Is this enough of a workout to lose weight? REP

[StuntMan12]

Hello. I'm looking for advice from anyone that knows anything about working out and losing weight. I've been lifting weights for the past 4-6 weeks or so and have noticed a difference in the muscle I've gained. I can actually do planks now, when I first tried a plank I lasted 7 seconds I kid you not. I just did a 2 minute plank today.

I want to make a work out plan and am wondering if this is sufficient or what I should be adding into my routine. I worked out today so tomorrow is a rest day.

NOV 18:
Hammer Curl (20lb) 20 reps x 5 sets
Overhead Press (20lb) 15 reps x 5 sets
Floor Press (20lb) 15 reps x 5 sets
Dumbbell swing (20lb) 15 reps x 5 sets
Lunges 100

NOV 19 - REST DAY

NOV 20:
Hammer Curl (20lb) 20 reps x 5 sets
Overhead Press (20lb) 15 reps x 5 sets
Floor Press (20lb) 15 reps x 5 sets
Dumbbell swing (20lb) 15 reps x 5 sets
Lunges 100

NOV 21 - REST DAY

and just repeating that cycle over and over again. Is that the right approach to this? Right now im not doing lunges. Should I be doing lunges everyday?

STATS:
HEIGHT 5''11
CHEST 51''
WAIST 48''
WEIGHT 290

I've put on a great deal of weight this year mainly due to doing nothing at all but am enjoying lifting weights. I did hit 300 a few weeks ago but I been working out and looking after my diet better. Right now im just doing the Hammer curls, overhead press, dumbbell swing exercises every 2 days. I will be using protein powder when i officially start my mini program that i made up. Any help on a program would be great. I really need to get heavier weights soon, the overhead press is still hard for me but when it comes to the hammer curls they are very very easy and i know i need heavier weights for that exercise. How often should I do planks?

And how many calories should I be taking in?

[doulos]

No one can answer this for you. Weight loss/gain is so personal.

Calories in < calories out is ultimately all that matters for weight loss, but the real challenge is in knowing your own personality and figuring out a system that is sustainable for you.

I am a goal oriented person and don't need any other people around me to attain my fitness goals. What gets me up at 5am to run in a blizzard on a Wednesday before work is the fact that I know I have to do it to reach the goals I have set for myself.

My wife is totally different. What gets her up is knowing there is a group of women who want her to be there in the morning. She needs the accountability and support of a group and thrives in that setting.

Two very different approaches.

The key is to figure out what motivates you, develop a system that can be enjoyable and lifelong, and start living it.

Practically speaking I find that myfitnesspal has been a super easy tool to track caloric intake (my challenge is in eating enough while training), but for weight loss I wouldn't put in the activities you are doing. Only use it to track your calories. It will also give you a good rough guideline as to how many calories to take in each day. The key to using it is putting absolutely everything you consume. It might be a little annoying for a while, but after about a year of using it I don't really need it any more as I have a good feel for what I need each day and have some good routines for snacks etc. Your experience may be different.

I also suspect you will need to add in at least a couple days of some sort of cardio. Again, what works for you there is mostly personal. Running, swimming, a program like P90x/Rushfit, cycling. Whatever it is that you find you enjoy and can stick with, that's what will be best. For me any cardio I do needs to be specific for a goal I am working on or I can't make it past the 3-4 week mark.

I can't speak to the specifics of lifting. I tried it for a while and had some success but in the end I didn't care enough about it to keep it up. Now I am shifting towards more specific weight training for ultrarunning and speedskating in the winters. Again, the workouts need to be towards a goal for me, but for you that might not matter. So much about personal fitness is ... well .... personal!

Good luck man - hope to hear more about this down the road!

[ericdaoust]

In the bigger picture you're starting and stopping too often and it's leading to a net loss. Wasn't it last January the weight loss journey thread was started? Fix your mindset so that you are committed to fixing this and you're willing to do whatever it takes to get there. If you think like a healthy person, eat like a healthy person, act like a healthy person, you become a healthy person and your body follows.

Also, stop making it about numbers. You shouldn't be chasing a certain weight. Your goal should be to have great health so that when you reach your later years you can enjoy them as much as possible. I don't ever count calories so I can't help you there but I'd focus on simply feeding your body the right stuff.

Ultimately you will know what is best for you. I hardly do any weights but others do and it works for them. To me what is most important is the workout you're doing is far better than doing nothing. I believe in any improvement being a good thing. Consistency is what you're looking to achieve to make it a long-term success. If I can drop 70 pounds in 11 months you can do it too!

[Daydream Nation]

It is hard to answer you question without knowing your diet. So often, people increase their strength training but then they add so many calories that it turns out to be a net negative.

Personally, I always found that making changes in my diet had a much bigger effect than keeping my diet consistent and working out more. So I would look at taking some unhealthy items out of your diet and make some healthy substitutions. You would be surprised how big of a difference that could make. You hear so many stories of people cutting soda out of their diet and then they suddenly lose 10 pounds.

And going along the lines of Daoust, I recommend you find workouts that you can remain consistent with. It doesn't have to be weight lifting. Find something you will continue doing 3-4 times per week. I found that I loved biking and running while I greatly disliked lifting weights. Worked for me for years. Then kids came along and.....

[Bass56]

Weight Loss and Gaining Muscle don't always go hand in hand. Your exercises seem to be more focused on helping you gain muscle in certain areas rather than shed pounds; especially in your mid section. Yes, you are working out many different muscles with exercises such as lunges and dumbell swings and planks are good for the core, but none of them specifically target your mid section and waist.

As I had said in one of your past threads, you need CARDIO combined with weights to achieve a greater weight loss. If you aren't sweating and if you aren't struggling to get the final reps in, it's not as effective. Your muscles start burning in overdrive when you start producing good levels of lactic acid (typically, this occurs when you fatigue and keep pushing).

Your current workout seems to be good and kudos for improving on your plank times and sticking to it. You have to keep going though and continuously bring it up a notch or to the very least, change things up. Once the body gets used to something, it's harder to achieve added results.

[dooley89]

What Eric said ^

Consistency > all these different techniques and solutions and shit

Pick something and stick to it for 6 months and THEN if you don't see any results, try something else.
However, you will see results if you stick with it!

Some options for you (pick 1):
1. Eat healthy, go for a 1 hour walk everyday.
2. Eat healthy, go for a 1 hour walk every other day, jog the other times.
3. Eat healthy, go to the gym and lift some weights, any weights, just make sure you are SWEATING.
4. Eat healthy, go to the gym and lift some weights, AND do 30 mins of cardio on anything, make sure you are sweating.

It's all in your mindset, pick a goal, focus on it, stick to it and bam!

[blayze]

If your primary goal is weight loss, then nutrition is 80% of the battle and exercise is the other 20%.

It's fantastic that you're building the right habits, but many people I know work out like animals and then go home and have a big mac meal for dinner along with 3 beers which more than offsets all their work.

Just remember... you look like what you eat, so working out doesn't give you a license to eat like crap (which I think is the mentality a lot of people seem to have).

[StuntMan12]

thanks for the replies gentlemen. i will keep repping everyone when it lets me again.