Need input for new routine

[Alinasmommy]

So here are the basics....I've really been working out hard this year and it shows. Between diet and exercise I have dropped 22 pounds (I am 5' 5" and 128-130 pounds and 37 years old if that matters). My body fat is somewhere around 21-22%. I am in the best physical shape I've ever been in.

I am very happy with my weight and don't feel the need to drop any more-although if another 5 pounds melted off I wouldn't complain. I know my metabolism is higher than it used to be -- between all my running and weight lifting. I know this because I can certainly eat more than I used to! Yippea!! :)

So , what I WANT NOW is this.........I want to tone up more. Again, I feel that I am in the best shape I've been in and am not looking to lose weight. I DON'T want to bulk up either. I would like to be very lean and toned. Maybe a body fat of 18-19%. I'd like a tighter tush!! I'd like a little more lower body definition (my UB has toned up quite nicely).

What kind of routine should I do? I now change my routines every 8-12 weeks (depending upon how lazy I am to sit down and redesign soemthing for myself). Here Is a rundown of recent routines:

#1
Circut/interval w/ full body weights and cardio 1x a week
full body weights 2x a week
cardio 3-5x a week
yoga 1x a week
**this really helped me lose weight and I started running a lot

#2
full body resistance training 3x a week; worked with a trainer a few times and really bumped up my load; lots of super sets and compound sets
45-60 min cardio 3x a week (running or spin class mostly)
20-30 minutes cardio 1-2x a week
yoga 1x a week
**this helped drop the remaining weight and start to tone me up

#3
same as above but I designed a weight routine where I increased my weights and lowered my reps with each set
cardio/yoga same
**my body responded really well to this

#4
CURRENTLY doing a split body routine: UB-Monday and Thrusday, LB-Tuesday and Friday
cardio usually 4-5x a week (soemtimes 20 minutes on a machine, sometimes and hour run, soemtimes a 45 min cardio class. Depends on my schedule)
yoga 1x a week
**my body is noticabley toning up and I am increasing my strength

So, where do I go from here? I will probably need a slightly less intense routine for 3 weeks in November. Partly becasue of travel and partly because I feel my body needs a break. Then I REALLY want to bump things up in December. Do I go to split body routines 5x a week? Stick with 4x a week? Do I go into strength/power training? (I DO NOT want a body builder's body, I just want to be lean and mean, KWIM??) Also, How much cardio? (I don't want to lose my running base). How long do I keep up a routine like this?

I know this is a long thread and i am asking a lot of questions. You ladies seem so knowledgeable that I know you can point me in the right direction. If you've made it this far, thanks for reading.

Any and all input is welcome! Thanks in advance

[M Calavera]

Your best bet is to ask MsFit. I don't know who she is, but she sure as hell knows her stuff! I've read several posts of hers, she really does seem to know what she's talking about! You could try to send her a private message, but I'm sure you'll get loads of helpful advice within a few day's time...

As for myself, I don't really feel justified in giving you any advice because I'm a newbie to weights! Good luck though!

:)

[Alinasmommy]

I noticed Ms Fit has lots of answers! Thanks for the info!!

[MsFit]

Well thanks, M Calavera. I just got the PM. Sorry, don't check my box much.

The "toning" (watch that word here. ;) ) will come in your diet. It's simply muscle mass with low body fat. "Bulking" and fat loss are both a result of proper diet.

Start with the basics and go from there. Be sure you are eating a balanced meal every three hours.

I'd suggest a MWF split or two days on, one day off. You can do cardio on the off days.

Train each muscle group only once a week. If you don't allow the body to rest and recover, it won't produce results. While the full body twice a week with cardio 3-5 times a week, etc produced results, your body as adapted and you're not a beginner any more...it's time to move on, and that means less time training and more time resting. The more advanced lifters spend less time in the gym.

For now, I'd suggest a 2 on, 1 off split and in several months try a MWF split. You will not get big and bulky unless you take "supplements".

Example
Day #1 - Chest, Shoulders, Abs
Day #2 - Legs and Calves
Day #3 - OFF - light cardio
Day #4 - Back and Abs
Day #5 - Triceps, Biceps, and Calves
Day #6 - OFF - Cardio
Day #7 - Repeat

This is just an expample, you can mix it up any way that suits you.

