Strength training - most effective way?

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K2405
K2405 Posts: 56 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
At the moment I do strength training 3 times per week (Monday, Wednesday, Friday) and I tend to do a full body workout after either 5k on the bike or a 2 mile run to warm up. I would like to start working more on specific areas - so spending the same amount of time working out but maybe split them into upper body and lower body so I'm doing more for each muscle group. Would this still be effective? So if I did upper body on Monday then lower on Tuesday, rest day Wednesday and then back to upper on Thursday and lower on Friday? Am I leaving too long between working each muscle group for it to be effective? Can anyone recommend a more effective way to workout? I really want to start focusing on specific areas instead of doing a full body each time as I don't feel like I work each area hard enough.

I also feel like I should be doing some kind of cardio on my rest days (at the moment I'm running Tuesday and Thursday as well) but am wondering if I may be doing more damage than good. Am I overworking myself?

Replies

  • AllanMisner
    AllanMisner Posts: 4,140 Member
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    What type of program are you doing now (exercises, weight, sets, reps)? How long have you been training?

    You’re after strength or do you want muscle mass increases (or both)? Are there other goals you have in mind? How would you prioritize these goals?

    I know all I did was ask questions rather than answer your question, but these are important factors toward getting to the right answer for you.
  • damien_1971
    damien_1971 Posts: 15 Member
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    An Upper/Lower split is a great routine, I use it myself and have made some solid gains. Even on a one on one off template you're still hitting each bodypart twice a week which is optimum for growth.
  • Cherimoose
    Cherimoose Posts: 5,209 Member
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    K2405 wrote: »
    I really want to start focusing on specific areas instead of doing a full body each time as I don't feel like I work each area hard enough.

    How are you determining this? If you're judging your workouts by how sore you feel the next day, don't. Effective workouts often produce minimal soreness, if you progress slowly.

    Like Allan said, I can't tell you if a split will be effective for you without knowing what your goal is.

  • Sam_I_Am77
    Sam_I_Am77 Posts: 2,093 Member
    edited March 2015
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    Cherimoose wrote: »
    K2405 wrote: »
    I really want to start focusing on specific areas instead of doing a full body each time as I don't feel like I work each area hard enough.

    How are you determining this? If you're judging your workouts by how sore you feel the next day, don't. Effective workouts often produce minimal soreness, if you progress slowly.

    Like Allan said, I can't tell you if a split will be effective for you without knowing what your goal is.

    ^
    This. There is no single-most effective way for resistance training. The most effective way is what helps you accomplish your fitness goals, weight loss isn't really a fitness goal.
  • K2405
    K2405 Posts: 56 Member
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    I basically just want to tone up and lose my excess stomach fat. I do 3x10 pull downs, 3x10 leg curls, 3x10 bench press, 3x15 squats and then crunches. I don't feel like I focus enough on each body part as I don't do a huge range of exercises. I'm wondering if I would be better off spending the same amount working out but focusing more on each muscle group by doing a wider range of exercises.
  • AllanMisner
    AllanMisner Posts: 4,140 Member
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    Beyond shoulders, you’re getting a full body set, however you could definitely improve on this.

    Would you be willing to try free weights? If so, strong lifts or New Rules of Lifting for Women are both excellent programs.

    Also, since you’re after strength, I’d consider lowering the reps and increasing the weight.
  • K2405
    K2405 Posts: 56 Member
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    I'm not doing much with my shoulders at the moment as I fell down some stairs in January and injured it. This means I'm also only bench pressing about 4.5kg because I struggle to push 9kg on my bad shoulder.

    I would definitely try free weights. I've just ordered a resistance band and have looked at dumbbells/bar with weights to do more floor exercises with weights. I've lost nearly 3 stone and find I've now got 'bingo wings' but struggling to find exercises I can do that don't hurt my shoulder so free weights may help me with this.

    I'll take a look at those programs - thanks!
  • LKArgh
    LKArgh Posts: 5,179 Member
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    If you are recovering from a shoulder injury, are you sure that any lifting involving the shoulder is safe until you are fully recovered? Have you seen a physiotherapist to check if you need strengthening exercises before you can safely lift? Also what about Pilates? A class focusing mostly on floorwork could help with overall fitness without stressing the shoulder.
  • K2405
    K2405 Posts: 56 Member
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    I have seen the doctor who gave me some exercises to do but I can't get physio until it's been sore for 5 months. I did no lifting at all for about 6 weeks after it happened and have only just started light lifting. I was told I need to keep moving it hence doing light lifting and not straining it.
  • LKArgh
    LKArgh Posts: 5,179 Member
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    K2405 wrote: »
    I have seen the doctor who gave me some exercises to do but I can't get physio until it's been sore for 5 months. I did no lifting at all for about 6 weeks after it happened and have only just started light lifting. I was told I need to keep moving it hence doing light lifting and not straining it.

