Help me balance weight lifting, cardio and weight loss.....please.

barefootbridgey

I'm an almost-40 year old woman, 5’5 and about 224 lbs right now. I’m one of those people with an ideal weight that is probably still higher than most people would want – my goal is 170-180. That’s a weight/size that I like, that is manageable for me and my lifestyle and keeps me active and functional. I lost about 50 lb a number of years ago, landed there and was very happy with it. Maintained for several years, got divorced, gained a bit. Had a baby, gained more…had some pretty substantial post partum depression…and just never lost it. No worries. I’m all fine now.  I work a desk job in a prison full time, but am active in essentially all of the remaining hours that I’m not sleeping.
I was down to 202 by the end of 2020 and between work/pandemic etc (I’m a stress eater, if you haven’t noticed…) Ive gained about 20 back. This is primarily due to just being super busy, running out of time to maintain my activity schedule and some of the aforementioned emotional eating.
Every time I’ve successfully lost weight and maintained it, it’s been by CICO/tracking, so I understand that, and cardio (running, various spin classes, etc). I’d do like, cardio based strength stuff (like, body weight and nothing heavier than an 8 lb set of dumbbells), but nothing more than that. But I’m not getting any younger and I’d like to maintain strength, bone density etc etc…and also look better, so I started lifting earlier this year. The lifting has been essentially concurrent with the weight gain, though I am certainly not insinuating that I gained 20 lbs of muscle, because I did not. I definitely just gained weight, But, I am markedly stronger and I can see a change. And my knees don’t hurt anymore.
So, as I’m back at a more active attempt at losing weight, I’m trying to come up with a balance that is suitable for my goals.

I definitely need to lose weight (50 would be great, by my short term goal is 30). I know that for me and my lifestyle, cardio is important for that.
I’d prefer to lose as little of the benefits of weights as possible, but I know that weight loss comes with muscle loss, to a point. And I am not somebody who is at a point where I can functionally lift, gain weight and still look “the same” and fit into my clothes. I am fine with not necessarily increasing the weights that I lift right now and sort of maintaining there until I hit a weight where it matters less if I gain a lb or 2 from lifting.
I’ve done some research and I’ve settled on something that looks like this:
Sunday – short (20-30 minutes) Cardio (running or a Les Mills class), sometimes with an additional 15-20 flexibility program.
Monday – “A day” lifts in a sort of circuit fashion – 1 set of a heavy lift, 60-90 seconds of cardio, 1 round of ab work, repeat for round 2 and finish with set 3 of the lift and move on to the next “circuit”. 5 different lifts….so this times 5. Finish with however much of a Les mills cardio class that I need to fill me up to a 60 minute workout as long as I have time, stretch. This can run me anywhere from 48-70 minutes
Tuesday – “B day”. Same as an A day, jus with different lifts.
Wednesday – either a rest day or another short cardio day (last night was 30 minutes of Body Combat and 15 minutes of stretch/flexibility workout)
Thursday – another A day as above
Friday – this ones a toss up – occasionally it’s a rest day, normally it’s a B day, as above.
Saturday – Usually 60 minutes of Zumba, or I might do an A/B lift day.
Etc etc.

Tell me, experts. Is this reasonable – to moderate the potential for muscle loss, and to lose weight, at the same time……..

sbelletti

Long post, but it sounds like your goal is weight loss while retaining muscle, correct? You'll need a balance of calorie restriction and workouts. The exact numbers and workouts are probably going to vary from person to person. I'd suggest setting a weekly calorie target and workout schedule. Try it for 4 weeks and then adjust.

FYI... I'm similar age and height to you. Happy to help if I can!

AnnPT77

It seems like a reasonable exercise routine to me, if you enjoy it, and it allows you room for good overall life balance (enough time/energy for job, family, sleep, other important-to-you things). I'm a big believer in sticking with things that are sustainable, fit well into one's life, and gradually lead towards one's objectives.

IMO, if the goal is muscle preservation alongside weight loss, you didn't mention two of the biggest factors:

1. Good well-rounded nutrition, especially but not exclusively adequate protein.
2. Sensibly slow weight loss, on the order of 0.5-1% of current body weight weekly as a maximum, with a bias toward the lower end of that.

Yes, it's important to challenge the muscles in order to remind your body you want to keep them. But giving your body the fuel it needs to do that is at least as important.

If you're new to strength training, you might get more bang from your buck from a non-circuit-type program, but I think that's much less important as a practical matter than doing something you enjoy and that fits in your life well. And what you're doing may tick all the boxes, anyway: Hard to tell from what you say, and I'm not the expert to comment on strength programs anyway.

I think you're on a good, reasonable course. Thrive on!

JBanx256

Just at a glance...

What's your protein intake like? To minimize muscle loss, definitely make sure you're consuming adequate protein.

Also, you say:
1 set of a heavy lift, 60-90 seconds of cardio, 1 round of ab work, repeat for round 2 and finish with set 3 of the lift and move on to the next “circuit”.
Now, this is just my perspective, and I realize my definition/idea of "heavy lift" may very well be entirely different than yours. But If I were to do one set of seriously heavy lifting and then do cardio/abs and then try to come back and do another set of a heavy lift, that 2nd heavy set would suffer terribly (and then each subsequent set would continue to suck worse and worse). Also, depending on the particular lift, doing ab work immediately prior could jeopardize stability etc.

peazoo1325

I suggest to stick with your cardio, but slowly integrate more compound muscle building exercises. In females, the greatest potential exists in the lower body so don’t be afraid to work that area hard. Your body will adapt.

Lower body exercises: Squats, lunges, deadlifts, Romanian deadlifts.

Upper body motions: overhead press, assisted pull ups, chin ups, push-ups, rowing motion.

KarenSmith2018

Personally I would separate the lifting from the cardio. Do 3 sets of 5 lifts and then do the 15 to 20 minutes of cardio at the end. In my opinion this would lessen the risk of injury during the weights section as you aren't as fatigued going into the next set.