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I am trying to lose weight while gaining muscle. I decided to do a 5 day/week split ("bro split"?) to have a smaller portion of weightlifting per day, since I like to go to gym often anyways. I prefer shorter but more frequent workout if it doesn't affect my muscle gain or weight loss negatively. I spend ~hour/day on low/med-intensity cardio (2.5-3.6 m/s walking).

Is this program good?

Day 1: Upper Body

Warm up: 5-10 minutes of light cardio (e.g. treadmill, stationary bike)
Dumbbell bench press (3 sets x 12 reps)
Barbell bent-over rows (3 sets x 12 reps)
Barbell bicep curls (3 sets x 12 reps)
Skull crushers (3 sets x 12 reps)
Cardio interval: 1 minute of jumping jacks, 30 seconds rest (repeat for 5 rounds)
Stretching: 5-10 minutes of stretching exercises (e.g. shoulder stretches, chest stretches)

Day 2: Lower Body

Warm up: 5-10 minutes of light cardio (e.g. treadmill, stationary bike)
Barbell squats (3 sets x 12 reps)
Barbell deadlifts (3 sets x 12 reps)
Dumbbell lunges (3 sets x 12 reps per leg)
Cardio interval: 1 minute of rowing machine sprints, 30 seconds rest (repeat for 5 rounds)
Stretching: 5-10 minutes of stretching exercises (e.g. hamstring stretches, quad stretches)

Day 3: Rest day or active recovery (e.g. walking, yoga)

Day 4: Upper Body

Warm up: 5-10 minutes of light cardio (e.g. treadmill, stationary bike)
Dumbbell bench press (3 sets x 12 reps)
Barbell bent-over rows (3 sets x 12 reps)
Barbell bicep curls (3 sets x 12 reps)
Skull crushers (3 sets x 12 reps)
Cardio interval: 1 minute of mountain climbers, 30 seconds rest (repeat for 5 rounds)
Stretching: 5-10 minutes of stretching exercises (e.g. shoulder stretches, chest stretches)

Day 5: Lower Body

Warm up: 5-10 minutes of light cardio (e.g. treadmill, stationary bike)
Barbell squats (3 sets x 12 reps)
Barbell deadlifts (3 sets x 12 reps)
Dumbbell lunges (3 sets x 12 reps per leg)
Cardio interval: 1 minute of jump squats, 30 seconds rest (repeat for 5 rounds)
Stretching: 5-10 minutes of stretching exercises (e.g. hamstring stretches, quad stretches)

Day 6: Rest day or active recovery (e.g. walking, yoga)

Day 7: Full Body

Warm up: 5-10 minutes of light cardio (e.g. treadmill, stationary bike)
Barbell squats (3 sets x 12 reps)
Dumbbell bench press (3 sets x 12 reps)
Barbell deadlifts (3 sets x 12 reps)
Barbell bent-over rows (3 sets x 12 reps)
Dumbbell lunges (3 sets x 12 reps per leg)
Barbell bicep curls (3 sets x 12 reps)
Skull crushers (3 sets x 12 reps)
Cardio interval: 1 minute of burpees, 30 seconds rest (repeat for 5 rounds)
Stretching: 5-10 minutes of stretching exercises (e.g. full body stretches)

1 Answer 1

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If you are just starting out, I'd suggest doing basics for half a year: squat/bench press/pull down with chin-ups. This will declutter your list and make it really simple to follow and track progress.

Being biggest muscle groups, you will get most gains from these exercises. You can switch it up when beginner gains are over.

You need more cardio, spend 30 min on elliptical/bike a day. Go a little faster each time and your distance will increase each training, easy to track and it sure feels good to see progress every day.

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