Should I add anything to my routine?

AnswerzPwease

Goal: lose weight and preserve muscle (or gain if possible haha)

M,W,F: bench press, shoulder press, bent over barbell row, bicep curls

T, TH,Sa: Squat, deadlift

Each of the above is done 5 sets of 5 reps with weights that are just high enough where I struggle to get that last rep of each set done.

Anything I should add? I have a small machine and a curl bar.

I might add HIIT.

AnswerzPwease

Bump

Capt_Apollo

congrats on the 100 pounds lost. as you know, losing weight and preserving muscle, or building it, is a matter of what you eat, not as much on how you train.

i think what you should add is some books. starting strength is great, as is 5/3/1. they can answer your questions better than anyone and set you on the right path on how to set up a proper weight lifting program.

that being said, are you saying that you do all three of those exercises (bench press, shoulder press, and curls) on each of those three days? and the same on the leg days? that is a lot on your body to be going to failure on so many exercises so many times a week.

a basic lifting program has you going to failure on one main compound lift four times a week, and then usually training not-to-failure on other exercise. for instance you might train to failure on squats, but then you do 5 sets of ten of your 50% max on dead lifts on the same day.

levitateme

Sounds like you're basically doing SL5x5, but not in the format intended

Day1: bench, BOR, squat 5 sets of 5 reps
Day2: press, DL , squat 5 sets of 5 reps
repeat, increasing by 5 lbs each session (if you can)

I do SL5x5 and have added my own accessory work, just because I like to target other muscles. Lat pull downs, back hyperextensions or good mornings, calf raises, cable crunch pull down or knee raises, pullups or chinups, dips...

I wouldn't recommend adding HIIT, but that's just my personal preference. I tried doing HIIT on off lifting days and found that I couldn't complete all 5 sets. I do rowing as a cardio warmup before lifting and take brisk walks or swim on off days and that's been enough for me.

jimmmer

You should be removing things from that routine.

A properly laid out routine will have adequate recovery built in. Adding in HIIT on top of that will burn you out faster. If that's your goal, crack on.

Or else, just do something like Starting Strength, SL 5x5 or All Pro's SBR and profit from a properly laid out schedule.

SideSteel

Doing this 6/week doesn't really leave much room on the table for hiit in my opinion.

AnswerzPwease

Doing this 6/week doesn't really leave much room on the table for hiit in my opinion.

Would you suggest removing some things? Or simply not doing the HIIT?

SideSteel

Doing this 6/week doesn't really leave much room on the table for hiit in my opinion.

Would you suggest removing some things? Or simply not doing the HIIT?

Ultimately that's going to depend on how well the current program is working and what may need to change to bring you closer to your goals.

I would question whether or not you are getting the most benefit out of that high of training frequency while still doing a 5x5. I would assume that training 3-4 days per week would allow better recovery, which may then allow faster gains in strength, which could have long term implications on hypertrophy (you're able to do more work).

I would say that for "most" people, I would recommend 3-4 days/week resistance training followed by the addition of cardio if cardio is a necessary element to place the caloric deficit appropriately for fat loss (and this also assumes that we aren't adding in cardio for reasons outside of fat loss such as cardio-based goals).

AnswerzPwease

Doing this 6/week doesn't really leave much room on the table for hiit in my opinion.

Would you suggest removing some things? Or simply not doing the HIIT?

Ultimately that's going to depend on how well the current program is working and what may need to change to bring you closer to your goals.

I would question whether or not you are getting the most benefit out of that high of training frequency while still doing a 5x5. I would assume that training 3-4 days per week would allow better recovery, which may then allow faster gains in strength, which could have long term implications on hypertrophy (you're able to do more work).

I would say that for "most" people, I would recommend 3-4 days/week resistance training followed by the addition of cardio if cardio is a necessary element to place the caloric deficit appropriately for fat loss (and this also assumes that we aren't adding in cardio for reasons outside of fat loss such as cardio-based goals).

Thank you. Much appreciated.

Upstate_Dunadan

Goal: lose weight

M,W,F: bench press, shoulder press, bent over barbell row, bicep curls

T, TH,Sa: Squat, deadlift. Each of the above is done 5 sets of 5 reps with weights that are just high enough where I struggle to get that last rep of each set done.

If your goal is to lose weight, why are you going with low reps? I would go higher rep, short rest, which will make the workout a bit longer and keep your hear rate up. That's what I'm doing now with sets of 15, 12, 10, 8. If you really want to push it, do 20, 15, 12, 10, 8. I did this a few routines ago and it was one long cardio session with the benefits of HIIT. I would keep rest at 1 minute between sets for everything but maybe squats. I give myself 1.5 to 2 minutes depending how I am feeling.

I think you could cut back on the number of days, giving you more time to recover, and maybe add some exercises.

I was trying to do a 6 day a week routine but just couldn't keep it up. I've moved to 4 days a week at the gym, and 2 days steady state cardio. Here is what I'm doing as an example. Most of these are the 4 sets mentioned above (15, 12, 10, 8) except the items followed by /jump rope. These are supersets with the exercise being 4x20 followed as quick as you can with jump rope (as many as you can get in a set amount of time - I started at 1 minute and am up to 2 minutes). Upper workout takes a bit over an hour, lower takes closer to 90 minutes.

Mon - Upper/Push - DB Press, Push-ups/Jump Rope, Arnold DB Press, DB Lateral Raise, Triceps Pressdown, DB Shrugs, Cable Crunch

Tues - Lower/Pull - Front Squat, Straight-leg Deadlift, Bent over Row, Rev Grip Pull Down/Jump Rope, Seated Calf Raise, DB Curl, Cable Curl, Ab Wheel

Wed - Cardio

Thurs - Upper/Push - DB Incline Press, DB Decline Press/Jump Rope, Barbell Overhead Press, Dips, Bent over Lateral Raise, Smith Shrugs, Hanging Leg Raise

Fri - Lower/Pull - Squats, Walking DB Lunge, Standing Calf Raise, Pull-Ups (AMAP), Seated Cable Row/Jump Rope, Barbell Curl, Hammer Curl, Russian Twist

Sat - Cardio