Is this diet/gym regime too intense? Opinions, please!
Replies
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aliciamarieUF wrote: »Hi everyone! I'm 24 years old, 5'6" and weigh 141 pounds. I carry most of my weight in my tummy, arms and back and I don't have a butt. I want to change that. I met with a personal trainer at Planet Fitness (I don't like that gym, but it's close to my house so it's convenient). Anyway, the only personal trainer they have working there at the moment is very young (right out of high school) and seems a little inexperienced. He wrote up an exercise/diet plan for me to try to lose 15 pounds by summer.
It consist of being in the gym 2.5 hours a day, which seems pretty intense to me. What do you all think?
Monday: 10-15 min cardio, legs 1 hour, abs 20 minutes, 45 minutes cardio
Tuesday: 10-15 min cardio, back/chest 1 hour, abs 20 minutes, cardio 45 minutes
Wednesday: 10-15 min cardio, shoulders/triceps/biceps 1 hour, abs 20 minutes, cardio 45 minutes
Thursday: 10-15 min cardio, legs 1 hour, abs 20 minutes, 45 minutes cardio
Friday: Cardio 1 hour
Sat & Sun: Rest
Sets: 3-4 (rest 30 sec-2 minutes)
Reps: 15-20
He says I should be on a strict 1200 calorie diet.
Breakfast: 2 whole eggs, 1-2 whole wheat toast with peanut butter
Snack: fruit, protein bar
Lunch: Vegetable wrap with turkey, ham, cheese, mustard
Snack: Fruit, Almonds
Dinner: Vegetables with chicken or fish
Snack: healthy fats or greek yogurt
Seems a little intense. I don't have a lot of weight to lose. I basically want to thin out and gain some definition.
Thank you for any advice!
You could lose all the cardio and the ab work, still eat over 1200 cals and be losing weight.0 -
I'm not gonna harp on the amount of time you spend working out (I probably spend 2 hours or so working out myself) but I do kind of think more calories would be useful for your recovery and to fuel your progress. I personally couldn't manage to put up decent numbers eating that little0
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I'm not gonna harp on the amount of time you spend working out (I probably spend 2 hours or so working out myself) but I do kind of think more calories would be useful for your recovery and to fuel your progress. I personally couldn't manage to put up decent numbers eating that little
Thanks0 -
Sounds worse than insanity, to much exercise and not a stronhg diet I guess0
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This isn't something I would give someone, but it's actually not too intense. 20 minutes of abs everyday is dumb, and a complete beginner doesn't need to spend an entire hour on one body part, but other than that, meh. If you're going to work out and do cardio on the same day, your going to spend 2 hours in the gym. Plenty of people have done that without dying.
It's entirely up to you if you want to, or can, put in that much time and effort tho. It's an individual decision and you'll get no judgement from me either way me.
1200 calorie diet is kinda dumb for that much activity tho. Either eat more or cut the workouts WAY down
This was the only reply that was actually needed.0 -
By your info at light exercise, 1-3 times a week TDEE whould be a little over 2000, it goes up to 2200 for moderate. I would recommend eating at 1700-2000 if you are going to workout for an hour a day. Do you do lift any weights? I would start doing some deadlifts, some squats, some lat pulldowns, and some pullups, also burpees and pushups. You want stuff that engages multiple muscle groups and works on all your little stabilizers too. Kicking is great for stomach, legs and butt too. I used to love taekwando for that.0
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First off, this is a "trainer" from Planet Fitness.
Meaning:
1. Not qualified to give nutritional advice.
2. Not qualified to give training advice.
I'd not follow the silliness they'll throw at you.0 -
This isn't something I would give someone, but it's actually not too intense. 20 minutes of abs everyday is dumb, and a complete beginner doesn't need to spend an entire hour on one body part, but other than that, meh. If you're going to work out and do cardio on the same day, your going to spend 2 hours in the gym. Plenty of people have done that without dying.
