Advice on program / routine

MikeC101

Hi guys,

Looking for some advice on the following program.

On a workout day I take in about 1800 calories, spilt roughly 45% Protein, 45% carbs and 10% fat.

On a rest day I'll take in 1400 calories, split 55% protein, 10% carbs, 35% fat.

Doing weights 3 days a week, unsure whether or not I should be doing cardio on off days or the same day as weights?

I basically follow the following workout, is there anything major missing?

Dumbbells are handy for me because I have a half decent set at home so I can use them on days I don't make it to the gym.

Dumbbell bench press
Push up
Dumbbell shoulder press
Dumbbell shoulder shrug
Dumbbell walking lunges
Bench dip
One arm kettlebell swing (12kg kettlebell)
Dumbbell squat (dumbbell in each hand)
One arm dumbbell row
Chin up / pull up (need to do these on the assisted pull up machine in the gym, otherwise I do negatives on the bar at home - basically jumping up and lowering myself as slow as possible)
Dumbbell bicep/hammer curl
Dumbbell Lying Triceps Extension

On the dumbbell stuff I do 3 sets of between 6 and 10 reps, starting at a weight that's tiring but I can do 10 reps of without failure, increasing weight to where I really struggle on the last reps.

Goal is really just to maintain muscle as much as possible while losing weight, I'm not really expecting major strength increases. Am I doing too many isolation moves and not enough compound stuff? Was thinking of adding deadlift (with a barbell) because it's handy enough to do at home.

Hanley

How heavy are you? Are you doing all those exercises on each day?

MikeC101

Hi Hanley,

Currently weigh 75kg - now that I look at the routine I don't always do every exercise, sometimes I might do bench dip instead of triceps extension or vice versa, and the kettlebell swing is a recent addition that I've not done much of before.

Other than that, I might leave out the pull ups / chin ups depending on how wrecked I am after a workout.

Goal is to lose as much body fat as possible before trying to build muscle. (Thinking of trying the leangains slow bulk)

Edit: Not sure if it matters, but I've started taking 5gr of creatine every day and found it helps with recovery in a big way.

Hanley

I think your kcal intake (assuming it's accuracy) is way too low for starters.

How tall are you?

MikeC101

180cm.

I think you could be right on the calorie intake alright - I've aimed on the low side and come up with maintenance of 2000kcal, and went for 30% under on the rest days and 10% under on the workout days.

I think I'm fairly accurate with counting what I consume - I use myfitnesspal to log stuff and weigh most of my meals, but I would suspect I still underestimate the amount I take in, hence my aiming on the lower side.

Hanley

Yeah I think you're definitely way under then.

I'd say 1,650 to 1,900 is a much better range.

Generally maintenance is around bodyweight in lbs x14 (to give total kcals) but fair enough on leaving room for error.

That being said, I've seen some shocking calcs come out of people when it comes to calorie tracking. A mate of mine thought a chicken breast was 300-400kcal based off fitday.

Hailhail1967

How3 long have you been doing your workout/diet routine? Just curious how the weight is going, in regards to the kcal intake and how you feel day to day?

Everyone is different obviously but weighing around 80kg's myself I would struggle to carry out basic daily living tasks on 1400kcal, if you restrict to much you are doing more harm than good in the long term.

What method are you using for calculating what you actually need kcal wise per day?

MikeC101

I've become more and more wary of myfitnesspal (specifically it's suggested calorie intake and the amounts of calories it thinks are burned from exercise).

I started a similar program around December 2011, when I weighed about 105kg, along with cutting back on carbs (on the advice of a personal trainer). It was a little more basic as far as I remember, similar enough though, but without pull ups, shoulder stuff, and no squats. Energy levels were fine, if anything I felt more energetic.

I then did a bit of reading up on weight loss and started controlling calorie intake - I was roughly at 2000 a day for quite a while, again following a very similar program. I added in intervals on a cross trainer a few times a week as well. Weight kept coming off, energy levels were good.

Then around March I hit 75kg, and have remained there ever since. Tried cutting back on calories even further, but it just left me tired and with no energy for exercise. Been trying different approaches since - a few weeks at below maintenance with no change, tried a couple of weeks of a ketogenic diet, heck even tried taking two days off and eating whatever I liked, and it doesn't seem to be having much impact. I seem to end up settling back at the 75kg mark no matter what - I dip below it for a bit, then I'm above it for a while. Honestly I think a big part is I might not be as motivated now as I was when I was at 105kg, and it's gotten a little more complicated now - I'd really like to build more muscle, whereas at the start it was solely about dropping weight, so I'm a bit all over the place...

I'm unsure what to do now really - Can't decide if I should go on a calorie surplus and try to build some more muscle before trying to drop fat, or if getting to a lower level of body fat first and then building muscle is a better path.

So at the moment I'm cycling calories - a bit above maintenance on workout days, below maintenance on rest days. I suspect I'm not really being accurate enough with the calories, although I think I may have put on a bit of muscle recently, so I might stick with it and see.

Hanley

Sounds like you're trying to do everything and not doing anything that really specifically matches your goals. No one can tell you which route is right for you, but at that weight now I'd tend more towards trying to build some muscle.

You'll never look lean/toned without doing it.

As for myfitnesspal kcal recommendations - there's nothing to be skeptical about. THey're miles off. Simple as

MikeC101

Yeah I agree with that to be honest - I think I got a little too caught up with how quickly the weight came off at the start and expected it to stay coming off that fast forever.

Any opinion if I'm better off trying:
1. Cycling calories - leangains approach - 20% over maintenance on workout days, 20% under on rest days. Workout 3 days a week.
2. Calorie surplus of 250 - 500kcal (starting at 250 and working upwards if no change after a few weeks). Workout 3 days a week.

Some other variation? (I assume I'm a bit early to be considering split workouts)
If I'm looking to build muscle would I be better off focusing on compound lifts, and a barbell instead of a dumbbell? So focusing on squat, bench, deadlift?