Second opinions on workout regimen...

[prism]

So I met with a personal trainer at the gym yesterday, and he had me go through a workout that involved up downs with pushups at the bottom using a bosu ball, squats and lunges with a medicine ball, all sorts of cool jumping through a rope ladder laid on the ground, and something where I go from a pushup position to resting on my forearms, one arm at a time.

It kicked my ass and I'm good 'n sore today. My main goal is weight loss, but I also want to develop some upper body muscles in the long run. He recommended against machines and free weights, but from everything I've researched it seems like this workout routine focuses on toning rather than any bulking. Any advice/thoughts/opinions?

 

[brikis98]

Although many personal trainers tend to be clueless, that workout and his advice about free weights sounds pretty reasonable. Of course, it isn't clear if every workout will be exactly like that or if he will change it up all the time.

My main goal is weight loss

If weight loss or is your goal, then getting your diet sorted out is going to be far more important than what workout you do. Take some time and read through the fat loss sticky.

I also want to develop some upper body muscles in the long run.

As explained in the fat loss sticky, adding muscle mass and losing weight at the same time is pretty tough to do. If you are a beginner and do some resistance training, you'll probably be able to do it for some time, but after a while, you'll need to pick one goal or the other and work on it. Most people alternate cycles of bulking (adding muscle) and cutting (losing fat) - the workout remains largely the same, but the diet changes. Also worth mentioning: don't neglect your lower body. The biggest and strongest muscles are in your back and legs and whatever routine you do should work the upper body as much as the lower.

from everything I've researched it seems like this workout routine focuses on toning rather than any bulking.

First of all, "toning" is a somewhat meaningless word. There is only more or less muscle and more or less fat. Second, as I said before, gaining or losing weight has MUCH more to do with diet than your workout routine. Third, the routine he had you do sounds like a good one to develop a little bit of strength, and lots of conditioning and muscular endurance. Since it doesn't include any heavy weight lifting, it is not likely to produce particularly good strength gains or hypertrophy. If that is important to you, I can recommend some routines that will be better suited for that.

 

[Lamont Burns]

The gym I go to has trainers that put people through those types of workouts. The people at the end look dead, and yet they always come back for more. From what I can tell from the logs/pictures they hang in the gym... the shit works for weight loss and general strength on a basic level.

If you goal is losing weight, that workout with a good diet would work great imo.

 

[ZOOYUKA]

I agree with the above posts. Worry about the weight first and the muscle later. The workout seems like it is geared towards burning calories, which is exactly what you need.

 

[prism]

Thanks for the feedback! I definitely DO have my diet in good order right now, from extensive research and feedback from my personal trainer and doctor. And brikis, your quote in your sig is exactly why I'm doing this 🙂

Oh, and I do know the importance of working legs and back (such as lats) as they are the largest muscles, but I'm already very strong in those areas. So while I do plan on working those areas, I mainly just want to gain muscle mass in my upper body.

 

[Titan]

How heavy are you now? I'll mention you should make sure you have good core strength, so you can have proper form for doing heavier weights later. Are you doing any core work? I am talking like palates. That's something I needed because I was so heavy and never had perfect posture, never even knew how to have it.

Normally personal trainers at gyms suck, mine did, so don't be afraid to find a more specialized trainer down the road if you don't like what he tells you.

 

[Lamont Burns]

If you read the OP there's quite a bit of quasi core work listed.

 

[prism]

Yeah, my core's definitely getting pounded in this regimen!

Quick question regarding Social's fatloss sticky: If my BMR is at 2600 calories, but I'm supposed to be in a deficit, how far in a deficit should I be? I'm confused because you also say I'm supposed to be above the BMR 🙁

 

[brikis98]

Yeah, my core's definitely getting pounded in this regimen!

Quick question regarding Social's fatloss sticky: If my BMR is at 2600 calories, but I'm supposed to be in a deficit, how far in a deficit should I be? I'm confused because you also say I'm supposed to be above the BMR 🙁

Your BMR is how many calories you burn if you basically stayed in bed all day. Any activity you do during the day - walking up a flight of stairs, watching the kids, doing chores, helping a friend move, playing a sport, doing a workout - burns lots of calories on top of your BMR. For example, at ~195lbs, my BMR is around 2000 calories. However, I'm able to lose weight even while eating ~2500 calories per day (which is well above my BMR) because my daily activities burn another 1000 calories on top of my BMR.

Note to SC: lots of people seem to be confused about this part, so maybe you should go back and clarify it a bit 🙂

 

[The Sauce]

If you are only interested in weight loss, and we are not discussing diet, this is your best bet:

1. Resistance training - concentrate on compound - multi-joint moves like squats, deadlifts, bench press, dips, pull-ups, walking lunges.
2. Finish your workout with high intensity interval training 3-4 days per week (15-20 min)
3. On days off try AM fasting cardio - 1 hour at moderate intensity before eating.

During workouts keep your between-set intervals down to 1 minute max to keep your heart rate up.