5 day workout vs day rest between workouts

[TimeMan]

Hi Guys

I am in a total spin and would love some feedback from eveyone . goal is to drop weight i weigh 238lbs at the moment and 25 % body fat , goal is to drop 39 lbs and get body fat down to 15 % . Now this is problem i train mon/wed 1.5 hrs martial arts . Then i also do mon-fri 45-60 min super circuit in the gym . Am i going about this all wrong ? I know you supposed to give your muscles a day rest between workouts , but i am in the fortunate possition that i can train 5 - 6 days a week . And if i don't train i feel misserable . Is this way i workout enough to burn fat ? Do i have to take a day rest between workouts ? I'd like to get myself back into shape and set myself a goal to lose 55 lbs in 6months . So far i have lost 22 lbs and 4 % body fat in 1.5 months . Any advice would be appreciated

[Tyler Hawke]

Most folks will tell you that rapid weight loss isn't the way to go - it can work against you. Diet is the most important thing followed by sensible workout regiments. It sounds like your committed but impatient. If you're not accustomed to that kind of stress on the body you could seriously hurt yourself and throw a big wrench in your plans. I don't know how old you are but as someone in his mid 40's, I took time to loose the weight and get in shape (back in early 30's). I took the time to eat right (most of the time). I workout 3X a week, do yoga one to three times a week and run here and there - more in the spring and summer than winter/fall - by mid summer I run 3 five-miles runs a week. I'll often off set that every once in a while with some HIIT training. This regiment works for me, so when I hit lazy periods I don't put on much weight and what I do, I trim off easily and over time.

Ask yourself - are you feeling miserable cause you didn't work out or is your body feeling miserable because you didn't work out? I would venture to say the misery is mostly in your perception.

Remember - it's not how you start the race; it's how you finish it.

[adiebon]

you can basically train everyday providing you eat right, get good sleep/ rest and train sensible, for most people though training everyday is not a good idea, with work commitments, family ect.
it sounds like your training is good make sure you back it up with a good eating plan, so i would recommend after training make sure you have some protein to aid with recovery, try protein shake with some carbs mixed in as this will help with the absorption of the protein and try having this within 30 mins of finishing exercise, this is a vital time for recovery.
make sure you stretch out well at the end of each session and vary the circuit you are doing in the gym, make sure you are stimulating all the major msucle groups and try different exercises to stimulate the muscles differently.
interval training for cardio is one of the best ways to burn fat, increase cardio fitness and generally influence the body shape. this format can be used on any cardio machine so again mix it up to keep it interesting
hope this helps

[TimeMan]

for replying guys . Well i think it is a bit of all what you said . I am turning 42 in April and have been too lazy / busy for too long , call it a mid life crisis if you want But i started doing martial arts with kids and so much enjoyed it it kickstarted old self that actually like to be fit . Only problem was body was a bit slow on the catching up Plus i got the "bad" news that i have stage 1 hypertention . And had to go on to BP meds to get it down from 160/100 to 120/80 , that also scared the crap out of me in the sence that i maybe let it slide for too long and i want to get myself fit and back into shape and get of the damn meds as i hate taking meds , i have been relative in good health all life . Also one of the very big baddies i did was only eat once a day and that was at night and not drink a lot of water . Well that was even harder for me to change , now i am eating small meals 5 times a day and drinking at least 2 litres of water every day ,and i think the combo of beter diet / martial arts / training and drinking a ton of water allowed me to lose 10 kg's in less than a month , well i got concerned that now after doing super curcuit with cardio and martail arts i am not losing anymore , lol so as you said instead of weighing yourself rather look in the mirror and measure size rather than kg's makes a lot of sence . Also as i am doing martial arts it is important for me to get muscles more flexible , therefore i make sure i stretch a lot after doing work out .

And as i am more active now i tend to not suffer from insomnia anymore and actually do get a good nights sleep . The protein tip 30 min after training is a great tip , funny tho a chiro told me the EXACT thing today as well so will def throw that into diet .

[adiebon]

also remember that losing even just a small amount of weight can have positive effects on blood pressure and stretching after your workout is important and even more so as we get older. remember not to push to discomfort when stretching,and also go on how you feel, so if your workouts are getting easier then you know your fitness is improving and keep giving yourself some challenges to help with the focus and motivation.

[TimeMan]

Once again thank you for the replies . Now something else . I have been doing this supercircuit for nearly a month and a halve . I'm thinking to change training to a 5 day split program as i am getting very bored with supercircuit. Plus focus is now shifting from only fat burning to gaining muscle as well . Seeing as bigger muscles burn more fat . But question now is this . Would it be a good or bad thing to still keep some steps in between excerises in other words making sure when i train that HR stays between 128 and 160 BPM ? After doing a lot of reading i realised that supercuircuit i was doing i over did HR as i was training on 170-180 BPM . Some feed back please .

[adiebon]

you will burn calories at any level your heart rate works at, but the higher the level the more you will burn although this is a harder way to train and is more physcially demanding.
it might be a good idea to mix up the intensity of your workouts sometimes training a lower intensity and other times training harder, this will help give you more options with the design of your workout and keep them interesting.
there is no right or wrong about what you are doing generally it depends on fitness levels and your goals

[NickiAnderson]

It's all a bit confusing, isn't it? As a woman that's 48, I hear you. Part of what you need to remember, is the older we get, the more creative we have to be with our workouts. Many of the other posts said something I agree 100% with, be patient and make sure that your nutrition is in check. Further, if you become so obsessed with the caloric expenditure, you'll never really develop a love, or a consistent routine that will be forever.. and that friend is the key. Finding activities that you can maintain for the rest of your life. Working hard is great, but the idea is that you need to exercise for the rest of your life. So if you're kicking your butt just to lose weight and you do, then what? Does that make sense? I love the martial arts component, so explore and find other activities that you enjoy. Begin to look at exercise as a way of life vs. trying to hurry up and lose weight. I lost 50 pounds over 25 years ago and have kept it off simply through consistency and finding new and different things that keep me engaged and enthusiastic. HOpefully that helps!

[TimeMan]

Yup niki i understand 100% what you are saying . I was so excited that i lost 10 kg's in 2 months , then started to check the scale every week only to get myself all bloody deppressed and down cause it is not going down anymore !! Well then i got out the measuring tape and mirror , and i'll be honnest i now don't care to weigh myself anymore cause in one given day at different times i weigh 5 kg's up or down to weight !! But by looking how clothes get looser and how i look in a mirror is a better measure to what i am busy doing .

Well that put frame of mind into a totally different perspective , and i now changed routine to a free weight routine that i got of another brilliant site !!

Looks roughly like this: Mondays i do martial arts 1.5 hrs at night
Tuesdays light free weight full body workout in the morning , then 1.5 hrs of yoga at night to get flexability up
Wednesdays Martial arts 1.5 hrs at night
Thursdays morning heavy free weight full body workout
Fridays Rest
Saturdays morning Medium free weight full body workout
Sundays Rest

I really enjoy this plan i put together as i feel better , sleep better , and stress is 90% less than it used to be

So all in all doing martial arts with kids spending quality time with them teaching them to live a better livestyle and bonding with them is def going to become new way of life

PS . Thank you to all that give advice and support without a system like that it would be a mountain of a task to get mind right in to working out