It's entirely up to you if you want to, or can, put in that much time and effort tho. It's an individual decision and you'll get no judgement from me either way me.
1200 calorie diet is kinda dumb for that much activity tho. Either eat more or cut the workouts WAY down
This was the only reply that was actually needed.
Except that the amount of cardio given and reps for exercises is not really consistent with her goals, especially coupled with the low calorie diet. She'll lose weight but it'll also include a lot of lean mass.
I agree the routine is the opposite of intense (intense would mean short bursts and high intensity). This is high volume but not intense.
There's nothing wrong with working out for 2 hours a day provided it's consistent with your goals. But really why would you bother doing an hour of cardio a day when you don't need to. It's boring and you could get better results training with higher intensity for a shorter duration
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2.5 hours and 1200 calories is way too excessive if you only want to lose 5 pounds a month. 5 pounds a month is a deficit of 4375 calories a week. If you are doing an hour of cardio and weight lifting, you are going to burn between 400 and 500 calories at low intensity. So your daily burn will be by estimate 2400-2500 calories a day which would give you well over a 1000 calories deficit a day when you really only need 875 for 5 days or 625 for 7 days. But it sounds to me like you just want to tone up and work on the booty. If that is the case, the number on the scale should not be as much of a concern. I am 5'7" and although I have put on weight due to a back issue, I am on my way back down to 140. But my 140 is muscular, toned and a size 6-8 on the bottom (I have wide hips) and a size 4-6 on the top (boobs). I would stick to lean proteins, and good carbs. I do cardio and abs 3 days a week and weights as follows - Chest, Arms, Back & Shoulders, Legs. My weight lifting is about 45 minutes to an hour depending on availability of the equipment. I do 3 sets of 6-8 reps of heavier weight (I might get to 6 the first few times but when I can do 8 for all 3 sets, I increase the next week.) My abs take about 8-10 minutes (I have 3 intense yoga programs I use from yogadownload.com and I do one each day I do abs) and I do 30-45 minutes of cardio each day I do cardio. That equates to about an hour and 45 minutes a day for 3 of the days and 45 minutes to an hour for the other 2. But if you want to go five days a week, it times out at even less. Sometimes I add in a run on a weekend. I hope that helped you some.0
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Alicia, you're far from being a cow! The comments that these pictures pain you worry me. You may not be in model shape, but you're in above-average shape. I spent 1 hour, 40 minutes in the gym yesterday--I don't have a problem with long workouts, my beef's more with the calories he's allowing you and the exercise selection. I agree 20 min on abs is silly!
MyFitnessPal gives good advice on losing weight. For a reasonable and balanced strength program I'd consider Stronglifts or New Rules of Lifting (Supercharged).0 -
CA_Underdog wrote: »Alicia, you're far from being a cow! The comments that these pictures pain you worry me. You may not be in model shape, but you're in above-average shape. I spent 1 hour, 40 minutes in the gym yesterday--I don't have a problem with long workouts, my beef's more with the calories he's allowing you and the exercise selection. I agree 20 min on abs is silly!
MyFitnessPal gives good advice on losing weight. For a reasonable and balanced strength program I'd consider Stronglifts or New Rules of Lifting (Supercharged).
Hey, thanks for your input. I actually downloaded the Stronglifts app on my phone after a few people suggested it. Now the next problem I'm going to face is my fear of using those machines...I have no idea how to lift!0 -
aliciamarieUF wrote: »Now the next problem I'm going to face is my fear of using those machines...I have no idea how to lift!
This is a wise "fear" to have. It will probably lead you to read the Stronglifts pages carefully until you have a good idea of the form of the exercises. I would pay the most attention to your squats and deadlifts--those are trickier imho than rows, bench presses, or overhead presses.
Modify as you need! I began with lowly box squats.
