Review my fitness program please + questions:)

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mettelaurent
mettelaurent Posts: 12 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I am so confused about how to exercise to get the results I want - results like in the NOT and HOT threads:)

First off, here are som facts about me:

Woman, 36 yrs old
5 feet tall
158 lbs - goal is 123.

My daily caloric goal is 1200 and I reach that every day. I usually don't eat back my exercise.

I embarked on my lifestyle change 2 weeks ago exactly, and started logging food and exercise at MFP one week ago.

My exercise consists of:

A couch to 5 k run every other day. This is a personal goal for me to achieve.

Stationary bike twice a week.

20 minutes pilates twice a week

Weight training on home gym machine twice a week.

I feel like am fumbling in the dark exercise wise and I can see that a lot of the women here who have achieved amazing results are doing heavy lifting, so I feel that I should be really focusing on weight training. There is no way I can afford barbells, bench and weights now, but do you think a good solid home gym routine would work?

How many exercises per training and how many minutes should I train with weights?

How does a program like this look:

Monday: couch to 5 k + upper body weight training on machine
Tuesday: 10 min warmup bike + lower body weight training on machine
Wednesday: same as monday
Thursday: same as tuesday
Friday: couch to 5 k - no weights
Saturday: 40 minutes bike + full body weight training
Sunday : off day, maybe some yoga.

Will this be too much/enough? I am really wondering how long a weight session should last in order for it to work.

I have a lot to lose in a short amount of time (vacation in Thailand in January!) but I really want to do this the healthy way and become STRONG in the process. I hope you can help a confused newbie :)

Thanks in advance :)

Replies

  • mettelaurent
    mettelaurent Posts: 12 Member
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    Seems mynpost got lost :)

    Quick question:

    How long should a weight lifting session be in order for it to give results?
  • NBBorg
    NBBorg Posts: 38
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    Hey mettelaurent,

    First things first:

    [...] how to exercise to get the results I want [...] I embarked on my lifestyle change 2 weeks ago exactly, and started logging food and exercise at MFP one week ago. [...]

    It will take a fair amount of time to reach your goals. Dont give up, it's getting harder, trust me. The ultimate is to not lose your motivation. Your fitness programm and workout plan looks pretty good to me. Just do it for a while. You'll see the resuts in a few weeks.

    Dont forget: You wont reach your goal without clean-eating.
  • sexymuffintop
    sexymuffintop Posts: 636
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    It's not really the length of time you spend doing it. You could spend hours doing isolation exercises that do little to nothing to change your body.

    Personally if I was you, and with having no access to a barbell, bench etc, and if joining a gym is not a possibility I would look into doing some body weight exercises. Think pull ups, press ups, dips. If you google body weight workouts loads of info will come up.

    What really matters is keeping a deficit going over a long term basis to lose fat. Fat loss is pretty much down to your diet. I would also look into eating more than 1200 a day as I personally find this to be too restrictive. You can use this site: http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/ to work out your calorie needs.
  • sexymuffintop
    sexymuffintop Posts: 636
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    Dont forget: You wont reach your goal without clean-eating.
    [/quote]

    This in untrue. Just spend a bit of time looking round the forums, you will see you don't need to eat clean 100% to lose fat. Thats one of the silly old fashioned myths that people like to cling to. It's all in your deficit.
  • grimendale
    grimendale Posts: 2,153 Member
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    Dont forget: You wont reach your goal without clean-eating.
    Wrong. I've lost 25 percentage points of body fat using IIFYM rather than eating "clean" (whatever that really means). I agree with sexymuffintop that you should look into body weight exercises (nerdfitness.com and You Are Your Own Gym are good resources) rather than isolation exercises. The key to fat loss is diet. Hit your macros and maintain a healthy, safe deficit. The below can help you set your calorie and macro goals to get the results you want.

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/819055-setting-your-calorie-and-macro-targets
  • JuniperT
    JuniperT Posts: 394 Member
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    Dont forget: You wont reach your goal without clean-eating.
    Wrong. I've lost 25 percentage points of body fat using IIFYM rather than eating "clean" (whatever that really means). I agree with sexymuffintop that you should look into body weight exercises (nerdfitness.com and You Are Your Own Gym are good resources) rather than isolation exercises. The key to fat loss is diet. Hit your macros and maintain a healthy, safe deficit. The below can help you set your calorie and macro goals to get the results you want.

