Any recommendations??

janelleduah

So I've been lifting heavy for 2 months now and started out weighing 132 and now weigh 137. I'm in medical school so for most of the day I am sitting in class or sitting down studying, but my workouts usually follow this plan:
Mondays- sprinting workout (including warm up and cool down for 35 minutes) and leg workout (for about another 45 minutes)
Tuesdays- walk two miles (about 30-35 minutes) then back and chest workout for about 45 minutes
Wednesdays- sprinting workout again and legs again
Thursdays- walk two miles then bicep, tricep, and shoulders for about 45 minutes
Fridays- sprinting workout

I eat about 1600-1800 calories per day. I'm 5'4" and my goal is 125. Should I change my walking two times a week to more strenuous cardio like jogging or a different type of HIIT other than sprinting? Are my cals too low?

heybales

So I notice no lifting with the legs, though you mention leg workout, perhaps that is. Now is that traditional lifting with sets and reps and rests, or some circuit training or light weight where you really aren't going until almost failure?

So is the sprinting for training, or for fat loss?

I'm guessing by sprinting you mean intervals of some sort.
Either way, intervals shouldn't make up more than 20% of your cardio, unless that is training specific.

In which case, the Mon workout has me wondering. If sprinting is supposed to be focus, I can see lifting afterwards. If not, should be reversed.

Actually, if the sprinting is for weight loss, you be better served skipping it entirely and lifting with those biggest of muscles.
HIIT is a fad to counter the fat-burning zone only fad, and it was encouraged for those that loved the cardio, because it's close to lifting, just sport specific. But you are already doing lifting, and will gain more from that if done properly.

So 5 lbs of water weight is rather much, even if you just took up cardio (2 lbs there maybe 3 if totally out of shape), and couple if just starting lifting.

So think about why the HIIT, because it isn't doing the lifting with your legs any favors, especially if done first. And if the lifting is done correctly, you'd be hard pressed to be able to do HIIT correctly at full force afterwards, more like intervals which still could be useful.

Also, is bicep and tricep done before the shoulders? Because the good shoulder exercises, shoulder press, up-right row, bent-over rear delt row, all use the biceps and triceps already, and the shoulders are bigger muscles, or can be. If the bi's and tri's are worn out by working them first, you can't workout out the shoulders to the same degree.
Plus the fact the tri's and bi's are worked out on Tue with back and chest work likely, meaning they already get a great workout.

I'd suggest once you decide what is going to be a really useful workout, and the lifting will be more than HIIT, which is just a cardio imitation of lifting, use the spreadsheet here to get your figures for a good deficit. You may be eating at TDEE or over, and so body has the resources to really change, but not drop fat if desired still.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/813720-spreadsheet-bmr-tdee-deficit-macro-calcs-hrm-zones

Alkirra

In your photo as your avatar you look sensational! Why have a figure in your mind for a goal, why not go by what your clothes feel like etc. It certainly sounds like you are doing all the right moves to me, you are not just sitting around after all and your picture looks fab!

Greenrun99

Do you have a HRM or anything like that you use during your sprinting sessions? As heybales mentioned during your lifting routines are your reps usually to 8-10 with the last 3 really hard to finish (burning, shaky?), if not you should increase weight.
Also can't see your diary so not sure what kinds of food or how much you may be eating, but just running your numbers at a Moderate activity level I get a calorie level of around 1900-2k, so if your sticking around 1600 or less, you probably need to eat more.

The thing with the scale showing a different weight, it really is difficult depending what you eat the day (or days before) you get on the scale, if you lifted weights, if you were sore, what time of day you weight yourself.. all these influence that scale number (as well as 100 different things).

janelleduah

Yes, the sprinting is for fat loss. My current BF % is around 21%. But since you say intervals shouldn't make up more than 20% of cardio, should I be sprinting perhaps once a week and do 4 medium intensity cardio workouts instead? And all my lifting workouts include heavy weights doing 3 sets of 10 reps with the last 2 -3 reps being difficult. On days that I do sprinting intervals ( 6 rounds of 75 m sprints/ 175 m jog) and then leg exercises (usually deadlifts, squats, calf raises, hamstring curls, and leg presses) I do find that l am extremely sore and remain sore the next day. I was surprised by the weight gain too, since i've been a regular exerciser for the past 7 years and have only seen such high numbers once I started lifting. I have noticed a leaner stomach and have lost an inch off my waist but the weight increase is still an annoying effect. I actually used your spreadsheet to calculate a daily caloric intake of 1821 for my current workout regimen, which means I was eating under as I would actually eat at most 1800 on weekdays and 1300 on the weekends, but will recalculate once I figure out a better plan.

So, what I'm taking from this is:
-less HIIT since it is just a cardio version of lifting, which I already do
-focus on proper lifitng
-lots of lifting exercises for the upper body train more than one body part at a time (bicep and triceps get worked out with shoulders and back/chest day too)

More questions i have (Sorry):
1. how much HIIT and how much regular cardio
2. whats an effective 4 day split for lifting

janelleduah

sorry, didn't see the other replies before I typed mine:
@alkirra, thank you so much! I was overweight before (172) and when I first lost weight 7 years ago, I went down to 120 but felt my best at 125. I regained weight 2 years ago (went up to 150) and have found myself staying pretty steady at 132 until I started lifting. My main goals are for fat loss and I guess I've always associated 125 with my 'best' weight.

