Chopping parts off my workout program to save time at gym - need advice

[Domo230]

Hi

Quick bio about myself: Cut down from 230 lbs to 180 using the "Fierce 5" novice routine. Maintained this weight for about a year, then put a good bit of the weight back on during a 3 month bulk (October-December) that got out of hand due to stress eating. Currently at around 200 lbs and looking to drop back to 180 or below, using a 2,000 calorie and 1 gram of protein per pound diet.

I quite like the program I was using for the bulk (taken from Vitruvian Physique "Skinny Fat" solution, with a minor tweak to tricep and bicep training), together with ab work at the end, but it's extremely time consuming. I'm in an extremely stressful postgraduate program at the moment that's taking up most of my time, and so I want to shorten my workout so it takes about as long as "Fierce 5" used to. With Fierce 5's 6 exercises per workout I had time to fit the weightlifting plus a 20 minute cardio session into my morning routine. The stress from postgraduate study and the caloric surplus have really drained my energy levels in any case, so I would struggle to keep my old intensity on the Vitruvian program anyway.

I was wondering if this is a bad idea, and if anyone could critique the changes I intend to make to the program? I've no experience of designing a training routine for myself, and I want to ensure I have everything covered. In theory I could just go back to Fierce 5, but I quite like the program i'm doing at the moment and would prefer using a modified version of it, so long as it's not a silly idea to do so.

Below is the original program I was using and the modified version I wish to use.

Original bulking routine (3 times per week):


Training day 1 (Sunday for me):

Flat barbell bench 3x8
Pullups 2x10
Overhead press 4x8
Squats 3x12
Barbell rows 3x10
Cable Flyes 3x12
Skull crushers 3x12
Curls 2x12
Cable crunches 4x12
Hanging leg raises 3x8
Plank 1x60 seconds hold

No cardio


Day 2 (Tuesday):

Pullups 3x10
Incline bench 4x10
Dumbbell rows 3x10
Leg press 3x12
Lateral dumbbell raises 4x10
Barbell shrugs 3x10
Preacher curls 3x12
Skull crushers 2x12
Cable crunches 4x12
Hanging leg raises 3x8
Plank 1x60 seconds hold

No cardio


Day 3 (Thursday):

Squats 3x8
Dumbbell bench 3x12
Romanian deadlift 2x10
Bulgarian split squats 3x12
Leg curls 2x12
Calf raises 4x12
Reverse pec dec 4x12
Dumbbell bicep curls 2x12
Close grip benchpress 2x12
Cable crunches 4x12
Hanging leg raises 3x8
Plank 1x60 seconds hold

No cardio


Proposed "altered" program:


Training day 1 (Sunday for me):

dumbbell Bench 3x8
pullups 3x10
overhead press 3x8
squats 3x8
barbell rows 3x10
cable flyes 3x12

20 mins cardio

Training day 2 (Tuesday):

pullups 3x10
dumbbell rows 3x10
dumbell lat raise 3x10
curls 3x12
Skull crushers 3x12
Ab workout (not sure which one yet, maybe cable crunches) 3x8

20 mins cardio


Training day 3 (Thursday):

Incline dumbbell bench 3x10
romanian dlift 2x10
bulgarian split squats 3x12
calve raise 3x12
pec dec 3x12
curls 3x12
Ab workout (not sure which one yet, maybe cable crunches) 3x8

20 mins cardio

1-2 additional days with 20 minutes of cardio (Cardio's not just for assisting me with my caloric deficit but to help me keep my sanity and destress from the workload I am currently dealing with)

[melDorado]

You can literally dump 85% of that Not even joking

[Millz12323]

Just follow a program written by someone more qualified instead of making one up.


Fierce 5
Vikings bare bones
Grey skull LP
Stronglifts
Etc...

There's lots of problems with your current split and your altered split.

[Farley1324]

Read the stickies and look around at reputable novice routines such as Fierce 5, 5/3/1 For Beginners, Starting Strength, All Pros, Greyskulls LP etc. Pick one and follow it. Check Nutrition Forum stickies. Track calories and carbs/fat/protein daily, as well as bodyweight. (www.myfitnesspal.com is popular for this)

Some starting points for performing the main lifts (click through related videos for other lifts from the same folks)

[Damnentia]

-Dump most of the crap exercises.

-Superset Squat with Press, and Bench with Pull-Ups.

[Domo230]

So it sounds like people are suggesting not using my suggested routine but one of the tried and tested ones instead. If that's so, I think I'll just go back to using Fierce 5 for the duration of the cut.

[Paulie_G]

So it sounds like people are suggesting not using my suggested routine but one of the tried and tested ones instead. If that's so, I think I'll just go back to using Fierce 5 for the duration of the cut.

Your proposed routine is complete overkill, especially if you are trying to cut time spent in the gym because of a busy schedule. You could try a compound program with some bodyweight exercises. Squat, bench, OHP, deadlifts, pull ups, and maybe dips. Full body 3x per week, in and out of the gym in an hour.