Care to critique my gym workout ?

Greendiamond

Hi,

I go to the gym three times a week. I am overweight with a thyroid problem so really need to get the excercise right to assist with weightloss. I am mid forties female. On the days I don't go to the gym I walk or do a class. I would excercise six days a week.
I do the following at the gym.

15 mins on the cross trainer , fairly good pace. Am red in the face and sweaty afterwards
I do 12 reps by three sets of the following

Chest press
Back machine ( its like a rower that I pull back )
Tricep pull down
Bicep curl
Then I do get 3kg weights in each hand and step up on a step and raise my arms to the sky in a burst type movement
10 mins on thread mill or the bike

I didn't find the tricep and bicep machine that good so switched to using free weights for this.

This was a basic programme I was given when I joined the gym. I tried one of their personal trainers but it was too hard core. Told me to cut out carbs, not to eat porridge etc.
I feel I need to add in something for my legs ??

Also how often should I change my programme.

Any advice would be great.

Inspector Coptoor

You should consider changing your programme if that's what you've been doing for any considerable time.

You definitely need to add on some leg work - squats (back or front), single leg work (lunges, RDLs)

You need to add in some trunk/core work, both static (planks) & rotational (twists)

You should also consider changing from the crosstrainer & treadmill.

Try sprint intervals on the rowing machine,
Do 10 mins of 30s on/30s off.
Go hard the first interval to set a target & then try to match it for the next 9 intervals.

Go to the gym instructor & ask for a new programme that's more free weight's focussed that includes some leg/core work & higher intensity conditioning

Hardonraging

You'll never out train a bad diet... so.. on that point .. what are you eating .. ?

Greendiamond

Inspector Coptoor wrote: »

You should consider changing your programme if that's what you've been doing for any considerable time.

You definitely need to add on some leg work - squats (back or front), single leg work (lunges, RDLs)

You need to add in some trunk/core work, both static (planks) & rotational (twists)

You should also consider changing from the crosstrainer & treadmill.

Try sprint intervals on the rowing machine,
Do 10 mins of 30s on/30s off.
Go hard the first interval to set a target & then try to match it for the next 9 intervals.

Go to the gym instructor & ask for a new programme that's more free weight's focussed that includes some leg/core work & higher intensity conditioning

Thanks for your response,it's very helpful. I find the gym a bit intimidating . The gym I am in is cheap and cheerful and there are no regular programme changes. The push is very much towards personal training. I will speak tone of the instructors and mention the changes you have above.
How often should I be changing my programme ? I have been doing this one for three months.

Inspector Coptoor

I wouldn't be changing it too often.

12 weeks or so would be fine.

It's what's IN the programme that matters.

Greendiamond

Hardonraging wrote: »

You'll never out train a bad diet... so.. on that point .. what are you eating .. ?

Typical day would be

Breakfast: No added sugar muesli with berries and nuts. I do use full fat milk but that's the only milk I use during the day bar one cup of tea with low fat milk.
Mid morning: 2 pieces of fruit or low fat hummus and carrots or cup of soup (home made)
Lunch: wholemeal pitta with low fat cheese and salad
Dinner: lamb chop and sweet potato chips or salmon and couscous with veg or half portion of whatever dinner I am doing for the family

I try not to eat after 6pm.

Laydbaklube

Hey. If ur in the gym 3 times a wk try a full body work out on each of the days ur in. Try out a gap between them like mon we'd fri. Try the classes in the gym like spin lift and tone kettle bells. Try not get left with a program and they don't come back to u to check how your progressing. Diet is key u don't have to kill your self. Down load my fitness pal it's a app and u can watch Wat u eat all day scan ur food to see the value of it.

Hardonraging

Greendiamond wrote: »

Typical day would be

Breakfast: No added sugar muesli with berries and nuts. I do use full fat milk but that's the only milk I use during the day bar one cup of tea with low fat milk.
Mid morning: 2 pieces of fruit or low fat hummus and carrots or cup of soup (home made)
Lunch: wholemeal pitta with low fat cheese and salad
Dinner: lamb chop and sweet potato chips or salmon and couscous with veg or half portion of whatever dinner I am doing for the family

I try not to eat after 6pm.

Any idea of how that breaks down in to carbs, fat's and protein ?

Greendiamond

Hardonraging wrote: »

Any idea of how that breaks down in to carbs, fat's and protein ?

Not really to be honest. I try to eat protien at each meal and to up the fruit and veg in my diet. To be honest I don't want to get too hung up on measuring things out. My bowel of muesli woud be a average size bowel with say 5 strawberries and 5 raspberries and a headed teaspoon of crushed nuts. Pita would be your average one you'd buy in tesco with a slice anda half of cheese and two tomatoes, lettuce, onion etc. dinner would be two lamb chops with all fat removed and half a large sweet potato
I 'think' it's a healthy enough diet ???

