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Good day everyone!

Two months ago, I used to have good habits: I went to the gym and had my healthy eating plan. I had approximately one year exercising, which I lost 33 pounds, but in that period of time in the last 3 months everything seemed to no longer work. My routine in the gym was "Simple", I focused more on performing Cadio: one hour to be specific. After cardio I focused on a part of my body for 30 minutes, for example:

  • Monday: leg.
  • Tuesday: Chest.
  • Wednesday: abdomen.
  • Thursday: Arms.
  • Friday: A bit of all of the above.

*3X20 in different exercises, with machines and weights.

On the contrary on weekends, I like to go out with my friends. I must admit that in our meetings There is always a lot of beer, which I like a lot. I think that drinking beer in considerable quantity was one of my impediments to get the results (keep losing fat) that I was looking for my body.

During these two months without physical activity, I have gained approximately 8 pounds, so for me it is unacceptable. Now I want to start over, but I don't know if I should go back to my old gym routine. I really want to focus on losing fat, I must lose approximately 22 pounds to be at my optimal weight.

  • Should I continue with the same routine I had? o Should I change something?
  • Should I definitely stop drinking beer?
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  • Did you make this program yourself? What stands out to me is the lack of training your back.
    – Alec ♦
    Jul 29, 2019 at 15:58
  • Yes, I did it myself.
    – YemisiSCG
    Jul 29, 2019 at 16:12
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    What I personally don't like about your routine is how inefficient it is. You need to motivate yourself 5 times a week to do what can be done easily in 2. If you then motivate yourself 3 times, you are golden. You don't need a day for arms and abs, especially if weight loss is the goal. Focus on bigger lifts instead. Arm training is for TV and movies because it looks cool, in reality it's not that great for much. Same for abs. Looks great in a 90ies fitness video with attractive women, not much else
    – Raditz_35
    Jul 29, 2019 at 17:25
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    If you like it, do it, but then perhaps don't ask if it can be done better. You can lose 33 pounds without any exercise. Please note that I'm not talking about effectiveness but efficiency. 2 hours 5 times a week is A LOT. I personally don't know anybody past the age of 23 that has that much time, so it can't be your excuse - which btw is backwards, I'm telling you you can spend your time better, so why can't you do that because you don't have the time? All I'm saying is that you can spend your 10 ours a week better by e.g. implementing an upper/lower body split.
    – Raditz_35
    Jul 29, 2019 at 18:17
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    I may forget to comment that these two hours include the transfer of my house to the gym, in total I have left About 1 hour with 20 or maybe 30 minutes, consider that I go to the gym at 4:30 in the morning, so that I do have enough time. I would like to focus on effectiveness as you say, but could it be a little more explicit about the division of the body? Specifically, what exercises can I do?
    – YemisiSCG
    Jul 29, 2019 at 18:43

2 Answers 2

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  1. “Should I continue with the same routine I had? o Should I change something?”

I stand by some of the answers that you can do compounds lifts or even a full body work out to make it more efficient. Compound lifts burn more calories in a sense as it recruits more muscles more work.

Progressive overload is an important principle in training and you can do so by altering sets and reps. You can look up for undulated periodisation to program your workout to make it more interesting. You will need to challenge your body for it to adapt and become stronger. I would also suggest some back training to counter the “push” exercises to prevent rounded shoulders from overdeveloped/tight chest muscles for example. And it can also help in postural management. I would recommend looking up Jeff Cavalier or Jeff Nippard on YouTube as they do cover these points.

  1. “Should I definitely stop drinking beer?”

We all still need to enjoy and it comes down to moderation - unless you’re looking at competing professionally!

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Here we are 6 months later. I hope you are still training and maybe reached your goalweight. If not, let me help you. Losing fat is simply CICO (calories in, calories out) counting and some cardio. If you want definition, then hit the weights. I train personally like this:

Monday: rest

Tuesday: chest

Wednesday: legs

Thursday: rest

Friday: shoulders

Saturday: arms

Sunday: back

With every training 10 minutes cardio before, minimum of 20 after.

In the end, just count calories. Eat 300 to 500 in deficit and you will lose weight without training. If you add cardio you will lose weight faster and possibly feel better.

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    Hey Jonathan! Could you please backup the following ideas and statements from your answer with a reference? 1) Why at least 20 min cardio after? 2) How does cardio in itself help with fat loss? IMO it always boils down to the caloric deficit, no matter how much cardio you do. 3) Why are you suggesting four days a week dedicated to upper body workouts as opposed to a single one for lower body?
    – UnbescholtenerBuerger
    Feb 5, 2020 at 18:44
  • 1/2) verywellfit.com/… midway on the page. My coach (bodybuilder for 20 years) also explained that after 20 minutes your fatcells are put to work to burn up, as long as you dont run. 3) personal experience. With a trainingsschedule like this I trained up to a bench of 150kg, deadlift 248kg, squat 200kg. (I have proof). If you would like to get more defined, as I am trying now, you could do twice legs, and 4 days for upper body. But the best method according to bodybuilders I know is to train the way I described
    – JonathanG
    Feb 12, 2020 at 13:47
  • "after 20 minutes your fatcells are put to work to burn up, as long as you dont run" I would LOVE to see some scientific proof of this because as far as I know this is not at all how it works. Whether you burn fat or glycogen is not based on how much time you've been working out but rather how much effort you are putting in.
    – MJB
    Mar 6, 2020 at 10:53
  • @MJB health.clevelandclinic.org/…) It is a long link, but halfway you will find that Dr. Burguera (who did studies on stopping obesity) and he even says the minimum should be 30 minutes for significant fat loss. Because sure you can lose fat with less cardio, but to optimize it, 30 minutes should be the minimum.
    – JonathanG
    Mar 6, 2020 at 14:37
  • @JonathanG The article doesn't contain any scientific proof. I've never read that you first need to exercise 30 minutes before your body starts to burn fat. What does it burn in the first 30 minutes according to you? As I said before, the type of energy you burn is based on the intensity of the workout. This has to do with how easy/fast it is for your body to burn glycogen compared to burning fat.
    – MJB
    Apr 14, 2020 at 10:13

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