This is my first post and I would like to thank up front the people that give me guidance to help achieve my goal. Ive done hours of research prior but Im stuck on a few things. I know there is no perfect routine but I wanted to make sure I am going about training the right way. My compostion is 5'8 and weigh 168 lbs with aprx. 15% bf. I have been active for whole life except for the past two years. I have experience with weight training and cardio exercises. I get 8-10hrs of sleep everynight and my last meal is around 3-4hrs before i go to sleep. My goal is to lose fat but retain my muscle and to be at 8-10% body fat by the next couple of months. My questions are: Is the amount of cardio Im doing good ? Is the type of cardio good? Are the times Im doing cardio good? Am I overtraining and if so how will I know? Is my diet correct?

My weight training weekly routine is

M noon chest, shoulders, tris, abs, medium pace eliptical 20 right after w/o
T 11am back, bis, traps, medium pace eliptical 20 right after w/o
W no weights run in morning before eating
T 11am legs, abs
F noon chest, shoulders, tri, medium pace eliptical 20 right after w/o
S noon back, bis, traps, abs, medium pace eliptical 20 right after w/o
S no weights or cardio

mon-thur I walk 2mi at a brisk pace a day as well
1-2 days a week 30-1hr rec. sport like tennis or soccer

DIET
A typical day of eating for my T TH schedule
90-120 fl oz of water everyday

700 whey shake, bowl of oats 40g P, 45g C, 2g F
930 turkey sandwhich 25g P, 28g C, 2g F
noon whey shake 40g P, 15g C, 1g F
200 brown rice, 6oz chicken 30g P, 30g C, 2g F
430 salad w/ fat free dressing, 8oz of turkey or lean meat 45g P, 10g C, 4g F
700 salad w/ olive oil and 8oz chicken 40g P, 5g C, 15g F

Totals
220P 56%
113C 28%
26F 15%
1566 calories

Other foods I eat

Sources of Protein
whey, turkey, lean meat, jerky, milk, yogurt, cheese, chicken

Fats
olive oil, cheese, peanut butter

Carbs
oats, brown rice, carrots, wheat bread, pasta, yogurt, milk, beans, rasions, apples, corn

This is my first post and I would like to thank up front the people that give me guidance to help achieve my goal. Ive done hours of research prior but Im stuck on a few things. I know there is no perfect routine but I wanted to make sure I am going about training the right way. My compostion is 5'8 and weigh 168 lbs with aprx. 15% bf. I have been active for whole life except for the past two years. I have experience with weight training and cardio exercises. I get 8-10hrs of sleep everynight and my last meal is around 3-4hrs before i go to sleep. My goal is to lose fat but retain my muscle and to be at 8-10% body fat by the next couple of months. My questions are: Is the amount of cardio Im doing good ? Is the type of cardio good? Are the times Im doing cardio good? Am I overtraining and if so how will I know? Is my diet correct?

My weight training weekly routine is

M noon chest, shoulders, tris, abs, medium pace eliptical 20 right after w/o
T 11am back, bis, traps, medium pace eliptical 20 right after w/o
W no weights run in morning before eating
T 11am legs, abs
F noon chest, shoulders, tri, medium pace eliptical 20 right after w/o
S noon back, bis, traps, abs, medium pace eliptical 20 right after w/o
S no weights or cardio

mon-thur I walk 2mi at a brisk pace a day as well
1-2 days a week 30-1hr rec. sport like tennis or soccer

DIET
A typical day of eating for my T TH schedule
90-120 fl oz of water everyday

700 whey shake, bowl of oats 40g P, 45g C, 2g F
930 turkey sandwhich 25g P, 28g C, 2g F
noon whey shake 40g P, 15g C, 1g F
200 brown rice, 6oz chicken 30g P, 30g C, 2g F
430 salad w/ fat free dressing, 8oz of turkey or lean meat 45g P, 10g C, 4g F
700 salad w/ olive oil and 8oz chicken 40g P, 5g C, 15g F

Totals
220P 56%
113C 28%
26F 15%
1566 calories

Other foods I eat

Sources of Protein
whey, turkey, lean meat, jerky, milk, yogurt, cheese, chicken

Fats
olive oil, cheese, peanut butter

Carbs
oats, brown rice, carrots, wheat bread, pasta, yogurt, milk, beans, rasions, apples, corn


I would do some light walking has opposed to running on Wedesday.

I would also drop pasta, corn and rice if your cutting, personally. You also don't have any omega 3's. Get some fish oil and eat some fish.

