exercise routines

Hey guys,
Since we're all super busy finance folks I thought I'd start a thread on exercise efficiency.

Before I was getting pretty good results with compound exercises, but then I moved away from gym.
Now I'm a bit far, so I'm just working out with kettlebells.
I'm basically just trying to combat the weight that creeps in from sitting at a computer all day.

Do you guys find HIIT, weightlifting, or long distance cardio best for weight loss?
I've been enjoying the kettlebell workouts, but I don't think it's doing much for weight loss, unfortunately.

I'd like to know what you guys are doing.

 

Do lifts then cardio or interval sessions. Everyone thinks the sauce to losing weight is pure, steady-state cardio which is totally true. But, it doesn't develop muscles so you just become a smaller version of your previous body. Lifting requires a lot of energy and so it burns much more calories than your 45 minute jog. If you get some solid cardio in after bagging some muscles on the upper portion, you feel great afterwards.

Interval training is great because it gives you that HIIT element you brought up. It's really just about finding what kicks your ass but you still find enjoyable. What I've done in the past is do 6-10 reps of a handful of exercises in succession followed by rest (circuits). You can do a lot less boring cardio too with the idea of intervals.

Examples: W/dumbells

Shoulder press x 8 Bent over row x 8 Shrugs x 8 Oblique bend x 8 ea. side Side lunge x 8 ea. leg floor press x 8 RDL x 8 1-2 minute plank

You'll be sweating by the end of your 2nd run through.

Not too high, not too low
 

The idea with all of this is you develop muscle which burns more calories at rest. You're killing fat while making the muscles more tone giving you a better physique as opposed to just getting soft running.

Not too high, not too low
 

Exercise is only one way to reduce weight. If your concern is weight gain, do lots of cardio. Weight lifting will not do much for losing weight. Most importantly, losing weight is largely a function of eating habits. A trainer at a gym once told me that better abs are made in the kitchen.

http://www.series7examtutor.com
 

Losing weight is just a function of more calories out than in. There's no need for cardio other than heart health.

I try to workout 2x a day in 20 to 30 minute sessions. Usually I'll do something like lightweight/high freq/smaller muscles in the morning and then heavier stuff in the evening or at night. The 2x a day thing I love because it keeps my energy up well and I've noticed fast strength gains while on it. When I was eating under maintenance I was able to drop weight fast too.

If you need to lose weight fast btw just run ephedrine/caffeine. Works ridiculously well and it's safe.

 
Most Helpful

Personally, I don’t think running is a great long term way to maintain your weight. The main problem is your body gets pretty efficient at steady state running, and it will figure out pretty quickly how to run 10 miles without using too many calories, unless you are constantly upping the pace or distance. That’s just not super efficient. Can it work? Absolutely, but I would argue HIIT and lifting can give you much more caloric burn in a shorter amount of time. Another potential problem with running (people may disagree with this) is that it can increase cortisol production to much higher levels than other exercises, which is thought to lead to weight gain. Again, that will probably be a less agreed upon point.

I like to do ~60 minutes of lifting and/or HIIT in the morning before work. It’s easy to get it out of the way and sets you up to make good food decisions for the rest of the day. My lifting is a combination of compound movements and some targeted stuff, and I vary the specific lifts every few weeks to keep my muscles guessing. I very slowly increase weights, but if you’re doing HIIT and changing up your routines, you don’t necessarily need to add 5lbs per week per lift indefinitely to still burn fat.

Lastly, I subscribe to the thinking that what you eat is by far more important. I’m a low carb guy, becasue I’ve done keto and it definitlely worked (For me), but it’s not really sustainable for the real world, so low carb (

 

weighted body-weight exercises (pull up, chin ups, dips, push ups, squats, lunges etc) - don't really lift weights (dumbbell, barbbell) anymore w/ the exception some shoulder isolation exercises.

for cardio - typically rower, sprints, airdyne bike or a sport (basketball). gets the heart rate up and better calorie burn than steady state running. that said, a marathon was always on my bucket list so im doing more long runs, but once i finish the race, it's back to the high intensity stuff.

 
td12:
weighted body-weight exercises (pull up, chin ups, dips, push ups, squats, lunges etc) - don't really lift weights (dumbbell, barbbell) anymore w/ the exception some shoulder isolation exercises.

for cardio - typically rower, sprints, airdyne bike or a sport (basketball). gets the heart rate up and better calorie burn than steady state running. that said, a marathon was always on my bucket list so im doing more long runs, but once i finish the race, it's back to the high intensity stuff.

I agree with this approach. For the most part, you do not need weights to increase strength or tone. I do about 400 push ups per day, 300 sit ups per day and lots of cardio.

http://www.series7examtutor.com
 

Currently doing a mix low rep range to mid to high rep range. All heavy weight, typically failure on last sets/last reps (both at the low range and the higher range). Been seeing some shape in that. My biggest problem has always been consistency.

