Weekly routine for weightloss but with the intention of body building

I have spent some time reading around this and other sites, looking at meal plans, exersize plans etc with the intention of building myself a weeky routine. If I dont structure my week I am concerned I will fail my goals.
 
My short term goals:
 
Loose weight, to the tune of around 8 to 10 stone of body fat (current weight approx 25 stone).
Bring my body into proportion (Loose the large chest and bum, reduce size of thighs and kill the double chin, these are my worst areas).
 
Long term goals:
 
Loose weight, get into a fit condition where I am fit and well enough to do what I want to do.
Look like a well built person, not an overweight person. I dont care about my size I just want to be fit and proportional.
Build muscel and strength. Look good :)
 
 
Ok, so during my weight loss period, ie. the first stage of my new life, cardio will be the single most important thing other than diet. So, i was looking at doing 40mins to an hour of cardio every morning (gradually going from 3 mornings to 6 mornings) after a black coffee except for sunday where I will take a walk outside rather than a run at the gym.
 
After a few weeks and my fitness begins to improve I would like to introduce 3 cardio work outs spaced out in  the evenings and eventually introduce weight training the other 3 nights, leaving sunday as a restday still.
 
So at this stage my week would look like,
 
Monday - Cardio - Cardio
Tuesday - Cardio - Weights
Wednesday - Cardio - Cardio
Thursday - Cardio - Weights
Friday - Cardio - Cardio
Saturday - Cardio - Weights
Sunday - Walk - Rest
 
Slowly introducing protine rich snacks before and after weight sessions as the intensity of them increase, working the intensity of the weight sessions inline with weightloss, slowly replacing burnt fat with muscel.
 
Am I being realistic with this? Obviously jumping straight into a routine like that would be stupid and unrealistic, Starting with only a couple of times a week while I slowly get my body used to everything, new diet, running, rowing etc.
 
Is there anything obvious (or not so obvious) that i have overlooked? Is there a massive flaw in my plans?
 
Thanks guy, I appreciate any and all responces.

Hi there and welcome

Your goals are realistic.  They are good goals and long term, so you'll need more shorter term targets to keep you motivated.

That's alot of exercise,  so make sure you've got the time to commit

James Collier
MT Co-Owner & Nutrition Consultant

Thanks for the reply James! and the welcome :)

It has been 5 days at the gym so far. The time factor is not an issue.

I have been doing small sessions twice a day, with longer sessions once a day over the weekend.

Wednesday will now be my rest day since I am still active at work, rather than doing absolutly nothing on the sunday.

I am a little reluctant to track my weight loss/gain too much since muscle growth will (presumably) be sporadic/unpredictable so my true fat loss will be a guess at best. I would rather go by how much I can do (cardio wise) and how i look :)

Thanks again.

  Day 17 of not smoking.

Keep us posted.  Why not start your own TROG?  It's a good way for you to keep record

James Collier
MT Co-Owner & Nutrition Consultant

I certainly will look at that, thanks again james.

PS, rest day today. My god that sleep was awesome :D extra 2 hours in bed.

  Day 17 of not smoking.

I'm not saying this fact is 100% set in stone but, I always was under the impression it was not "bad" but not as good to do weights and Cardio on the same day, letting your body do one of the things on the same day.

 Maybe Cardio,  Weights, Cardio, Weights, Cardio, Weights, Rest day?     Just a thought, I've definately read things on here talking about the topic at least, maybe James will know more on it.  Good luck, and good work up till now :)

alex

hi Alex

So far I have not had any (serious) problems doing weights and cardio everyday bar wednesday. Ive had minor twinges in my hip and shoulder (both right hand side, im left handed) however these seem to be due to the row machine seeing as they crop up while im on it. I am monitoring the situation and taking it easy on those joints.

I have been seperating the muscle groups used each weights session now that I am able to push it a little more. I seperate the weight excersizes into two groups for each muscle group, morning and evening. Weekends are one session per day.

So far my week looks like:

Mon - Cardio - Legs     |    Cardio - arms
Tue - Cardio - Back  |  Cardio - Stomach
Wed - Rest Day
Thur - Cardio - Legs  |  Cardio - arms 
Fri - Cardio - Stomach |  Cardio - Back 
Sat - Cardio - Legs
Sun - Cardio - Free weights session (dumbells, bench and curl)

I might be looking to drop another day for a rest day shortly, when my weight loss slows down then starts to pick up again.

I am still very nieave to this.

My diet is holding up well although im eating like a horse. I need to buy shares in salad. I am still looking at ways to mix things up and cut down my tuna intake.

I variate using rice cakes/oat cakes, fruit and veg. I also need to increase my water intake.

I am drinking 2 or 3 green teas a day at work and try to keep my carb intake as low as reasonably possible, going by how i feel, protein intake high and kcal under/close to 2k. Im pretty sure im falling below this alot, im not great at counting kcal's.

 - Black coffee
 - training
 - tuna and brown basmalti rice
 - shake
 - chicken salad 
 - shake
 - tuna salad
 - training
 - shake
 - evening meal (steak, chicken, lamb etc + generous portion of veg)
 - cottage cheese
 - bed 

  Day 17 of not smoking.

The evidence from studies is that if you compare:
cardio only
weights only
weights and cardio

Weights and cardio - even in studies trying to equalise duration etc - (in the ones I read) achieves - the largest weight drop as a gross % but also has the greatest % fat loss and adds lean tissue.

Which to me is a big solid result- you get lighter and leaner by doing weights and cardio in combination as part of a weight loss program - not just the loss of tissue but body recomposition towards muscle!

Les Willis
Nutrition Consultant
Healthy Action

I used to think I knew what busy was - now I am too busy to think about it!

Thanks Big Les :)

I have noticed massive changes. Not only areas of fat slowly getting smaller but my arms, neck and shoulders all look like they are full of muscle when i tense up. I dont think ive ever seen that before on my body :)

  Day 17 of not smoking.

Aleexander


I'm not saying this fact is 100% set in stone but, I always was under the impression it was not "bad" but not as good to do weights and Cardio on the same day, letting your body do one of the things on the same day.

Maybe Cardio,  Weights, Cardio, Weights, Cardio, Weights, Rest day?     Just a thought, I've definately read things on here talking about the topic at least, maybe James will know more on it.  Good luck, and good work up till now :)

alex

I generally try to encourage people to split the days for cardio an weights, or at least, the time of day.  However, the most important point, especially if fat loss is your goal, is to simply get it done and fitting it into people's busy schedules is paramount.

James Collier
MT Co-Owner & Nutrition Consultant

So it would be worth while using my morning sessions for cardio and evening sessions for weights?

  Day 17 of not smoking.

MyFitnessChallenge


So it would be worth while using my morning sessions for cardio and evening sessions for weights?

Optimally, yes

James Collier
MT Co-Owner & Nutrition Consultant