Which type of routine

whitelightrider

Ok folks. Had the fitness test last night and while everything was pretty good, my BF was 19.4%. Very, very ticked off with this.

My question. I am wondering which type of routine is better:
A 3 day split routine with cardio mixed in
A daily total body workout

Im not looking to get massive. Just lean out and add some muscle mass. Im going for my Black Belt in October so I dont want to be stiff and tight for the grading.

whitelightrider

Anyone got any advice???

wasabi

First off, 19.4% is not the worst in the world, really.

Secondly, your diet is pretty important for losing fat. See the diet and nutrition sticky, post up your diet if you'd like some specific advice.

Now, as for the gym, since you're already doing martial arts training which presumably you don't want to have any parts of your body completely wrecked for, I'd go for a total body workout about 3 times a week. Did you have a programme in mind?

How much MA training are you doing and what is it? That probably counts as cardio in itself TBH. Not sure I'd necessarily add a load more in the gym on to that. Maybe a quick session or two of hard intervals, say 8 one minute hard sprints either outside or on treadmill/rower/bike with about 30 second breaks, they're excellent for fat loss (not so much from the calorie expenditure while doing them as from the hormonal effects they cause).

BTW weights won't make you stiff or tight, particularly if you use good range of motion and stretch after. A lot of lifts are actually very good for your flexibility, squats for instance. As for getting massive, if you find yourself getting excessively massive before October, there are a few people here who will be very interested in your secret

whitelightrider

wasabi wrote:

First off, 19.4% is not the worst in the world, really.

Secondly, your diet is pretty important for losing fat. See the diet and nutrition sticky, post up your diet if you'd like some specific advice.

Now, as for the gym, since you're already doing martial arts training which presumably you don't want to have any parts of your body completely wrecked for, I'd go for a total body workout about 3 times a week. Did you have a programme in mind?

How much MA training are you doing and what is it? That probably counts as cardio in itself TBH. Not sure I'd necessarily add a load more in the gym on to that. Maybe a quick session or two of hard intervals, say 8 one minute hard sprints either outside or on treadmill/rower/bike with about 30 second breaks, they're excellent for fat loss (not so much from the calorie expenditure while doing them as from the hormonal effects they cause).

BTW weights won't make you stiff or tight, particularly if you use good range of motion and stretch after. A lot of lifts are actually very good for your flexibility, squats for instance. As for getting massive, if you find yourself getting excessively massive before October, there are a few people here who will be very interested in your secret

Hi Wasabi,
Im doing Shotokan Karate and Im training twice a week. Ill add in the HIIT though just to try and boost the fitness.
As for total body workouts, do you know of anywhere I could look to get advice on some of them?

wasabi

whitelightrider wrote:

Hi Wasabi,
Im doing Shotokan Karate and Im training twice a week. Ill add in the HIIT though just to try and boost the fitness.
As for total body workouts, do you know of anywhere I could look to get advice on some of them?

This isn't a bad program at the start of this thread.
http://www.teamtestforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=2037

www.exrx.net for exercise descriptions. Can you squat, deadlift etc? If not you'll really need someone to help you out with form initially (maybe a decent trainer in your gym, if there is one).