When I ran 2x a week, 5 mi each, for ~45 mins, I didn't see a ton of fat burning. I got a stronger core and could run longer and feel better. Have been considering going back to running at least 1x a week, just to increase core and for the cardio part of my workout.

Currently play ball and will do softball in the spring. Thinking about doing olympic style or HIIT, but need a solid gym buddy to help train the muscles for the snatch and catch and motivation factor for HIIT.

 

Weightlifting burns more calories than cardio over the longer term. That being said I rock with Push / Pull / Legs 5-6x a week. Start with a compound exercise then work to the more minute single muscle lifts. Focus on contraction and expansion. Dropsets on just about every set with as little time as possible between dropping weight and resuming the lift, good length of pause between full sets though to regather myself.

Last night: Push (Chest + Triceps)

Bench 205x4-6, 185x2-3, 135x6 | Dropset

Bench 205x4-5, 185x2-3, 135x6 | Dropset

Bench 205x2-4 185x2-3, 135x4 | Dropset

Incline Dumbbell Bench 65x10 | Super slow, focusing on expansions + contractions

Incline Dumbbell Bench 75x8 | Super slow, focusing on expansions + contractions

Incline Dumbbell Bench 85x6 | Super slow, focusing on expansions + contractions

Incline Dumbbell Bench 85x6 | Super slow, focusing on expansions + contractions

Tricep Extensions W-Bar, 2 sets forward grip superset reverse grip

200x6, 150x6, Reverse 110x8, 70x4 | Dropset, slow and focus on the 2nd set of each lift

200x6, 150x6, Reverse 110x6, 70x6 | Dropset, slow and focus on the 2nd set of each lift

200x4, 150x5, Reverse 100x7, 70x4 | Dropset, slow and focus on the 2nd set of each lift

Cables: Low to High Chest (idk what this is called)

60x7, 45x4, 30x5 | Dropset

60x7, 45x4, 30x5 | Dropset

60x7, 45x4, 30x5 | Dropset

Peck Deck

200x8, 155x6, 100x4 | Dropset

240x6, 180x4, 100x6 | Dropset

240x4, 155x4, 100x6 | Dropset

Weigh in @ 163.7 & call it a night

Cultivating mass and wealth since '95
 
FitnessandFinance:
Weightlifting burns more calories than cardio over the longer term. That being said I rock with Push / Pull / Legs 5-6x a week. Start with a compound exercise then work to the more minute single muscle lifts. Focus on contraction and expansion. Dropsets on just about every set.

Last night: Push (Chest + Triceps)

Bench 205x4-6, 185x2-3, 135x6 | Dropset

Bench 205x4-5, 185x2-3, 135x6 | Dropset

Bench 205x2-4 185x2-3, 135x4 | Dropset

Incline Dumbbell Bench 65x10 | Super slow, focusing on expansions + contractions

Incline Dumbbell Bench 75x8 | Super slow, focusing on expansions + contractions

Incline Dumbbell Bench 85x6 | Super slow, focusing on expansions + contractions

Incline Dumbbell Bench 85x6 | Super slow, focusing on expansions + contractions

Tricep Extensions W-Bar, 2 sets forward grip superset reverse grip

200x6, 150x6, Reverse 110x8, 70x4 | Dropset, slow and focus on the 2nd set of each lift

200x6, 150x6, Reverse 110x6, 70x6 | Dropset, slow and focus on the 2nd set of each lift

200x4, 150x5, Reverse 100x7, 70x4 | Dropset, slow and focus on the 2nd set of each lift

Cables: Low to High Chest (idk what this is called)

60x7, 45x4, 30x5 | Dropset

60x7, 45x4, 30x5 | Dropset

60x7, 45x4, 30x5 | Dropset

Peck Deck

200x8, 155x6, 100x4 | Dropset

240x6, 180x4, 100x6 | Dropset

240x4, 155x4, 100x6 | Dropset

Weigh in @ 163.7 & call it a night

This sounds about right. I'll do:

225, 2 sets, 4-5 reps each 185-205, 1 set, to failure (usually 7/8 reps) 135 (if I have time), 1 set to failure (~14 reps)

No dropsets on the bench though. Probably will do more as I see my strength increase. Weighing 185-190

Also doing a day of supersets once a week.

 

Honestly I don't dabble with supersets at all... I never really saw the point unless its a compound lift superset with an iso... then maybe... but even still I think I prefer to focus on one aspect of the muscle at a time rather than trying to deplete everything in one fell swoop. Curious about your thoughts though considering you experiment with both drop and super

Cultivating mass and wealth since '95
 

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