How does this workout plan sound?

sngnyrslp

I just finished 30 Day Shred and I'm back at school so I'm trying to get into a routine for the gym. Before 30DS, I was almost entirely interested in cardio and weight loss, but over the summer I realized I don't actually need to lose weight, I just need to tone up. 30DS gave me great results, and I want to keep it up but I'm a little unsure about how to go about that. Here's what I'm thinking of doing:

Monday & Thursday - Running (usually about 3 miles plus 10 minutes of power walking as a warmup and cool down)
Tuesday & Friday - 30 Minutes on elliptical machine, fat burn program. Then 15 minutes of ab exercises (I took all the ab exercises from 30DS and put them on my Zune so I can listen to them). Then strength training on my gym's machines. For strength training I was thinking about doing 2-3 minutes per machine, rotating through machines, and then doing the rotation again for a total of 4-6 minutes per machine. Right now, I'm thinking of doing rowing, leg presses, back extension, and bicep curls.

For those of you who are really gym savvy, is this enough to show results? Are there any machines I'm leaving out?
I'd love to hear any advice you all can give me, I know a lot of people on MFP are really knowledgeable and would really appreciate the input.
Thanks!

bjberry

Wow! I know you will recieve replies from our other exercise savvy people.
I just walk and race around after my 6-year-old grandson!
Have fun toning! :drinker: (water)

AlyssaC2010

You're good on the ab exercises...she has good ones on the 30DS. You can always do the same exercises as the 30DS for upper & lower body but increase your weights some. Or you could try different things to make the move harder for you so it'll be a challenge. Just make sure you target a lot of muscle groups...don't forget your triceps or your shoulders or your calves. You could do simple calf raises w/ weights. Some tricep presses. You could also hold weights to your sides and then raise your arms to your sides to be shouler level. And then another shoulder move is to hold weights to your sides and then bring arms straight in front of you at shoulder level. Those will work some arm muscles too but it'll be a little different than bicep curles. Wide-legged squats are good...and static lunges. If you want more ideas feel free to message me, I have a ton more, but these are just suggestions

sngnyrslp

Thanks for the suggestions pinkflipflops! I did a lot of moves like that during 30DS. I think for now, though, I'm going to try to focus on machines because they're available to me and because I don't have anywhere at my gym to do a lot of the exercises you suggested (the gym is being renovated so the floor mat space is pretty tiny for now)

sngnyrslp

bump?

AlyssaC2010

No problem! Use as many of the gym's machines...just to target all the groups.

TateFTW

I've got some thoughts I think will help you, but I'm heading to lunch right now. When I get back I'll throw something together for you that should help you quite a bit.

TateFTW

Here's the scoop. Going through the gym from machine to machine will NOT give you the results you want. I also think your program is to cardio focused. Cardio is important to a weight loss program, but maintenance and leaning out are different beasts.

Don't worry; I'm not going to tell you what not to do without giving you options. First, machines are ok as a PART of your resistance program, but machines are extremely limiting. Because they control how you move, they only hit the single muscle you're using. Free weights, on the other hand, require you to use all the little tiny muscles around your body to control where the weight goes. This is why free weights WILL give you better results then machines. Don’t be afraid of free weights. You don’t need big weights, just really good form with good mental focus on the muscle or area you’re working.

Another problem that comes with going from machine to machine is that you'll end up working out all of your muscles. This is not a good thing. Since you’re interested in leaning out, you need to build muscle. Don't worry! I'm not trying to bulk you up. But too much cardio and lackluster resistance training won't do the job to build an athletic, lean body. As for building muscle, your muscles don't grow when you lift weights. They actually grow AFTER you lift, when the muscles recover from being broken down in the gym. If you hit every muscle every time you lift, you aren't giving your muscles time to recover, and you won't build muscle. Again, I don't mean bulking up, just building a solid foundation of muscle for a toned body.

I work out for bulk, so I rest a lot between sets (upwards of a minute for bigger muscles) and only work one or two muscles per lifting session. I also only hit each muscle once a week. This is not what I’m suggesting to you, but too many people do just the opposite; they do a “whole body” workout every other day with light weights and end up building no muscle at all because they are afraid of “bulking up”. You need to find the middle ground. Each resistance session should focus on specific muscles, and each muscle should have at least 3 days to rest after it is trained. Depending on how many lifting sessions you want to do per week, you can work 2-4 muscle groups per session. There are different ways to group which muscles you work together. Some examples are to use opposing muscles like chest and back, or muscles that work somewhat together like shoulders and chest. You can also group the arm muscle with the larger muscle it works with, as in chest and triceps or back and biceps. The great thing is you can experiment with how you group muscles together, and you can switch it up. In fact, it’s good to switch it up to keep your body guessing. The main rule is that you give any muscle you hit 3 days to rest after you work that muscle.

Too much cardio brings on another issue. When you do cardio, you actually lose muscle. This is because your body uses muscle tissue as a source of energy. The belief that your body uses carbs, then stored fat, then muscle as energy, in that order, is MOSTLY true. It actually uses all three when you move for long periods of time. That's why big time runners NEVER have much muscle.

Instead of just running your 3 miles, do interval training. Studies have shown that doing quick sprints (20-50 yards) with rest in between actually burns more calories and fat then just running at a steady pace for the same amount of time. You also get a resistance style workout for your legs while still maintaining a high heart rate to keep the calories burning. Best of both worlds.

I’d suggest forgetting the elliptical. Instead, do your weight training circuit style, working different muscles at the same time by going back and forth between two exercises. The benefits are multiple; it takes half as long to work out, and your heart rate will stay high through the workout resulting in the benefits of a cardio style workout. Again, the best of both worlds, and you won’t be burning away all that muscle you’re working so hard to build.