help me with my workout routine!

mkoff32

I had fallen off the wagon in regards to both nutrition and working out. About a year ago I had signed up on here and lost 10 pounds. Luckily for me, I maintained that weight and have lost an additional 10 since coming back. So I currently sit at 254 pounds and want to be near my goal of 230 by June. The difference for me this time around is that I'm not just watching my nutrition and doing cardio, I've added some weight training. Having never seriously weight trained before I'm kind of clueless. This is what I'm currently doing, I've broken it down into 2 workouts and rotate them. I usually workout 3-4 times a week.

WORKOUT 1
Smith Machine Flat Bench (4 sets of 8)
Dumbell Incline (4 sets of 10)
Chest Butterfly Machine (4 sets of 10)
Dumbell Military Press (4 sets of 10)
Shrugs (4 sets of 10)
Kettle Bell Upright Rows (4 sets of 20)
30 minutes on Treadmill at 3.5 on an incline of 5

WORKOUT 2
Bicep 21's (4 sets of 10)
Preacher Curls (4 sets of 10)
Standing Hammer Curls (4 sets of 10)
Lying Tricep Extension (4 sets of 10)
Tricep Pulldowns (4 sets of 10)
Tricep Kickbacks (4 sets of 10)
30 minutes on a treadmill at 3.5 on an incline of 5

If possible, I would like to keep it to 2 basic workouts in which I can rotate and that can be completed in rougly an hour and a half, including the cardio. I know I don't currently work legs into weights. My legs are usually burning pretty good after I get off the treadmill at that incline, will that suffice? I'm trying to lose the weight around my stomach and get rid of the lovehandles. I'm pretty lean everywhere else. I don't want to get huge, just add a little muscle and tone up. Any help is appreciated!

hamiltonba

I worked out w/a personal trainer for 4 years. One thing that all women think is that they are going to get too big lifting weights - it will NEVER happen. It sounds like you have a great routine. Although you want to work on your waist, unfortunately you can't spot reduce. When I had gained some weight, I added leg exercises and ended up losing more weight - legs have the biggest muscles on the human body so when you gain muscle there, you are increasing your metabolism thereby losing more weight. You really should work your legs as well.

erickirb

fixed below

erickirb

The one area, besides your legs, that you seem to be lacking is your back. You may begin to have issues if you work your chest a lot and not your back very unbalanced and can lead to back injuries. You can reduce your bicep and tricep work by 1 exercise each and move your shoulder workouts to that day, then you can add a few back exercises to your chest day. See below for 2 examples to change your resistance workout routine.

WORKOUT 1____________________________________Or ___Workout 1
Smith Machine Flat Bench (4 sets of 8)____________________Smith Machine Flat Bench (4 sets of 8)
Dumbell Incline (4 sets of 10) ___________________________Dumbell Incline (4 sets of 10)
Chest Butterfly Machine (4 sets of 10)____________________ Chest Butterfly Machine (4 sets of 10)
Lateral pull downs (4 sets of 8) _________________________ Military Press (4 sets of 10)
seated cable rows (3 sets of 10) or 1 arm dumbbell rows ____ lateral side raises (3 sets of 12)
bent over dumbbell flies (3 sets of 12) ____________________Upright rows (3 sets of 12)
N/A _______________________________________________Lying Tricep Extension (4 sets of 10)

N/A________________________________________________Tricep Pulldowns (4 sets of 10)

WORKOUT 2_____________________________________or ___ Workout 2
Military Press (4 sets of 10) ____________________________ Lateral pull downs (4 sets of 8)
Upright rows (3 sets of 12) _____________________________seated cable rows (3 sets of 10)
lateral side raises (3 sets of 12)__________________________ bent over dumbbell flies (3 x10)
Bicep 21's (4 sets of 10)________________________________ Bicep 21's (4 sets of 10)
Standing Hammer Curls (4 sets of 10)_____________________ Standing Hammer Curls (4 sets of 10)
Lying Tricep Extension (4 sets of 10)_______________________Squats (4x8)
Tricep Pulldowns (4 sets of 10)___________________________straight leg Dead lifts (3x10)
N/A _______________________________________________ Standing calve raises (3x12)

You can even stick with the left side for a month, then switch to the right side for a month going back and forth each month to keep your body guessing. Feel free to change up the exercises for each body part as well. ex. replace seated cable rows with assisted chin ups. Feel free to add me as a friend and I can definitely give you some more ideas.

mkoff32

Thanks! I was under the impression that upright rows and military press also work your back???

