My Workout Regimen

[Jaggie]

Finally got back to working out hard about a month ago. I used to be in great shape in high school and then again for a bit in college, but once I got to law school it all went down hill. I had little muscle and a lot of fat and weighed 250lbs at 5'10". That was a month ago and since then I've put together a workout plan of lifting and cardio. A typical week for me is as follows (this was last week, weight is in pounds):

Monday:
Barbell Bench - 2x5 @ 135, 2x5 @ 155, 1x5 @165
Barbell Incline - 1x5 @115, 2x5 @ 135, 2x5 @ 155
Sevens (bicep curls, seven reps from bottom to halfway, seven from halfway to top, seven full curls all without stopping) - 5 sets at 40
Triceps Rope Pulldown - 5x10 @ 90
Triceps Press - 1x10 @70, 4x10 @80

Tuesday:
Barbell Squats - 2x5 @ 225, 2x5 @ 245
Leg Press - 1x5 @ 400, 1x5 @ 450, 1x5 @ 500, 1x5 @ 525, 1x5 @ 560
Calf Machine - 2x8 @ 240, 2x8 @ 270, 1x8 @ 300

Wednesday:
Usually nothing, maybe a little stationary bike

Thursday:
Lat Pull Downs - 1x8 @ 90, 1x8 @ 110, 1x8 @ 100, 1x8 @ 90, 1x10 @ 80
Rows - 5x8 @ 90
Dumbbell Shoulder Press - 5x8 @ 50 pounds each
Smith Machine Military Press - 1x5 @ 95, 1x5 @ 115, 1x5 @ 135, 2x5 @ 125
Lower Back Extensions - 1x10 @ 120, 1x10 @ 140, 1x10 @ 160, 1x10 @ 190, 1x10 @ 200

Friday:
Leg Extensions - 5x10 @ 100
Leg Curls - 5x10 @ 90
Crunch Machine - 5x10 @ 90

I also do 15-25 minutes of hard stationary bike on random days after lifting. I'd say on average I do that two times a week.

As you can probably notice, I am much stronger with my lower body than my upper body. Do you have any suggestions as to what lifts or techniques I can add or modify to help strengthen my upper body? Also any suggestions for more fat loss? I've only lost about 5 pounds so far, but have lost 3 inches from my waist. I am normally eating around 1200-1500 calories a day although on the weekends (and sometimes on a weekday) I will cheat and have significantly more than that. As for supplements, I don't take much. I take a multivitamin 2x a day, glucosamine chondroitin 2x a day, flax seed oil 2x a day, and vitamin C 1x a day. I also take whey protein 2-3 times a week after a workout. I have tried creatine before but don't really need to get bigger or bloated. I am mostly looking to add muscle and drop fat (aren't we all?). I can definitely feel myself getting stronger, but I am hoping for more results with weight loss. Any further suggestions? Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[BlackTigers]

1500 calories a day? At 240ish? EEK!

You're starving yourself doing that man, especially coupled with that routine and cardio.

 

[patrick24601]

I concur BT. You need to be eating a helluva lot more and spreading it out during the day. More Cardio!

 

[Jaggie]

I always feel full or bloated if I eat more than that during the week. As far as cardio, I don't have a lot of time after my workouts for cardio, what kind of cardio do you recommend?

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Originally posted by: Jaggie
I always feel full or bloated if I eat more than that during the week. As far as cardio, I don't have a lot of time after my workouts for cardio, what kind of cardio do you recommend?

HIIT would be good for your cardio, especially if you're low on time. Google it and you'll get some pretty basic explanations. Also, it does not matter if you "feel" full. You need to eat more so your body doesn't kill your metabolism. 2000 is probably a better number for you, which could include a glass of milk, some chicken, and a piece of bread or something.

 

[jiggahertz]

Yeah, as others have said, even 1500 is pretty low for someone of your size. Do you have an idea of your intake prior to this change in diet? Do you mind posting a detailed description of what you eat daily to account for 1200-1500 cals?

 

[jiggahertz]

As far as strengthening your upper body. If you take your bench for example, you're doing 2x5 @ 135, 2x5 @ 155 and 1x5 @ 165. I'm assuming those first 4 sets are actual work sets for you and not just warm-up sets. By the time you reach your heaviest set you've already fatigued your muscles and the majority of your sets are performed below maximum effort.

 

[Jaggie]

For food, a typical day might be this:

Breakfast - Bowl of special k, skim milk
Snack - Granola bar
Lunch - Tuna on whole wheat
Snack - Apple
Dinner - Soup, trail mix
Snack - Fat free cottage cheese

I also drink almost 0 calories in liquids per day. Most liquid intake is water, but some is Propel or diet soda. I also drink a lot of green tea.

