Help a newbie?: Exercise schedule and refueling

[Grandejete]

Hey ya'll. 34 year old returning dancer here. Not a pro and never will be, but I do intend to return to competing. Recently lost the 50lbs I gained "working out" in my computer chair for 15 years and now that I've reached my weight goal I'm re-focusing on gaining/regaining more muscle mass and increasing flexibility and endurance to suck less/improve as an athlete. I am fortunate to have a VERY flexible work schedule and am able to exercise about 25 hours a week (15 in the studio, 10 in the gym, 2-6 hours a day---2-4 of those are always dance class/practice---6 days a week). Currently I'm doing "strength training" (newbie lifting, pilates, barre, resistance bands, **** tons of squats, etc.) M-W-F, and then cardio and flexibility (jogging, jumping jacks, yoga, "cardio dance" fitness classes at the gym, etc Th-Sat-Sun, with a full rather than "active" rest day on Tuesday. And yes, I know it should take time to see results, that I will need to exceed calories burned to gain muscle, and that I should expect to see some increase in body fat along with muscle gain, because bodies. And I've never been so aware as I am now that I'm no longer a 16 year old dancer/spry young thing. My body just doesn't seem to respond to exercise like it used to. And I am cool with that, but do want to see whatever results I'm now capable of attaining.

My questions are these:

Is this an effective plan/schedule, or am I totally fooling myself and underdoing/overdoing it?

And do I need to be eating to fuel/aid recovery throughout the 2-6 hours or is it fine to just eat before and after going to the gym and studio?

I really have no idea what I'm doing; I've just tried to piece together info from articles on the web, but very few seem to talk about people who train more than a few hours a week. And my teachers are not useful. They basically encourage whatever as long as I'm exercising.

[lucia316]

If that's how you want to train, then it's fine. Hypertrophy is driven by caloric surplus to TDEE while meeting macros, weight lifting in a manner that has progressive volume and getting rest. All the rest is up to you and your other goals. You already understand that you'll need to maintain a surplus to TDEE.

As to eating and nutrients. Timing isn't relevant to the vast majority of people. Meet you macro and caloric goals daily before bed and you'll be fine. Eat whenever is convenient to your schedule.

Your strength training program should be a basic program to follow. Pick something like a simple 5x5 or Starting Strength. The rest of the stuff is up to you, but follow that program from a weight training perspective.