Advice on amount of exercise
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bismillah111
Posts: 15 Member
Hello guys and gals!
I need your advice. I am a female, 89 Kgs and 35 years old and am looking to lose weight for good this year Godwilling! So I have started going to the gym. I need your advice on my schedule, whether I am doing too much or not?
I train my upper body muscles five days a week, one day triceps, one day biceps, one day chest and back and 2 days shoulders. I don’t want to be bulky, infact I want to lose the arm fat and catalyze overall weight loss too. I use 2 kg dumbells, for chest and back, I set the machine at 9 kgs.
For cardio, I do elliptical exercise for 20 minutes at level 1 for five days a week.
Pls let me know if I am doing it right.
Regards,
I need your advice. I am a female, 89 Kgs and 35 years old and am looking to lose weight for good this year Godwilling! So I have started going to the gym. I need your advice on my schedule, whether I am doing too much or not?
I train my upper body muscles five days a week, one day triceps, one day biceps, one day chest and back and 2 days shoulders. I don’t want to be bulky, infact I want to lose the arm fat and catalyze overall weight loss too. I use 2 kg dumbells, for chest and back, I set the machine at 9 kgs.
For cardio, I do elliptical exercise for 20 minutes at level 1 for five days a week.
Pls let me know if I am doing it right.
Regards,
1
Replies
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bismillah111 wrote: »Hello guys and gals!
I need your advice. I am a female, 89 Kgs and 35 years old and am looking to lose weight for good this year Godwilling! So I have started going to the gym. I need your advice on my schedule, whether I am doing too much or not?
I train my upper body muscles five days a week, one day triceps, one day biceps, one day chest and back and 2 days shoulders. I don’t want to be bulky, infact I want to lose the arm fat and catalyze overall weight loss too. I use 2 kg dumbells, for chest and back, I set the machine at 9 kgs.
For cardio, I do elliptical exercise for 20 minutes at level 1 for five days a week.
Pls let me know if I am doing it right.
Regards,
first of all to lose weight you need a calorie deficit. secondly fat comes off where it wants when it wants you cannot spot reduce no matter what you do. you also wont get bulky being female and you would need a calorie surplus to bulk up and even then you wont be bulky like a man. as for training upper body 5 days a week why arent you training the rest of your body? all that upper body work isnt going to cause fat loss.. 5 days a week IMO is too much and working only one muscle group a day? its pointless. find a progressive lifting program and follow that. and you have you to smart out light but 2kg dumbbells arent going to accomplish anything to be honest.8 -
I train my upper body only as I have bad knees and am scared of damaging them any further. In the three weeks of gymming, I have started noticing positive changes in my upper body already and my jeans fit better too. The trainer suggested taking one muscle group a day so they can be focused on properly. I use 4 kg dumbbell when I do overhead tricep extension. I do 3-4 exercises of the muscle group 3 sets of 15 to 20 reps each a day. Takes about 30 minutes every morning. Plus 20 minutes of elliptical in the afternoon.0
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Weight loss, for most people, is more about eating than about exercise. I was obese for over a decade despite having a regular, intense exercise schedule (more exercise than what you're describing). I lost a third of my body weight in under a year, down to a healthy weight, when I started managing my eating to consume the right number of calories, without changing my exercise.
When it comes to exercise, you'd be better off using one of the strength training programs from this thread:
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10332083/which-lifting-program-is-the-best-for-you
. . . perhaps after reading this thread:
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/977538/halp-heavy-lifting-made-me-supah-bulky
That thread is old enough that many of the photos from earlier posts aren't reachable anymore, but jump ahead in the thread to see more current posts if that's a problem.
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Thanks! Do you think my exercise schedule is intense? I feel very good at this time.0
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bismillah111 wrote: »Thanks! Do you think my exercise schedule is intense? I feel very good at this time.
Whether a particular exercise schedule is too intense, not intense enough, or just right, is completely dependent on the person doing the exercise: Their experience level, current fitness, how important exercise is to them, what other demands they have on their time, etc.
I usually tell people to figure out how much time they want to and can devote to exercise, while still maintaining good life balance: Enough time for job, family, friends, daily chores, important non-exercise hobbies, etc. They should also think about their goals: Weight loss, general fitness, achievement in a particular sport or other physical endeavor, pleasure in movement, appearance, etc.
Then they should spend the amount of time they can devote to exercise on the activities that best advance their particular goals, within the allotted time, while still feeling energetic (not exhausted) for the whole rest of their day.