 

[KoolDrew]

You are 240lb male and are eating like a female half your size trying to lose weight. Generally speaking average maintenance intake is somewhere between 14-16 cal/lb, and to lose weight you should reduce this by 20% max. A 20% deficit would be ~11-13 cal/lb. So in your case I would start off with ~2640-3120. Obviously everybody's different so it will have to be adjusted based on your results. Some people with shitty genetics may even have to lower it all the way down to 8 cal/lb, but that would still be ~500 extra calories than you are currently getting.

As for your routine, I like the idea of upper/lower, but there's a few things I don't like. First of all, I see no deadlifts and Fridays workout is pretty much a waste of time with all isolation work. Personally I would just do the Starting Strength routine by Mark Rippetoe.

For cardio HIIT is a very good idea, but don't overdo it. I'd say try 2x a week, on non-lifting days. If you want to stay with the 4x a week weight lifting (which is fine, but you should definitely make adjustments), doing intervals in the AM on lower body days would be a good idea. Then do steady state cardio in the AM on upper body days and take the other days off like normal.

 

[paulxcook]

Eating 1500 cals a day is a great fast, short-term way to lose weight, but a terrible way to lose fat and gain muscle and recompose your body. It's just not enough.

Your exercises don't look too bad IMO, though I'd love to see deadlift in there. I also think you'd be better off not using the smith machine for overhead press or anything else, as it's important to work your stabilizing muscles. However, I have no idea how you plan to get through all of that in a week on only 1500 calories a day.

 

[Jaggie]

Well I have been getting through it for several weeks now on about 1500 cals a day. I don't have a problem with energy or anything like that (I actually have a lot more energy than I used to). But I totally understand that I need to eat more to keep my metabolism in check. I just don't want to overdo it. I was taking in WAY too many calories per day before I started working out (probably 4k+) and I have no desire to go back to that. So if I could somehow get the calories back up to 2500 or so, would that be a good amount?

I've done the high intensity interval training in the past, it's just hard to do that now with the weather (very cold where I am). Any good tips on HIIT for a stationary bike? I know I can just go hard and then easy, but I always found HIIT to be most effective outside on the track.

As for deadlift, I always scared away from it because I have a bad back and I didn't want to mess it up again. But now that I'm lifting more, I think it would work. Should I just add deadlift to my Friday workout?

Thanks, everyone, for your help so far!

 

[paulxcook]

The good part about deadlift is that if the weight is too heavy, just let go. As long as you are smart about it, it's a fantastic exercise.

Given that I'm currently using the Mark Rippetoe Starting Strength program, I would of course agree with Drew and suggest you give it a shot. Check out my journal if you want to see how it works from an AT guy's POV. It would actually put you in the gym one less day per week, which I think anyone going to law school would appreciate, and would probably build more muscle than your current workout.

As for calories, 2500 would be much better than your current 1500. As you mentioned, you were at 4000, that's how you got to where you are. 2500 is still way less than 4000.

I know nothing about HIIT so I can't address that.

Good luck.

 

[Safeway]

Originally posted by: Jaggie
Well I have been getting through it for several weeks now on about 1500 cals a day. I don't have a problem with energy or anything like that (I actually have a lot more energy than I used to). But I totally understand that I need to eat more to keep my metabolism in check. I just don't want to overdo it. I was taking in WAY too many calories per day before I started working out (probably 4k+) and I have no desire to go back to that. So if I could somehow get the calories back up to 2500 or so, would that be a good amount?

I've done the high intensity interval training in the past, it's just hard to do that now with the weather (very cold where I am). Any good tips on HIIT for a stationary bike? I know I can just go hard and then easy, but I always found HIIT to be most effective outside on the track.

As for deadlift, I always scared away from it because I have a bad back and I didn't want to mess it up again. But now that I'm lifting more, I think it would work. Should I just add deadlift to my Friday workout?

Thanks, everyone, for your help so far!

Don't do HIIT on 1500 calories/day. You will start one of the intervals, feel dizzy, and pass out. Trust me, I know. 1500 calories/day with a carb-reload once a week. Don't do it for too long, a few weeks. After that, ramp up to 2000 calories/day. Exercise a little more, and add small amounts of high fiber, unrefined carbohydrates. Eat some low-sodium, natural peanut butter for get good fats.

Once you are up to 2500 calories/day, you can add in HIIT. I prefer LISS, since I go for epic rides (50+ miles on single-track), but HIIT improves my ability to quickly recover after sprints, climbs, etc. Balance HIIT and LISS, very important.