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/819055-setting-your-calorie-and-macro-targets


    What group is this? I'd like to join :smile:
  • stephv38
    stephv38 Posts: 203 Member
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    First, you are gorgeous and I am sure you are excited to get to a healthier and fitter you!
    I am a mommy too, about your age. I LOVE the kettlebell workouts. You will have to buy some sort of bell or handled medicine ball and then use the FitnessBlender (free on youtube) workouts. For that matter you can use their videos for anything, they have a tabata hiit that is great! I do have New Rules of Lifting for women. That is a popular starter weight program. Takes about 30 min? Keep it up! You will get there! Beware of going too low cal though! Heybales worksheet (search on message boards) is good for really figuring out where you are and where you need to be.
    Have a wonderful time in Thailand, I lived there for 2 years when I was teenager!
  • grimendale
    grimendale Posts: 2,153 Member
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    Dont forget: You wont reach your goal without clean-eating.
    Wrong. I've lost 25 percentage points of body fat using IIFYM rather than eating "clean" (whatever that really means). I agree with sexymuffintop that you should look into body weight exercises (nerdfitness.com and You Are Your Own Gym are good resources) rather than isolation exercises. The key to fat loss is diet. Hit your macros and maintain a healthy, safe deficit. The below can help you set your calorie and macro goals to get the results you want.

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/819055-setting-your-calorie-and-macro-targets

    What group is this? I'd like to join :smile:
    The link is taken from the Eat, Train, Progress group.
  • mettelaurent
    mettelaurent Posts: 12 Member
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    Thanks for all the advice! Although I am a teeny bit more confused:) Is doing body weight exercises MORE effective than lifting heavy on the home gym machine?

    I am very dedicated. This time someting has really clicked with me!
  • sexymuffintop
    sexymuffintop Posts: 636
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    What exercises are you actually doing on your home gym?
  • grimendale
    grimendale Posts: 2,153 Member
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    A combination of the two might be your best bet. The body weight exercises suggested involve compound movements to engage multiple large muscle groups. Isolation arm exercises work single, smaller muscles and so tend to be less effective for burning fat than compound movements. The ideal would be compound lifts (squats, lunges deadlifts) with a barbell, but this requires equipment you may not have. Bodyweight versions of the same exercises will be helpful at maintaining lean body mass as you cut fat.
  • mettelaurent
    mettelaurent Posts: 12 Member
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    What exercises are you actually doing on your home gym?

    I am still just dabbling in it, but I am going to do chestpress, bicep/tricep exercises, leg curl, leg extension, shoulder and back exercises...
  • mettelaurent
    mettelaurent Posts: 12 Member
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    A combination of the two might be your best bet. The body weight exercises suggested involve compound movements to engage multiple large muscle groups. Isolation arm exercises work single, smaller muscles and so tend to be less effective for burning fat than compound movements. The ideal would be compound lifts (squats, lunges deadlifts) with a barbell, but this requires equipment you may not have. Bodyweight versions of the same exercises will be helpful at maintaining lean body mass as you cut fat.

    Interesting...is that because the barbell exercises involve the whole body when stabilizing and lifting? as do body weight training? I definitely see the point....
  • grimendale
    grimendale Posts: 2,153 Member
    Options
    A combination of the two might be your best bet. The body weight exercises suggested involve compound movements to engage multiple large muscle groups. Isolation arm exercises work single, smaller muscles and so tend to be less effective for burning fat than compound movements. The ideal would be compound lifts (squats, lunges deadlifts) with a barbell, but this requires equipment you may not have. Bodyweight versions of the same exercises will be helpful at maintaining lean body mass as you cut fat.

    Interesting...is that because the barbell exercises involve the whole body when stabilizing and lifting? as do body weight training? I definitely see the point....

    Precisely.
  • sexymuffintop
    sexymuffintop Posts: 636
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    At your stage I would concentrate on the big muscle groups. Legs, back, chest. Compounds are definitely the best way to go. Isolation exercises are good in their place, but not really relevant to you right now.
  • mettelaurent
    mettelaurent Posts: 12 Member
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    Again, thanks so much! At the moment joining a gym or investing in weight equipment is not possible - but it might be in a few months. So I am thinking of doing both body weight + machine training - simply just to get something done the best way I possbly can with what I have at the moment.

    And I am thinking - doing it on a machine and with just body weight, must be better than nothing, right?

    Please tell me that sounds like a plan...LOL:)!

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