You should detail your weight training more, excercises and set/reps.

I have to run soon so I can't give a detailed post - Hopefully somebody else will drop in and give some better advice. Here are some quick suggestions:


My weight training weekly routine is

M noon chest, shoulders, tris, abs, medium pace eliptical 20 right after w/o
T 11am back, bis, traps, medium pace eliptical 20 right after w/o
W no weights run in morning before eating
T 11am legs, abs
F noon chest, shoulders, tri, medium pace eliptical 20 right after w/o
S noon back, bis, traps, abs, medium pace eliptical 20 right after w/o
S no weights or cardio


We're going to need more information here. List exercises with the set/rep scheme. At first glance I might say that for a beginner this is too high volume and you may benefit more from a full body type plan.


DIET
A typical day of eating for my T TH schedule
90-120 fl oz of water everyday

700 whey shake, bowl of oats 40g P, 45g C, 2g F
930 turkey sandwhich 25g P, 28g C, 2g F
noon whey shake 40g P, 15g C, 1g F
200 brown rice, 6oz chicken 30g P, 30g C, 2g F
430 salad w/ fat free dressing, 8oz of turkey or lean meat 45g P, 10g C, 4g F
700 salad w/ olive oil and 8oz chicken 40g P, 5g C, 15g F

Totals
220P 56%
113C 28%
26F 15%
1566 calories


You need to bump calories way up. I would say to at least 2200 as a bare minimum. I would try a ratio with slightly less protein - a maximum of 50% and at least 20% fat.


Sources of Protein
whey, turkey, lean meat, jerky, milk, yogurt, cheese, chicken

Fats
olive oil, cheese, peanut butter

Carbs
oats, brown rice, carrots, wheat bread, pasta, yogurt, milk, beans, rasions, apples, corn

Protein: If you want to be strict, I would drop the cheese. What is "lean meat"? Beef? Add eggs/eggwhites for a great amino acid profile.

Fats: Again I would drop the cheese. Get almonds and flax oil in there.

Carbs: I would drop carrots, raisins, apples, corn and replace with yams/sweet potatoes and plenty of greens like spinach, brocolli, romaine lettuce etc.

Eat more, start by adding a small protein (cottege is good) based meal before sleep and add some healthy fats and carbs to your other meals

give your legs as least as much attention as you give other large body parts (chest/back).
I do like your moderate cardio approach. I was never
one to go for hours on ends of liss...

Please post your exercise selection/reps/sets so we can give some advice on that.

I would not be a strict as the other posters here regarding food selections. But I also don't believe carbs are the enemy or in making drastic changes to one's lifestyle all at once. But I guess that depends on how quickly you wish to see results. and for how long you wish to maintain those results. (I.E if you won't have at least some of your favorites foods in your diet you won't stick with it for the rest of your life...)

Good Luck.

Shahar.

the other foods I listed are the only other things I like. So I cant change my diet up that much. Im not listing the ab exercies cuz they are in a book I have but they are done mon, thur and sat. I take 30-45 sec of rest in between sets.

My exercise routine is
MON bench 4x12 SS pushups, incline dumbbell 4x12, arnold press 4x12, barbell press 4x12, pushdown 4x12, forward dips 4x12.
TUE wide grip pullups 4x12, seated cable rows 4x12, back extensions 4x12, deadlift 4x12, barbell curl 4x12, alternate dumbbell curl 4x12, hammer dumbbell curl 4x12
WED walk/run
THUR 4x15 squats, barbell lunge 4x12, lying leg curls 4x12, seated calf raise 4x12, standing calf raise 4x12, leg press 4x12, hack squats 4x12
FRI incline bench 4x12 ss pushups, dumbbell bench 4x12, close grips bench 4x12, front dumbbell raise 4x12, lateral raise 4x12, military press 4x12, skull crushers 4x12, dips 4x12, behind pushdowns 4x12
SAT wide grip cable pulldowns 4x12, wgcp behind neck 4x12, one arm dumbbell row 4x12, tbar row 4x12, preacher curls 4x12, concentration curls 4x12, reverse plate curls 4x12

Lean meat is 96% ground beef. Concerning my diet why should I eat more?

Concerning my diet why should I eat more?

Too big of a caloric deficit combined with too much work is a recipe for either overtraining or just general mental burnout when you start feeling not-so-well.

There is also a belief that if you cut calories too much that your body results by slowing down the metabolism, so that too much of a deficit is actually counter productive at best, catabolic (burning off muscle) at worst.