Do 3 sets per muscle group and vary your rep range from time to time in the 8-12 range and in the 4-6 range. Heavy poundage in the lower rep range will build more strength and power.

The Elite Physique (www.theelitephysique.com)

[Alinasmommy]

Ms Fit...thanks so much for your suggestions. After doing a bit of reasearch I thought this kind of workout might be the way to go. I have a few more questions though:

1) do I only do cardio 2x a week? I really enjoy my running, spin classes and kickboxing. Can I continue to do all of my cardio?

2) When you say a MWF split, do you mean resistance training 2x a day?

3) When you say 3 sets per muscle group do you mean 1 exercise per body part with three sets or (i.e chest press 3x60, upright row 3x40, ab exercise 3 sets of 25) or do you mean 3 different exercises per body part--9 exercises in total, each one done for 3 sets?

I do need to work on my eating. I am a healthy eater and eat 5-6 times a day, but I have to cut out my evening snacking!

Thanks so much for your help. I appreciate it and look forward to hearing from you agian!

[egoatdoor]

Hi A,

I'm a bit late to this party and I know you are waiting for a response from MsFit, but I wanted to offer my thoughts.

I saw alot of good things in your first post. Your metabolism is up, so you can eat more! Great! You vary your routines and have taken note of what works good for you, which many people unfortunately don't ever do.

You now want to switch from an upper body/lower body to a 5 day split. I think this may be a bit drastic, especially since you are thirty something. I am 45 and one of the most important things I have learned as I got older was "More is not better", as Ms Fit also pointed out. Rest and recovery are very important factors in building a lean, muscular body and training 5 days a week in my opinion compromises this rest principle.

I think 4 days maximum over seven days is best and you can easily create a 4 way split working each bodypart one day a week.

Getting back to rest and recovery, the same thing applies to cardio. At 21/22% bodyfat, you are better than the norm. If you overdue cardio, I am again afraid you will become overtrained and an overtrained body will stagnate or even regress and you do not want that. I would limit the cardio to 2 days a week for a month and see how it goes. It may surprise you that you may feel more energetic, have more effective weight workouts and end up with an even leaner, more muscular body.

If you want real life evidence as to what I am saying, take a look at this Journal :

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=261792

Page through to page 7 and read SL's post at 5:19 on 11/3. Look at the improvements she has made in her physique and then she says, "Funny thing, I've been doing less cardio and resting more. Who would have known?".

One other thought on your 10/25 comment about evening snacking. A solution to this may be eating more earlier in the day. This may stop those evening cravings, plus if one eats more early in the day, they have that many more hours to burn it off.

[Alinasmommy]

egoatdoor, thanks so much for your post. I am learning a lot here in such a short time. On Saturdas I usually take a 45 minute spin class and then a 90m minute yoga class. Today, I blew off the spin and rested and just went to yoga (I really need it for the stretching...my flexibility is crap and I have had back problems in the past that yoga/lengthy stretching helps keeps at bay)

I've been tracking my diet on fitday...and in just 4 or 5 days I have learned a lot about my eating habits alone.

I am looking forward to my upcoming 5 day rest (Nov 16-20) as I'll be out of the country and now KNOW that the rest will be important and not mess up my progress.

BTW, I just had my body fat tested and it is around 17.8%--lower than I thought. I am definitley understanding the benefits more of tweaking things--diet/macro adjustments, less cardio, split routines, etc... I guess just one thing at a time to see how it works out.

However, I really do enjoy my cardio--running/jogging, spinning and kickboxing. I'd like to keep it all up. I even want to try and run a 10K next year as well. I am going to try to wean myself off of the "more is better" mentalitly but it is hard. Especially when one has approached exercise that way for such a long time. Right now I weight train 4x a week and do cardio 4-5x a week (I work out 6x a week total. I always take one day off)

Can I ask you, what kind of 4 day split do you recommend? Doing a 2 on 1 off routine won't work for me. I need my weight routine to happen during the same days to work with my schedule. Any input would be appreciated. Thanks so much for your helpful advice already.

BTW, are you calling me old!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!