    How about swimming?
  • K2405
    K2405 Posts: 56 Member
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    I can't swim. Well I can, but I'm not very good. Don't think I can even do one length! It's a shame because I know it's a good form of exercise.
  • Spedangie
    Spedangie Posts: 108 Member
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    Just remember you cannot lose excess fat (stomach or anywhere) with strength training. (Well unless you do a thousand reps or so to burn a lot of calories). You can and well might tighten and strengthen the underlying muscle layer, but fat is only lost by having calorie deficit that makes your body utilize the excess fat to meet its needs. There are some areas of excess fat that your body will want to hang on to forever (it may seem), but with controlled calorie intake to get rid of the fat and strength training to take care of making the muscle layer tighter and strengthened you will get where you want to be.
  • slp51
    slp51 Posts: 201 Member
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    I've been in physical therapy due for 15 months to a complex surgery in Dec 2013. I also joined Planet Fitness, where they have trainers on staff. I've been told to target specific muscle groups for the most effective strength training and muscle building program. For example, on day 1, work on your quads, calves, glutes, shoulders and deltoids... NOT your hamstrings because the hamstrings and quads work against each other. On day 2 (which would be Wednesday), work on your hamstrings, hips, abs back and biceps. On day 3 (Friday), work on your triceps, pecs, chest. Again, don't work your biceps and triceps in the same work out. You can rearrange the muscle groups to fit your own routine, as long as you separate quads and hammies and biceps and triceps. Good luck!
  • ew_david
    ew_david Posts: 3,473 Member
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    slp51 wrote: »
    I've been in physical therapy due for 15 months to a complex surgery in Dec 2013. I also joined Planet Fitness, where they have trainers on staff. I've been told to target specific muscle groups for the most effective strength training and muscle building program. For example, on day 1, work on your quads, calves, glutes, shoulders and deltoids... NOT your hamstrings because the hamstrings and quads work against each other. On day 2 (which would be Wednesday), work on your hamstrings, hips, abs back and biceps. On day 3 (Friday), work on your triceps, pecs, chest. Again, don't work your biceps and triceps in the same work out. You can rearrange the muscle groups to fit your own routine, as long as you separate quads and hammies and biceps and triceps. Good luck!

    OP sounds relatively new to lifting; I would not recommend isolation lifts to someone new and really looking to start lifting.
  • tblattler
    tblattler Posts: 2 Member
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    A split routine can be a very effective way to train. You asked if u are leaving too much time between muscle groups but when you do a split routine and really focus on specific muscle groups you need the extra recovery between workouts since building strength and increasing muscle size is all about the rebuilding process so it's actually a good plan to have a few days in between before going back to a specific area. As for the cardio it's great that you have a few cardiovascular days in there and they can actually help if u happen to experience a lot of DOMS or stiffness after a workout. As long as your cardiovascular program isn't Really intense it shouldn't be overdoing it but listen to your body. If you start to feel fatigued (beyond normal workout fatigue) then scale it back a bit or take a few days off to reset.
  • K2405
    K2405 Posts: 56 Member
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    Thanks for the replies. I think I've been doing it all wrong though! I'm currently following weightwatchers which I've done for 2 years now. I lost nearly 3.5 stone in the first year before my wedding then put about a stone back on afterwards. I'm still at the same weight, minus a couple of pounds. I'm 25 years old, 5'2 and currently weigh 149lb. I really want to get that toned look but also know I still have quite a bit of weight to lose (especially from my stomach, this is my problem area).

    I'm currently on 26 points per day with weightwatchers and each point is roughly 40 calories so I'm only eating about 1040 calories a day plus a couple of bananas and an apple for snacks. So after reading a few threads on here I don't think I'm eating anywhere near enough, considering I've been doing the above workout since the new year plus bike/running etc. Can anyone advise on how much I should be eating? I'm not looking to lose weight really quickly, but a steady loss while toning up would be great.

    Also, where can I find information about those lifting programs?
  • LaarainNYC
    LaarainNYC Posts: 90 Member
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    http://stronglifts.com/5x5/

    I've been doing it for 5 weeks. There's a group on MFP for women who use Strong Lifts.
  • jmac4263
    jmac4263 Posts: 245 Member
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    K2405 wrote: »
    At the moment I do strength training 3 times per week (Monday, Wednesday, Friday) and I tend to do a full body workout after either 5k on the bike or a 2 mile run to warm up. I would like to start working more on specific areas - so spending the same amount of time working out but maybe split them into upper body and lower body so I'm doing more for each muscle group. Would this still be effective? So if I did upper body on Monday then lower on Tuesday, rest day Wednesday and then back to upper on Thursday and lower on Friday? Am I leaving too long between working each muscle group for it to be effective? Can anyone recommend a more effective way to workout? I really want to start focusing on specific areas instead of doing a full body each time as I don't feel like I work each area hard enough.

    I also feel like I should be doing some kind of cardio on my rest days (at the moment I'm running Tuesday and Thursday as well) but am wondering if I may be doing more damage than good. Am I overworking myself?

    This is the opposite of what I have just changed to, I was doing focused lifts: chest one day, bi/tri one day, legs one day ect and just doing cardio after my lifts. I changed to Full body on M-W-F as well and then cardio only on T-T-S, granted I am only in my first week but after one day of full body and one day of pure cardio (not lifting any heavier) I am the sorest I have been in a long time. We will see if after a longer duration it changes anything. I dont know if one is more beneficial than the other but I know others have said that full body is more for beginning weight training or intermediate where the groups are more for advanced. Whether that is true or not I do not know, I just needed something different as my body had adjusted and this change did it for me!
    Good Luck!!
  • Chaskavitch
    Chaskavitch Posts: 172 Member
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    K2405 wrote: »
    I'm currently on 26 points per day with weightwatchers and each point is roughly 40 calories so I'm only eating about 1040 calories a day plus a couple of bananas and an apple for snacks. So after reading a few threads on here I don't think I'm eating anywhere near enough, considering I've been doing the above workout since the new year plus bike/running etc. Can anyone advise on how much I should be eating? I'm not looking to lose weight really quickly, but a steady loss while toning up would be great.

    Also, where can I find information about those lifting programs?

    There is a group called Eat More 2 Weigh Less, and also one called Eat, Train, Progress, which you might want to look into. They have info about lifting, and a lot of discussion eating to make your workouts most effective for strength/muscle gain and fat loss.

    Also, like LaarainNYC said, Stronglifts 5x5 is a good place to start for lifting. The website is really straightforward, and there is even an app for your phone (android and iphone) that helps you track your progress.

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