Workout Advice

Training Bodybuilding
1

Hey guys-
New poster, but been reading for over a year. I have been out of lifting/working out for two years since injuring back and frankly getting lazy.

I am 31 years old, 6 ft (210 lbs) with loads of body fat. I have dropped 10 lbs in last 5 weeks already, but need to drop 20-25 more to get back where I was pre-injury. I wanted to get advice on my workout. I have focused on compound exercises per CW and other articles. Here’s my workout:

  1. 5mins HIIT (keeping it short but intense)

  2. Superset 1 - Lower Body:
    Leg Sled*
    Stiff-leg Deadlift
    Calf Raise
    60 sec break

  3. Superset 2 - Upper body 1
    DB Chest Press (gyms sucks so no real benching here)
    Barbell Row - back**
    Upright Row - shoulder
    60 sec break

  4. Dips

I shoot to do this 3 times a week. I mix up the exercises a bit every week (i.e. mix in incline bench press, shrugs, or cable rows for relevant body part or will switch from DB to barbell for deadlifts etc).

My big questions are:

  1. Overall, am I overdoing with 2 supersets
  2. I am using 8-12 as rep range, is that too high
  3. Since my body responds well to short intense full body workouts, is there a better way to do this. This workout is working well because supersets keep me interested for the full hour.

Diet-wise, I am not overthinking it. Eating 5-6 times a day… and a mix of veggies, protein. I have already cut ~800 calories a day out of my diet by nixxing the starbucks, bagels and bananas.

Not taking any supplements, but making sure I have a balanced diet, and fish 3-times a week.

My goal is to lose body fat and gain muscle (surprise surprise). Any advice would be appreciated.

H

*Again, my gym sucks and doesnt have squat rack - I LOVE squatting so I tried the smith machine and other types of squats, but decided this was the most intense.

** not doing direct arm workout per CW and other articles saying compound movements suffice for arm development. Also since primary goal is fat loss, having the energy to dip seems far more important than curling

2

Leg sled? Is that like a leg press?

You should look into split squats…you might like them and they are much more of a real world type movement than leg press.

3

yeah it is like a leg press, but your back is to the ground. It is good to isolate the quads, but 1) hard on the back and 2) not ‘world-class’ movement.
What is benefite of split squat vs lunges? are both equal?

4

Split squats are basically stationary lunges. I would use those instead of the Leg press.

You could also do front squats as long as you can clean the weight up.

Alwyn Cosgrove and Lou Schuler place the leg press as one of their two most hated exercises in a book that Iv got.

5

Add in more HIIT! :slight_smile:

Try 25-50 yard sprints, later on 100 yard sprints. x 10 rest 1-3 then repeat if you still got some juice leftover.

6

I would find an article designed by an author on this site and stick to it. You could use more volume, and your question about the sets/reps is use variety. Keep reading on this site and any other good source of info. Good luck.