Also, I have never squated or done dead lifts before... I'm afraid of injuring myself... lol. Can lunges be substituted anywhere in there?

erickirb

Thanks! I was under the impression that upright rows and military press also work your back???

Also, I have never squated or done dead lifts before... I'm afraid of injuring myself... lol. Can lunges be substituted anywhere in there?

Military press typically works the full shoulder and some of the upper chest, upright rows work both your traps (beside the neck ) and a part of the middle of your back but they are considered a shoulder exercise. You could probably do lunges instead of squats, and instead of dead lifts you would do leg curls on a machine.

HOSED49

Heres a suggestion for your workouts. Incorporate your routine into an interval style or supersets. You said you have issues with cardio,so by taking less rest time between exercises you raise your heart rate which will in turn help your aerobic and anaerobic capacity. I do alot of crossfit workouts like : running a quarter mile, then knocking out kettelbell swings, back to the quarter mile, back to the quarter mile etc ...for three to five rounds. I understand isolating bodyparts and grouping them into daily routines. I did it for years always trying for a new max in bench,squat etc... but being married now no one really cares how much I bench or squat. So I do workouts for functional strength as opposed to bodybuilding work. What I have realized is that my definition started coming back on its own, I did lose that big bench press and squat but I dont really care. I started this routine a month ago (crossfit exercises) and could do a few pullups on my own but had to use the weight assisted pull up machine. Since then I can do 12 pullups unassisted for round after round. One workout I love to do is 5 pullups, 10 pushups, and 15 bodyweight squats, as many rounds as you can do in twenty minutes. Try it if you want, it develops your back,biceps, chest, triceps, quads, cardio,core. And it only takes twenty (although grueling if you push yourself) minutes. Still do isolation work for your muscles but mix it up for fun, and challenge yourself daily. It helped me get past the mental game of the same old routine day in and day out. Like I said though, its just a suggestion, something you can decide to use or not, bottom line is you get back as much as you put in.

erickirb

Heres a suggestion for your workouts. Incorporate your routine into an interval style or supersets. You said you have issues with cardio,so by taking less rest time between exercises you raise your heart rate which will in turn help your aerobic and anaerobic capacity. I do alot of crossfit workouts like : running a quarter mile, then knocking out kettelbell swings, back to the quarter mile, back to the quarter mile etc ...for three to five rounds. I understand isolating bodyparts and grouping them into daily routines. I did it for years always trying for a new max in bench,squat etc... but being married now no one really cares how much I bench or squat. So I do workouts for functional strength as opposed to bodybuilding work. What I have realized is that my definition started coming back on its own, I did lose that big bench press and squat but I dont really care. I started this routine a month ago (crossfit exercises) and could do a few pullups on my own but had to use the weight assisted pull up machine. Since then I can do 12 pullups unassisted for round after round. One workout I love to do is 5 pullups, 10 pushups, and 15 bodyweight squats, as many rounds as you can do in twenty minutes. Try it if you want, it develops your back,biceps, chest, triceps, quads, cardio,core. And it only takes twenty (although grueling if you push yourself) minutes. Still do isolation work for your muscles but mix it up for fun, and challenge yourself daily. It helped me get past the mental game of the same old routine day in and day out. Like I said though, its just a suggestion, something you can decide to use or not, bottom line is you get back as much as you put in.

This is a great way to get it all in, I typically do P90x which is circuit training, and when not doing P90x I do a workout like the original poster but I do super sets I go right from bench press to lateral side raises to tricep push downs then take a break and do it 2 more times. My workouts consist of 3 super sets of 3 exercises each and I finish in about 25 min due to not taking as many breaks.

HOSED49

Have you tried the Insanity DVD's yet? They are amazing, god awful, better than running on a treadmill, god awful,....did I mention god awful? It is a relief while your doing them to see all the fit people in the viseo falling out during the video, makes ya not feel so bad when you take breaks. Dont let it scare you though, it is intense but man does it burn some calories! Like I said, for me it is better than steady stqate running on a treadmill as I tend to get bored. The videos are typically 40-45 minutes. I brought them to the station with me and alot of guys have started utilizing them. Easier to do in a group as your less likely to quit due to pride LOL. I was doing one at home the other night, about 30 minutes in and ready to quit when my 6 year old dadughter came down and was watching me, she jumped in and started doing it with me mimicking the video by saying, you can do it daddy, just a few more. Needless to say I didnt quit.