New Plan...want suggestions/comments/whatever

Lyadeia

I'll try to make this as short as possible...so sorry if you end up reading a book here, lol.

I have been weight training for years. I haven't been doing serious routines until last year, but I have been lifting for a long time (if that makes sense to you?) I started out with total body routines, then I moved to an upper/lower split...and earlier this year I even did Jamie Eason's LiveFit plan for about a month or so before I got bored with it (mostly cause that first month is cardio-free, and I prefer a balanced plan with weights AND cardio).

My work schedule sucks, plain and simple. I work third shift 5 nights a week. The only time I get a chance to go to the gym is after I get off work, Monday- Friday. I can't go after work on the weekends since on the weekends, the gym opens at 8. I get off work at 7 and don't want to wait around an hour...I have to go to sleep after I finish the workout (melatonin is my new best friend...)

If my weight routines last an hour, then I don't do cardio that day cause I don't want to be in the gym more than an hour or slightly more because, well, I have to go home and sleep afterwards. I don't want to do full body routines anymore because I just don't feel like I am getting as much out of them as I used to. In that hour in the gym, I can only do like 3 sets of 1 exercise per body part which makes me feel like I am not doing nearly enough for any body part each day. And if I do a split routine of any kind, it seems that I don't have enough days in the week to get in sufficient cardio...

So, I decided to cut down the weight training into a further body part split making each routine less than 5 exercises and finishing in around 30 minutes. Then I will do some cardio afterwards for 30 minutes. The routine that I came up with fits my work schedule looks like this:

Monday: Shoulders & Triceps
1a. Standing DB shoulder press
1b. Skull crushers
2a. Seated rear delt flyes
2b. Standing side lateral shoulder raises
3. Tricep push-ups
30 minutes on treadmill

Tuesday: Legs & Abs (1)
1. Barbell Squats
2. Sumo Deadlifts
3. Bulgarian Split Squats
4. Ab Combo (probably hanging leg raises and crunches)
30 minutes on the step mill (to finish killing my legs and rear for the day...)

Wednesday: Back & Calves
1. Bent-over BB Rows
2. Lat Pulldowns (or chin-ups when I get strong enough)
3. Low Cable Rows
4. Standing Calf Machine
30 minutes on a stationary bike

Thursday: Chest & Biceps
1a. Bench Press
1b. Barbell Curls
2a. Incline Chest Flyes
2b. Incline DB Curls
3. Standard Push-ups
30 minutes on the treadmill

Friday: Legs & Abs (2)
1. Hack Squat
2. Leg Press
3. Leg Curls
4. Ab Combo (alternate between low and high plank, holding for 30 secs. each)
30 minutes on the step mill (cause I'm a glutton for punishment with this machine on leg day...)

Saturdays and Sundays will be rest days, possibly may do PiYo classes on one of those days to work on my flexibility since I don't do much stretching or flexibility work otherwise. I might do cardio again on one of those days...just depends on my mood or energy levels. Turbo Kick is just really fun, so I might make time for it on Saturdays if I don't do PiYo. At least one of the days will be totally rest with no workout whatsoever.

My goals are mainly fat loss, but I am also wanting to increase cardiovascular endurance (hence the 5 days of cardio, lol), and to increase my muscular strength.

I don't believe that isolation exercises are "bad" or whatever like a lot of people seem to...I personally think it looks bad for a person to ignore muscles like calves because their physique isn't balanced. But I want to concentrate mostly on compound movements with the isolation ones tossed in for extras. I also do the majority of my weight training on barbells and dumbbells, but I don't think all machines are "bad" either...I get a better calf workout from machines as opposed to struggling with dumbbells in my hands due to grip strength...I currently do 190 pounds on the standing and seated calf machines and really don't want to attempt holding that in my hands, lol.

So...comments? Suggestions? :flowerforyou:

Edited to add: please only comment on the exercise plan and don't mention nutrition. I'm not asking about that...just thought that I'd throw that in since last time I posted about exercise in the "exercise" forum everyone responded with "eat protein" LOL.

Edited AGAIN to also add: I plan on doing 3 sets of most exercises for around 8 reps (6-12 range). Some of the exercises (like the push-ups and the calves) will have just 2 sets. Calves will be about 15 reps...abs about 12-15 as well...and push-ups will be as many as I can do until I can't do another one. Exact number to be recorded for each set in my handy dandy workout notebook that i carry around (it astounds me how many people at the gym do not record what they do!)

FoxyMcDeadlift

1. If you train the full body movements e.g squats, deadlifts etc you train your muscles in conjunction, as a functional unit. If you then train one additional muscle but not others, it creates a imbalance. Most people dont need to do a isolation for their calves, instead, they should be focusing on a compound that works the hamstrings more, like a good morning

2. You probably want a rest day in there in between your lifting days, most routines tend to be AB x AB xx or something similar, you dont want to fry your CNS

3. No deadlifts on back day

4. Google Starting Strength and Stronglifts. I dont care if you've been lifting one month or one hundred years, if you can still make linear gains on the core lifts then you should be doing one of these programmes

5. Lifting, IMO is all about the core lifts, by these i mean : Press, Bench Press, Deadlift and Squat. But i would accept maybe Chins or Rows

6. A lot of days you do the same excercise twice (two sets of curls, pull ups and lat pulldowns) You should look for more training economy

7. Cardio on rest days