Question/Advice about my current routine

Long_Ashes

I started at 187 pounds with a big gut and hit the gym in January, as well as watching calories on MyFitnessPal. I am now 156 pounds, and I am not worried about my weight in pounds, but focused on my body fat percentage (I believe I am around 20%). I started running in April with a goal of 6mph, and I can now run up to 7.5mph. I then started lifting with a mix of free weights in May, along with my running.

I would run every day, and lift every other day. I have increased my protein count, and reduced my carb intake. I have also changed my routine to working on lifting M, W, F and running on T, TH, and S. I would really like to reduce my body fat more and build more muscle, and get the elusive six pack (I also do a bunch of crunches on lift days). My question is, am I doing too much lifting in one day, and is the running effecting me? Should I reduce my running and spread out my muscle groups over the whole week? I'm going on 33 years old and have dropped almost two waist sizes (right around 34 inch waist). My current arm measurement is 13". I'm no arnold, but I am getting in shape. I currently consume around 1300 calories without exercise and around 1500-1700 after exercise. I believe I have hit a plateau because I bounce between 156-157 and only see minor gains in lifting. Any advice on the best approach would be helpful. Thanks.

Unknown

This content has been removed.

Long_Ashes

On average I usually do:

3 sets of 10 reps with weights going from 90-150 pounds benching on the smith machine
3 sets of 10 reps on machine assisted pull ups
3 sets of 20-30 reps 250-380 lbs. on leg press
3 sets of 10-25 reps 20-35 lbs. dumbbell curls standing free weights
3 sets of 10-20 reps 150-200 lbs lat pull down
3 sets of 10-20 reps on 50-125 pounds on preacher curls
3 sets of 10-20 reps of 100-140 overhead press
2 sets of 10 reps 50 lbs. on overhead barbell free weight

AJ_G

It's completely fine to run on days that you don't lift, it will not negatively affect your lifts. Looking at your routine, I don't understand why you're doing a full body routine everyday. Split your body into muscle groups and hit each group hard with multiple exercises, each consisting of at least 3 sets of 8-12 reps. For example, when I did a 3 day split it was as follows, Legs and shoulders, Back and Biceps, Chest and Triceps. Also, you aren't eating nearly enough calories, 1300 calories is absurdly low, even without exercising. Most women eat more than that. Based on your stats, your BMR is 1600 calories and you shouldn't eat below that. Even if you didn't do any exercise ever, and you sat around all day, you would need to eat 1900 calories a day to maintain your weight, and you are an active guy, so it's actually much higher than that. If you need advice on how many calories you should really be eating and you need help setting up good weight lifting macros, let me know.

Long_Ashes

It's completely fine to run on days that you don't lift, it will not negatively affect your lifts. Looking at your routine, I don't understand why you're doing a full body routine everyday. Split your body into muscle groups and hit each group hard with multiple exercises, each consisting of at least 3 sets of 8-12 reps. For example, when I did a 3 day split it was as follows, Legs and shoulders, Back and Biceps, Chest and Triceps. Also, you aren't eating nearly enough calories, 1300 calories is absurdly low, even without exercising. Most women eat more than that. Based on your stats, your BMR is 1600 calories and you shouldn't eat below that. Even if you didn't do any exercise ever, and you sat around all day, you would need to eat 1900 calories a day to maintain your weight, and you are an active guy, so it's actually much higher than that. If you need advice on how many calories you should really be eating and you need help setting up good weight lifting macros, let me know.

So you are saying 1600 before exercise? MyFitnessPal adds calories back after working out normally. That's why I ask. Also, it's every other day but yeah, I was thinking lately that I should be hitting each group hard on different days. Thanks for the information!

AJ_G

It's completely fine to run on days that you don't lift, it will not negatively affect your lifts. Looking at your routine, I don't understand why you're doing a full body routine everyday. Split your body into muscle groups and hit each group hard with multiple exercises, each consisting of at least 3 sets of 8-12 reps. For example, when I did a 3 day split it was as follows, Legs and shoulders, Back and Biceps, Chest and Triceps. Also, you aren't eating nearly enough calories, 1300 calories is absurdly low, even without exercising. Most women eat more than that. Based on your stats, your BMR is 1600 calories and you shouldn't eat below that. Even if you didn't do any exercise ever, and you sat around all day, you would need to eat 1900 calories a day to maintain your weight, and you are an active guy, so it's actually much higher than that. If you need advice on how many calories you should really be eating and you need help setting up good weight lifting macros, let me know.

So you are saying 1600 before exercise? MyFitnessPal adds calories back after working out normally. That's why I ask. Also, it's every other day but yeah, I was thinking lately that I should be hitting each group hard on different days. Thanks for the information!

I don't follow the MFP eat back your exercise system, but if you do, that's fine. If you'd like to log exercise and eat it back, then your before exercise calories should be set no lower than 1900 calories, based on your weight and body fat percentage. Also yea it would be a good idea to hit different body groups on different days. Whole body workouts are ok if you are just starting lifting, but after a couple weeks, you should switch to splits and get serious. You should also know that when someone starts lifting, they will build muscle for a short amount of time even though they are eating at a deficit due to neuromuscular adaptation, often referred to as "noob gains", but once this ends, it is physically impossible to build any significant amount of muscle while eating at a deficit. The body will not build muscle if it has a negative energy balance, no matter how much protein you eat and no matter how hard you lift.