muscle, fitness & diet advice needed
Hi everyone, this is my first post. I'm female and from the UK, I'm into fitness and strength training.
Just wondering if anyone could give me some advice.
I have recently rejoined my gym after a looonnng break and have really seriously started getting into muscle & fitness.
My goals are to lose another stone of bodyfat (i've lost 1 already) reduce my bodyfat percentage to around 19%, its currently 24.6% it was around 32% when I started training. I also want to build more muscle and really be able to see definition.
My current training regime is as follows:
mon - total body resistance exercises, I try to use moves which incorporate as many muscle groups as possible on this day, I vary sets, reps and weights, but its usually 3 drops sets of 8 - 12 reps, or 4 pyramid sets of 4 - 12 reps.
then I do around an hour of cardio and then weighted abs and stretching.
tue - around 8 toning moves, then an hour of swimming.
wed - upper body training, I try to vary the exercises week to week but hit the same muscle groups. then 1 hour of cardio. abs and stretching.
thu - 1 hour body pump (weights class) then 1 hour body combat (tai bo style class)
Fri - lower body training, then an hour of cardio, weighted abs then stretching
sat & sun - off
I saw very rapid results at first and have quite good definition in my butt, abs, triceps, biceps and shoulders, but it seems to be slowing now and I'm thinking it might be my diet, maybe I need more carbs? if so what type?. I always try to mix up my routine and constantly increase weight as I get stronger.
I really have no idea if I am working smart or hard? I don't know what or how much I should be eating (I follow a low fat diet during the week with lots of nuts, grains, seeds, yogurt, fruit and veg and tend to have some treats at the weekend)
is it unwise to do cardio after weights? will it break down my muscle? if I cut out cardio how will I burn the fat I want to lose? How often should I be training each muscle group?
does anyone have any ideas how I can change my routine to see more muscle growth and definition in less time?
My partner says that I shouldnt be able to do an hour of cardio straight after weights if I have weight trained properly, I really try to work my muscles to fatigue at the end of each set, but it seems like lack of strength to lift the weight rather than the burn you feel with fatigue (though I do get the burn on some moves, especially shoulders and legs)
thanks in advance for any help anyone can give me and thanks for letting me post here
God, I am feeling overtrained just after reading this post let alone following your workout program. THere is an old training saying that goes like this "overtrain to start and then undertrain after that". You DEFINATELY have the overtraining part down, you are doing too much and not taking enough time to recover. Read my article on training basics on my side of the site.
As for your diet, the description is really vague so its hard to say if it is part of your problem. Post your exact diet in the Dieting 101 section and Ill have a look.
In the mean time follow my training advice, and dont go so crazy on the cardio... read my post on that subject too.
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