Hello everyone!

I am having a bit of a dilemma that I hope that you all can help me with. I had re-started weight training a couple of months ago with a friend. We used a program from Fitness Rx magazine that called itself a "fiberblaster" b/c of the drop sets, etc. Supposed to be super effect and burn this insane amount of calories. After doing this for a while, I can definitely see that the claims could be real. However, it takes an insane amount of time to do this. With the 2 of us, we were done in a 2 1/2 hours or so. I can't work out with her and she's moved on to something else anyway, but splitting the time put me at an hour and fifteen or so. This is a twice a week program, but I barely have time to even get my cardio in.

I need to lose about 40 lbs. of body fat and decrease my bf% by about 20%, I've done BFL before, but didn't stick with it. Has anyone had success with it? I really hated the tracking of the weight training portion, but if it is as effective and takes less time, then maybe I should give it a try.

Any other suggestions? I have a full-time job, a part-time job and am studying for the bar exam, my time is at a premium, but I definitely need and want to make sure that I fit the gym in and spend the time there effectively. Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

I haven't done BFL strictly, though I have followed it a bit. I know some people find it very successful. However...and this is just my humble opinion...you don't sound like you are leaving any room in your life for fun. What's the rush? Sounds like you have an insane schedule to begin with, why burn yourself out like this? Suppose you cut back on your time and did 3 days worth of training, splitting up the body parts in whatever way seems reasonable to you, or going UB, LB, UB one week, and reversing the order the next. I would worry that you are going to crash and burn. Life is short, but it doesn't need to be compressed like that. And weight lifting should be fun, if you don't push yourself to the max all the time. Take time to smell the roses. Again, this is IMHO. You might want to check out videos

Susan

I think you can really cut down on the lifting time, but the key to the fatloss will be squeaky clean nutrition. Spending 2 1/2 hours lifting heavy is counter-productive, since for at least the last 45 minutes to an hour, your body is in a catabolic state: burning muscle as fuel. Generally, you don't want to be lifting heavy for more than an hour, hour and a half tops.

I have plenty of 2 day a week clients who are successfully losing weight. They do cardio twice a week on their own for 30-45 minutes each session, and lift with me for 2 one hour sessions. Day 1 is legs and shoulders. We spend about 45 minutes on quads, hamstrings, plyometrics and functional core/balance exercises, and 15 minutes on shoulders. This is not going to give you boulder shoulders or incredible hypertrophy, but it's certainly adequate. Day 2 is back, chest, biceps and triceps. Sets of various ab exercises are thrown in both days during "rest". I use a lot of super-setting, and giant sets. Drop sets, too Make the most of your time rather than just spending more time in the gym The key to making this work is nutrition. You can't exercise away food indiscretions- I tried that for years!

Good luck, your schedule sounds brutal

Mel

Thank you both for your input!

Susan - I thought about doing the split after reading your post. I may split the program that I am currently doing in half and spreading it over 4 days opposed to 2. That way I can do my cardio and have time for my weight training during the same session.

Mel - So I should shoot for no more than an hour, preferably 45 minutes? Good, I'll take a look at that. Point taken on the nutrition, I needed that. Is there any harm in doing cardio, 6 x week? I have heard that cardio is key in burning major fat.

Thank you again!

No harm in doing extra cardio other than burnout, boredom, and too much time away from studying case law I was trying to give you an idea of how to spend less time in the gym. Personally, cardio 6 days a week would make me crazy, but if you enjoy it and can mix it up, and don't burn up muscle...go for it

Mel

Hey, Mel you stole my answer! The only thing wrong with 6 days of cardio in my opinion is terminal boredom! I love it when the weather gets nice enough to exercise outdoors, I can go more days for longer then. Soon.....

Right. The weather here in Dallas is amazing, 80 degrees and not a cloud in the sky. I'm not a rah-rah fan of exercise and by no means obsessed, but my old track record shows that studying and stress = food and lots of "new" weight. Just trying to head it off and put that stress and my body to work in the gym. In addition to summer coming, I have a trip to Miami schedule in August after the Bar so I want to look better on the beach. I was thinking as far as cardio, mixing HIIT, powerwalking, spinning and kickboxing.

Following Susan's rec. I may only do 3 days weight training, UB,LB,UB and alternating the next week.

Thus leaving more time for studying, yay!

Torrey