New to weight training - bit of advice please

cathie2903
cathie2903 Posts: 85 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I have ideally another stone of weight to lose but I also want to look lean rather than just reduce numbers of the scale. I have started weight training and plan to do 3 days of weights and 2 or 3 spinning sessions for my cardio.

My calories are set to around 1300 per day at the moment. I am 5'9 and target weight is about 155 (currently at 168)

I would really appreciate some advice on how to set up my exercise plan for the week and what sort of calorie intake I should aim for each day. I'm not really too bothered about the number on the scales as long as I lose inches and get rid of the fat covering any muscle I may have! :)

Thanks all x:flowerforyou:

Replies

  • loriq41
    loriq41 Posts: 479 Member
    Well I do New Rules of Lifting for Women 3 days per week...Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday with a cardio session Saturday morning and HIIT for 15 minutes after lifting...I think you need to increase your cals because when you lift you get very very very very hungry. I am 5 ft 124 lbs and am eating at 1500 right now and I may have to increase that. ALSO, not sure what you are doing protein wise but I aim for 100 grams per day...I want to inhibit lean muscle mass loss and so should you! :) If you do TDEE I would probably only take a deficit of 5-10% as you do not have a ton of weight to lose. Hope this helps! :)
  • BusyRaeNOTBusty
    BusyRaeNOTBusty Posts: 7,166 Member
    I like Strong Lifts 5x5. It's 3 days a week.

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/560459-stronglifts-5x5-summary

    I think that combined with the spinning would be great.

    I'd also advise you to up your calories. I am also 5'9", 158lbs. I eat about 2000 calories a day to lose, 2400 to maintain. Get at least 100g of protein, and 50g of fat each day.
  • odusgolp
    odusgolp Posts: 10,477 Member
    I like Strong Lifts 5x5. It's 3 days a week.

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/560459-stronglifts-5x5-summary

    I think that combined with the spinning would be great.

    I'd also advice you to up your calories. I am also 5'9", 158lbs. I eat about 2000 calories a day to lose, 2400 to maintain. Get at least 100g of protein, and 50g of fat each day.

    I'm 5'9", 165 and need about 1500 to lose. At 2000 I'd keep gaining. I need to lift heavy **** *sigh*
  • BusyRaeNOTBusty
    BusyRaeNOTBusty Posts: 7,166 Member
    I like Strong Lifts 5x5. It's 3 days a week.

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/560459-stronglifts-5x5-summary

    I think that combined with the spinning would be great.

    I'd also advice you to up your calories. I am also 5'9", 158lbs. I eat about 2000 calories a day to lose, 2400 to maintain. Get at least 100g of protein, and 50g of fat each day.

    I'm 5'9", 165 and need about 1500 to lose. At 2000 I'd keep gaining. I need to lift heavy **** *sigh*

    Yes. :bigsmile: :drinker:
  • IPAkiller
    IPAkiller Posts: 711 Member
    Odusgolp:
    I'm 5'9", 165 and need about 1500 to lose. At 2000 I'd keep gaining. I need to lift heavy **** *sigh*
    SQUATS!!!
    front-squat-good-pov.gif
  • WhiteRabbit1313
    WhiteRabbit1313 Posts: 1,091 Member
    According to this, 1300 calories/day would be below BMR, which isn't ideal. You don't have much to lose, so eating at TDEE minus 10% would be good, but minus 20% would be ok, too. Either would be a couple/few hundred calories over BMR.

    http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/

    As for weight training, I prefer: PHUL or Jamie Eason's LiveFit. There are other good ones; you just have to google the "right" questions. I'd look for "hypertrophy programs." The 5x5 programs do more to help you gain strength than they do to help you attain muscle mass (although that IS a side effect, as well...just not as effective as other programs). Eating at such a large deficit (1300 calories/day) will not help your cause, either.
  • odusgolp
    odusgolp Posts: 10,477 Member
    Odusgolp:
    I'm 5'9", 165 and need about 1500 to lose. At 2000 I'd keep gaining. I need to lift heavy **** *sigh*
    SQUATS!!!
    front-squat-good-pov.gif

    Are you telling me my butt's too small?
  • BusyRaeNOTBusty
    BusyRaeNOTBusty Posts: 7,166 Member
    According to this, 1300 calories/day would be below BMR, which isn't ideal. You don't have much to lose, so eating at TDEE minus 10% would be good, but minus 20% would be ok, too. Either would be a couple/few hundred calories over BMR.

    http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/

    As for weight training, I prefer: PHUL or Jamie Eason's LiveFit. There are other good ones; you just have to google the "right" questions. I'd look for "hypertrophy programs." The 5x5 programs do more to help you gain strength than they do to help you attain muscle mass (although that IS a side effect, as well...just not as effective as other programs). Eating at such a large deficit (1300 calories/day) will not help your cause, either.