 

[Jaggie]

I do go for longer bike rides (did a few century rides) but I don't see those as terribly intense cardio workouts because I usually average between 12-15 mph.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Originally posted by: Jaggie
Well I have been getting through it for several weeks now on about 1500 cals a day. I don't have a problem with energy or anything like that (I actually have a lot more energy than I used to). But I totally understand that I need to eat more to keep my metabolism in check. I just don't want to overdo it. I was taking in WAY too many calories per day before I started working out (probably 4k+) and I have no desire to go back to that. So if I could somehow get the calories back up to 2500 or so, would that be a good amount?

I've done the high intensity interval training in the past, it's just hard to do that now with the weather (very cold where I am). Any good tips on HIIT for a stationary bike? I know I can just go hard and then easy, but I always found HIIT to be most effective outside on the track.

As for deadlift, I always scared away from it because I have a bad back and I didn't want to mess it up again. But now that I'm lifting more, I think it would work. Should I just add deadlift to my Friday workout?

Thanks, everyone, for your help so far!

You can do HIIT pretty easily on a stationary bike. You can buy an interval stopwatch or just look at a clock or something and ride fast for like 1 min and then slow for 2 min, then up again for 1 min, then down again for 2. It's really easy to do interval training (can be done on an elliptical, bike, treadmill, track, tabatas, weight-training, etc). You just gotta spike your intensity and rest a bit.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Originally posted by: SociallyChallenged


You can do HIIT pretty easily on a stationary bike. You can buy an interval stopwatch or just look at a clock or something and ride fast for like 1 min and then slow for 2 min, then up again for 1 min, then down again for 2. It's really easy to do interval training (can be done on an elliptical, bike, treadmill, track, tabatas, weight-training, etc). You just gotta spike your intensity and rest a bit.

Aren't squats an excellent HIIT exercise? I thought I read somewhere years back, that a hard set of squats is about equivalent to a 100m sprint.

 

[Jaggie]

Ok, I think I will try HIIT on the stationary. How much time would constitute a good HIIT workout? How many days a week?

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Originally posted by: Jaggie
Ok, I think I will try HIIT on the stationary. How much time would constitute a good HIIT workout? How many days a week?

I personally wouldn't do HIIT more than twice a week. It's pretty intense on the body. You can ride the bike on the other days, just don't do the HIIT A HIIT workout is one that makes you push yourself hard. It'll be hard especially the first couple of times, but you really just gotta push it until you can't anymore. That'll help you get fit quick.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Originally posted by: DAPUNISHER

Originally posted by: SociallyChallenged


You can do HIIT pretty easily on a stationary bike. You can buy an interval stopwatch or just look at a clock or something and ride fast for like 1 min and then slow for 2 min, then up again for 1 min, then down again for 2. It's really easy to do interval training (can be done on an elliptical, bike, treadmill, track, tabatas, weight-training, etc). You just gotta spike your intensity and rest a bit.

Aren't squats an excellent HIIT exercise? I thought I read somewhere years back, that a hard set of squats is about equivalent to a 100m sprint.

Yep, squat tabatas are awesome. You could also do tabatas with pullups, pushups, situps, weight exercise (light weight obviously), sprints, etc.

 

[Jaggie]

So I have bumped up my cals to around 2500 a day. I have seen some good improvements in the weight room (specifically I have worked up to being able to do my last three sets of bench at 185), but my weight has remained pretty constant. I have been taping my waist, hips and chest and have used that to get a rough estimate of body fat % and BMI. My body fat (according to the rough calculations) has dropped around 10% (I have lost 4 inches each on my waist and hips) but the weight is still pretty high (245) for my height. I feel that even though I am dropping fat and adding muscle, I should be losing more weight anyway. Am I just doing too much in the weight room or is it something else? Thanks again everyone for your help so far.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Originally posted by: Jaggie
So I have bumped up my cals to around 2500 a day. I have seen some good improvements in the weight room (specifically I have worked up to being able to do my last three sets of bench at 185), but my weight has remained pretty constant. I have been taping my waist, hips and chest and have used that to get a rough estimate of body fat % and BMI. My body fat (according to the rough calculations) has dropped around 10% (I have lost 4 inches each on my waist and hips) but the weight is still pretty high (245) for my height. I feel that even though I am dropping fat and adding muscle, I should be losing more weight anyway. Am I just doing too much in the weight room or is it something else? Thanks again everyone for your help so far.

I think that you may just have to wait for your body to find its balance. If you're losing a large amount of fat and maintaining/gaining muscle on a caloric deficit, your body may be equilibrating to its natural build. I wouldn't worry about it too much for now. If it bothers you at any point, you may want to talk to someone (a doctor, a nutritionist). I honestly think that you'll be alright and that once you hit a balance, you will lose more fat and will finally start losing some weight. It's not just you who has this same "problem." If you read around, there are several people who have this quandary.