@greenrun99 i've been looking to buy a HRM but haven't decided on one...any recommendations? and I eat a low carb paleo diet: salmon, grassfed beef and chicken, eggs, lots of green veggies like spinach, kale, brussel sprouts, green beans, broccoli and some cauliflower, spaghetti squash and carrots. my fats come from nuts- usually pistachios with extreme portion control, avocado, coconut oil, and extra virgin olive oils. usually get about 120 g of protein, 50 g net carbs, 80 g of fat) I see now that I was eating too little. I dialed back my workouts on monday and tuesday (exam this week so did at home bodyweight 15 minute workouts - from bodeefit.com) and ate 1800 calories and lost a pound since Sunday.

holleysings

sorry, didn't see the other replies before I typed mine:
@alkirra, thank you so much! I was overweight before (172) and when I first lost weight 7 years ago, I went down to 120 but felt my best at 125. I regained weight 2 years ago (went up to 150) and have found myself staying pretty steady at 132 until I started lifting. My main goals are for fat loss and I guess I've always associated 125 with my 'best' weight.

@greenrun99 i've been looking to buy a HRM but haven't decided on one...any recommendations? and I eat a low carb paleo diet: salmon, grassfed beef and chicken, eggs, lots of green veggies like spinach, kale, brussel sprouts, green beans, broccoli and some cauliflower, spaghetti squash and carrots. my fats come from nuts- usually pistachios with extreme portion control, avocado, coconut oil, and extra virgin olive oils. usually get about 120 g of protein, 50 g net carbs, 80 g of fat) I see now that I was eating too little. I dialed back my workouts on monday and tuesday (exam this week so did at home bodyweight 15 minute workouts - from bodeefit.com) and ate 1800 calories and lost a pound since Sunday.

So, you weigh 137lbs and have 21% body fat. Why would your goal weight be 125lbs? That would put you at 13-4% body fat if you lost none of your LBM. That's going to be near impossible to achieve. What's your body fat goal? Because 21% is pretty darn good.

norcal_yogi

sorry, didn't see the other replies before I typed mine:
@alkirra, thank you so much! I was overweight before (172) and when I first lost weight 7 years ago, I went down to 120 but felt my best at 125. I regained weight 2 years ago (went up to 150) and have found myself staying pretty steady at 132 until I started lifting. My main goals are for fat loss and I guess I've always associated 125 with my 'best' weight.

@greenrun99 i've been looking to buy a HRM but haven't decided on one...any recommendations? and I eat a low carb paleo diet: salmon, grassfed beef and chicken, eggs, lots of green veggies like spinach, kale, brussel sprouts, green beans, broccoli and some cauliflower, spaghetti squash and carrots. my fats come from nuts- usually pistachios with extreme portion control, avocado, coconut oil, and extra virgin olive oils. usually get about 120 g of protein, 50 g net carbs, 80 g of fat) I see now that I was eating too little. I dialed back my workouts on monday and tuesday (exam this week so did at home bodyweight 15 minute workouts - from bodeefit.com) and ate 1800 calories and lost a pound since Sunday.

So, you weigh 137lbs and have 21% body fat. Why would your goal weight be 125lbs? That would put you at 13-4% body fat if you lost none of your LBM. That's going to be near impossible to achieve. What's your body fat goal? Because 21% is pretty darn good.

^^ agreed regarding the 21% bf being a nice number. i am 19-20% and about 125#, 5'7". you likely have more LBM than me given the heavy lifting that you do and i do not. do you happen to know what your bf % was when you were at 125?

heybales

Yes, the sprinting is for fat loss. My current BF % is around 21%. But since you say intervals shouldn't make up more than 20% of cardio, should I be sprinting perhaps once a week and do 4 medium intensity cardio workouts instead? And all my lifting workouts include heavy weights doing 3 sets of 10 reps with the last 2 -3 reps being difficult. On days that I do sprinting intervals ( 6 rounds of 75 m sprints/ 175 m jog) and then leg exercises (usually deadlifts, squats, calf raises, hamstring curls, and leg presses) I do find that l am extremely sore and remain sore the next day. I was surprised by the weight gain too, since i've been a regular exerciser for the past 7 years and have only seen such high numbers once I started lifting. I have noticed a leaner stomach and have lost an inch off my waist but the weight increase is still an annoying effect. I actually used your spreadsheet to calculate a daily caloric intake of 1821 for my current workout regimen, which means I was eating under as I would actually eat at most 1800 on weekdays and 1300 on the weekends, but will recalculate once I figure out a better plan.

