What should I change?

[Tris]

So  I've been following the same work out routine for a good 10 weeks now.  For the first half of the weeks I dropped weight like it was nothing.  Started out in mid March as 92.6kg and now I'm down to 81.4kg.  The main thing I'm worried about is how slow my progression has become, I realize it is meant to slow down drastically but to what extent?  I'm losing really small amounts  of weight per a week now and I'm starting to think that my routine and diet factor in somewhere.

I've noticed a big change in my legs but my arms/core seem to be behind.  According to a few BMI calculators my ideal weight is around 76kg/167.2lbs to be classed as 'normal' for a guy of 5'11, meaning I'd need to lose another 5ish kilograms.  When I'm down to 76ish kilograms I'd begin to build up some muscle and change my workout entirely.  I currently do not take any supplements of any kind as I'm a bit wary on what to take.

Currently my workout ranges between 60-80 minutes at the gym and I go 4-5 times a week.

Put together a workout which worked out well for the time I've been using it.  I've had a look at bodybuilding.com and I may switch to a one body section per a session work out, but I lack experience/form in a few body area.

Weights are in Kilograms, multiply by 2.2 to get pounds.

One Workout consists of:

30-40 second rests between sets.

------------Start---------------

15 minutes of intense cardio on random setting(changes the resistance the whole run) on the treadmill sustaining 15km/hour the whole time.

12x3 Horizontal Calf Machine @ 230kg.

12x3 Leg Press @ 250kg.

12x3 Leg Curl @ 135kg.

12x3 Seated Leg Curl @ 130kg. (Not needed?)

12x3 Leg Extension @ 61kg.

- My arms are weak as fuck.

12x3 Shoulder Press @ 50kg

12x3 Chest Press @ 120kg.

12x3 Duey Row Pull @ 65kg.

12x3 Pec Dec @ 110kg.

8 minutes of medium cardio at random setting.

Stretch.

-----------------------------Finish

For the past week I've also been doing an at home work out consisting of 15x3 push ups, leg ups and crunches before breakfast when I get up.  Not sure if its helping or if I should add onto it.

I realize that my workout lacks dumbbells/weights but I go during peak time and there's always mass groups of guys taking up the weights area so I stick to machines.  Could be wise of me to invest an a dumbbell set that I could do at home in the morning.

Meals/Food.

I eat 3 meals a day with snacks sometimes in between.  My snacks are mostly fruit - apples, oranges or bananas, sometimes nuts.  I have been keeping under my daily calorie intake, usually 300-500 under but I do not always keep track of it.

-Breakfast varies from either a high fiber cereal with no milk , two boiled eggs on wholegrain/brown toast or lite porridge with skim milk.  I always have a cup of coffee with a dash of milk in the morning.

-Lunch I usually have lite tuna or chicken on wholegrain bread toasted with lite mayo or I'll have straight fruit if there's enough variety.

-Dinner is probably the biggest meal of the day.  Most days it consists of lean meat, mainly chicken in a stir fry with veggies and brown rice or noodles.  Other days it's chicken, potatoes and salad.  I try keep a variation going.

I drink around  3750mls of water a day on average, no juice, no soda, only coffee in the morning and in the evening.

Once a week my family will get a take out (mainly pizza) and I'll have a cheat day which I'm thinking of cutting out until further.

------------------

May as well use this post as a progress thread with the big walls of text. :lol:

[Steroids]

plateu's happen. prob isn't one this early in your weightlifting time tho, i assume its just slowed progression that you're not used to after the early speed of improvement. sort out your routine please, don't just bum the machines, get involved with free-weights. get a proper split routine, most people after 2 months+ of weightlifting arn't doing the average begginer full-body workouts even if your main goal is fat loss. you're doing a fair bit of weight on these machines, don't be surprised if you are dropping the weight signifcantly when switching to the free-weight versions. diet seems fine btw.

[Env]

If you're building muscle while you're losing fat then your overall body weight is probably not going to decrease as much. I'd worry less about the scale and more about your BF% and the way you look.

[Tris]

Yeah I can definitely see a change in my legs in terms. My core has gone down a tad but it still has some flab, my arms are probably the worst off since I don't do dumbbells/free weights; meaning they're quite small. No idea what my starting bf% was or my current, need to get some calipers.

Three week break coming up, so I'll try change my gym times around so I don't have to wait around for the weights zone to be free.  Could just invest in a dumbbell set and do a second workout in the morning along with the leg ups/press ups I mentioned.

Thanks for posts. :nice:

[Smush]

If you're doing full body workouts on machines, 5 times a week for 80 minutes you probably won't get your desired results.

Bro, get off the machines, who cares if you go during the peak time at the gym, I'm sure you can find a way to fit in with the people at the free weights. Use free weights and start doing compound exercises and that is where you will gain the most muscle.

Start doing the compound exercises as they hit a large group of muscles instead of your usual isolation exercise that you do on the machines. So start doing squats, deadlifts, bench. Trust me, you will start to see results.

Your diet seems in order, so what you really want to do is get off the machines.

[Kofte]

If you're doing full body workouts on machines, 5 times a week for 80 minutes you probably won't get your desired results.

Bro, get off the machines, who cares if you go during the peak time at the gym, I'm sure you can find a way to fit in with the people at the free weights. Use free weights and start doing compound exercises and that is where you will gain the most muscle.

