Honest opinion about my weight training routine please!!
Okay.. First of all my name is Andrea, I am 39 yrs old and am about 14 pounds heavier than where I would like to be.
A few months ago, I decided that I didnt just want to be a smaller version of the body I have got at the moment - I want to sculpt and shape my flabby, typically pear shaped body.. as well as get rid of the flab and fat. My Body fat measures in at 30%. I want to look "toned" and have muscle definition.
So I started doing some research and after just going to the gym for all these years and mucking around on cardio machines, I have learnt that I need to incorporate weights.
I am confused by all the conflicting info on the internet! Nevertheless, I decided to start the Body for Life programme. As I live in NZ, I cannot officially join it, but I am following the exercise programme.. but tweaked slightly to suit me and my schedule better.
So I have been doing the following:-
Instead of a three day split as per Body for Life (Upper Body, Lower Body, Cardio) I have split the Upper body into two and so now do a four day split. I go to the gym everyday but have only about 45mins maximum.
So I do a quick warm up on the treadmill then I choose one exercise from a list of exercises per muscle group and perform four sets (12x10x8x6) plus one final set of lighter 12x reps. Then I choose another exercise from the same list for the same muscle group and do 12 reps.
Then I move onto the next muscle group and do the same thing again.
There are about three muscle groups per day to do.
One of the young trainers at the gym suggested doing a five to ten minute session of fast paced cardio IN BETWEEN each muscle group. That way, she explained, I would be sneaking in some extra cardio into the routine which will ramp the fat loss up seeing as my problem area is my lower part of my body.. and as well as muscle definition, I am wanting fat loss. Doing weights while my heart rate is sky high is going to burn those calories and get results.. she said.
I have gone away and tried to find some info on doing this but I am confused! I have read that this will not get me anywhere as the cardio will be burning away my muscle.. and I have also read that she is spot on! (Jillian Michaels basically teaches this theory in her workout DVD's) I am confused and not sure what to do!!? Help!
Also - opinions on my routine in general would be great!
Thanks
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