Advice re stronglifts

joybedford

Hi last night I sat down and wrote myself a very elaborate weekly Programme including cardio and lifting. I want to lose fat/weight and build muscle. My plan included lifting 3 days and running 3-4 says a week, dancing 2 hours once a week. I don't want to give up running it is great stress relief and I have made too much progress to give it up.
In the cold light of day however I think my programme might be too complex and take too long. I am not new to lifting at all, but I have an extremely busy lifestyle. I work shifts mainly nights and have 3 kids with special needs. I don't have time for an elaborate routine. I have done stronglifts before and enjoyed it but always felt like I should be doing more. Is it enough to get the results I need. I know I don't need hours in the gym but 3 lifts seems minimal. Looking forward to advice.

ILiftHeavyAcrylics

What results are you hoping for? If you just need to maintain your muscle while you lose weight Stronglifts is fine for that.


My initial thought is that you likely will need to cut something. I mean, by all means try it out, but that's a lot of time at the gym doing pretty intense activity.

krokador

With that amount of running I'd expect each session is ~30 minutes since you said it's kind of a stress relief thing.), doing SL 3 times a week might actually bury you quicker than you'd expect. If you don't want to give up any running, I'd go down to 2 days a week. Once the weights get heavy enough, you won't feel as though you should be doing more work. On top of that, 2 sessions a week might be more manageable than 3. And you could add *some* extra work if you feel so inclined since you'll have more recovery time between sessions.

If your goal isn't to be competitive or get super strong, you could also check out this 2 days a week lifting program for non-athletes. It's pretty soundly built (Jason Blaha is a bit of a love or hate him type of guy, but he's smart) and might cater to your needs a little more. It's also got more variety if that's more your cup of tea.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pm-mYQ7a3xM

You could also keep 3 lifting sessions a week but drop the sets to 3x5. Especially if you're planning to reduce your calories a good bit, the lesser volume will agree a lot more with your diet then.

The worse thing you can do for your body is decide to do all the things at once. Ease yourself into it, see how your body reacts, and adjust accordingly.

girlie100

Pretty much what Krok said, the Jason Blaha is a good mix of workouts. Set yourself up with lifting two days a week alongside your running and in a few weeks time you will be able to establish how you are responding and where to add in extra stuff.