Would be grateful for some advice...

[BP191]

Hello! I just wondered if anyone would be kind enough to give me some advice on programme. I am a 32 year old female; I currently weigh 146lb with a height of 5ft 6in. goal is to lose fat and improve muscle. fat % -measuring scales are giving me a fat % of 34%, varying by 1-2% day to day, which is upsetting me as its high and falls in the obese category, and I had expected to have lost more body fat since I started exercising more seriously.
I currently do the following, all in the mornings, fasted:
Monday:
- 35 mins upper body (all at roughly 4 setsx12 reps, sometimes higher weights lower reps): lat pulldown (machine), low row (machine), chest presses lying down, chest presses at 45 degrees and chest flies (all dumbbells).
- 25 min run
Tuesday:
- 20 mins lower body – vary between leg presses (machine), squats (kettlebells), sumo deadlifts (kettlebells) and Bulgarian split squats (dumbbells), but do a total of 10 sets of these with varying reps and weights (lowest rep 6, max 15).
- 25 min run
Wednesday: 1 hour run
Thu: as Monday
Fri: as Tuesday
Weekend: one rest day and one 45 min run

For supplementation, I take BCAA and l-glutamine before and after workouts. I do not count calories (I know I should be, just one step at a time…), but I eat 2-3 meals a day, plenty of protein, veg and good fats, potentially (?) undereating carbs [generally two meals of tuna/turkey/chicken/oily fish/cottage cheese plus vegetables, and sometimes one more meal of low fat natural yogurt with one piece of fruit]. I am not leaving myself hungry. I am confident that I am maintaining a calorie deficit at the moment, compared to RMR plus the exercise that I am doing.

I also commute on bike, but due to traffic I can’t go fast, so I do not count it as a workout.

questions are the following:
1) Advice on what improvements I could make overall?
2) Advice on what I could specifically to increase fat burn?
3) I sometimes think I might be overtraining (I feel more tired at times, occasionally worsened sleep, muscle and back pain) – what is the best way of knowing if I am overtraining, and what is the best way to avoid it (I do not think that I am training that much as it is).

Many thanks for your help!

[Boss Man]

Hi BP, good to talk to you.

I don't think you're over training per se, you're more than likely not fueling enough, because 2-3 meals a day is not enough for your need. Sedentary females need around 1,800 a day which wouldn't happen, unless you eat 2 x 900 calorie meals or 3 x 600 calorie meals.

However for your needs you could eat around 300 calories more per day at least for the exercise and I'd give yourself 6 meals roughly 2.5-3 hours apart as an eating plan.

Nice supplements by the way, two of the few sport related supplements I actually endorse.

I'd say if you're capable of going a bit heavier and getting 8-10 reps per set versus 12, then go for that, as you'll just add a tiny amount of extra progress potential to your efforts, just remember not to go to failure, as it's not worth it, so if you feel like you're able to go for 1 more, don't bother as it's an unnecessary use of energy and could lead to too much fatigue and possible over training.

I'd do the chest work before the back work as you need your back to stabilise the chest stuff, so doing chest first means not working it with a fatigued back.

Remember in case you're not aware to do the pull downs in front of your face, not behind the neck as that could cause rotator cuff problems in the future.

I'd keep the reps the same on lower body as upper body, so 8-10 per set every time for continuity, then you don't have to think about what you're doing so much and the muscles get trained the same way, so you're not doing 15 reps one time and possibly 6 the next with more weight, as the lighter stuff will not have the same impact as the heavier stuff.

I'd also aim to be consistent on the number of sets per week, so I'd go for around 8 a week on Hamstrings and Quads, so in a lower body session that's 2 sets of squats, 2 sets of lunges and 2 sets of leg press, then 4 sets of regular deadlifts not stiff legged, bearing in mind, you're hitting the quads and hamstrings on the leg press.

Doing the split squats could have caused you to become quad dominant by having too much quad versus hamstring work into the mix.

I'd also include another rest day, so work your schedule something like this.

Day 1. Upper body. + 20 minutes of cardio

Day 2. Lower body and Deadlifts

Day 3. Cardio for 40 minutes

Day 4. Day off

repeat days 1 and 2, on days 5 and 6, then include another rest day on day 7.

Muscle building can help to burn fat so there's no need to go nuts on cardio and too much cardio can be detrimental to muscle gain anyway by catabolising muscle.

As for the diet what foods do you eat and what times do you eat them, as you'll need a lot more calories than 2-3 meals give you to combine fat loss with muscle building and to make sure you micronutrient intake is good enough to prevent things like potential anemia, osteopenia, (thinning bones) and possibly one or two other issues, not least because skeletal health is determined by arguably the most nutrients in your diet I:E: calcium, vit D, phosphorus, strontium, magensium, copper, vit C, vit K, etc etc.

Hopefully by making necessary tweaks to your diet we can really help to get you motoring.

I want you to know that I'm proud of you for your actions and that it's your right as a female to be as strong as you want to be, so don't worry about what the very, very tiny minority may think, as it doesn't matter what they think and it's your body and it needs to last you your whole life.

