op , youre over thinking this . your main goal is weight loss . start S/L 5x5 ,start by eating 2500 cals a day ,
n walk for about 45 mins a day .
do this for 2 weeks and see where you are and adjust your diet accordingly .
when your weight loss slows then increase your cardio .
dont start with hiit(evan though your capable of doin it)save this till much later , you’ll have no where to progress/increae intensity of your cardio later as you adapt to it.
diet should be the main tool for fatloss .
stop typing and reading and get on with it and good luck.
[quote]ACatigbe wrote:
I am a bit confused about some of the information you all are giving me. I realize now that the best option for me will be a combination of a good diet, decent resistance training and hiit. However, some of you are saying I’ll actually build muscle while trying to lose the weight? I thought building muscle wasn’t possible unless I was on a caloric surplus.[/quote]
As much as I didn’t appreciate the manner in which Riddle started posting in this thread, I agree with most of what he’s said. Mostly the parts about starting off at the lower end and working your way up; this is not just so that you aren’t over-whelmed/over-trained (something that can be controlled) but because you want to save some changes for later (extra volume/intensity) when gains slow down.
If you start off straight away with all the training you can manage (which will not be much just now compared to later when your training capacity improves), then there’s little else to change in the future when fat loss stops.
I didn’t mean in my first post to make you feel you needed to bulk or anything, but basically that weight training is the correct path because you’ll gain muscle despite that not being the main goal (how much is anyone’s guess, but it won’t be little if you’re new to it) and also to not weight train as if you are “toning the muscles”, or trimming up…but lift to gain muscle/strength. Weight lifting doesn’t suddenly change just because you are dieting…other than to keep the volume low enough (to account for extra cardio).
Generally, if you are giving cardio the most priority (especially if you’re doing HIIT), then you need to limit lifting days (e.g. train 3-4 times/week). On a frequency of 3-4x/week, many newbies respond well to an AB split, whereby you train half your body in one session, and the other half in another (e.g. upper body/lower body). This leaves little room for high volume workouts - so just do two exercises per bodypart total each week (not including overlapping exercises). If you want to do HIIT, I wouldn’t recommend running for more than once a week (joint issues), and a general recommendation of HIIT type training 2-4x/week.
Always start off at the lower end, so as an example you’d start lifting say 4x/week, and do HIIT twice a week. 5 hours of exercise (cardio + lifting) is usually a good starting point, and adjust upwards from there. Bear in mind that this amount of training volume could give you results for several weeks, so DON’T change anything just for the sake of changing or because you got overly excited and wanted to quadruple your results lol. Save the changes for when your body has adapted and needs a change (i.e. when fat loss has grinded to a standstill).
As for slow paced cario, you can do this as much as you like; just figure out ways of being more active - if you can get somewhere without the car, walk…walk to work…instead of taking the lift, take the stairs…get up earlier and don’t get excessive sleep etc.
This is where I slightly differ from Riddle, I believe that HIIT is far more effective and should be scheduled from the start. A person is much more likely to want to do something with decent intensity and something that gives them almost an “addictive rush”, than something boring that takes so much time/volume/dedication to get decent results. I would rather give someone a high volume lifting routine, than tell them to just walk 7x/week - lifting/intensity is addictive, walking is not. Besides that, you (ACatigbe) have already had much success with HIIT in the past.
If you were a middle aged, menopausal woman then my advice may have been a bit more conservative, but you’re not, you’re in your early twenties and should make good use of it. you’ve already had the “balls” to do excessive HIIT in the past, so that shows that you’re not a “wet blanket” and can handle being pushed to some degree…
If you want a basic lifting template, let me know…
Thank you all for all of your great advice. This is the primary reason I decided to join T-Nation. I’m sorry Riddle, I did get upset at your advice but I realize that you’re just trying to help and I apologize for getting angry.
So I’ll be doing a combination of a clean diet, hiit and weight lifting. Yes its_just_me, I’d like your basic lifting template.
Any idea on how often I should be doing each?
[quote]ACatigbe wrote:
Thank you all for all of your great advice. This is the primary reason I decided to join T-Nation. I’m sorry Riddle, I did get upset at your advice but I realize that you’re just trying to help and I apologize for getting angry.
So I’ll be doing a combination of a clean diet, hiit and weight lifting. Yes its_just_me, I’d like your basic lifting template.
Any idea on how often I should be doing each?[/quote]
Well strictly speaking, the diet doesn’t have to be drastic (i.e. bodybuilding style) for you to get decent gains at this stage. Simply controlling your eating habits will go a long way to start with; e.g. cut out/limit sugary foods and drinks, control carbohydrates, eat small and often etc. But I’d understand if you wanted more of a plan which I can post if you’re interested…
If I were you I’d start off with a basic upper/lower split like this:
Upper day (Chest/Back/Arms), 8-10 reps/set, 3 sets
-Incline bench press
-Pulldowns / Rows
-Biceps curl
-Close grip bench press / Triceps pushdown
Lower day (Legs/Delts), 12-15 reps/set, 2 sets
-Squat
-Deadlift
-Shoulder press
Mon - Upper
Wed - Lower
Fri - Upper
Mon - Lower
Or, Tue/Thu/Sat or Sun/Tue/Thu
This is a very basic template that will give you good results (metabolically), but if it’s a finished/balanced physique you’re after (bodybuilder’s physique) then you’d have to split it up more and do more days/exercises…but for now, this will do wonders for your goals initially.
For the first 2-3 weeks it’s going to be a bitch with the muscle aches! So for your first two weeks just do 1 set per exercise, and increase it to what I said above after that. Some days (especially after training legs) you will feel like you can’t sit on the toilet, let alone lift in 2 days LOL, but just work through it (your body’s simply adapting and recovery will speed up).
As for sets and reps; you won’t need to push to the degree of “blood and guts” to start with…all you need to focus on is progression. So each session you’ll be able to add around 1-2% weight to each lift. So say you bench 175lbs on Mon, on Fri you should be able to bench ~177.5lbs. I don’t like giving exact numbers like that but it’s not far off for beginners and it gives people focus/direction.
The last rep should be hard but not to the point where you’re grinding/stalling to get it up. You progress in weight as soon as the upper rep range is reached. So for bench press, as soon as you got 10 reps, next time you bench you’d increase load by say 2.5lbs and try to get at least 8 reps on that first set. Once you’ve done the first set, reduce the load by about 5-10% (which may be about 10lbs less), rest two minutes and bang out another 8-10 reps (this should be hard too). Repeat this process for the last set.
It’s very recommendable to get some sort of coach to teach you proper lifting technique (especially the deadlift). This will save you in the long run (injuries are a real roadblock later on).
For the HIIT, if you have a good rowing machine, I’d do it on that (save your joints at this bodyweight). When you get down to less than 20% bodyfat, it’ll be fine to do the sprinting…although I’m not forcing you (if you do want to sprint, don’t do it more than twice a week). Start off the HIIT at twice a week, for 10-20mins. Do 10 secs of intensity, with 50 secs of ‘cruising’. Do the HIIT the day before upper body (because lower body training is more demanding and takes more rest beforehand)
So the whole plan could look something like this:
Mon - Upper
Tue - —
Wed - Lower
Thu - HIIT
Fri - Upper
Sat - HIIT
Sun - —
Mon - Lower
Tue - HIIT
Wed - Upper
Thu - —
Fri - Lower
Sat - —
Sun - HIIT
Repeat