Whats your exercise plan??

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MiniMarc
MiniMarc Posts: 19
in Fitness and Exercise
Ive been seeing a personal trainer and he's recomended quite alot of weight lifting to get my strength and muscle mass up and then some intense circuits / cardio to 'cut'. Im now exercising on my own and not sure wether to carry on his programme or go more cardo / circuits.

What is everyone else's main exercise programme / strategy?

Replies

  • shmerek
    shmerek Posts: 963 Member
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    If you want to maintain as much muscle as possible whist in deficit I would recommend that you continue to lift and lift as heavily as you can. When I was in deficit I followed a simple program of two workouts and I did three sessions a week.
    Work out A: squats, bench press, bent over rows, a tricep exercise and calf raises,
    Work out B: pull ups, deadlifts, shoulder press, biceps curls and abs.

    That was it.
  • AJ_G
    AJ_G Posts: 4,158 Member
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    Whether you're cutting, bulking, or maintaining your weight you should always be lifting heavy. In a cut it helps you maintain muscle while you lose weight. In a bulk it helps you increase muscle mass.

    Cardio and circuits are in no way required for weight loss or cutting, but they don't hurt either. Most of cutting and bulking comes from how much you're eating. It's absolutely possible to cut without doing any dedicated cardio at all and a lot of people do it, just through nutrition.

    My lifting program is a reverse pyramid, progressive overload routine that is hypertrophy based.
  • cowbellsandcoffee
    cowbellsandcoffee Posts: 2,975 Member
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    I ride.

    Works for me.

    :bigsmile:
  • PingiePingPing
    PingiePingPing Posts: 7 Member
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    I don't have a strict plan, some weeks it's 6 or 7 works outs, some weeks 2 or 3, whatever's fun and fits into my schedule. If the weather's great, I'd rather be outside working out than at the gym. :) But Thai boxing 2-3 times a week, the gym once or twice a week, 30-50km bike rides once or twice a week and walks with the pups.
  • stuffinmuffin
    stuffinmuffin Posts: 985 Member
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    I think the key thing is to do things that you enjoy.

    It is important to add strength to any workout routine to maintain the muscle you have whilst you lose weight, this may make the weight loss process seem slow (as it will take the scales longer to go down) but trust me it will be so much more worth it when you reach your goal). I didn't do this, so I'm talking from hindsight and now trying to gain that muscle back!

    If I were you, I would try everything going that you fancy. Exercise classes, cycling, running, walking, gym programmes, yoga, there's also a heap of things on You Tube you can try out, if you want to 'try before you buy'. Sometimes the sociable atmosphere works better or maybe you want to workout alone.

    Vary up your routine too, so you don't get bored and cross-training is always beneficial. Then, later if you have a clear idea of what you want your fitness goal to be you can then tailor your routine to benefit that.

    I've finished the weight loss and now my goals are all fitness related and it keeps me out of trouble and is kind of like a real hobby for me. :flowerforyou:
  • Walter__
    Walter__ Posts: 518 Member
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    Just eat in a deficit and keep lifting.

    I started off bigger than you in that picture, and that's pretty much what I've been doing. I've lost 60lbs so far.

    Oh and those 60lbs were with no cardio. Just deficit and lifting.


    My routine is pretty simple. I do full body 3x a week.

    I'll do compound lifts with a few isolation exercises thrown in

    So it'll be something like this:

    Bench press + cable fly

    Shoulder press + dumbbell lateral raises + front raises (sometimes)

    Pull ups + barbell rows (sometimes) + isolation back machine

    Dips + rope pulldown (sometimes)

    Curls

    Squats


    Keep in mind when you do full body like this, especially on a calorie deficit, you don't get to go all out like on a bro split.

    I'll usually only do 2 or 3 sets of each exercise.

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