My Fitness Plan - Pick Away @ It Please!!!

JayMcLeary
JayMcLeary Posts: 13
in Fitness and Exercise
Ok so here is the plan for my losing weight programme.

First of all i will state treadmills are a no go, evil evil machines haha!

So plan is -

Arrive at Gym and do

15-20 Minutes Cross Trainer

Upperbody Weights 20 Minutes

Swimming 30 Minutes (Medium Pace) No Stopping except to turn.

Will this work with good eating plan?

Any tips!

Cheers

Replies

  • Jxnsmma
    Jxnsmma Posts: 919 Member
    You burn way more calories doing lower body exercises (large muscle groups) so I'd alternate upper and lower body resistance exercises and not just do cardio for my lower body. I'd do half an hour of cardio each workout then work a body part (biceps one day, then legs the next, then chest, then abs, then triceps, then back to legs, then back.... shoulders etc) for the other half hour, then do more cardio if you want or have the time/energy, stretch and call it a day. I also write down what exercises that I do and how much weight i use with a comment beside it whether the weight was too heavy, good or i could increase next time so that you are always trying to progress, Try to do 3 sets of 10 of each exercise you pick with a 2 minute rest in between sets. you will see that 20 minutes goes by preeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeetty fast!
  • martesso
    martesso Posts: 3
    I agree that you should work the larger muscles first.

    Many trainers will say that you should do weights first, then do cardio for a more effective fat-burning workout. I didn't always stick to this, as sometimes it takes more mental energy to kill yourself on the weights first and followup with cardio.
  • JayMcLeary
    JayMcLeary Posts: 13
    Yeah the 30 mins cardio is what a want to be doing in 2-3 weeks time. Just want to get in the swing of it first, get myself in a pattern.

    So say tomorrow.

    I go in, do my 20 Minutes CrossTrainer. I then decide to do my arm area only with weights. Then swimming.
    Then on friday I would go in and do the same as day before except instead of my arms go for the chest area.
    Then on say sunday i would do the same but maybe do the back muscles?

    Does this not meant here are too much gaps inbetween say when the arms last got done because of the other groups. Or should I just blast all the machines I want to last in the one session. Would this be negative?
  • JayMcLeary
    JayMcLeary Posts: 13
    Larger muscles first as in my lower half? I wont do weights on this, i am very stocky and dont want these to stay big, want to trim them down.

    20 minutes cardio on cross trainer and then 30 minutes swim is surely a good enough workout for cardio alone?
  • pietomb00
    pietomb00 Posts: 69 Member
    Sounds like plenty of cardio.

    It's a good idea to do some lower body otherwise you end up top heavy, but you're probably safe for a while if you're trying to trim down a bit.

    Rather than "larger muscles", try to work muscle groups first...for example for upper body you might do a chest press that does your triceps and pecs, then a row (upright or lat) which will do your biceps and traps/lats (your back), and then move onto isolating certain muscles...for example a bicep curl and triceps dips. If you want to do any core work (abs area) then do it last, as it works while you do all other exercise so best not to tire it out by targeting it first.

    And always try to balance in one session, so if you work on your chest, work on your back, if you do biceps, do triceps.
  • JayMcLeary
    JayMcLeary Posts: 13
    "And always try to balance in one session, so if you work on your chest, work on your back, if you do biceps, do triceps."

    Can u clarify further what u mean. Do you mean different days?

    Should be doing 10 reps and 3 sets of whatever weight I am doing.

    Should I be aiming for heavy weights or weights which are easy to push without much resistance?

    Cheers :)
  • g4genn
    g4genn Posts: 58 Member
    my advice is find a good crossfit gym. You get a full body workout in one hour. The you can swim, run or bike to complement your workout.
    In 6 weeks I went from not being able to do A sit-up or barely do a pull-up (even with 150lbs assistant belt). Now I can pop out 30 in 3 minutes and easily do 10 pull-ups (with a 75 lbs assistant belt).

    Whatever you do, write all your reps and weights down so you can see your improvements.
  • Michelleypoo82
    Michelleypoo82 Posts: 156
    Can you schedule some personal training sessions at your gym? It sounds like you are very new at this and should be shown how to use equipment to make sure you don't get hurt. Trainers also help explain which exercises to do, how often to do them, and why they are done in such a sequence. It will be worth the investment to get a good, solid start from a professional.
  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
    I'd focus on 1 thing - cardio or weights. If doing cardio, then do cardio. If doing weights, do weights. Doing a little bit of both slows progress (IME).

