Not enough?

bdbfangirl20

So I do a an ABAB routine that is for weight loss as well as strength training. But I feel like its not enough. For example on a Monday I would do 3 reps of 5-8 squats, bench press, and rows. By the end of my session I am sweaty but feel like I didn't push myself hard enough. Now I am new to weights and this is my first week with this routine and I dont want to hurt myself. so should I up my reps? Or maybe afterwards add a mile on the treadmill?

gearhead426hemi

Listen to your body it will let you know what you need to do. If you are focusing on bulking this would be a good workout. If you are looking to get lean this won't really help you. Since you are new to lifting I would stay away from lifting heavy right off and ease into it. You will do more damage than good if you go to hard to fast. The best advise I ever got was from a retired body builder who said the amount of weight doesn't matter its the quality and quantity of the workout. Really try to isolate and focus on the muscle you are working. Try to visualize the muscle you are working and make every rep count. If you complete your workout and you still have energy you need to increase the reps or weight or decrease your rest time between sets. These are just my opinions of course so best of luck. Feel free to add me if you need encouragement, recipes or workout routines if you get bored.

jemhh

Is this an established program or something you made up? Assuming it is the former, follow it as written. Beginner programs are written for beginners, many of which know next to nothing about lifting. They are written by people who actually do know about lifting and know that more is not necessarily better.

notreallychris

What you need for weight loss is calorie deficit. If your routine ABAB gets you there, then keep it up. Log consistently and accurately en route to a deficit and you will lose weight. How much you sweat has no bearing on how much weight you lose. Just the body's mechanism to cool you down.

rybo

bdbfangirl20 wrote: »

So I do a an ABAB routine that is for weight loss as well as strength training. But I feel like its not enough. For example on a Monday I would do 3 reps of 5-8 squats, bench press, and rows. By the end of my session I am sweaty but feel like I didn't push myself hard enough. Now I am new to weights and this is my first week with this routine and I dont want to hurt myself. so should I up my reps? Or maybe afterwards add a mile on the treadmill?

You have to understand the role of strength training in weight loss. It's not the workout that burns a ton of calories, it's keeping muscle mass (possibly building a little in the right conditions).you aren't going to feel the same as you would after intense cardio, and that's ok. You could up the reps a little but upping the weight used is just as important. Your food intake dictates far far more of your weight loss than your exercise choice.

FatWithFatness

You're expecting strength training to be conditioning, which it can be if the program is setup correctly, but that doesn't appear to be the case. As others have said, weight loss depends more on calorie deficit than anything, I always recommend using diet for weight loss, cardio for conditioning, and strength training for getting stronger, but they can be whatever you want them to be, it's just hard to out train a lack of self control in the kitchen.