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1200 calories is too little to be eating for more than a couple of days if you're going to be putting in a workout schedule. I would up your calories, lower cardio time, and up muscle work out time. Depends on what you like to do. If you want to get slimmer by running then do cardio and light weights, but if you want a lean and mean bod then I suggest upping those calories, doing only 5 min cardio for warm up and cool down, and hitting those weights hard for no more that 1 hour (1.5 pushing it) per day. I currently do the latter one I mentioned and it makes me not only feel good, but also firm up my body. Non work out days I eat 1800 cals and work out days I eat up to 2500 calories and still lose weight.
Edit: If you want to build your butt then start doing squats. Start with the basic squat than build your way up to a sumo squat (hard!) then weighted squats. Also back kicks (where you get on your hands and knees and kick one leg back without bringing it down to rest) help. Any type of leg kick will help. Hip bridges help build that area too. And so on. But squats are your friend in this endeavor for a butt.
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Yeah, you're not a cow, you actually look really nice
How much does your husband weigh and how tall is he? Less than 140 for a man sounds low, but I don't know him at all so what do I know.
I do think it's a little high (the work out), but maybe just do what he mentioned every OTHER day. And cut some things out/rotate some things.
Do only what you can maintain and keep up for the long run 0 -
Yeah, you can try that and end up looking like a half dead person! I'm no personal trainer or anything but little tips should help.
Get at least 1474 calories in.
Count your macros, 40% proteins 40%carbs and 20%fats
Have most your carbs first half of the day
Wake up on a empty stomach and go for a walk, minimum 45 mins.
Workout whenever you would like for however you would like, incorporate a lot of weight lifting, it burns fat for much longer (9hours) after your workout.
Have a protein shake before bed, to get a tiny bit of carbs to help your body transfer the goods and recover your body.
When your body gets use to these things, adjust macros % and or time/type of cardio.
These things will help you drop pounds but keep you feeling alive and healthy!
Ciao xx0 -
abdud_CuzzzyWuzzy wrote: »Yeah, you can try that and end up looking like a half dead person! I'm no personal trainer or anything but little tips should help.
Get at least 1474 calories in.
Count your macros, 40% proteins 40%carbs and 20%fats
Have most your carbs first half of the day
Wake up on a empty stomach and go for a walk, minimum 45 mins.
Workout whenever you would like for however you would like, incorporate a lot of weight lifting, it burns fat for much longer (9hours) after your workout.
Have a protein shake before bed, to get a tiny bit of carbs to help your body transfer the goods and recover your body.
When your body gets use to these things, adjust macros % and or time/type of cardio.
These things will help you drop pounds but keep you feeling alive and healthy!
Ciao xx
Lolz0 -
With working out 2.5 hours a day I'm sorry but you should not be eating that little. 1200 calories just simply is not enough.0
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abdud_CuzzzyWuzzy wrote: »Yeah, you can try that and end up looking like a half dead person! I'm no personal trainer or anything but little tips should help.
Get at least 1474 calories in.
Count your macros, 40% proteins 40%carbs and 20%fats
Have most your carbs first half of the day
Wake up on a empty stomach and go for a walk, minimum 45 mins.
Workout whenever you would like for however you would like, incorporate a lot of weight lifting, it burns fat for much longer (9hours) after your workout.
Have a protein shake before bed, to get a tiny bit of carbs to help your body transfer the goods and recover your body.
When your body gets use to these things, adjust macros % and or time/type of cardio.
These things will help you drop pounds but keep you feeling alive and healthy!
Ciao xx
*sigh*0 -
The vast majority of people (myself included) underestimate their calorie intake. That "tablespoon" of cream that you added to your coffee...yeah that was 2.
That bag of chips you thought was a single serving? Not so much.
That chicken you eyeballed as 6 ounces? It was 9.
The massive salad that had to be at least 600 calories, only 400.
What people are saying here is right, eating that few calories is very likely too low for you. That being said, the thing that skews perceptions for so many folks is that they think they're eating 1200 (or 1000, or 800, or whatever) but they're really eating much more.