    Light cardio for 10-15 minutes if fine as a warm-up, if you want. But on your lifting days, lift, and lift heavy. Focus on the major muscle groups and compound lifts as much as you can - pull-ups, bench press, shoulder press, squats, deads, rows. You won't stay big or any of that crap if your diet is in check. If you're diet isn't right, then it's a losing battle - get your dirt right and go from there.

    On your cardio days, do cardio... swim, elliptical, bike, whatever you like.
  • gomidas2007
    gomidas2007 Posts: 25 Member
    Hi!

    My advice to you would be to jump right in! What do you have to lose by going straight to 3 days a week? Except for more weight! If you're going to go for it, then go all out. You'll be glad you did. I think you've got the right idea with the cross-trainer and swimming sandwiched around your weight training. But don't be fooled into thinking that working your lower body with the weights is going to make your legs bigger.

    The squat and deadlift are without a doubt the 2 best overall body exercises you can do, and they will also burn the most calories. I would recommend 3-5 sets of 12-15 reps on any exercise that you do. Without going into to too much detail, this is the range where you body will burn the most fat. You won't see much in the way of a strength or size increase because of the high number of reps. Also, try to keep the rest inbetween sets around 60-90 seconds. I highly recommend going to bodybuilding.com or muscleandstrength.com and taking a look at some of thier fat-burning workouts, as well as reading some of the other articles. They are very helpful!

    The important thing to remember about all this, is that you can do all the lifting and cardio you want, but if you aren't eating correctly, this will have little to no effect! I wish you the best of luck, and if you have any more questions, feel free to friend/message me at any time!

    Tyler
  • JayMcLeary
    JayMcLeary Posts: 13
    Can you schedule some personal training sessions at your gym? It sounds like you are very new at this and should be shown how to use equipment to make sure you don't get hurt. Trainers also help explain which exercises to do, how often to do them, and why they are done in such a sequence. It will be worth the investment to get a good, solid start from a professional.

    Haha dont worry, i did actually do my HNC in sports coaching 7 years ago, but just wanted to check everyones opinion, no point thinking im right when I could be wrong :)
  • JayMcLeary
    JayMcLeary Posts: 13
    Hi!

    My advice to you would be to jump right in! What do you have to lose by going straight to 3 days a week? Except for more weight! If you're going to go for it, then go all out. You'll be glad you did. I think you've got the right idea with the cross-trainer and swimming sandwiched around your weight training. But don't be fooled into thinking that working your lower body with the weights is going to make your legs bigger.

    The squat and deadlift are without a doubt the 2 best overall body exercises you can do, and they will also burn the most calories. I would recommend 3-5 sets of 12-15 reps on any exercise that you do. Without going into to too much detail, this is the range where you body will burn the most fat. You won't see much in the way of a strength or size increase because of the high number of reps. Also, try to keep the rest inbetween sets around 60-90 seconds. I highly recommend going to bodybuilding.com or muscleandstrength.com and taking a look at some of thier fat-burning workouts, as well as reading some of the other articles. They are very helpful!

    The important thing to remember about all this, is that you can do all the lifting and cardio you want, but if you aren't eating correctly, this will have little to no effect! I wish you the best of luck, and if you have any more questions, feel free to friend/message me at any time!

    Tyler

    Hey dont worry, i dont want big legs, thats not what I am lookign to achieve. They are quite muscley and chunky as is, hence why focusing on the more important factors for me personally at the minute. IE upperbody and general weight of me.

    My eating will be on point, when I get on the wagon I proper get on the wagon.

    Thanks for your help. Hopefully after week 1 I can show good results :)

    Cheers
  • pietomb00
    pietomb00 Posts: 69 Member
    "And always try to balance in one session, so if you work on your chest, work on your back, if you do biceps, do triceps."

    Can u clarify further what u mean. Do you mean different days?

    Should be doing 10 reps and 3 sets of whatever weight I am doing.

    Should I be aiming for heavy weights or weights which are easy to push without much resistance?

    Cheers :)

    I mean on the same day, so spend half your weights time doing one muscle group, and then spend the other half in the same session on it's opposite group. A good way to do it is do a set on one then a set on the other, as it then means you're not wasting time by resting, but you are actually still resting.

    Not sure what your goals are as it won't let me scroll down far enough, but generally you should be struggling on the last rep of each set, if you're not then either up the weight (if going for strength) or do more reps (if going for endurance).

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