Hardonraging

Greendiamond wrote: »

Not really to be honest. I try to eat protien at each meal and to up the fruit and veg in my diet. To be honest I don't want to get too hung up on measuring things out. My bowel of muesli woud be a average size bowel with say 5 strawberries and 5 raspberries and a headed teaspoon of crushed nuts. Pita would be your average one you'd buy in tesco with a slice anda half of cheese and two tomatoes, lettuce, onion etc. dinner would be two lamb chops with all fat removed and half a large sweet potato
I 'think' it's a healthy enough diet ???

Perhaps i'm being a little subtle here, as many simply dont understand the basic mechanics of loosing weight ..

Figure out your RMR ( there's plenty of calculator online ) then use something my myfitnesspal, and record everything !! Everything !!!!! that includes how much something is weight wise .. a small bowl of muesli to you might be 30 grams but to me it could be 90 grams ..

As a side note, I always found muesli to be full of sugar by the way, regardless of how 'no added sugar' they maintain they are ..

Pita's are useless, you might as well eat cardboard, infact you'd prob be better off eating cardboard as it would have less starch, Wheat , sugar, and general rubbish in it .

Over all, it's not that you are eating bad things i.e jaffa cakes, choc cake, etc , you need to understand that it's the things you are eating that simply are not helping you loose bf..

Also, one final point .. at a guess i'd say, you're hitting about .. what .. 800 cals a day .. you need double that at a minimum to keep fat loss constant.. and yes that's a very simplistic answer also ..

Greendiamond

Hardonraging wrote: »

Perhaps i'm being a little subtle here,..

Maybe so....I couldn't figure out if you were asking a genuine question or being condescending

Hardonraging

Greendiamond wrote: »

Maybe so....I couldn't figure out if you were asking a genuine question or being condescending

Infairness i was asking a genuine question, but i'm also trying to get you to do the work, if you don't grasp the basics you'll never be able to mix and match food.. Inevitably you may, or may not become a weight watchers supporter because 'I can have a big mac' and nothing else to eat that day, simply because it work's and it's the easy option.

Get to work, with a weighting scales, see how much your food breaks down in to carbs vs fats vs protein, i'd put a few euro on the fact that you eat a hell of a lot of carbs, feck all protein and even less fat .

Greendiamond

Hardonraging wrote: »

Infairness i was asking a genuine question, but i'm also trying to get you to do the work, if you don't grasp the basics you'll never be able to mix and match food.. Inevitably you may, or may not become a weight watchers supporter because 'I can have a big mac' and nothing else to eat that day, simply because it work's and it's the easy option.

Get to work, with a weighting scales, see how much your food breaks down in to carbs vs fats vs protein, i'd put a few euro on the fact that you eat a hell of a lot of carbs, feck all protein and even less fat .

Are the basics not just to create a calorie deficit ? To make small steady changes to your diet that can be sustained over a lifetime ? I think the diet I have given above is reasonably healthy. My, yet as unmedicated, thyroid problem causes me a lot of difficulty. My GP feels my diet is fine and wants me to focus on upping the excercise to try and give my metabolism a push buti am open to all opinions.

What would you think would be a good days eating for weight loss, say 1500 calories ? Thanks

Inspector Coptoor

GPs as a rule know feck all about eating & most still subscribe to the good pyramid & that butter & eggs are bad for you.

You really do need to take a more detailed look at your diet & training regime if you're serious about achieving results

Greendiamond

Inspector Coptoor wrote: »

GPs as a rule know feck all about eating & most still subscribe to the good pyramid & that butter & eggs are bad for you.

You really do need to take a more detailed look at your diet & training regime if you're serious about achieving results

About 12 months ago I had a dreadful diet. Chocolate every day, junk food at weekends, cheese on toast before bed, lots of carbs, crackers, brioche rolls, toast swimmimg in butter etc. no excercise at all !
I made drastic changes(i now excercise 6 days a week, i cut out the junk and mindless eating) but didn't lose any weight. Thats when I found out about my thyroid problem. I suppose the diet I gave above is so much healthier than it used to be but i am still not getting results. I am not sure where to go from here.I am hoping the thyroid medication will help. There are so many different diets/opinions out there it's hard to know what's right....weightwatchers, low carb, low gi, no carb, 5:2 diet, paleo ....my head is wrecked !

Hardonraging

Greendiamond wrote: »

Are the basics not just to create a calorie deficit ?

What would you think would be a good days eating for weight loss, say 1500 calories ? Thanks

Correct the basic's are that if you eat less you will drop BF, but that's a bit like saying, I go to work on an egg .. there's no detail in that statement..

As a reule of thumb, work out your RMR, that will tell you what your cals are, then work out your macro's, a few key points !!

Stay away from sugar, glucose, MSA, fructose etc you're as yet undiagnosed condition wont help the situation, but let's start with the basics ok.

Greendiamond wrote: »

There are so many different diets/opinions out there it's hard to know what's right....weightwatchers, low carb, low gi, no carb, 5:2 diet, paleo ....my head is wrecked !

I know about to go back on what i've just said above, but try and not sweat the small stuff, it's all about learning about food, and how your body reacts to it, that's going to take time and effort, and so will figuring out what's sustainable and what's not sustainable for you !