No one else can really figure that out for you.
I'll agree with the other poster: Your current strength-training routine is unlikely to be optimally effective for any of the above goals. I understand that you got it from a trainer, but it's . . . unusual: Not like programs that are generally regarded as most effective. The link I suggested above has programs designed by respected professionals; one of those is likely to be more effective.
You won't get bulky, or at least you won't get so bulky so fast that you can't recognize when you're reaching the appearance you like, and then stabilize your routine to maintain at that point.
A more focused strength routine would take less time (with probably better results), and cardio burns more calories than strength training, so the extra time being rededicated to cardio could result in an overall higher calorie burn.
But if your current routine is making you happy, and you like the results, you can keep it exactly as is, of course.
4 -
Thanks a lot. I am managing my time well in this routine and feel energetic all the time. I look forward to the strength training sessions. Will definitely try the workouts in your link. Thanks again.
Am i doing a lot of cardio? I dont want to trigger exercise induced amenorrhea! I experienced this about 18 yrs ago.0 -
bismillah111 wrote: »Thanks a lot. I am managing my time well in this routine and feel energetic all the time. I look forward to the strength training sessions. Will definitely try the workouts in your link. Thanks again.
Am i doing a lot of cardio? I dont want to trigger exercise induced amenorrhea! I experienced this about 18 yrs ago.
You know your body best, and how close you are to amemorrhea is something to discuss with your doctor. It doesn't sound like an excessive amount of cardio to me, but how much is too much is very dependent on the health, fitness, and body composition of the person doing the exercise. Ask your doctor.1 -
Thanks! was just worried about it, hopefully all will be well.0
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bismillah111 wrote: »Thanks! Do you think my exercise schedule is intense? I feel very good at this time.
No.bismillah111 wrote: »Thanks a lot. I am managing my time well in this routine and feel energetic all the time. I look forward to the strength training sessions. Will definitely try the workouts in your link. Thanks again.
Am i doing a lot of cardio? I dont want to trigger exercise induced amenorrhea! I experienced this about 18 yrs ago.
You're hardly doing any cardio at all.
I aim to do at least an hour a day ... and quite a bit more if I can. If I have the time.
Do you think you're in some danger of exercise induced amenorrhea for some reason?3 -
bismillah111 wrote: »Thanks! Do you think my exercise schedule is intense? I feel very good at this time.
No it's not an intense schedule at all. 100 minutes a week of cardio is pretty minimal and you are doing very light weights. (Far too light weights in all probability, doubt you are stressing your muscles at all with 2kg weights for major muscle groups.)
(Old fart here who averages over 100 miles / 6hrs a week cycling plus typically three heavy strength training sessions a week.)4 -
bismillah111 wrote: »Thanks! Do you think my exercise schedule is intense? I feel very good at this time.
No.bismillah111 wrote: »Thanks a lot. I am managing my time well in this routine and feel energetic all the time. I look forward to the strength training sessions. Will definitely try the workouts in your link. Thanks again.
Am i doing a lot of cardio? I dont want to trigger exercise induced amenorrhea! I experienced this about 18 yrs ago.
You're hardly doing any cardio at all.
I aim to do at least an hour a day ... and quite a bit more if I can. If I have the time.
Do you think you're in some danger of exercise induced amenorrhea for some reason?
Thanks a lot Machka6!
Am relieved. No, its just taht i had never tried elliptical before and it was about 18 yrs back that i had done stationary bike exercise that led to amenorrhea for a month, after which i stopped the exercise and all became normal again. i just dont want to risk that again but i do want to lose weight. And i feel great in this new exercise regime, my emotional fitness level has also gone up a notch after i started working out : )0 -
bismillah111 wrote: »Thanks! Do you think my exercise schedule is intense? I feel very good at this time.
No it's not an intense schedule at all. 100 minutes a week of cardio is pretty minimal and you are doing very light weights. (Far too light weights in all probability, doubt you are stressing your muscles at all with 2kg weights for major muscle groups.)
(Old fart here who averages over 100 miles / 6hrs a week cycling plus typically three heavy strength training sessions a week.)
Thanks a lot for the reply! I wanted to start slow and be persistent. I do feel soreness in my arms for about 3-4 hrs after the tricep and bicep strength training days, and for a day after the shoulder workout days. Since i do feel the soreness, i guess the weights are ok at the present. Will increase in a month's time Godwilling!
Thanks again!1 -
bismillah111 wrote: »Hello guys and gals!
