hi, I have recently been doing a total body workout which consists of bench press, dumbell pullover, shoulder press,dumb bell squats,abs crunches, triceps dips and biceps curl. I do 3 sets x 10 reps for each exercise and added 10 minutes of cardio before and after the weightlifting sessions. Am i doing the right exercises to lose fats while maintaining my muscle mass? I was also told that it is not good to do overall body training for 2 or more consecutive days? is it true? because I feel perfectly fine doing them for 3 consecutive days. Your help and advices will be very much apprrciated, thx :)!!

Hi Felix,

Let's start at the top, shall we :)

Fat loss. The first thing that you want to take into account when you begin a fat loss journey is: how much energy does my body use on a daily basis? You need to calculate your BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate, you can do this in the meal planner section of Scott's website) then once you have your numbers down, you need to subtract 10% (to begin with) in order to put your body into a calorie defecit. This means that your body will be fuelled throughout the day with less energy than it needs to function on a daily basis and be forced to recruit from elswhere: FAT & MUSCLE.

Now, we don't want to lose that precious muscle, we want to ensure our body is using as much as our stored body fat for energy as possible.

There are 2 parts to the story:

Diet

Many people new to the exercise and fitness scene underestimate the importance of a proper meal plan which provides you with all the macro & micro nutrients you need. I have always told people that diet counts for 70% of your results, exercise for the other 30%. You'll need to learn to manipulate your diet to maintain as much of the muscle you have while trimming the fat.

So you need to make yourself a meal plan. Check out this article of Scott's if you want to see how to do that. It'd take me far too long to type out, haha!

Training

Ignore what your friends are telling you. Total body circuit training is a great way to burn a tonne of calories in a short time and really spike your metabolism for hours after your workout. They might think that 2 consecutive days of circuit training is bad, but their goals might be different to yours. They might want to put on some muscle mass and have probably been told about how resting between days is important - it is, for when you want to grow. This is just my understanding, rest is not as important when you want to train for fat loss.

As for your training regime, it looks a bit muddled (no offense). Here's what I am currently doing for my fat loss journey, maybe you could try something similar.

5 x AM steady state cardio (I run for about 40 minutes as soon as I wake up, maintaining my heart rate about 65% of its max.)

Mon/Weds/Fri: I follow a StrongLifts 5x5 program (you can google this)

Thurs/Sun: Here's where the real fun is, I do a HIIT circuit, I posted it in the forum the other day here. GREAT workout for absolutely obliterating the fat!

Well there's a little intro and some information for you. You can ask more questions below if you have any, me and some other members will get back to you!

Enjoy!

Great advice y2duggan!!!

Hey, thanks @spide319!! #HTH

I agree with Sam here and I would add the following to it:

1) I would say nutrition is 90% of the equation and lifting is 10% - especially as you get older :-) Best to re-train your metabolism properly and learn how to eat correctly to support your goals

2) It is OK to do full body circuits for either fat reduction or growth. The key is not to train the same body parts consecutively. I do a Push/Pull 4-day routine and I am getting leaner, stronger, and making some gains. I also do about 15 minutes moderate aerobics before and after each training session and follow a solid meal plan.

3) Natural body fat loss is a slow and steady process with proper diet and exercise

4) Transforming your body is a marathon not a sprint - so be consistent, patient, and have fun on the journey:-)

John

thank u for the helpful advices! But if i was to train full body for 2 consecutive days or more, wouldnt I be training the same body parts? because total body training involves the whole body muscle. So, if i do total body training that involves every muscle for more than 2 consecutive days, will there be any negative impact? will I still be able to retain the muscle I have gained so far while trimming down my fats? in the earlier explanation, the retaining of muscle depends heavily on our diet, But will there be any negative effects to it if I train whole body for more than 2 consecutive days? Can you please explain more? thx!! :)

a

Volume and intensity on any given muscle group dictates whether or not you should / can train it multiple days in a row, the emphasis is on the 'can' in that statement. If you're strength / hypertrophy training then there is a high likelihood that you will be to sore / tired in those respective muscle groups to train them properly multiple days in a row, whereas your current goal / style is more of a cardio / circuit based scheme.

Cardio / circuit routines often times are light weight and endurence based with widespread muscle groups as opposed to a bunch of volume targeting limited muscle groups - thus the soreness and muscular damage is significantly less than if you can focused on 'bodybuilding' one specific site. If this is the case then the 48-72 hour rule about resting muscle groups can be slightly fudged, but you must always respect what your body is telling you about soreness and fatigue.

From your written circuit, you're effectively hitting each muscle group / movement for 30 reps a session with presumably moderate weight as you are doing it in a circuit. Given any sort of moderate training experience you are likely fine if you train multiple days in a row, but I'd still suggest at least a day off in between the specific circuit and to focus on a different training style on the in-between days.

thx thats realli helps!!

Felix,

What you need to do is a Push/Pull/Legs or Push/Pull full body regiment. I do Push/Pull which means:

Mon and Thu are Push days so I train quads, calves, chest, triceps, abs, moderate cardio

Tue and Fri are Pull days so I train back, biceps, hams, shoulders, abs, moderate cardio

Wed, Sat, Sun - rest days

As you can see, abs are the ony muscle group being trained every workout. All other muscle groups are trained twice a week and have 48 hours rest between workouts. As long as you eat well and get plenty of rest, you will see growth, strength, and results.

As Eric (Impulse) pointed out as well, you need to monitor your volume and intensity. I do one super set with moderate weight per muscle group. When done correctly and with proper intensity, that is enough of a stimulus for growth and super sets burn more calories. The total volume of my super sets is 4 super sets x 20 reps each set (10 reps each exercise in the super set) = 80 reps. When done with 90 seconds rest between super sets and with moderate (not light) weight, they are quite effective - especially at my age.

John

the current routine you are on now is fine for what you want, for now, the push pull situation john gave you is the next step up, the difference between yours and his... you cannot develop yours to progress without increasing the risk of injury, in these journeys we need to choose for ourselves the risk to reward ratio of each type of training, complete body training becomes a risk when trying to develop, even if its only 1 day on 1 day off, small muscles such as your rotator cuff will become over loaded, your ankles will begind to get sore and you wont even notice muscular imbalances developing due to your entire body being pumped up on a daily basis, for all your know if you took a week off your back could start to get sore and you would have no idea why and just put it down to not having trained, the push pull situation will allow you to monitor those types of muscles, such as with a dumbell press and a single arm row... i pride myself on the fact i match the weight on both movements... the same with hip thrusts and leg press, no point in having super strong glutes and weak hips, your bum will start to stick out and your stomach will round out, full body routines will begin to lack the UMPPHHH you need to get your body started and really focus on each muscle group. good luck