I'd like to see you get your fats up, too. At a minimum look for 20% IMO. Good fats come from nuts, nut butters, olive oil, fatty fish and fish oil supplements, flaxseed and flaxseed oils, etc. You also need SOME saturated fats in your diet, but keep that in check.

I've cut with high fats (35-40%) and moderate carbs, so fats don't make you fat as we were led to believe in the 80s. My blood work even improved. I'm not saying you need fats that high, I'm just illustrating fats are good for you and aren't what make you fat if you manage them properly.

There are lots of calculators linked in the stickies I believe to help you calculate your BMR, or your minimal metabolic caloric needs. Factor in some for your activity and exercise, then create a reasonable deficit (maybe 500 calories/day or so).

I personally wouldn't go below maybe 12* body weight for calories. I'd probably start at higher and see how I do and work down. Maybe up near 15* bw. Go for a couple of weeks, evaluate, then adjust calories by a couple hundred a day if you need to. You don't want to lose more than a pound or two a week as you're not overly high on fat at 15%. You can probably drop more while preserving lean mass if you are fatter than that, but you aren't that bad.

Also, don't worry about eating the last 3 or 4 hours before bed. I eat right before sleep at night. Your body still runs at night, and if you don't feed it you also increase risk of burning up muscle. Cut carbs down at night, but fats and proteins are still good in reasonable amounts.

Thats an insane amount of volume. even more so on a drastic negative energy balance.

More is not necessarily better... I doubt you are really putting a lot of intensity into your workouts with so much volume.

On the other hand your leg day is probably a very good cardio workout. :)

Shahar.

my intensity level is quite high. I am going to almost failure on the end of the set. My leg day is good cardio was that a joke?:spank: . My legs are killing me right now from the thursday workout.

If this works for you then by all means continue to do this routine.

by intensity I meant that if you were doing for example 10 sets
on Friday instead of 36-40 sets (Friday alone). You would
be pushing more weight in those 10 sets...

I do admit I'm with the low volume crowd, but afaik doing ~150 sets/week and ~1800 reps/week iis a lot even for those who thrive on high volume.

And yes the high number of sets/reps and short rest times does make it look a little like cardio to me. :)

Shahar.

the other foods I listed are the only other things I like. So I cant change my diet up that much.

Can't or won't:confused: I genuinely dislike the taste of brocolli but I eat it for its benefits because reaching my goal is more important to me. So you might have to ask yourself if this goal is important enough for you to make some sacrifices. And not that I took offence to this, but why post asking for advice on your diet if you're not willing to budge on it?

Can't or won't:confused: I genuinely dislike the taste of brocolli but I eat it for its benefits because reaching my goal is more important to me. So you might have to ask yourself if this goal is important enough for you to make some sacrifices. And not that I took offence to this, but why post asking for advice on your diet if you're not willing to budge on it?

Good point. There are a lot of ways to sneak veggies in. For instance, I often make 3 days worth of scrambled eggs (2 whole eggs and 6 whites per meal, or 6/18 total eggs). I will put a cup or two worth of spinach into the eggs then blend it in via an immersion blender. Your eggs will be slightly green, but you can't taste it.

Similarly, I make big shakes for breakfast a lot of times with fruit, oatmeal, CC, and protein powder. Sneaking in 1/2 cup of broccoli doesn't alter the taste if you hide it with some good tasting fruit and splenda :) Spinach would probably work even better because it is much more taste neutral.

I've learned to eat and yes, even enjoy a lot of foods I would not touch previously during this journey toward healthier living. If you want results, IMO, it's important to try. Diet is more important than what you do in the gym IMO. You can work yourself to death, but if you don't do it right nutritionally, you won't get the results you want.

If i am eating foods I dislike then it will make me not want to diet in the first place. I would eat broccoli before eggs. Eggs make me want to puke.

Can't or won't:confused: I genuinely dislike the taste of brocolli but I eat it for its benefits because reaching my goal is more important to me. So you might have to ask yourself if this goal is important enough for you to make some sacrifices. And not that I took offence to this, but why post asking for advice on your diet if you're not willing to budge on it?

I don't agree in that someone has to eat things they don't like/want to when cutting, you can easily switch broccoli for some other vegetable that you do like.

I'm also a big believer in carbs NOT being the enemy like Black-Dawn. Btw, what's wrong with cheese?

I don't agree in that someone has to eat things they don't like/want to when cutting, you can easily switch broccoli for some other vegetable that you do like.

I'm also a big believer in carbs NOT being the enemy like Black-Dawn. Btw, what's wrong with cheese?

