Weights 3 days/week to de-bulk?

[whimisical]

I've always been an active person, but in the past, I didn't worry about my physique, more so athletic performance/survival. I was a mountaineer (until breaking several bones and being airlifted off an 11 000+ foot peak)... now I'm loving weights/gym/bodybuilding. I'm new to it, but my body has evolved so much since adding weights to my workout and focusing on eating clean/being disciplined about what I eat (when I was a mountaineer, I had no concerns about calories!).

I've been doing a 3 day/week weight-lifting regime, which has really helped to get rid of some of my bulky muscles (still looking to loose bulk throughout my body).

Do you think that my workout (posted below) is enough for my current goal of losing bulky muscle, or should I add some extra weight training and still achieve "leaning-out" results? I also do regular yoga 3-4 times/week and bikram yoga 3 times/week on top of my weight-lifting regime, which is helping to get the tightness out of my muscles from an endurance-based fitness past (marathons, mountains, etc). I also do morning cardio (anywhere from 10 minutes to 50 minutes) whenever possible, usually jogging on the treadmill... it's a great way to start the morning.

“3 Days Per Week” - Gym Routine
Monday: Back, Chest, Abs (+ Cardio)
Exercise Sets & Reps
Lat Pulldowns 4-5 sets of 5 reps
Seated Cable Rows 4-5 sets of 5 reps
Barbell Bench Press 4-5 sets of 5 reps
Incline Press 4-5 sets of 5 reps
Lying Leg Raises 5 sets of 20 reps
Planks One 2-3 minute hold
HIIT 10-15 minutes
Steady State Cardio 15-20 minutes

Wednesday: Shoulders, Biceps, and Triceps (+ Cardio)
Exercise Sets & Reps
Seated Dumbbell Press 4-5 sets of 5 reps
Cable Lateral Raises 4-5 sets of 5 reps
Preacher Curls 4-5 sets of 5 reps
Seated Dumbbell Curls 4-5 sets of 5 reps
Close Grip Bench Press 4-5 sets of 5 reps
Cable Pushdown 4-5 sets of 5 reps
HIIT 10-15 minutes
Steady State Cardio 15-20 minutes

Friday: One Exercise Per Body Part (+ Cardio)
Exercise Sets & Reps
Lying Leg Raises 5 sets of 20 reps
Planks One 2-3 minute hold
One-Arm Dumbbell Row 4-5 sets of 5 reps
Incline Dumbbell Fly 4-5 sets of 5 reps
Incline Dumbbell Curls 4-5 sets of 5 reps
Seated Dumbbell Presses 4-5 sets of 5 reps
Overhead Dumbbell Extensions 4-5 sets of 5 reps
HIIT 10-15 minutes
Steady State Cardio 15-20 minutes

[discdoggie]

Do you think that my workout (posted below) is enough for my current goal of losing bulky muscle,

No. Eating less than you burn, combined with excessive cardio, "shrinks" muscle. Lifting weights BUILDS muscle, as in, makes them bigger. Which is the whole point of weightlifting, last time I checked.


Additionally (and you have no pictures or stats listed so I don't know if this is the case with you) what many women confuse for as "bulky muscle" is in actuality just plain ole body fat.



Generally, we like muscle here and not only want to keep what we have, but build lots more big ones.

[acrawlingchaos]

[rdferguson]

Do you actually have more muscle than you want, and want to decrease muscle mass? Or are you "bulky" because you have both muscle and fat, and need to get rid of the latter?

If it's the second scenario, keep lifting and diet down.

If it's the former, the fast road to success is to just stop lifting, or at least do less exercises for fewer sets at a lower intensity of effort.

[sonti]

In my few years here, I have seen dozens of threads like this, and only ONE girl actually had the mass to decrease (going from figure to bikini division). Can you share pictures? Almost certain it's just fat rather than actual mass.

[megdaig]

I've speculated with my coach as to what it would take for me to weigh 120#...we say no lifting, 1 hour of cardio a say and an 800 calorie diet for 1 year....get after it. JK

What everyone said above, bulk is typically due to more fat ether than too much muscle. Get in the proper caloric deficit and lift intensely.

[oregonchick76]

No such thing as "bulky muscle". Muscle by itself takes up little space - it's that fat layer over it that makes it look 'bulky'. If you don't see muscle separation/striations, it's still covered up by a nice layer of fat.

Your workout looks poor to me, but I am not a fan of isolation work for newbies. I would focus on the compounds and do a full body 3xper week. Squat, deadlift, bench, overhead press, chin ups, lat pulldowns, seated or bent over row, 5 sets of 5. No HIIT on lifting days, but ok on non-lifting days. Steady state cardio at a lower intensity after lifting ok.

What are your stats? Height/weight.