Let us know anything else that might be relevant, like the info on diet and we'll be able to do more for you and we'll certainly give you as much as support as we realistically can, so please stick with us, keep us updated and GOOD LUCK okay, because you seem like a charming Lady and you are DEFINITELY worth it okay .

[BP191]

Thank you very much for your reply! It is very kind and encouraging, as well as detailed and informative; I really appreciate it.

I have a few questions, if that's ok....

1) If I have 6 meals per day, presumably at around 350cal each, do you advise to have carbs and protein in each meal? Also could I have 3 meals and 2 small snacks? (eg 500cal meals and then two 300cal snacks), or is it better to spread evenly?

2) I understood that for weight loss I need to have a calorie deficit, but 2100 would surely put me at a surplus? RMR is approx 1400 (per scales, though I sometimes doubt their accuracy though as I sure don't feel like I can be 34% fat, having looked at various example photos online).

3) Regarding nutrients - I take multivits and minerals, plus fish oil, but not really anything else. If I have plenty of veg, fruit, meat and dairy in diet, do I need any more supplements? (I kinda thought I didn't even need the ones I am taking if I am honest...)

4) Regarding weights - I can definitely do lower reps higher weight, I have been doing 12 as I thought that was the optimum, but I actually prefer doing heavier so I will follow that with pleasure! I do go to failure, could you please explain why that is not advisable? I have read that elsewhere on this forum, but always heard the opposite before, that going to failure results in the best muscle strain and growth.

5) Regarding the order of upper body - I was told to do pulling before pressing as this is less likely to lead to injury (so the pulling works as a bit of a warm up too). I guess another way would be to start with another set to do a lighter weight to warm up? What method do you advise for warming up the specific muscle before using the actual weights for training?

I think I need to think about and experiment more with the lower body - I have only recently expanded it from just squats and a strange squat/sumo deadlift hybrid. I need to sort out deadlift technique - it never looks anything like what other people around me/on youtube are doing. I started doing the Bulgarian splits because I was looking for something which would train hamstrings and glutes, as essentially I was concerned about squats bulking up quads whereas I wanted to train backside. But you mention that the splits have the opposite effect, so I will follow your advice and also try to really identify which muscles are working when.

Actually, one more question..... Sorry! I suffer from quite bad back and shoulder pain from ...ahem... large chest. I have recently thought that I can improve that by strengthening back muscles, as then hopefully that will improve posture and the back muscles will carry the weight. Can you advise on any specific exercise routine I could do for the back muscles?

Many thanks for all your help,
BP

[Boss Man]

In answer to your questions.

1. The calories per meal don't have to be exactly 350 per meal, for instance if you had 3 small ones and 3 bigger ones, you could have 300 for small ones and 400 for bigger ones, or 250 for small ones and 450 for bigger ones, so either of those ways would do it.

I'd caution against doing something like 150 for small ones and 550 for bigger ones, just because you're making life a bit harder for yourself trying to get the large meals sorted in terms of the calorie amounts.

In relation to the macronutrient ratios I think you could go one of 3 ways.

Protein / Carbs / Fats

33 / 33 / 33

35 / 30 / 35

40 / 30 / 30

The thing you suggested with the 3 meals and 2 snacks however; if you really want to pursue that, then yes you could do that, but as stated regarding the 550 calories per big meal situation, I think once you're aiming for 500 or more per big meal, you're perhaps making it a little harder for yourself.

As an example a chicken breast and 2 large broccoli stalks are nearly 200 calories, which means you'd have nearly over 35g carbs and around 30g protein, with nearly 400 calories, but you'd need to find a way to get around 100-110 calories of fat, which could be achieved by putting edible oil on to the cooked food which is around 11-12g fat roughly.

This is okay for that, but for lower carb foods it represents and issue and if you had a large baked potato which is around 120 calories you'd then need another 70-80 calories from something else like another carb source or more fat content.

Not difficult, but it depends on how you want to do things. Your suggestion works okay, but depending on what you're trying to eat, you might start complicating things a little more, depending on the calories you're looking to have with bigger meals, whereas having around 100-150 less with big meals and including a 3rd small meal may simplify the bigger meals a bit more, but it does mean planning an extra meal.

So you've got some useful ideas on that.

2. Calories in versus calories out is the agenda, but if for example, someone needed 2,500 a day to main a body that was perhaps a few lbs and fat % over the desire physical want, then cutting back by a few hundred would reduce the issue and exercise would burn more calories bolstering this effect.

The main thing to consider is not resting metabolic rate, but basal metabolic rate, the minimum amount of calories needed to keep the metabolism healthy. Therefore not consuming below this is very ideal, but when you exercise you'll need more calories, as you'll be burning those during and before exercise, at a great extent than sedentary people.

Exercise burns calories and calories are burned better afterwards; yes the body would focus some of its attention back to burning freshly consumed calories after the next meal, but the strengthening and / or repair process of the musculoskeletal system, could counteract this to some extent, to maintain a higher caloric burn even during this process, versus caloric burn with sedentary people.

