Routine Critique/Advise Please

[Swampcrawler]

Ok, I've held off on asking for advise thus far, preferring to do my own research, but Id like you guys to look over this. I'm going to dump as much info as i can here, trying not to leave anything out. I've spent the last 7 months trying to get into the gym life, maybe the last 4 months putting serious effort in. I wanted to get my strength to a level that wasn't absolutely humiliating before focusing on the weight loss that I desperately need. I'm at that point now. so:

I'm 29 years old, 6'6, currently 380ish lbs. For the last 4 months or so, focusing on gaining strength, I've been eating 5500 cal/day, and following this routine:

Monday:
Bench 5x5
OH Press 4x8
Incline DB Press 4x8
Lateral Raise 3x10
Skull Crushers 3x10
Cable flyes 4x10
Cable Tri pressdowns 3x10

Tuesday:
Deadlift 4x4
Barbell Row 5x5
DB Curls 3x10
DB Rows 4x8
Lat Pulldown 4x10
Hammer Curls 3x10
Barbell Shrugs 3x10
Seated Row 4x10
Cable Shrug 3x10

Wednesday:
Squat 5x5
Leg Press 4x12
Leg Curl 4x12
Leg Ext 4x12
Calf Raise 7x15

Thursday:
Incline Bench 4x12
Bent Raises 4x12
Seated DB triceps Ext 3x12
DB flat bench 4x12
Rope Triceps Pressdown 3x15
Seated DB shoulder press 4x12
Cable Flyes 4x12

Friday:
Reverse grip barbell rows 4x12
DB shrugs 3x15
DB curls 3x12
T Bar Rows 4x15
Preacher Curls 3x15
Lat Pulldowns 4x15
Cable shrugs 4x15

Saturday:
Front Squat 4x12
Romanian DL 4x12
Close foot leg press 4x20
leg curls 4x15
leg ext 4x20
seated calf raises 7x20


I'm planning to keep the same workout routine and drop my intake to 3000 cal/day, high protein, moderate fat and low carb (I just straight up don't like eating carbs... I like meat and veggies.)


Do you guys think that will be pushing it too hard on limited calories or just about right? It is quite a bit of time in the gym.... i know there is always room for tweaks here and there but I'm just wondering if I'm even in the right vein here.

[air2fakie]

I'd guess it may be double the volume you need, but don't know much about you so do what you feel gets you the best results.

[Swampcrawler]

I'd guess it may be double the volume you need, but don't know much about you so do what you feel gets you the best results.

thanks for the input.... i kind of feel the like this may be a bit much. Im considering going back to a 3 day/week full body split, but im not sure.

[air2fakie]

thanks for the input.... i kind of feel the like this may be a bit much. Im considering going back to a 3 day/week full body split, but im not sure.

Even if you stick to 6 days, you might want to scratch about half the volume and adjust over time depending on how you respond/progress.

[faithbrah]

I'd guess it may be double the volume you need, but don't know much about you so do what you feel gets you the best results.

this. it's not very smart for someone who's already obese to bulk even further on double the volume they need. you could've made a ton of gains eating at maintenance, and maybe slightly less gains in a deficit while also losing fat very quickly, training full body three times a week. you can probably still make some progress when you start cutting now though

3000 calories from high protein, moderate fat and low carb means you'll be eating way more protein than you need, and it's not really wise to eat like 400-500 grams of protein per day. the calorie amount sounds fine for someone your size imo

[TolerantLactose]

If you're training for strength, that's way too much. If you do something like:

1 upper body push
1 upper body pull
Squat/deadlift (alternate)

3-5 sets each, 3-4 times/week, you can get in and out in 45 minutes.

[xsquid99]

Ok, so I have to ask. You're already obese, why on gods green earth have you been eating 5500 calories a day? You should be eating half of that, you have plenty enough fat on you to fuel gains and you don't need to eat in a massive calorie surplus to gain strength. When I started my weight loss journey I was in nearly a 1000 calorie a day deficit for 7 months, dropped 60 lbs and still saw consistent gains in the weight room the entire time.

Your volume is way too high, in order to get through a session like that without burnout you have to drop the weight low and lower the RPE, which defeats a lot of the purpose and almost results in more of a cardio workout than a strength training workout. I find that the optimal number of exercises per session is usually in the 4-6 range, and aiming for roughly 12-20 sets per muscle group PER WEEK.

[Tommy W.]

Why are you not trying to lose fat instead?
You need to ditch your training program and use a good beginners program like Fierce 5 or something. You need a program that you can see strength results coupled with a calorie deficit to lose fat.

[Swampcrawler]

Thanks for all the replies guys. As far as why i wanted to eat like a walrus and go for gains first... pure ego. Hate being the giant ass human lifting BS weight. And yes, im aware of how stupid that sounds.

Ill absolutely work on switching up my routine to something more appropriate... that's the advice i was looking for. I was so worried about not putting in enough effort, i apparently went overboard.

again, thanks!

[Tommy W.]

Thanks for all the replies guys. As far as why i wanted to eat like a walrus and go for gains first... pure ego. Hate being the giant ass human lifting BS weight. And yes, im aware of how stupid that sounds.

Ill absolutely work on switching up my routine to something more appropriate... that's the advice i was looking for. I was so worried about not putting in enough effort, i apparently went overboard.

again, thanks!

so you want to get even fatter?

[xsquid99]

Thanks for all the replies guys. As far as why i wanted to eat like a walrus and go for gains first... pure ego. Hate being the giant ass human lifting BS weight.

That was totally unnecessary though and not really how this works for those new to lifting or back in the gym after a long layoff. You would have easily put up bigger and bigger weight each week even while in a caloric deficit.

All of my current clients are lifting heaps more than they were when we started their training, while losing weight at the same time.