Confused Neophyte

[Snarkle]

I'm taking a weight training class at my university for an hour of credit. I'm new to lifting, but my instructor kind of wants us to do our own thing. I really wanted to do Rippetoe's 3x5, but our instructor requires that we lift four consecutive days a week, monday through thursday.

I've been looking in to other routines, but I'm new to this and it's an information overload. I was wondering if there is some bullshit exercise I could to to satisfy my instructor on the off days so I can still do 3x5? If not, what other routine could be reccomended considering my situation?

Thanks in advance

 

[Sculelos]

Hmmm, how long do you have to lift each day?

 

[s8nlilhlpr2]

Why not take the 3x5 by 4 days? Workout A, Workout B, Workout A, Workout B, etc....you might stall a little sooner, but should make adequate progress. If not, just throw in a useless "curl" day like most of the guys in my gym. Barbell curls followed by ez bar curls, hammer curls, cable curls, etc....

 

[beerdrinker]

I agree with s8nlilhlpr2. Sounds like a summer session so it's probably not too long. You can pack in a lot of progress pretty quickly this way.

[edit] I don't think I'd be squatting 4 days in a row though. I would only do squats on A days or whatever day you aren't doing deads. Maybe do some core work on B days in place of the squats. I don't necessarily have a problem with squatting 4 days a week, it's just 4 days in a row that will kill you.

 

[Snarkle]

I lift for an hour each day.

I thought about alternating a and b day's but Rippetoe makes a big deal about doing it on non consecutive days.

I like the curl idea. I'll do Rippetoe m/w/f and t/r i'll do some curls with rediculously light weight for just for show.

 

[fortunatesun]

Have you discussed this with the instructor? He might be able to give you an idea of what he considers adequate work in addition to 3x5.
If it were me, I'd do high rep work like the MMA guys do to improve my conditioning. This type of work can also be included in the category of GPP or General Physical Preparedness. The link explains the concept and gives some popular examples. Really, you're only limited by your imagination if you have some specific goal in mind. Otherwise, it will improve your overall physical abilities which will in turn speed your progress in strength training.

 

[Snarkle]

Have you discussed this with the instructor? He might be able to give you an idea of what he considers adequate work in addition to 3x5.
If it were me, I'd do high rep work like the MMA guys do to improve my conditioning. This type of work can also be included in the category of GPP or General Physical Preparedness. The link explains the concept and gives some popular examples. Really, you're only limited by your imagination if you have some specific goal in mind. Otherwise, it will improve your overall physical abilities which will in turn speed your progress in strength training.

Today was the first day the class met and all he did was pass out a syllabus and tell us how to calculate out max heart rate and a few other super basic things. Tomorrow we jump right into lifting. I do plan on discussing this issue with him.

As far as my goals, I just want to cut, alot. I'm obese and want to get serious about losing all this excess body fat. I'm 5' 10", 360 pounds. I'm using BFFM as my guide. I've worked out my caloric needs and am doing the six meals a day and the whole mental thing and everything. I'm cooking tomorrow's meals as I type this. I'm quite literally doing this "by the book"

 

[fortunatesun]

As far as my goals, I just want to cut, alot. I'm obese and want to get serious about losing all this excess body fat.

That's why I do them. My diet is good but I handily acummulate excess weight if I don't get extra work in. The key with complexes is to use a weight you can easily handle - even if it's only 0 on the bar- and keep your tempo up. You'll get better very soon. Use your extra time to get your curls and so forth in as has been suggested or maybe, since your a novice, to improve your knowledge base by familiarizing yourself with other lifts and styles such as Olympic or powerlifting. It's fun just to try different stuff out.

 

[s8nlilhlpr2]

As far as my goals, I just want to cut, alot. I'm obese and want to get serious about losing all this excess body fat. I'm 5' 10", 360 pounds. I'm using BFFM as my guide. I've worked out my caloric needs and am doing the six meals a day and the whole mental thing and everything. I'm cooking tomorrow's meals as I type this. I'm quite literally doing this "by the book"

AHHH ok I understand a little better now. I'll probably get flamed for this, but the 3x5 is probably not the best bet for weightloss. its great for building up muscle and lifts quickly, but I don't think you will burn as many calories as you could on it.