I need your advice. I am a female, 89 Kgs and 35 years old and am looking to lose weight for good this year Godwilling! So I have started going to the gym. I need your advice on my schedule, whether I am doing too much or not?
I train my upper body muscles five days a week, one day triceps, one day biceps, one day chest and back and 2 days shoulders. I don’t want to be bulky, infact I want to lose the arm fat and catalyze overall weight loss too. I use 2 kg dumbells, for chest and back, I set the machine at 9 kgs.
For cardio, I do elliptical exercise for 20 minutes at level 1 for five days a week.
Pls let me know if I am doing it right.
Regards,
First weight loss is down to calories in vs calories out. And you can't just lose fat where you want, I wish you could because then I'd still have boobs.
The weights you are using aren't really going to do anythi n in terms of developing muscle. And I'm not sure why you're only training one muscle group at a time.
I split my upper body strength training in to two workouts, working shoulders and arms (both biceps and triceps plus wrists/grip) in one session and chest and back in the other. I don't do very many heavy leg workouts atm, because I'm marathon training and my PT has told me to go easy on them so they can recover after long runs. But once my marathons are over I'll have 2 leg days as well, one squat focussed and the other deadlift and single leg focused.
I'm always wanting to tell some of the ladies at my gym to ditch the little weights and most of the machines, but I'm not brave enough and only give them that advice when they ask.
Try upping the weights, you won't be able to do as many reps, but that's ok it's all about progression, pushing out one more rep than last time. If you can complete 3 sets of 15 then it's too light. You also want to use different weights for different exercises/ muscles. Big lifts that use more than one muscle mean you can move heavier weights. I'll use heavier weights for shoulder press (even dumbell shoulder press) than I do for tricep extentions. I can also easily bicep curl more than double what I can tricep extentions.
Invest in a little notebook and keep a record of how much you lift, how many reps and how hard it feels. That way you'll know when to progress.
As for the cardio, I believe the recommendation is at least 150 minutes a week with your hr raised. Although again you're going to want to change things up as you progress. Maybe add intervals at a higher level, I do this with most cardio machines, otherwise I'd die of boredom. Warm up for a couple of minutes and then dial up the resistance for 30sec, drop back for a minute and repeat.
I'm a runner, plus I have 5x weekly PT sessions plus go to up to 10 classes a week, averaging 3-4 hours a day of mostly intense exercise and have never had any problems with my periods (other than age), from reading what you've posted you only missed the one, and that is quite normal in any female, if you'd missed 3 or more then I'd say get it investigated, but missing one is perfectly normal.6 -
bismillah111 wrote: »bismillah111 wrote: »Thanks! Do you think my exercise schedule is intense? I feel very good at this time.
No.bismillah111 wrote: »Thanks a lot. I am managing my time well in this routine and feel energetic all the time. I look forward to the strength training sessions. Will definitely try the workouts in your link. Thanks again.
Am i doing a lot of cardio? I dont want to trigger exercise induced amenorrhea! I experienced this about 18 yrs ago.
You're hardly doing any cardio at all.
I aim to do at least an hour a day ... and quite a bit more if I can. If I have the time.
Do you think you're in some danger of exercise induced amenorrhea for some reason?
Thanks a lot Machka6!
Am relieved. No, its just taht i had never tried elliptical before and it was about 18 yrs back that i had done stationary bike exercise that led to amenorrhea for a month, after which i stopped the exercise and all became normal again. i just dont want to risk that again but i do want to lose weight. And i feel great in this new exercise regime, my emotional fitness level has also gone up a notch after i started working out : )
amenorrhea can come from excessive exercise but it can also be caused from too little calories or a combo of the two. how much of the exercise bike were you doing? because usually it comes from training too much and stressing the body. lots of women gymnast have that issue or those who get down to very low body fat percentages. but it can happen to others.2 -
In general I feel that if someone has to ask whether a program is too intense, it probably is, for them. Since your trainer designed this program, what is the reason you’re reaching out to random strangers asking if it’s ok? Why not talk to your trainer? Do you not have confidence in what they’re telling you?6
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bismillah111 wrote: »Hello guys and gals!
I need your advice. I am a female, 89 Kgs and 35 years old and am looking to lose weight for good this year Godwilling! So I have started going to the gym. I need your advice on my schedule, whether I am doing too much or not?
I train my upper body muscles five days a week, one day triceps, one day biceps, one day chest and back and 2 days shoulders. I don’t want to be bulky, infact I want to lose the arm fat and catalyze overall weight loss too. I use 2 kg dumbells, for chest and back, I set the machine at 9 kgs.