Every effort you can take to be as accurate as possible with your logging is time well spent. Weighing your food, measuring everything, etc. It all helps. When you're confident in that, playing with your intake is much easier.0 -
First off, this is a "trainer" from Planet Fitness.
Meaning:
1. Not qualified to give nutritional advice.
2. Not qualified to give training advice.
I'd not follow the silliness they'll throw at you.
My thoughts exactly. "right out of high school" which means, no schooling, no certification, no nothing. This person should NOT be giving fitness advice to anyone let alone making fitness / meal plans for people. Ughhh!
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That seems like a lot to me for someone just starting out. When I started with my trainer I did two workouts with her and two on my own (hour each) and gradually worked my way up from there. I would be very careful with someone right out of high school that does not have training needed to properly instruct you. I know trainers with certificate and education are not always great but at least there is a foundation for nothing else but to help prevent injury. That is just my opinion.0
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branflakes1980 wrote: »First off, this is a "trainer" from Planet Fitness.
Meaning:
1. Not qualified to give nutritional advice.
2. Not qualified to give training advice.
I'd not follow the silliness they'll throw at you.
My thoughts exactly. "right out of high school" which means, no schooling, no certification, no nothing. This person should NOT be giving fitness advice to anyone let alone making fitness / meal plans for people. Ughhh!
Absolutely. That plan is absolutely worthless.
It's great that you're taking a look at Stronglifts - except that you won't be able to get most of it done at Planet Fitness. If I remember right they don't even have squat racks (and no, Smith Machines don't count) and some a-hole might hit the ol' LUNK ALARM on you if you try to deadlift.0 -
This can not be emphasized enough. Do not trust any of the advice coming out of Planet Fitness. There's a reason why personal trainers generally consider them to be a disgrace to the industry.
Any "trainer" who chooses to work for Planet Fitness must be either desperate or extremely unqualified. After all, no knowledgeable trainer would echo the company line that grunting serves no purpose or that bench pressing is only for bodybuilders. They certainly wouldn't discourage you from jumping rope, doing barbell rows, or performing any number of other beneficial exercises that are often prohibited at PF locations.0 -
An exercise regiment is all about what is right for you, in your situation, at your level of health. If I started doing DeMarco Murray's training sessions tomorrow, it'd probably kill me, but it obviously works well for him.
Start slow, and build it up to where it's intense, but it's still something you can see yourself doing for the long term. Way too many people try crash exercise schedules that are too much for them then burn out after two weeks. Whatever you choose for yourself, it should be a level of intensity that you are comfortable maintaining long term. Learn to listen to your body, and learn the difference between "I'm exhausted, that was a great workout" and "I'm rundown, I'm not letting my body recover."
Books, trainers, websites, and MFP boards can help you a lot, and they are a good place to start, but eventually you are the one who is going to have to dial it in.0 -
What gyms would you all recommend? The only other gym close to my house is Crunch...0
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Check out your local Crossfit gym if you have one. Or save the gym money a try one of the beach body workouts. I don't prefer videos but they require minimal equipment and you can choose which program appeal to you. I think they have 25 minute, 60 minute and 90 minute options. If you can't find a good, convenient trainer then an at home video can be helpful. Or advertise for a gym buddy who might be able to take you through a few workouts. Maybe there is a local workout group you can find on FB? If all else fails just grab someone at the gym who looks experienced and ask them to recommend a trainer or resources.0
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I'd be very careful about CF gyms, unless they have great coaching staff, there's a huge amount of injuries in every "box".
Crunch would be sufficient.0 -
I want to thank everyone who recommended the stronglifts program (and everyone who put in great advice). I've done 4 days of stronglifts and I've been doing cardio 5-6 days a week and managed to lose a pound this past week which means 27 down, 15 to go before I reach my goal weight!0
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