Start doing the compound exercises as they hit a large group of muscles instead of your usual isolation exercise that you do on the machines. So start doing squats, deadlifts, bench. Trust me, you will start to see results.

Your diet seems in order, so what you really want to do is get off the machines.

Nevermind you basically said what I just wrote. Good job.

- Machines = Limited ROM, compounds with free weights will be better for you

- Get on a proper routine your routine is random, i would do upper/lower or push/pull

- Make sure you are eating macros based on a cutting percentage

- Lift big even though your cutting

- Dont cut too much because you dont have enough muscle mass at the moment

[Tris]

Cheers mates, I'm having a look through http://www.muscleandstrength.com/ and working out a new routine, I'll keep you posted.

[Kofte]

Cheers mates, I'm having a look through http://www.muscleandstrength.com/ and working out a new routine, I'll keep you posted.

This is what I am doing currently.. Upper/Lower

Good balance between mass/strength, even though it says bulking you can use for cutting it doesnt matter

http://jcdfitness.com/wp-content/download/Lyle_McDonald_Generic_Bulking_Routine_FAQ.pdf

[Tris]

Thanks Kofte,

Stumbled upon this: http://www.muscleandstrength.com/articles/david-cullen-body-transformation.html  swaying towards the routine he used and it has good variety which mine totally lacks.  Not sure though as I saw this also: http://www.muscleandstrength.com/articles/john-miller-body-transformation.html but I don't have the time to do 6 times a week so I'd have cut that down a bit.

[Kofte]

Thanks Kofte,

Stumbled upon this: http://www.muscleandstrength.com/articles/david-cullen-body-transformation.html  swaying towards the routine he used and it has good variety which mine totally lacks.  Not sure though as I saw this also: http://www.muscleandstrength.com/articles/john-miller-body-transformation.html but I don't have the time to do 6 times a week so I'd have cut that down a bit.

Just wondering what are your lifts atm? Squat, bench, dl

[Tris]

Wouldn't be able to tell you bro lol.  The very few times I've done free weights I've changed weights, reps and sets, also messed around with form so I'd need to find the appropriate weight amongst getting the form right.

[Reevesy]

tris you little fag lol, half rep leg presser and hammerstrength chest press cos it looks like u can lift more weight? and name me one machine on this planet that has a leg curl that goes up to 135kg..... think ur exagurating some shit here lord tristanakanov

[Tris]

Mate leg curl at my gym goes to 180kg no joke I get pic for you if you want.

If we're talking about the same leg curl:

http://users.rowan.edu/~mckinn83/Leg1.jpg

[Jef|Ohh]

110kg 12x3 on pec deck? wtf

[Tris]

Idk if  different gyms vary with names on there machines?

http://www.24hourfitness.bm/images/NewEquipment/PecDecRearDelt.jpg

I just recently went up from 90 -> 110kg so I struggle atm.

Doesn't matter anyway since I've revamped my whole workout.

[Dan| High Rating]

Have you tried HIIT mate? It works for some people and worked for me, after i tore my hamstring i was out for 4 months and put on quite a bit of bf% and I used HIIT aswell as low-intensity cardio and weights in my workout, which got me back down to 12% bf pretty quickly.

[Tris]

I'll have a look at it Dan, haven't really heard of it.

@Dale/Jef so I went to the gym this morning and asked about the machines' weights.. Turns out I'm a fucking idiot , guy tells me that all free weights and dumbbells are in kilograms, cardio equipment is in kilometers and most of the rest of the machines are in lbs.  Should of been able to perceive the weights as pounds, doesn't state anywhere in the gym that they are so my bad, no extreme lifting for me, weak as shit, unmotivated the shit out of me.

Starting a new routine on Monday similar to the first link I posted, new to quite a bit of the stuff so we'll see how it goes.  Having a look at home gym free weights online but they're quite expensive.

[Steroids]

don't let the weight de-motivate you lol. honestly the weight you're pushing on machines doesn't matter, its not as if people will take you seriously when people ask you your bench and you say... well i do 200kg on the chest press, just doesn't count.

[Reevesy]

tris as long as u gain thats all that matters lol, weights a variable :p

[antO]

things you could change that could help,

`15mins of "intense" cardio? just go on a bike/crossfit/walk on incline level.

`do some dynamic/static stretches prior to leg workout.

`do calves less, its a small muscle. focus more on compound movements first i.e. squats/leg press

`then work your way towards isolation movements like leg extensions

`you could try separating your leg day into two, day1 quadriceps day4 hamstrings

`change your repetition & sets, mix things up. shock it. Do some pyramid, DTP (Dramatic Transformation Principle), FTS-7

`increase/decrease rest time in between sets/exercise.

`3 meals a day? you need more than that even if you would like to lose weight. Try work towards at least 5 meals. Add a meal during morning tea & afternoon tea, that should help bump it to 5. Faster metabolism rate equals more calories burnt. They dont have to be big, palm portion is ideal. Try to incorporate protein(turkey, chicken, tuna, fish etc...) with each meal.

I hope that helps tris, please feel free to pm me if any further questions :)

[Mucky]

i was just about to post are you sure the machines arn't in lbs. still the weights you are doing for 30sec rests and 12 reps is alot so dont worry about it. Dont get de-motivated, the progress you've made its really good.