Which Weight Routine do you Suggest?

Hi all,

I know this gets asked all the time....

I have been working with a trainer twice a week since the 1st of the year, plus 3 days of cardio (running). All that, paired with eating at a deficit and logging on MFP, I have lost 17 lbs out of the 50 lbs or so that I would like to lose.

Unfortunately, I have almost used up my trainer budget and am looking at continuing on my own without the trainer, most likely starting next month. I am toying with the idea of continuing with the trainer once a week through June to slow the weaning off process.

I see lots of posts about various weight programs and am not really sure where to start. The routines that the trainer has me do are split days, with one day focused on Legs and core, and the other day focused on upper body and core. She mixes up classic weights (bench, squat, dead lifts, etc) sometimes with supersets worked in, sometimes with random cardio (push the prowler or plyometric work), I am all over the gym with barbells, dumbells, body weight, lunges galore, etc.

My primary goal is fat loss (baby weight and then some). I have a decent layer of muscle underneath already, and I know everyone says girls don't bulk up but I
am very afraid that I will.
I did P90 once a long time ago and my arms got a lot bigger, but looking back maybe my diet was wrong.

I have a general feel for all of the major moves and I have already gotten much stronger from where I started (although I know I have a ways to go), I just don't know where to start on a program on my own without a trainer telling me exactly what to do.

Any help pretty please?

Find more posts tagged with

Replies

Why not ask your trainer for a written plan. That way it's customized to your abilities & preferences, as opposed to cookie-cutter programs found online.

I started with SL 5x5...great program...did that for about 10-11 months then switched it to 3x5 when it was taking a long time...did that for the summer and switched to Wendler 5/3/1.

It takes me about 10mins of heavy lifting and accessories (isolated lifts) about 15-20mins.

New Rules of lifting for women is a good program but I heard it can get complicated.

Starting Strength is good I heard.

I will ask my trainer, but I feel bad continuing to ask her if I am not longer going to pay for her services. I do have a collection of my workouts written down, so i could cycle through those for the time being, once I am on my own.

For the SL 5X5, do you do the same 5 exercises and just add weight each time? or are there phases that add exercises. I know I need to get the book, but was curious if you could give me a quick run down.

Would I be able to sustain running 3 times a week while doing any of these programs that are mentioned on here? I am not a hard core runner but I did sign up for my first 10k in October.

I hear people talking about Starting Strength, Strong Curves and New Rules for Women, along with the SL 5x5, but I am not sure the differences between the programs. Guess I need to start researching!

I started on SL 5x5 and moved on to Wendler 5/3/1. There is a massive thread on here somewhere dedicated to SL 5x5 for women. I'd highly suggest checking it out.

SL you alternate A & B days. You squat every work out and split the other 4 exercises between the days. Its an EXCELLENT way to teach yourself the main big compound lifts and build your base strength.

I would suggest it to a beginner as it starts you at the true beginning. After running through the initial cycle (3 months I think?) you'll have a good grasp of the lifts, a nice base for building strength, and an excellent point to decide if you want to continue on SL or move to a different program.

I eventually moved on from it as squatting 3x as week as the weight gets heavier becomes brutal if you want to run or cycle, but early in the program its quite manageable.

Gah, I should've read your entire, OP, my bad. lol

Since you already have been lifting and seem to have a grasp on the basics I'd DOUBLY suggest checking out the SL for Women thread to decide if its for you.

If you enjoy running there is also the option of keeping the squatting 3x a week, but at a lower weight.

I am doing Wendler 5/3/1 right now and really like it. The pace of progression is working well for me while eating in a deficit. SL5x5's progression is too steep for me but tons of people have good luck with it even in a deficit.

I have done Strong Curves and I liked it a lot but I was eating at maintenance and then a little bit over. I have found that lower reps work better for me, energy-wise, when I am trying to lose weight.

NROLFW - I have the book but the program just didn't fit with me. Too much stuff going on with it. Other women love it though and I will say that I have kept the book to use as a reference guide. It has a good glossary/index of exercises.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/4601-stronglifts-5x5-for-women
This has a run down of SL 5x5

But basically you have 2 workouts A and B which you alternate.

Workout A is squats/bench/rows starting with a weight you find heavy but can do 5 sets of 5 reps with using a decent but not overly long rest

Workout B is squats/OHP and DL (1x5) again see above for weights.

If you can finish all 5 sets/reps you add weight the next time. The program as written suggests 5lbs each time but some find that too steep and add in less each time but that is a personal thing.

So you do this 3x a week taking rest days in between as you are squatting everyday.

Pretty easy to do.

Thank you! I am reading up on the information in that SL 5x5 group. It looks fun, but scary at the same time to be using the bar. The possibility of failing freaks me out a little.

Do any of these programs incorporate both barbells and dumb bells? just curious...

abarriere wrote: »

I will ask my trainer, but I feel bad continuing to ask her if I am not longer going to pay for her services.

They hear it all the time - it's no big deal to them. It's part of their job description. Just apologize that you have to quit and ask for a program.

There are some decent mass-marketed programs like NROL, but if your trainer is technically competent, their program may be superior to cookie-cutter plans.

Cherimoose wrote: »

abarriere wrote: »

I will ask my trainer, but I feel bad continuing to ask her if I am not longer going to pay for her services.

