, I sprint on the treadmill for 1 minute intervals x 3. Doing the HIIT treadmill makes me sweat hard and I know hiit is good at calorie burn and "keeping you body guessing"

1 day a week I will do a trail run or a hill run and another day i will do a speed interval training.

I just wanted to ask anyone in the know if what Im doing is good for fat loss, weight loss and muscle gain?

rybo

Its ok. I would save the HIIT stuff until the end and do it as a finisher after your strength training is done. And mix up other types rather than only treadmill sprints. I would also swap out the speed workout for something lower intensity if you are going to be doing sprinting at other times during the week. Sprints are good, but don't over do them.

xcalygrl

To lose weight you need to be in a deficit. You can create said deficit through diet or exercise or a combo of both. If you aren't losing, you aren't in a deficit.

If you don't already, start weighing your food on a scale and logging every lick, bite, and taste. Don't use measuring cups as they are highly inaccurate for solid/semi-solid foods.

My suggestion would be to find a plan and do that. As a relatively new lifter, you don't really have the expertise to create your own programing. Pick NROLFW, Stronglifts, Starting Strength, Strong curves, etc. and follow it as written. They are tried and true programs that work. They are recommended time and time again because they work the way they were written and are easy to follow.

AsISmile

xcalygrl wrote: »

To lose weight you need to be in a deficit. You can create said deficit through diet or exercise or a combo of both. If you aren't losing, you aren't in a deficit.

If you don't already, start weighing your food on a scale and logging every lick, bite, and taste. Don't use measuring cups as they are highly inaccurate for solid/semi-solid foods.

My suggestion would be to find a plan and do that. As a relatively new lifter, you don't really have the expertise to create your own programing. Pick NROLFW, Stronglifts, Starting Strength, Strong curves, etc. and follow it as written. They are tried and true programs that work. They are recommended time and time again because they work the way they were written and are easy to follow.

I second the suggestions made. Furthermore, as a beginner you benefit from a full body program rather than a split.
As a new lifter making gains is really easy, and therefore it is helpful to hit those muscles every workout.

armylife

xcalygrl wrote: »

To lose weight you need to be in a deficit. You can create said deficit through diet or exercise or a combo of both. If you aren't losing, you aren't in a deficit.

If you don't already, start weighing your food on a scale and logging every lick, bite, and taste. Don't use measuring cups as they are highly inaccurate for solid/semi-solid foods.

My suggestion would be to find a plan and do that. As a relatively new lifter, you don't really have the expertise to create your own programing. Pick NROLFW, Stronglifts, Starting Strength, Strong curves, etc. and follow it as written. They are tried and true programs that work. They are recommended time and time again because they work the way they were written and are easy to follow.

This. Gain some experience before you try to design your own program. Consider it like going to school so you can learn what works and what does not for your body.

LKArgh

If the goal is to improve strength, maintain or even add muscle mass, it sounds reasonable to add weight training. Of course it depends on what your weight training consists of, as you are not giving much detail. From what you do say, the HIIT in between weight lifting sets is either not really HIIT, or it is preventing you from properly lifting.
If the goal is to create a calorie deficit to lose weight, and nothing else, running or any other steady state cardio exercise performed for a decent time (not 5 minutes) will burn more calories than what you are doing.

hamlet1222

looks great to me, weights and hiit. Make sure you're not running too large a calorie deficit or you will still lose muscle, and watch out for symptoms of overtraining. When it comes to exercise and calorie deficits I'm a bit of a 'less is more' guy, because it's so much more sustainable for the long term.

workout_ninja

I am eating at a deficit now, I fell off the wagon a bit - in terms of food. I still ran all the time. I just felt like it wasnt doing anything for me anymore.

Im not entirely new to lifting, I have been lifting maybe once a week (which is not enough, I know!)

My ultimate goal is to drop fat and get leaner. Weight doesnt really bother me.

I chose to do hiit in between weights as I read that in an article in Mens Fitness. Im happy to leave it until the end of my weight training.

Can anyone suggest the type of hiit I do and for how long? Do I go til I drop? Im not super great at hiit, I think I die at the 20 minute mark

hamlet1222

I actually find lifting weights once a week can be effective, I usually do a full body weights routine and take at least 4 days rest between, but sometimes I've rested a whole week and often found I've lifted more on the next session.

My conclusion was that you might be able to progress faster doing split routines through the week, but you can still progress doing it once a week (just not as much).

Check out this article:

https://www.painscience.com/articles/strength-training-frequency.php

I especially like his point:

Bodybuilders and gym nuts, please try to bear in mind that most people aren’t interested in optimization/maximization of results, but in a balance of effort and reward. We all know that you would exert 50% more effort to get a 5% greater reward, and good for you. But most people have exactly the opposite priorities: we would love to sacrifice 5% of our results if it meant we could spend (!) 50% less time at the gym.

I wouldn't trust articles in Mens Fitness that much, these magazines are mostly about advertising and selling supplements. I've never heard of any strength trainer doing hiit between weights, they do the opposite and rest.

Regarding hiit, I definitely wouldn't do more than 20 minutes.

On your running issue, I hit this same wall, just felt I'd got as fit as I was going to get and it became boring. Perhaps I should have pushed myself harder, but I chose to do different cardio instead.

Good philosophy about not worrying about your weight, for me it's all about getting to a healthy bf% and getting stronger.

Another guy whose podcasts I find worth watching is Mike Matthews (muscleforlife) on youtube, he talks about things like combating skinny fat etc.

Good luck!