I work out at the gym
In my pre-baby life, when I had all the time in the world to devote to myself, this was my work out, and BTW my goals then was to increase the definition, and muscle tone. Now my goal is to lose 27lb period!

Day#1 chest and tri's
Ab's and 30mins cardio

Day#2 Back and Bi's
Ab's and 30mins cardio

Day#3 LEGS!
Ab's and 30mins cardio

Day#4 Shoulders
Ab's and 30mins cardio

Four sets of 20+ reps on light days, (30 reps on leg day) sets of 15,12,10,8reps on light days,

( I only worked out 4 day's a week, be cause I was out of town 3 days a week)

This work out would take 1 hr 30mins+.

Now that I have my daughter, I feel pressed for time. I skip my cardio half the time, and only do one body part a day, (doing bi's and tri's together)

Any Idea's on how I can fit in more in less time.

Also, what are y'all view's on circuit training. (My husband says that working the same muscles in more than once a week doesn't allow time for your muscles to recuperate. I know this is true, so why does it work for some people?)

Try a full body routine using compound exercises. I am assuming you work out at home. There are many exercises you can do with minimal equipment.

Some compound exercises are- bench press using a barbell or dumbbells, one-arm rows, seated rows with resistance bands, squats, lunges, step-ups. Many many ab and core exercises. Use a stability ball for added benefit.

If you do a full body, don't do the cardio at the same time. Later on, go for a walk. The next day, do cardio but no resistance. Alternate the cardio and resistance days. You only need to do 3-5 sets of 5-6 exercises, which should take you about an hour.

Although you shouldn't work the same muscles two days in a row, there is no reason you can't work them 2 or 3 times a week, as long as you have 48 hours in between. The only time you should exercise a muscle only once a week is if you are a body builder working to failure with heavy heavy weights.

Circuit training is good because it includes a cardio element. However, you won't develop a lot of strength. By its very nature, circuit training doesn't allow for heavy weights. If you do it, do it on alternate days also.

Abs don't need to be worked every day; they are a muscle like any other and also need recuperation time.

Hope this helps...

Thanks, this is very interesting info. I guess the reason my husband says that is because we've always worked out with body builders, ( I worked at powerhouse gym) So last rep is always to failure except on light week.
Everytime I would mention curcuit traing to friends we worked out with, the shrugged it off, and never would go into it.

Oh, and I do work out at a gym, not at home. I always use free weights, cables, or smith machine.

Thanks

It really depends on your goals. Most bodybuilders don't do a full body workout, though one of the other trainers that I work with swears that he is building mass doing a heavy circuit daily with very low reps. We'll see...it could work. He's a 25 year old guy and could probably gain mass by staring at a dumbbell. If you are just getting back into weight training, full body circuits 3xweek are a great way to start. You'll rebuild some of the mass, gain strength, rebuild the neuromuscular pathways, and gain endurance. All good things I suspect that if you were accustomed to a 4 day split, you're soon going to feel dissatisfied doing a fullbody workout. It's probably more a mental thing, but I just never feel I've really worked, either enough weight or enough volume, when I do full body workouts even if I'm dripping and exhausted.

Why don't you try the circuits for a few weeks doing compound exercises as Northernbelle suggested (I'd skip the bench presses and do db presses, but that's because of my injury history). See how it feels. If you want to break it up, you could go to a BFL style split of
Week 1:Upper-Cardio-Lower-Cardio-Upper-Cardio-Rest
Week 2: Lower-Cardio-Upper-Cardio-Lower-Cardio-Rest
Repeat.

I usually do a week of circuit training every 8-10 weeks as a break from my 5 day split. It's a nice change.

Let us know how you are doing!

Mel

Thanks mel,... makes a lot of since. At this point, My main goal is simply losing the 27 pounds I have left to get back to pre-baby size. I know that weight lifting is crucial to doing this ant to keeping it off.

Because it really depends on the level of intensity with which the muscles were trained. I need a full week to recover from 5x5 (five sets of 5 reps) deadlifts , but 48 hours is enough for me to recover from 3x10 concentration curls. The more "work" done in the exercise, the more recuperation you will need.

If I was able to fully recover from a squat or deadlift session in 48 hours, then I am not training with enough intensity to make good strength gains, IMHO. So I could train all my muscles 3xweek, but I would have to train at a much lower intensity. This would be fine for weight loss, but not for building muscle.

Thanks, That makes a lot of since. And at this point, my main priority is to burn this fat. After that I may turn my attention to building back some of my lost mass.

I strength train all muscle groups 3 times a week for 30 mins at a time. I give myself 1 - 2 days in between strength training and I have been doing this for almost 4 months. I've been fine. Great results too. I have lost a total of 29 inches since I've been strength training. Mel gives great advice.

Thanks Tomorrow (Monday) will be the first day for me to put all this advice to work. I'll let you all know how it goes.

Gosh Robert, congrats on making the 100 lb goal mark! When did that happen? It's great & I'm sorry if I'm a little late noticing.

Fran

Thanks for noticing. I am still a long way from being "Bodybuilder lean", but I am getting closer to the average range for bodyfat. Another 10# or so will put me below 25% bodyfat and out of the obese range. Another 50# and I might start to see my abs.

Well, regardless of how much to go, you are an inspiration for us all based on what you've already done!! Your motivation and consistency are amazing!