They hear it all the time - it's no big deal to them. It's part of their job description. Just apologize that you have to quit and ask for a program.

There are some decent mass-marketed programs like NROL, but if your trainer is technically competent, their program may be superior to cookie-cutter plans.

I have to disagree that written plans are part of a personal trainer's job description, unless you plan on compensating them for that time.

What you could do is ask that your last workout or two be a general full body or upper/lower body workout that you can repeat for a month or two. Then write down the routine as you go (or ideally the PT could write it down while you do the reps).

Personally, if get one of the books, read it, and follow the plan for a while. I like Strong Curves. NROLFW is a good read, but I wasn't interested in doing the program. The good thing about a book is there are lots of pictures, great education, and you can reference it to answer most of your questions. You can't do that with just a written list of exercises from your trainer.

There are a number of good programs out there, but you really have to sit down and think about what you're trying to accomplish. Programs like SL are good programs and excellent for building maximal strength...that is what that program is designed for...so basically, you're lifting like a power lifter all of the time...if that's what you want to do, that's great, but I think as a matter of general fitness, people pigeonhole themselves to these programs without really knowing why they're doing them...and basically, they get too "specialized" when, for example, being a power lifter maybe wasn't the goal.

Other programs like New Rules and Strong Curves offer up more of a general fitness type of program and you will work in a variety of rep ranges. IMO, as a matter of general fitness, working in a variety of rep ranges (including heavy cycles) is optimal...but again, it just depends on what your goals are.

I used to work with a coach weekly, but I've backed off to once per month...my primary lifts are of the Olympic variety and everything else is accessory...he doesn't give me a program per sei, but I have enough knowledge to work with what he's given me having worked with him since last September in combination with other programs I've done. I still work with him once a month, so he's always more than happy to let me bounce things off of him and he actually prefers me to write out what I did on a particular day and to take a picture of it and email it to him...from there, he often will give some suggestions and/or feedback as to mixing things up, changing rep ranges, new exercises to try, etc.

My biggest issue with cookie cutter programs is not that they aren't good, but that people tend to stubbornly follow that program into perpetuity when they could benefit from branching out a bit.

cwolfman13 wrote: »

There are a number of good programs out there, but you really have to sit down and think about what you're trying to accomplish. Programs like SL are good programs and excellent for building maximal strength...that is what that program is designed for...so basically, you're lifting like a power lifter all of the time...if that's what you want to do, that's great, but I think as a matter of general fitness, people pigeonhole themselves to these programs without really knowing why they're doing them...and basically, they get too "specialized" when, for example, being a power lifter maybe wasn't the goal.

Other programs like New Rules and Strong Curves offer up more of a general fitness type of program and you will work in a variety of rep ranges. IMO, as a matter of general fitness, working in a variety of rep ranges (including heavy cycles) is optimal...but again, it just depends on what your goals are.

I used to work with a coach weekly, but I've backed off to once per month...my primary lifts are of the Olympic variety and everything else is accessory...he doesn't give me a program per sei, but I have enough knowledge to work with what he's given me having worked with him since last September in combination with other programs I've done. I still work with him once a month, so he's always more than happy to let me bounce things off of him and he actually prefers me to write out what I did on a particular day and to take a picture of it and email it to him...from there, he often will give some suggestions and/or feedback as to mixing things up, changing rep ranges, new exercises to try, etc.

My biggest issue with cookie cutter programs is not that they aren't good, but that people tend to stubbornly follow that program into perpetuity when they could benefit from branching out a bit.

I have followed a few different programs over the past year. The same compound lifts have been at the center of them all but each has had a different setup as far as how heavy I've lifted, reps, and then how they've progressed. For me, trying out a few programs has definitely helped me determine what works well for my body and for my own goals. Experimenting is really useful when it comes to finding what clicks.

I lost over 25 lbs. I have 6 more to reach my goal. What worked fir me AND IT'S FREE is LivFit program by Jamie Eason on www.bodybuilding.com. There are nany, many plans from beginners, mom's who just gave birth and advanced bodybuilders. Something fir everyone. What U love. Est about this site is that Jamie includes videos with thorough explanations for the entire program. There's also a body space where you log in your workouts. I don't use it though. I keep it simple by just viking on the day of the workout then I have my phone with me and I follow the workouts. When I first tried it, I had to repeat phase 1 and 2. I couldn't get to phase 3 until I build endurance. There are literally thousands of people on the forums where you can see responses and questions as well as motivating progress photos. After completing phases one and 2 twice, I was then able to complete phase 3. I'm doing the program again but now that I'm stronger, I started on phase 2. I highly recommend LivFit. You won't be disappointed.

I just looked up LiveFit and it looks pretty cool. Did you follow the eating plan as well, or just use the workouts?

In the beginning I didn't follow the food plan at all. Or tbe first phase I was just trying to establish a routine. After the first phase, I lost 15 lbs and then I started to change my diet. I took things really slow because that way I could focus on one change at a time. She takks about it in the first few videos about not changing the diet too much until phase two.Even now, I don't really "follow" the food plan but I do keep my calories in check with MFP and I pay close attention to increase my protein. The reason why I need to pay close attention to my protein intake is because prior to logging my food on MFP, I was eating way too many carbs and not enough protein. I also work at increasing it at 30% daily because my goal is to lose weight and build muscle at the same time--not to bulk up but to really tone.

Quick Links