Planning a Workout Routine?

radonskies

Just looking for a little advice. I've recently rejoined the gym after 3 months of not getting exercise and not losing anymore weight (I did lose 30 pounds the first half of the year and have kept it off). I am very out of shape and still have close to 100 pounds to lose, so I need to structure a super beginner workout schedule that's best for continuing to lose while increasing my strength and muscle mass. I have some arthritis and aches and pains as well as Hashimoto's disease, so I'm trying to take it slow and listen to my body.
Right now I'm doing weight circuits 3 days a week (started with 2 sets of 12 on various upper and lower body machines) and doing cardio on the elliptical or an outside walk 3 days a week. I know it's way better than the zero exercise I was getting, but should I do more strength? more cardio? II just want to maximize my limited time at the gym to get the most bang for my time there. My primary goal now is to continue losing weight, not get super strong or cut yet.

Thanks in advance!

giantrobot_powerlifting

Barbell training is always the answer: Stronglifts or Starting Strength. Check 'em out online and find the apps in the app store.

cwolfman13

There are numerous beginner programs out there that are going to be far superior than anything you can create yourself at this point; effectively programming your own routine takes a lot of knowledge. As a matter of general fitness I would look into New Rules of Lifting for Women...it's a great place to start and a good read. Another good program is Strong Curves, but my wife always tells her friends to look at and do New Rules first to become more familiar with the movements...and again, it's just a good read and explains a lot in RE to what you are doing and why.

Programs like Stronglifts and Starting Strength are also good beginner routines but are more geared to maximal strength gains whereas New Rules and SC are more general fitness types of routines. In RE to what you choose, it really depends on your goals...if you want to get super strong in a fairly linear fashion, Stronglifts and Starting Strength would be optimal, though not sexy...my wife hated doing Starting Strength with me, but that's just her.

Cherimoose

Considering your orthopedic issues, age, weight, etc, i'd follow New Rules of Lifting for Life. Or work with a knowledgeable personal trainer.
You can do cardio on your non-strength days.
Also, use a food scale and log accurately, since fat loss is mostly from calorie control, not exercise. But do get your TSH level dialed in too.

jemhh

I will third the suggestion for NROLFW. It is a good book for very beginners. It has you progress through 4 week cycles (I think there are 7 altogether.) You can extend them to 6 or 8 weeks though if you feel like you want to do them longer. (You may prefer that in the beginning.) Also, I think that your 50/50 split of strength/cardio is fine for now. As time goes along you might tend to prefer more of one over the other but starting out with an even split works well.