So, what I'm taking from this is:
-less HIIT since it is just a cardio version of lifting, which I already do
-focus on proper lifitng
-lots of lifting exercises for the upper body train more than one body part at a time (bicep and triceps get worked out with shoulders and back/chest day too)

More questions i have (Sorry):
1. how much HIIT and how much regular cardio
2. whats an effective 4 day split for lifting

Oh yeah, you don't even know what you could be reaching on the lifting if you weren't doing the intervals like that before the lifting.
1 - Since it's for weight loss, don't even do HIIT, you are doing the true form already, lifting.
If you just want to do some cardio using the legs, make it after the lifting, for 30 min in Active Recovery zone. HRM tab in spreadsheet will help there.
If it's the day after, up to 60 min same zone.
Day before, you may get up to Aerobic zone without impacting your lifting the next day.

What's been happening now with that schedule is you do indeed feel like you are really working those muscles to failure, especially lower body. But it's not because the muscles are overloaded such they need to improve (perhaps a tad), but because they are just plain tired from the day before. Tired endurance-load sore and strength-load sore are different things.
Now, if like me you enjoy endurance events, there can be a valid way of getting that benefit, but even there, best to make the lifting about lifting and get the most out of it. Endurance is different day with no impact between the 2 focuses.

2 - Good 2-day split, 2 times a week actually. 4-day split is for body-builders for contests, bulking.
http://www.exrx.net/WeightTraining/Instructions.html

Just follow the advice, pick out the major exercises it suggests.

Great job on doing the lifting with good sets and reps and methods. You might see what a new schedule TDEE is, and indeed, your deficit will be smaller since less to lose.
And infact, if you want the focus to be slow fat loss while you get max gains in strength, add 100 calories to the suggested TDEG. That suggestion is low for fat loss, taking max you get since you are lifting. But it's hard to make improvements on it, mostly intended for retaining, not gaining.

janelleduah

I honestly have no idea what my BF% was when I was 125 because back then I was more focused on losing weight and looking "skinny" rather than being fit and strong. My ultimate aesthetic goal is to have visible ab definition, for which I think I would need to be around 15%. Hard, I know, but I want to see if its doable. Regardless, I guess I should stop reaching towards a goal weight that existed when I was less strong, and start focusing on making this new body leaner with no goal weight in mind.

janelleduah

Yes, the sprinting is for fat loss. My current BF % is around 21%. But since you say intervals shouldn't make up more than 20% of cardio, should I be sprinting perhaps once a week and do 4 medium intensity cardio workouts instead? And all my lifting workouts include heavy weights doing 3 sets of 10 reps with the last 2 -3 reps being difficult. On days that I do sprinting intervals ( 6 rounds of 75 m sprints/ 175 m jog) and then leg exercises (usually deadlifts, squats, calf raises, hamstring curls, and leg presses) I do find that l am extremely sore and remain sore the next day. I was surprised by the weight gain too, since i've been a regular exerciser for the past 7 years and have only seen such high numbers once I started lifting. I have noticed a leaner stomach and have lost an inch off my waist but the weight increase is still an annoying effect. I actually used your spreadsheet to calculate a daily caloric intake of 1821 for my current workout regimen, which means I was eating under as I would actually eat at most 1800 on weekdays and 1300 on the weekends, but will recalculate once I figure out a better plan.

So, what I'm taking from this is:
-less HIIT since it is just a cardio version of lifting, which I already do
-focus on proper lifitng
-lots of lifting exercises for the upper body train more than one body part at a time (bicep and triceps get worked out with shoulders and back/chest day too)

More questions i have (Sorry):
1. how much HIIT and how much regular cardio
2. whats an effective 4 day split for lifting

Oh yeah, you don't even know what you could be reaching on the lifting if you weren't doing the intervals like that before the lifting.
1 - Since it's for weight loss, don't even do HIIT, you are doing the true form already, lifting.
If you just want to do some cardio using the legs, make it after the lifting, for 30 min in Active Recovery zone. HRM tab in spreadsheet will help there.
If it's the day after, up to 60 min same zone.
Day before, you may get up to Aerobic zone without impacting your lifting the next day.

What's been happening now with that schedule is you do indeed feel like you are really working those muscles to failure, especially lower body. But it's not because the muscles are overloaded such they need to improve (perhaps a tad), but because they are just plain tired from the day before. Tired endurance-load sore and strength-load sore are different things.
Now, if like me you enjoy endurance events, there can be a valid way of getting that benefit, but even there, best to make the lifting about lifting and get the most out of it. Endurance is different day with no impact between the 2 focuses.

2 - Good 2-day split, 2 times a week actually. 4-day split is for body-builders for contests, bulking.
http://www.exrx.net/WeightTraining/Instructions.html

Just follow the advice, pick out the major exercises it suggests.

Great job on doing the lifting with good sets and reps and methods. You might see what a new schedule TDEE is, and indeed, your deficit will be smaller since less to lose.
And infact, if you want the focus to be slow fat loss while you get max gains in strength, add 100 calories to the suggested TDEG. That suggestion is low for fat loss, taking max you get since you are lifting. But it's hard to make improvements on it, mostly intended for retaining, not gaining.

thank you so much for the thorough explanation! I'll be implementing this change ASAP