    When losing weight the goal is to maintain muscle, not necessarily build it. Strength programs have been shown to be best for maintaining muscle. Plus for beginners it's usually best to start with the big basic compound moves like squats and dead lifts rather than with isolation moves that are common in hypertrophy programs.
  • WhiteRabbit1313
    WhiteRabbit1313 Posts: 1,091 Member
    According to this, 1300 calories/day would be below BMR, which isn't ideal. You don't have much to lose, so eating at TDEE minus 10% would be good, but minus 20% would be ok, too. Either would be a couple/few hundred calories over BMR.

    http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/

    As for weight training, I prefer: PHUL or Jamie Eason's LiveFit. There are other good ones; you just have to google the "right" questions. I'd look for "hypertrophy programs." The 5x5 programs do more to help you gain strength than they do to help you attain muscle mass (although that IS a side effect, as well...just not as effective as other programs). Eating at such a large deficit (1300 calories/day) will not help your cause, either.

    When losing weight the goal is to maintain muscle, not necessarily build it. Strength programs have been shown to be best for maintaining muscle. Plus for beginners it's usually best to start with the big basic compound moves like squats and dead lifts rather than with isolation moves that are common in hypertrophy programs.

    Yep. I've heard that, too.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    According to this, 1300 calories/day would be below BMR, which isn't ideal. You don't have much to lose, so eating at TDEE minus 10% would be good, but minus 20% would be ok, too. Either would be a couple/few hundred calories over BMR.

    http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/

    As for weight training, I prefer: PHUL or Jamie Eason's LiveFit. There are other good ones; you just have to google the "right" questions. I'd look for "hypertrophy programs." The 5x5 programs do more to help you gain strength than they do to help you attain muscle mass (although that IS a side effect, as well...just not as effective as other programs). Eating at such a large deficit (1300 calories/day) will not help your cause, either.

    When losing weight the goal is to maintain muscle, not necessarily build it. Strength programs have been shown to be best for maintaining muscle. Plus for beginners it's usually best to start with the big basic compound moves like squats and dead lifts rather than with isolation moves that are common in hypertrophy programs.

    QFT.gif
  • WhiteRabbit1313
    WhiteRabbit1313 Posts: 1,091 Member
    According to this, 1300 calories/day would be below BMR, which isn't ideal. You don't have much to lose, so eating at TDEE minus 10% would be good, but minus 20% would be ok, too. Either would be a couple/few hundred calories over BMR.

    http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/

    As for weight training, I prefer: PHUL or Jamie Eason's LiveFit. There are other good ones; you just have to google the "right" questions. I'd look for "hypertrophy programs." The 5x5 programs do more to help you gain strength than they do to help you attain muscle mass (although that IS a side effect, as well...just not as effective as other programs). Eating at such a large deficit (1300 calories/day) will not help your cause, either.

    When losing weight the goal is to maintain muscle, not necessarily build it. Strength programs have been shown to be best for maintaining muscle. Plus for beginners it's usually best to start with the big basic compound moves like squats and dead lifts rather than with isolation moves that are common in hypertrophy programs.

    QFT.gif

    Which is why I like the PHUL routine. It incorporates both. After a month of 5x5, I was bored.
  • RedHeadDevotchka
    RedHeadDevotchka Posts: 1,394 Member
    EAT MOAR FOODS!

    I would increase the amount of calories for sure. Weight training and building lean muscle requires that you are fueling your body well.

    As far as the type of exercising, you will hear many different options, so just find one that makes sense and stick to it. I personally prefer breaking up my weight training into specific muscle groups, back day, leg day, etc but that is just one way. Some people also prefer to do full body multiple times per week. I started off using NROLFW back like a year and a half ago but I changed it because this method works better for me.

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