Gym program needs updating (weightloss)

Jwacqui

Hi Everybody,

I'm just looking for some advice on my gym program.
I am 21, female. My aim is weight loss. I am down 2st 10.5lb so far.
Starting weight was 17st 1lb, am now 14st 4.5lb. Goal weigh would hopefully be 9-10stone.

I lost this majority of this by diet and joined the gym 5weeks ago an added exercise.

My program is as follows;

Warm up; Bike 10mins, lvl 4, speed 60+

Crosstrainer;20mins, lvl 5, 1min slow 60speed, 20sec fast 110+
(for slow I normally go 80speed, feel 60 is very slow. I also try push the fast and can go up to 150speed)

Treadmill, 15mins, incline 2, 1min walk, 1min run
(I can only do 2mins walk and 1min run and my heartreat gets high, about 180bpm)

Fixed Weights; Total Ab, 20kg, 12 x 3sets

Leg Press, 20kg, 12 x 3sets (Do 30kg as 20g is a bit too easy)

In the last 5weeks I have lost 7lb doing this, it really works me out. I absolutely sweat to death and get the heart rate going.

But after 5-6weeks I was told to change it. I have asked the last 2days in the gym but the guy that did mine wasn't there. I was told to ask him next week when he's back.

I would like to add more weights as I enjoy them.

Any help would be greatly appreaciated! Thank you!

eclectichoney

Hey Jwacqui,

I don't know much about these things so I am sure other more knowledgable folk will chime in. But first off, kudos on the progress so far, and tbh once you keep adhering to this:

Jwacqui wrote: »

I absolutely sweat to death and get the heart rate going.

you can't go too far wrong in terms of losing weight imo. As regards cardio, i find the best approach is to make sure you are always challenging yourself e.g. a little longer, a little faster, more resistance etc.

I'm a girl and I do weights 3-4 times a week usually. They have really made a difference. I try and do about 5 different exercises per session and usually do a total body workout type programme (there are some good examples of templates here http://www.exrx.net/Lists/WorkoutMenu.html) (I actually do a push pull split I got from exrx)

I find lunges particularly great and you can do them with just your bodyweight to start and then add some dumbells. Walking lunges really get your heart rate up too.
http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/Quadriceps/DBLunge.html

Squats are great as well and even doing them with just your bodyweight can be a good workout if you try and do as many as you can in 1 minute, and each time try and do some more.

Barbell rows, bench presses and push ups are good upper body exercises (the exrx site will have examples or you can search on youtube)


You might get some ideas from here as well http://www.stumptuous.com/category/training/exercise_instruction

The main idea is to try and get a balance in your programme e.g. a quad exercise (lunges), a hamstring exercise (leg curls), a pressing exercise (bench press), a pulling exercise (rows).

As I said though, I'm not an expert in the least, but there is definitely some good stuff on the exrx site as a starting point

Jwacqui

Thank you, I'll look more into these, sounds a bit complicated but need to change it up a bit.

Any more tips from anybody else?

ocianain

Jwacqui wrote: »

Thank you, I'll look more into these, sounds a bit complicated but need to change it up a bit.

Any more tips from anybody else?

Diet is key, keep a journal of what you eat, many people are unaware of how much they are eating. For example, one Lifesaver = 15 calories, over the course of a year eating one Lifesaver a day over what you need to maintain will result in a 1.5 pound weight gain, over ten years that's 15 pounds. Realistically, most people are taking in more than 1 Lifesaver too much

Regarding cardio, 1/2 hour of cardio = approx 500 calories. 7.2 hours will be needed to lose 1 pound. As a bodybuilder friend of mine said, "You can exercise yourself into shape, it's all diet." 1/2 of cardio is plenty, don't over exercise, save money, eat only good food. Do this experment, put all your "junk food" on the kitchen table, add up how much it cost you, don't buy anymore

Jwacqui

ocianain wrote: »

Diet is key, keep a journal of what you eat, many people are unaware of how much they are eating.

Thanks ocianain.

I am in WeightWatchers and thats how I've lost weight so far, every bit of food I eat gets written down and counted. It's the exercise part I am more interested in.

This may sound funny but I find the weeks that I work really hard at the gym I don't lose as much weight as when I lay off it a bit. E.g. 1week I went to the gym 3times, worked really hard lost a lb, following week didn't go at all and lost 3lb my food intake wasn't too far off. Pretty similar both weeks.

ocianain

Go for a nice 15 minute walk, turn around and walk home, 30 minutes of aerobics and you're out and about! Calorie expenditure is all about distance covered, moving 120 pounds a mile requires a certain amount of energy, it's the same amount if you do it in 30 minutes or 15. As your condtion improves you'll be able to walk further in the same time. If you want to burn fat the exercise must be of long duration and low intensity. Walking too hard might put you into the lactic acid energy pathway instead of fat. To simplify, a sprint ( up to 10 sec) uses the PC energy pathway, a fast clip (power walking) puts you in the lactic acid pathway, a meandering low intensity walk however, puts you on fat. Very simple, but accurate. If you can't walk and hold a conversation easily, you're in the lactic acid pathway, your cardiovascular system is being trained, but your not burning the fat stores you could

eclectichoney

Jwacqui wrote: »

Thanks ocianain.


This may sound funny but I find the weeks that I work really hard at the gym I don't lose as much weight as when I lay off it a bit. E.g. 1week I went to the gym 3times, worked really hard lost a lb, following week didn't go at all and lost 3lb my food intake wasn't too far off. Pretty similar both weeks.

Sometimes I find I can retain a little more water if I have been working hard in the gym, so maybe that is the culprit?? And it might take a couple of days rest before you lose it (and it shows up on the scales).

ocianain, I disagree about keeping is low intensity. If you are working at a higher intensity for the same period, you will be burning more calories overall - yes the overall composition might be a little different, but at the end of the day you want as big a deficit (within reason / sustainability etc.!) as possible. Obviously throwing in a long walk or two / generally being more active in your day - to - day life can also make a difference on top of the gym work. A mixture of activity is good