Decreasing body fat

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Ash_danielle
Ash_danielle Posts: 62 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I'm 5'6 and last time I weighed (about a week and a half ago) I was 170. According to the military body fat calculator I'm at 27% body fat. My goal is 18-20% but I still have approximately 20lbs to lose. Should I focus on getting to my goal weigh and then start more weights? Or should I continue to incorporate both during working out. I usually do 40 minutes of cardio and 15-20 minutes of weights 4-5 days per week

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  • Cherimoose
    Cherimoose Posts: 5,209 Member
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    adcls3 wrote: »
    Should I focus on getting to my goal weigh and then start more weights?

    Hard to advise whether to do more weights without knowing the details of your current routine. But i would follow a good, full-body strength program (as opposed to creating your own) and use relatively heavy weight.

  • Chrisparadise579
    Chrisparadise579 Posts: 411 Member
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    I would switch the time lenghts you arre currently doing, I would suggest 15-20 minutes cardio and 40 minutes of free weights. do not change your diet though stay on a fat loss diet
  • tracymayo1
    tracymayo1 Posts: 445 Member
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    Cherimoose wrote: »
    adcls3 wrote: »
    Should I focus on getting to my goal weigh and then start more weights?

    Hard to advise whether to do more weights without knowing the details of your current routine. But i would follow a good, full-body strength program (as opposed to creating your own) and use relatively heavy weight.

    Is there a full body strength program you would recommend? Or maybe a youtube video or two to attain this? I am in the same boat, trying to incorporate weights now. I lost 13 lbs.. now I want to start the exercise.

  • galprincess
    galprincess Posts: 682 Member
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    Well done on the loss to get body fat down you eat at a deficit , exercise doesn't get rid of body fat but lifting adds definition and ensures you hold on to muscle while you lose fat good luck on your journey. I do 30 day shred this mixes cardio with strength and weights but is a beginner programme if you are looking for something more maybe try insanity or stronglifts there are loads of lifting programmes im looking to do more lifting in the future
  • KylaDenay
    KylaDenay Posts: 1,585 Member
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    tracymayo1 wrote: »
    Cherimoose wrote: »
    adcls3 wrote: »
    Should I focus on getting to my goal weigh and then start more weights?

    Hard to advise whether to do more weights without knowing the details of your current routine. But i would follow a good, full-body strength program (as opposed to creating your own) and use relatively heavy weight.

    Is there a full body strength program you would recommend? Or maybe a youtube video or two to attain this? I am in the same boat, trying to incorporate weights now. I lost 13 lbs.. now I want to start the exercise.
    You can start with Stronglifts 5x5, The New Rules of Lifting or Starting Strength. Also All Pro's routine on bodybuilding.com and yes youtube has full body routines. Fitnessblender is great.

  • KylaDenay
    KylaDenay Posts: 1,585 Member
    edited November 2014
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    adcls3 wrote: »
    I'm 5'6 and last time I weighed (about a week and a half ago) I was 170. According to the military body fat calculator I'm at 27% body fat. My goal is 18-20% but I still have approximately 20lbs to lose. Should I focus on getting to my goal weigh and then start more weights? Or should I continue to incorporate both during working out. I usually do 40 minutes of cardio and 15-20 minutes of weights 4-5 days per week

    I wouldn't wait to increase weights. I would do a 3 day full body routine now.

  • ana3067
    ana3067 Posts: 5,623 Member
    edited November 2014
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    tracymayo1 wrote: »
    Cherimoose wrote: »
    adcls3 wrote: »
    Should I focus on getting to my goal weigh and then start more weights?

    Hard to advise whether to do more weights without knowing the details of your current routine. But i would follow a good, full-body strength program (as opposed to creating your own) and use relatively heavy weight.

    Is there a full body strength program you would recommend? Or maybe a youtube video or two to attain this? I am in the same boat, trying to incorporate weights now. I lost 13 lbs.. now I want to start the exercise.

    Easy routine 3x a week would be something like an ABA BAB structure. So week one ABA week two BAB, repeat.

    WO A
    Squats, bench press, some type of rowing exercise for upper back, can include shoulders here as well (I do upright rows myself)

    WO B
    Deadlift, military/standing shoulder press, lat pulldown or pull ups or chin ups, can do another compound chest exercise as well if you'd like (I do incline BP).

    Before this I was doing upper/lower split a la Wendler, but I've decided to switch back to full body. I do 4-5 reps, 90-120 seconds of rest between sets, 3 warm up and 3 working sets. Overall takes ~40-45 minutes to do everything when including warm ups, not including rest between exercises and general warm up though.

    If you are totally new though, doing 6-10 reps might work better initially to help you learn the form and minimize injury. That being said, plenty of people who are new to lifting do things like Stronglifts or Starting Strength at the 5 rep level. Those are other established things you can try for full body, although I did not appreciate the suggestion to do squats 3x a week and doing them combined with deadlifts (I've gotten to the point where deadlifts and squats on the same day is way too much for me, not sure how doing two main lifts - e.g. squats and bench press - on the same day will work once I eventually get to the point of lifting my own body weight or heavier for all lifts. Currently only at that point for deadlifts).
  • adamdromes
    adamdromes Posts: 2 Member
    edited November 2014
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    Keep at a deficit. Up the calories a bit more on workout days (10% below maintenance is a good start.) Keep protein high everyday, 1.2x your body weight at least. And lift heavy with a moderate rep range (low teens, tops). Cardio is good for heart health but not necessary for fat loss. A brisk 30 min walk a day is sufficient.
  • Ash_danielle
    Ash_danielle Posts: 62 Member
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    Thanks everyone!

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