For cardio, I do elliptical exercise for 20 minutes at level 1 for five days a week.
Pls let me know if I am doing it right.
Regards,
First weight loss is down to calories in vs calories out. And you can't just lose fat where you want, I wish you could because then I'd still have boobs.
The weights you are using aren't really going to do anythi n in terms of developing muscle. And I'm not sure why you're only training one muscle group at a time.
I split my upper body strength training in to two workouts, working shoulders and arms (both biceps and triceps plus wrists/grip) in one session and chest and back in the other. I don't do very many heavy leg workouts atm, because I'm marathon training and my PT has told me to go easy on them so they can recover after long runs. But once my marathons are over I'll have 2 leg days as well, one squat focussed and the other deadlift and single leg focused.
I'm always wanting to tell some of the ladies at my gym to ditch the little weights and most of the machines, but I'm not brave enough and only give them that advice when they ask.
Try upping the weights, you won't be able to do as many reps, but that's ok it's all about progression, pushing out one more rep than last time. If you can complete 3 sets of 15 then it's too light. You also want to use different weights for different exercises/ muscles. Big lifts that use more than one muscle mean you can move heavier weights. I'll use heavier weights for shoulder press (even dumbell shoulder press) than I do for tricep extentions. I can also easily bicep curl more than double what I can tricep extentions.
Invest in a little notebook and keep a record of how much you lift, how many reps and how hard it feels. That way you'll know when to progress.
As for the cardio, I believe the recommendation is at least 150 minutes a week with your hr raised. Although again you're going to want to change things up as you progress. Maybe add intervals at a higher level, I do this with most cardio machines, otherwise I'd die of boredom. Warm up for a couple of minutes and then dial up the resistance for 30sec, drop back for a minute and repeat.
I'm a runner, plus I have 5x weekly PT sessions plus go to up to 10 classes a week, averaging 3-4 hours a day of mostly intense exercise and have never had any problems with my periods (other than age), from reading what you've posted you only missed the one, and that is quite normal in any female, if you'd missed 3 or more then I'd say get it investigated, but missing one is perfectly normal.
Thanks a lot for the advices. I split my days in biceps, triceps shoulder and chest and back because i have only 30 minutes each morning for weight training so i split the days like this to focus on each muscle group. Cant do lower body weight training because of bad knees.
I have increased the reps to 25 from 15 and have increased the weights in chest and back workouts upto 14 kgs in back.
Thanks to God, i lost inches and weight too. Hoping to continue and get a fit body by the next six months God willing!
Thanks a lot again.
Regards1 -
CharlieBeansmomTracey wrote: »bismillah111 wrote: »bismillah111 wrote: »Thanks! Do you think my exercise schedule is intense? I feel very good at this time.
No.bismillah111 wrote: »Thanks a lot. I am managing my time well in this routine and feel energetic all the time. I look forward to the strength training sessions. Will definitely try the workouts in your link. Thanks again.
Am i doing a lot of cardio? I dont want to trigger exercise induced amenorrhea! I experienced this about 18 yrs ago.
You're hardly doing any cardio at all.
I aim to do at least an hour a day ... and quite a bit more if I can. If I have the time.
Do you think you're in some danger of exercise induced amenorrhea for some reason?
Thanks a lot Machka6!
Am relieved. No, its just taht i had never tried elliptical before and it was about 18 yrs back that i had done stationary bike exercise that led to amenorrhea for a month, after which i stopped the exercise and all became normal again. i just dont want to risk that again but i do want to lose weight. And i feel great in this new exercise regime, my emotional fitness level has also gone up a notch after i started working out : )
amenorrhea can come from excessive exercise but it can also be caused from too little calories or a combo of the two. how much of the exercise bike were you doing? because usually it comes from training too much and stressing the body. lots of women gymnast have that issue or those who get down to very low body fat percentages. but it can happen to others.
Thanks! Yes i think i was doing too much of the bike workouts when i was a teen, that must have caused the problem. As of now, i eat healthily, lower carbs and higher proteins and good fats mainly fish and nuts.
Thanks again!!0 -
In general I feel that if someone has to ask whether a program is too intense, it probably is, for them. Since your trainer designed this program, what is the reason you’re reaching out to random strangers asking if it’s ok? Why not talk to your trainer? Do you not have confidence in what they’re telling you?
Of course i trust my trainer. Getting feedback from others is always a good thing too, no?
Thanks!0
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