I'm not saying that in order to cut it's necessary to eat a bunch of foods that one dislikes. I was more trying to stess the idea of making some sacrifices to attain a goal. Sorry if that came across the wrong way. As for cheese, I love cheese. But the original poster had it as a source of fat and I think you can get fat from better sources (nuts, flax, avacado...).

I'm not saying that in order to cut it's necessary to each a bunch of foods that one dislikes. I was more trying to stess the idea of making some sacrifices to attain a goal.

Agreed.

Shahar.

I would eat broccoli before eggs. Eggs make me want to puke.Egg white substitutes, like EggBeaters or your grocery store's cheaper house brand, are pasteurized and are safe to eat without cooking. You can add it to shakes, or use it to thicken oatmeal, broths, soup, gravies, etc. It's basically tasteless. If the idea of it being egg-based grosses you out, just think of it as "natural protein syrup" :tu:

If i am eating foods I dislike then it will make me not want to diet in the first place.

Like it or not chances are you will have to get use to certain foods you don't like now if you want to continue to get lean.

If we can all eat what we like and lose weight there wouldn't be many people overweight.

However, that's not to say you can't find ways to make healthy meals tasty, some are anyways, it just takes learning and experimenting.

the other foods I listed are the only other things I like. So I cant change my diet up that much. Im not listing the ab exercies cuz they are in a book I have but they are done mon, thur and sat. I take 30-45 sec of rest in between sets.

My exercise routine is
MON bench 4x12 SS pushups, incline dumbbell 4x12, arnold press 4x12, barbell press 4x12, pushdown 4x12, forward dips 4x12.
TUE wide grip pullups 4x12, seated cable rows 4x12, back extensions 4x12, deadlift 4x12, barbell curl 4x12, alternate dumbbell curl 4x12, hammer dumbbell curl 4x12
WED walk/run
THUR 4x15 squats, barbell lunge 4x12, lying leg curls 4x12, seated calf raise 4x12, standing calf raise 4x12, leg press 4x12, hack squats 4x12
FRI incline bench 4x12 ss pushups, dumbbell bench 4x12, close grips bench 4x12, front dumbbell raise 4x12, lateral raise 4x12, military press 4x12, skull crushers 4x12, dips 4x12, behind pushdowns 4x12
SAT wide grip cable pulldowns 4x12, wgcp behind neck 4x12, one arm dumbbell row 4x12, tbar row 4x12, preacher curls 4x12, concentration curls 4x12, reverse plate curls 4x12

Lean meat is 96% ground beef. Concerning my diet why should I eat more?


Excessive volume dude. I strongly recommend you cut down on excercises and the days you train. 3-4x per week is plently. More is NOT better, try to expell that out of your thinking. Quailty over quanitity.

Suprised no one never commented on this. :nono:

Well Shahar did. ;)

Egg white substitutes, like EggBeaters or your grocery store's cheaper house brand, are pasteurized and are safe to eat without cooking. You can add it to shakes, or use it to thicken oatmeal, broths, soup, gravies, etc. It's basically tasteless. If the idea of it being egg-based grosses you out, just think of it as "natural protein syrup" :tu:

Wow! This might sound stupid of me, but I never knew this. Great tip! I'm going to do a lot of experimenting with my egg-beaters.

At first glance I might say that for a beginner this is too high volume and you may benefit more from a full body type plan.

Excessive volume dude. I strongly recommend you cut down on excercises and the days you train. 3-4x per week is plently. More is NOT better, try to expell that out of your thinking. Quailty over quanitity.

Suprised no one never commented on this. :nono:


;)

so a 4 day split would be better? How many sets and different exercises would be good for the 4 day? 1 or 2 more than I was doing previously?

ie
M chest shoulders calves
T back traps
W off
T Quads hams
F Arms

so a 4 day split would be better? How many sets and different exercises would be good for the 4 day? 1 or 2 more than I was doing previously?

ie
M chest shoulders calves
T back traps
W off
T Quads hams
F Arms

3-4 excercises per major muscle group is plently over the course of a week. Chest, back, legs. 1-3 excercises for the secondary muscle is also plently, shoulders, arms, calfs.

Since your going to hit each muscle group once a week i think ~100 total work reps would be fine, excluding warmup work.

eg
Chest -
Flat bench press - 3x12
Incline DB press - 3x12
Decline fly - 3x12

Equals 108 reps. That's 9 work sets, more then enough.

You'll grow has long has you use challenging loads and progress from week to week.