Exercise for those with 100+ lbs to lose

mbellot05

I have been as small as 230 when I was in college, and active on the Rugby team. Now I am in the 370's, but trending down. I have been exercising and generally being more active. My question for the group is given the routine below are there any other "low impact" exercises that I am overlooking.

Also, for my cardio I really hate the treadmill, bike, and elliptical. I do walk briskly biomechanically it feels much better than a machine. I have found that 90% of my weight loss is coming due to restricting calories and eating better, but I like to exercise to boost hormones and change my body composition. The routine below has been working good so far...very limited time, but if you have any other comments please feel free.

Shoulder Day
Dumbbell Shoulder Press 4 sets 8 - 12 reps
Dumbbell Upright Rows 4 sets 8 - 12 reps
Dumbbell Shoulder Shrug 4 sets 8 - 12 reps
Dumbbell Front Raises 4 sets 8 - 12 reps
Dumbbell Lateral Raises 4 sets 8 - 12 reps
Heavy Bag 6 rounds of 1 minute
Rope Slams 5 minutes total

Chest / Back Day
Dumbbell Bench Press 4 sets 8 - 12 reps
Lat Pulldowns 4 sets 8 - 12 reps
Dumbbell Chest Flys 4 sets 8 - 12 reps
Heavy Bag 6 rounds of 1 minute
Rope Slams 5 minutes total

Arms
Dumbbell Bicep Curls 4 sets 8 - 12 reps
Single Dumbbell Tri-Extension 4 sets 8 - 12 reps
Cable Tri-Pull Down 4 sets 8 - 12 reps
Heavy Bag 6 rounds of 1 minute
Rope Slams 5 minutes total

Legs
Leg Press 4 sets 8 - 12 reps
Goblet Squats 4 sets 8 -12 reps
Heavy Bag 6 rounds of 1 minute
Rope Slams 5 minutes total

Everyday work:
Various resistance band light work
Bodyweight Squats around 84 in sets of 12
Squat Thrusts as many as can do comfortably

I have not added abdominal work yet, and on weights I am very light. My focus is on good reps not weight. Lastly, the ropes and heavy bag are great to get the heart rate well up.

My point is that even if you are overweight doing anything is better than nothing...just want more ideas especially for bodyweight stuff since I can do it at my desk.

Onhowtobelovely

Kudos to you for what you've been doing! I used to be 332 so I know how hard it is to do these things.

If I were you I would look at changing up your split. You're doing more volume on shoulder day than chest and back day and chest and back are significantly larger muscle groups. You could devote an entire day to chest and an entire day to back. You can vary the attachment and your hand position on the lat pulldowns and also incorporate some dumbbell rows and maybe some seated cable rows, again with a variety of attachments. Or standing pulldowns. If you have an incline or decline bench you could add those presses in on chest day...do 4 sets flat bench, 4 sets incline, etc.

I would add some ab work in...not to get a six pack but having the strength in your core is going to help with your stability in all of the lifts you do. I have noticed all my lifts improving the more core work I do.

On shoulder or back day you could add in some rear delt rows for your rear deltoids. On arm day you could do hammer curls in addition to regular dumbbell curls. Tricep kickbacks or dumbbell skullcrushers for triceps as well as the cable tricep extensions.

For leg or back day maybe you could do straight leg or regular deadlifts with dumbbells. They do tend to get the heart rate up but you can start out with a low weight. Glute bridges are great too and they are pretty low impact.