Okay, this is kind of long but I need advice and I'm trying to give as much info as possible...
So, I started off about a year ago trying to gain muscle...I virtually had NONE. I was 5'6'' and about 135. I was eating clean and at a surplus and I ended up getting to about 150. This obviously wasn't ALL muscle, so I decided to start cutting...
In the past 3.5 months, I've gotten back down to 135, and I've done so while maintaining the exact same level of cardio and weight training (as to minimize muscle loss). I can tell that progress is being made (I still feel much more muscular than I was before I started working out, and I've definitely lost inches around the waist).
What I want to do now is take the next step to truly be able to make this a lifestyle I'll be able to maintain. After reading more about various workout routines, I feel that I may be working out a little too much: I do cardio 4 times a week for about 25 minutes each (9.0 mph on treadmill), and I lift 3 days a week [5X10 of the following: Bench, Squat (just started), bicep curl (machine), tricep pushdown (machine), shoulder press (machine), lat row (machine), leg press (machine), tricep pulldown (machine), fly (machine), and various ab machines.]
On days when I lift, I easily spend about an hour and a half in the weightroom. From what I'm reading on this forum, it seems like that may be too much...Currently, I'm not taking any days off from the gym. I would like to start taking a day off of cardio, and make it 3X cardio a week and 3X weights a week.
I'm not so much worried about easing up on the cardio a little bit (I assume an extra 300 or so calories burned won't effect me too much, and I've read that a day of rest is good), but I'm just wondering how I can make my weight training days more efficient. Is there a way I can do less, but more effective, work at the gym without going backwards on the progress I've already made? I really feel that an hour and a half is a little overboard, and I could be using my time more effectively.
Let me just stress that I don't want to make it "easier," just better and more realistic for long-term sustainability. I'm really worried that if I start spending less time in the weight room, I will start losing muscle along with the fat I'm currently losing...Any suggestions?
So, I started off about a year ago trying to gain muscle...I virtually had NONE. I was 5'6'' and about 135. I was eating clean and at a surplus and I ended up getting to about 150. This obviously wasn't ALL muscle, so I decided to start cutting...
In the past 3.5 months, I've gotten back down to 135, and I've done so while maintaining the exact same level of cardio and weight training (as to minimize muscle loss). I can tell that progress is being made (I still feel much more muscular than I was before I started working out, and I've definitely lost inches around the waist).
What I want to do now is take the next step to truly be able to make this a lifestyle I'll be able to maintain. After reading more about various workout routines, I feel that I may be working out a little too much: I do cardio 4 times a week for about 25 minutes each (9.0 mph on treadmill), and I lift 3 days a week [5X10 of the following: Bench, Squat (just started), bicep curl (machine), tricep pushdown (machine), shoulder press (machine), lat row (machine), leg press (machine), tricep pulldown (machine), fly (machine), and various ab machines.]
On days when I lift, I easily spend about an hour and a half in the weightroom. From what I'm reading on this forum, it seems like that may be too much...Currently, I'm not taking any days off from the gym. I would like to start taking a day off of cardio, and make it 3X cardio a week and 3X weights a week.
I'm not so much worried about easing up on the cardio a little bit (I assume an extra 300 or so calories burned won't effect me too much, and I've read that a day of rest is good), but I'm just wondering how I can make my weight training days more efficient. Is there a way I can do less, but more effective, work at the gym without going backwards on the progress I've already made? I really feel that an hour and a half is a little overboard, and I could be using my time more effectively.
Let me just stress that I don't want to make it "easier," just better and more realistic for long-term sustainability. I'm really worried that if I start spending less time in the weight room, I will start losing muscle along with the fat I'm currently losing...Any suggestions?
