Routine advice

Arielle092

I am female, age 30, 5'6, current weight 200 lbs, down from 207. Work from home, general couch potato.

After much trial and error, I have finally settled on a diet and workout routine that seems to be working for me. I want to make sure that I'm being as efficient as possible when it comes to building muscle.

I've been eating a balanced diet of whole foods in a 3-400 calorie deficit. That is going really well.

My exercise routine is legs, upper body, light cardio, repeat. I'm also walking 2 miles a day.

I've been doing 6-7 leg exercises (squats, RDLs, standing ad and abduction with resistance, donkey kicks with resistance bands, lateral lunges, and glute bridges with 35 lbs).

Upper body is push-ups, overhead press, front raises, hammer curls, single rows, upright rows, tri ext (both arms), Flys, and dumbbell bench press.

I started at 3x8 for everything except front raises (I can only get 3x5). I am now up to 3x10 and that is feeling easy with some exercises but is still a struggle for others. I'm moving up to 3x12 this week everywhere I can, and will then move up in weights and go back down to 3x8.

I also do a couple core strength exercises each day (plank - up to 1 min now!), full body crunches, bicycle crunches, etc.

Am I doing enough? My main goal is to build muscle, and with my improved diet I'm sure I'll lose some weight as well but I want to be strong. I want to be able to lift heavy. Am I on the right track with my current routine?

Retroguy2000

That's an excellent split, especially because it's sustainable for you.

You've included a lot of good exercises there. 10-12 reps is best for hypertrophy which is what you're doing, and if you're progressively raising the volume as you say you are, that will help build muscle. However, you said your goal is to be strong. The best rep range for that is 3-6 reps, with more weight obviously. You should build strength and muscle at both the 5 rep range and 10-12 range, but you'll focus more on strength at the low rep range.

You're in a calorie deficit and training so make sure you're getting plenty of protein, at least 120g (1g per pound lean body mass). No harm in going to 1.2g if you can, so 140g.

You mention some exercises are getting too easy, which makes we wonder if you have a suitable range of weights? I mean if you're doing squat with the same amount as a curl, then you're probably not getting much benefit from the squat. Consider the Bulgarian split squat, if you think you don't have enough weight for the squat.

Move the isolation stuff to the end, like the raises and curls. Compound exercises first. If you're doing fly's with db on the bench, switch to the floor for safety.

If you're only doing one type of curl, do one with a supinated grip, like a regular curl seated on the incline bench or standing, or spider curl again using the incline bench.

I'd suggest drop the front raise, because most of us get plenty of front delt work from doing presses, and instead do a rear delt raise.

Upright row is dangerous, has risk of shoulder impingement. Either do face pulls (if no cables you can wrap weight in a large towel, twist the ends, and bend over to pull), or do shrugs, or this variation of the db high pull which is a power movement (fewer reps). Note the hands go above the shoulders. You can see from the thumbnail.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pNNQ8F13GU&t=225s