Lifting weights to lose weight

Penn

I've been going to the gym for a while now. Set myself a target for weightloss and while it started off okay, I seem to be stuck. Part of it is diet, which I know I need to work on. My current routine was a mixture of cardio and weight machines, but I've seen people here say free weights are better. My current routine is:

10 mins rowing machine
3x10 50kg Low Pulley
10 mins Crosstrainer (Level 6)
3x10 40kg bench press
15 mins bike (Level 6)
3x10 50kg Lat machine
3x10 25kg Leg curl
3x10 50kg Abdominal curl (I think thats what its called)
(+ stretches before and after)

Last saturday, I asked the trainer to show me a few free weights to replace the machines. We discussed things and I told him I wanted a programme that I could do every day I went in (instead of arms on monday, shoulder/chest wednesday etc), I told him my main goal was to lose weight, and I wanted kind of an all over programme (one with arms, shoulders, chest legs, back etc that I could do every day)

So after the rowing machine, he had me going some shoulder presses with dumbells, and some bicep and tricep curls, which were all grand. Trouble came with the bench press. I told him I used to do 3x10 40kg on the machine, so he started me off just lifting the bar 15 times, which was 20kg. I found that to be okay, as I was getting used to the balance. Then we did 15 reps of 30kg, which I found really tough. Then after another set of the dumbells and curls, had me lift 40kg 15 times, which I really struggled with. Then with the dumbells and curls, I really struggled through them as my arms were aching. Then when it came to the bench press again, I could only do 5 of 30kg before I had to stop. Even 4 days later, my arms were killing me.

My concern would be that I feel this is too much work on just my upper body, with no work at all on my legs or lower body. Plus, there is no way I could do 4 sets of that programme 4 times a week, particularly the bench press, even at 30kg. And I wouldn't feel right about using the bench press to just lift the bar.

I was just wondering if I could get some overall advice. Should I change it so I do work on different muscle groups each time? The reason I'm apprehensive about that is although I mostly go 4 times a week, sometimes I get bogged down at work and might miss a few sessions here and there. Should I do some free weights and some machine weights? Like I said, my main purpose is to lose weight, and I'm really not that strong anyway. Looking to lose about 3 stone over the next 6 months hopefully. Current diet is:

Breakfast: Porridge
Lunch: Brown bread sandwich of egg and turkey (probably need to change this)
Dinner: Meat and half portion of potatoes, a bit of veg
Snacks: Dark chocolate, yogurts, bit of fruit (have a nut intolerance, so thats out)
Drinks: Water, low-fat milk, bit of orange juice every now and again

So, all help really appreciated, on all parts of my workout/diet. I've lost almost 2 stone in the last 6 months, increasing my workout routine every few weeks, but now I'm just stuck in a rut

Transform

keep it simple

For example-

for a full body program you are going to need leg work e.g. lunges, deadlifts, squats, GHR, step ups and split squats.

Then add in some back work as there was none in the workout mentioned e.g. seated rows, one arm rows, chins etc

Overall if your trainer cant get the finger out of his butt and give you a proper program go ask another one.

For a full body program you should really operate off 2-3 different programs every week and 4 days of the same weights program per week is wayyyy overkill.

Overall the diet needs some sharpening up and the portions of the foods you eat are going to be the killer if you are 3stone overweight i.e. you eat wayy to much.

A simple full body program for a beginner -

Squats + Press ups 10-15reps of both for 4 sets and take 1-2mins break between each round i.e. do both THEN rest.

Swiss ball leg curls + One arm rows - as above

Standing over head dumbbell press + Crunches

Plank position (30-40secs) + Reverse ab curls (20reps) for 4 sets

Another full program would have different exercises and possibly a different structure.

All the best

Penn

Cheers for the reply

Transform wrote: »

keep it simple

For example-

for a full body program you are going to need leg work e.g. lunges, deadlifts, squats, GHR, step ups and split squats.

Then add in some back work as there was none in the workout mentioned e.g. seated rows, one arm rows, chins etc

Overall if your trainer cant get the finger out of his butt and give you a proper program go ask another one.

This is where the trouble is, the trainers in the gym are useless. I asked another trainer before if free weights were better than machines for losing weight, I was told that there's no difference, but I should do more reps at a lower weight. Something which I was later told here was wrong. And on saturday when I asked this other trainer for help coming up with a programme, he kept going off to do his own workout too.

Transform wrote: »

For a full body program you should really operate off 2-3 different programs every week and 4 days of the same weights program per week is wayyyy overkill.

Yeah, I realised that after the way my arms felt the other day. While I would like to be stronger, I'm mostly focusing on losing weight so I thought one all-over workout 4 times a week would be better, but I guess not

Transform wrote: »

Overall the diet needs some sharpening up and the portions of the foods you eat are going to be the killer if you are 3stone overweight i.e. you eat wayy to much.

Yeah I agree. I calculated my calorie intake and worked it out to be just under 2200, but I think I need to monitor carb and fat levels a bit closer

Transform wrote: »

A simple full body program for a beginner -

Squats + Press ups 10-15reps of both for 4 sets and take 1-2mins break between each round i.e. do both THEN rest.

Swiss ball leg curls + One arm rows - as above

Standing over head dumbbell press + Crunches

Plank position (30-40secs) + Reverse ab curls (20reps) for 4 sets

Another full program would have different exercises and possibly a different structure.

All the best

Sounds good. I'll have a look into that. Cheers again for the help