You'll need the calories to help you lose weight, build muscle and fuel your metabolism properly, so don't worry about that, it's just that your body may initially gain a little weight as it adjusts to what you're eating, but that would stabilise probably within 2 weeks I'd say, whereas under eating relevant to your needs could initiate some or all of the physical concerns I have mentioned in this discussion.

You could however eat 200-300 less on sedentary days, perhaps, but the extra calories could still be useful in helping your body to recover from the day before, but that would be up to you.

3. Check sticky on multivits to make sure you having a good one, but they're not strictly necessary.

BCAA's and Glutamine are good for helping the body to build muscle so keep those and fish oil is healthy for you, or you could try krill oil instead, but those are good supplements. The only one I'd say you could ditch if you wanted to is the multivit, but you could keep it in if you like, but the others I'd say are well worth keeping with.

4. Going to failure is a waste of time. I used to do it and when I stopped I realised I was less wasted after workouts.

If you think about it, what is the point of expending all that extra energy, to finish the last rep in twice the time it took to do the first and in some cases you'll be struggling 50%-75% of the way through and have to abandon the final rep.

You'll waste more energy for practically little to no additional benefit, as I mentioned previously.

5. Warming up muscles comes in different ways I:E: 5-10 minutes of cardio and / or some stretching. Dynamic stretching is a good one, but you could mix a little bit of static in there too. I do a mix of static and dynamic before workouts, but the other way is to forgo those things and do a set of light weights, for example if you bench pressed 10kg dumbbells for 10 reps, you could do one set where you used 4kg-5kg dumbbells, depending on the specs of the manufacturers product your gym was giving you access to, then go for your 3 sets of 10kg as per usual.

Some even do this pre-exercise warmup and combine a little cardio pre-workout too, so they do cardio and then do their weights based warm up before each exercise, so if you had a split with 5 exercise in it for example, you'd do 5 warmup sets, using around 33.33% - 50% of you normal lifting weight.

Some people even do 2 sets, maybe even 3 ot warmup, but one would be okay.

I've not heard of the pulling before pressing thing before, what reason for this supposedly lessening injury risk were you given?

However in terms of fatiguing the main stabilisers, in this case your back muscles, it makes sense to train your chest first not after you've fatigued your back, as that may take the edge off the chest workout.

Plus injuries on individual exercises can be avoided, most often by constant implementation of good technique, not overloading the weight, not doing reps at the speed of light and also by having an adequate warmup before each workout and / or exercise.

As for split squats, they do quads really not hamstrings. At best Hamstrings are a secondary stimulus, not primary, although the glutes do get worked.

I'll politely decline your apology, as I'd feel rude accepting an unnecessary apology from a Lady .

Back exercises for the lats and traps come in various types like Lat pulldowns, pullups, bent over rows, cable rows, dragon flags, wood choppers, dumbbell rows, reverse pec deck, inclined reverse flyes, upright rows, straight, smith machine or E-Z bar, military press, power cleans, face pulls, seated inclined cable chest pulls, standing inclined cable crossovers, the latter being a variation of crossovers used to train the back not chest.

The chest pulls require no bench with a back rest, as you pivot backwards from the hips to about 45 degrees, from the waist pulling the cable towards you, so the back rest would hinder this.

So you've got plenty of options there to work out a routine. Just remember however the pressing movements work the triceps as a secondary stimulus and rows work the biceps as a secondary stimulus, so if you include any row exercises for back, or pressing movements, like military press remember to make sure all row and press work throughout the week is equal.

If you need any of the back exercises explaining more I can try and / or I could find you some kind of resources that would demonstrate them.

Hopefully I've answered everything you need to know and don't apologise for anything in future , just because if you need to know anything just ask, that's what we're here for. Worst case scenario it might be something we simply don't know, but almost always it is something we can help you with .

Keep believing, keep pushing and keep us updated yeah and most of all be proud of yourself, because you've earned it .

[BP191]

This is fantastic, thank you so much.

I am a bit lost on the back exercises (the different types of exercises and also the pull vs press balance), so if you have any suggestion re a good resource of where to look, I would be grateful, otherwise I will just look myself and try to untangle it all - I do not want to take up too much of your time!

Regarding the diet ratio - is it key that the ratio is maintained for each meal, or can it be calculated over the day? (I suspect it is the former, but just wanted to check...)

Thank you so much for all your help!!!!!

[Boss Man]

The macro ratios might work best on a meal to meal basis, but if you want to work them out based on an entire days eating, that's okay.

As for videos of the exercises try Exrx or youtube.

[ClaraBear24]

Regarding Fat Burn, Have your considered adding perhaps 10-15mins HIIT on treadmill/cross training at the end of your current workouts? This helps you body to continue burning fat a little more during the day. I noticed a big different adding HIIT session 2/3 times a week. exercise consisted of doing a number of cardio group classes. However when I started doing HIIT after trainer recommended it, that's when I got some more results.

[BP191]

Thank you to both of you!

I have been planning to start HIIT, but not quite managed yet - your comment will be a good incentive. Thanks

[jgerard]

I find running before I lift to be much more beneficial. It seems that heart rate stays up more when cardio comes before weights. This helped me and I feel it should help you as well. Good luck and stick with it