I would use the exact same lifts (except only squatting twice a week as suggested) but change the rep scheme a bit. Perhaps something like this:

(M/W) Workout A Low Rep, high weight progressing each week by adding weight
(Tue/Thur) Workout B High rep, low weight, aiming to add reps each week.

Workout A would be similar to the 3x5, where you are trying to make progress by adding weight to the bar each session. B, would be for fat loss and cardio benefits probably 4x8-10 reps with very little break. After workout B, add in as much cardio as you can stand.

Depending on how your joints hold up, you may be fine with the regular 3x5, I think higher reps would help you burn more calories though and really get the blood pumping. Remember that DIET is key for losing weight though, and a fad atkins/southbeach/etc diet is not the key. You pretty much need to change your eating style completely, and keep it that way. A cheat meal is fine every now and then, but your old diet got you where you are today, don't go back!

 

[Snarkle]

They way I read BFFM, is that I should lift to keep muscle, and do cardio for calories, thats why I chose 3x5, because I thought it would keep me from losing muscle, and maybe even gain some since I'm both a newb and really fat.

As far as cardio goes, I did 20 minutes on a recumbent bike yesterday and it was brutal. I'm more out of shape than I thought. I'm going to try for 25 tonight after my fourth meal. I was hoping to work up to an hour a day, and eventually an hour twice a day.

 

[s8nlilhlpr2]

They way I read BFFM, is that I should lift to keep muscle, and do cardio for calories, thats why I chose 3x5, because I thought it would keep me from losing muscle, and maybe even gain some since I'm both a newb and really fat.

As far as cardio goes, I did 20 minutes on a recumbent bike yesterday and it was brutal. I'm more out of shape than I thought. I'm going to try for 25 tonight after my fourth meal. I was hoping to work up to an hour a day, and eventually an hour twice a day.

sounds like you have a good plan then, get to work and keep at it!

 

[perp69]

They way I read BFFM, is that I should lift to keep muscle, and do cardio for calories, thats why I chose 3x5, because I thought it would keep me from losing muscle, and maybe even gain some since I'm both a newb and really fat.

As far as cardio goes, I did 20 minutes on a recumbent bike yesterday and it was brutal. I'm more out of shape than I thought. I'm going to try for 25 tonight after my fourth meal. I was hoping to work up to an hour a day, and eventually an hour twice a day.

Sounds like to me you got a good idea what you are doing. Probably better than most. If your weight lifting class includes cardio also then you can lift one day and cardio the next although it will take a bit to work up to 1 hr on cardio but even low intensity like fast walking on tread will help and you may be able to do that longer anyway. You are right the weight lifting will help you get stronger and build muscle which is always good. The cardio and don't forget diet too is for loosing body fat. I would recommend low carb on the diet part.

Perp

 

[poysyn]

AHHH ok I understand a little better now. I'll probably get flamed for this, but the 3x5 is probably not the best bet for weightloss. its great for building up muscle and lifts quickly, but I don't think you will burn as many calories as you could on it.

I would use the exact same lifts (except only squatting twice a week as suggested) but change the rep scheme a bit. Perhaps something like this:

(M/W) Workout A Low Rep, high weight progressing each week by adding weight
(Tue/Thur) Workout B High rep, low weight, aiming to add reps each week.

Workout A would be similar to the 3x5, where you are trying to make progress by adding weight to the bar each session. B, would be for fat loss and cardio benefits probably 4x8-10 reps with very little break. After workout B, add in as much cardio as you can stand.

Depending on how your joints hold up, you may be fine with the regular 3x5, I think higher reps would help you burn more calories though and really get the blood pumping. Remember that DIET is key for losing weight though, and a fad atkins/southbeach/etc diet is not the key. You pretty much need to change your eating style completely, and keep it that way. A cheat meal is fine every now and then, but your old diet got you where you are today, don't go back!

3x5/5x5 = best for losing fat, imo. if he shapes up his diet (and by shape up I don't mean starve yourself, or you will find yourself at a stall point extremely fast), keeps lifting heavy, and incorporates some light walking he will see some amazing results in a few months.

At your size, shoot for 1.5-2lbs of weight loss per week in order to preserve as much muscle as possible