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Workout advice: Frequency and time

adammo2121
adammo2121 Posts: 22 Member
edited November 2024 in Health and Weight Loss
Hi all,

In another thread I mentioned that my main two goals were to 1 - lose belly fat, and 2 - gain a bit of arm strength. I had previously been doing mostly a cardio program 5 times a week but wanted to switch that to a HIIT/weight training program.

I wanted to ask a little advice on the length of workouts and the frequency. I like to do my workouts during my lunch hour as I find it makes me more awake for the afternoon and gives my evenings/weekends for family/other interests. But am concerned (especially in the weights area) that I am not doing enough.

Monday - Biceps/triceps supersets 40 minutes
Tuesday - HIIT workout - 25 minutes
Wednesday - Chest/Back/Shoulders weights
Thursday - HIIT workout - 20 minutes
Friday - Biceps/triceps supersets 40 minutes

Anyway any advice if I am ok/ not ok with what I am doing would be awesome.

Thanks!

Replies

  • DeguelloTex
    DeguelloTex Posts: 6,652 Member
    Legs?
  • JenMc14
    JenMc14 Posts: 2,389 Member
    For me, it's less about the time, for strength training, and more about the weights and reps. Also, you definitely need to get in a leg day, or make your strength full body. At least imho.
  • _benjammin
    _benjammin Posts: 1,224 Member
    Your best use of time would be a full body workout utilizing compound movements M-W-F.
  • juggernaut1974
    juggernaut1974 Posts: 6,212 Member
    _benjammin wrote: »
    Your best use of time would be a full body workout utilizing compound movements M-W-F.

    I'd tend to agree.

    I didn't see your original thread, but if you're a beginner to lifting, such isolated muscle exercises aren't going to be as beneficial as focusing primarily on compound lifts with just a few accessory lifts.

    Doing so should also help with incorporating your legs as others have pointed out.

    Finally, I might also suggest adding a rest day in the middle of the week, instead of 5 straight days of exercise followed by 2 straight days off.
  • DeguelloTex
    DeguelloTex Posts: 6,652 Member
    You might want to take a look at http://www.aworkoutroutine.com
  • adammo2121
    adammo2121 Posts: 22 Member
    Thanks all, I should have mentioned that I am not a beginner when it comes to weights so perhaps the training each muscle twice is week is the best for me. And ya good call on the legs...figured that I got them working when I did some of my other workouts and general exercise and figured they were good enough strength as is. Just trying to maximize the time I have so I can mainly lose this belly fat :).

    Thank you for the link, it is very helpful. The one thing I don't get is where I fit my HIIT in. I figure it would be helpful for me to do it, but maybe it is not needed. I'm going under the assumption that lifting 3 times a week and doing some form of HIIT twice a week will help me lose the belly fat the best but could be wrong...

    Thanks!
  • juggernaut1974
    juggernaut1974 Posts: 6,212 Member
    "Losing the belly fat" is going to be much more a function of your caloric intake than your exercise regimen.
  • _benjammin
    _benjammin Posts: 1,224 Member
    ceoverturf wrote: »
    "Losing the belly fat" is going to be much more a function of your caloric intake than your exercise regimen.
    ^This
    And regardless if you are a beginner or advanced lifter, if you only have 40 minutes over lunch 3x a week, a full body workout would still be your best bet.
  • jmills204
    jmills204 Posts: 2 Member
    _benjammin wrote: »
    ceoverturf wrote: »
    "Losing the belly fat" is going to be much more a function of your caloric intake than your exercise regimen.
    ^This
    And regardless if you are a beginner or advanced lifter, if you only have 40 minutes over lunch 3x a week, a full body workout would still be your best bet.
    ^All of this. Personally, I rarely engage in cardio outside just general moving around (mowing grass, playing with the dog etc) because I just seem to get so much more out of even a basic lifting routine with very little time to spend. I've gotten down in the 10% BF range without doing any dedicated cardio in the gym, and been able to maintain lean weight as well. Also, I've went months without any isolated arm work and lost very little if any shape or size from my arms. It may sound strange and counter intuitive but heavy-to-you deadlifts, squats, bench and overhead press really will create results...nothing else "needed". I know, not the advice you're looking for but with your time parameters, I really think resistance training will yield better, faster results over time.
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