Help to develop routine for weight loss

[Redboss351]

Hi All,

Not asking "how can i lose fat"? It's more wanting to understand the best approach in regards to Exercise/workout plans and possibly supplements.

Bit of background, I am 6'1 - 230lbs and most of my unwanted weight builds up on my stomach, what some call beer belly, except i dont drink beer, so i know this has come from soda drinks and poor food choices over the years. My goal is to drop to about 200lbs and then look at building some muscle/strength. My daily lifestyle Mon-Fri is an office job where my weekends are much more active. I have started at the gym for 2 weeks now Mon-Fri 7pm and doing cardio (bike/running/cross) only. Motivating myself to begin working out was first step and for 2 weeks now i have achieved that. What i would hope to learn, is what should i be focusing on my sessions Mon-Fri at gym?

Are there recommended workout plans mixing up weights/cardio, or should i be smashing cardio for a while longer?
Is supplements worth looking into at this stage or am i best to look once i drop some weight/fat and move more towards weights?

I am aware of caloric intake etc being a large contribution to weight loss and have adjusted my food intake portion and selection, so my question is more around develpoing an excerise/workout plan to help achieve best results in conjunction with my diet.

Cheers all,

[SuffolkPunch]

The idea of resistance training to support fat loss is to prevent your body burning muscle as energy instead of fat.

If that's all you care about and don't have goals to increase muscle mass, a wide range of resistance training approaches could work. You might only have to do it twice a week maybe.

If you want to do a little more than maintain the muscle you have, look at one of the novice routines in the Workout Programs forum sticky threads like Fierce 5.

Just to clarify: calorie balance is the ONLY reason you lose weight, other factors are peripheral to that. You don't even have to do cardio - although it obviously has health benefits and may help with appetite suppression making it easier to sustain the calorie deficit. But actually, the increase in calorie burn is smaller than most people think.

Supplements are barely worth even mentioning TBH. Protein powder can be useful for meeting your daily protein target. Vit D if you don't get regular sun exposure. EPA/DHA if you don't eat oily fish. Creatine if you want a tiny boost to muscle gain goals.

[VySingh]

I am aware of caloric intake etc being a large contribution to weight loss

I wouldn't say contribution because it's pretty much the whole thing. Make sure that's your first priority because if you don't get that right you'll be wasting your time

[Redboss351]

The idea of resistance training to support fat loss is to prevent your body burning muscle as energy instead of fat.

If that's all you care about and don't have goals to increase muscle mass, a wide range of resistance training approaches could work. You might only have to do it twice a week maybe.

If you want to do a little more than maintain the muscle you have, look at one of the novice routines in the Workout Programs forum sticky threads like Fierce 5.

Just to clarify: calorie balance is the ONLY reason you lose weight, other factors are peripheral to that. You don't even have to do cardio - although it obviously has health benefits and may help with appetite suppression making it easier to sustain the calorie deficit. But actually, the increase in calorie burn is smaller than most people think.

Supplements are barely worth even mentioning TBH. Protein powder can be useful for meeting your daily protein target. Vit D if you don't get regular sun exposure. EPA/DHA if you don't eat oily fish. Creatine if you want a tiny boost to muscle gain goals.

Cheers, very helpful advice!

[Redboss351]

I wouldn't say contribution because it's pretty much the whole thing. Make sure that's your first priority because if you don't get that right you'll be wasting your time

Yep 100%, certainly the hardest thing for me to do haha, but yes have made some big changes here, so will hopefully notice results.