Progress review, need opinions

[notsobigjim]

Hi guys.

I've been training for around 2-3 years and feel its time to review my workout and diet and would love your feedback if you have a sec.

Currently I'm 6", weigh around 15 stone and guess my body fat levels to be around 17-18% (I'll upload some pics when I'm home from work).

Ideally I'd like to lose more BF but seem to always struggle cutting. I train at home (have a fairly decent gym in the garage) so am eager to get peoples opinions. I swap my workouts around a bit every 3 months.

Heres my workout:

Monday - back and chest :
4 x 8 flat bench supersetted with 4 x 8 wide grip lat pull downs
4 x 8 incline bench supersetted with 4 x 8 narrow grib lat pull downs
4 x 8 decline bench supersetted with 3 x 6 deadlifts

Wednesday - Shoudler and Bi's
4 x 8 hang clean and press superset with 4 x 8 lateral raises
4 x 8 push presses supersetted with 4 x 8 bent over flies
4 x 8 standing barbel curl
4 x 8 dumbel curls supersettd with 4 x 12 concentration curls

Friday - Legs and Tri's
4 x 8 squats
4 x 12 walking lunges
4 x 15 calf raises
4 x 8 bar pull downs
4 x 8 rope pull downs
4 x 8 overhead pull overs

I alway do cardio 4 days a week, in my lunch. Generally this consists of either cosgrovian complexes or tabata sprints.

Diet wise its normally around the following

Breakfast: 6 eggs (1 yolk 5 whites) + slice of wholemeal toast
Mid morning: MP whey isolate
Lunch: 2 chicken breaks in a leafy salard
Mid afternoon: Beef biltong (like jerky) or another shake
Post workout shake: MP whey isolate
Evening: More chicken, veg and rice or potatos.

Can anyone see any improvements that can be made? I just feel like I'm not making as much progess as I should either gaining mass or losing body fat.

Thanks in advance!

[MiniHulk]

Firstly, it would be great to see some pics so get on them on here when you can.

If you are really struggling with losing bodyfat then James may be a long soon to offer advice
For now, keep a log of everything you eat if you get a chance and write down the calories and the rough macros of the meals if you can. It is a lot easier to tweak it then. I would cut the eggs down to 3 or 4 and get rid of the toast. Have some porridge if you are too hungry to settle with just the eggs. Add some more greens in the later meals, such as broccoli and asparagus.

Your workout seems good, but you could simplify it if you wanted and still get some good results. Deadlifts and squats raise test levels and burn the most fat overall because a lot more muscle is used for it so make sure they are heavy and don't get neglected. A veteran will show up soon and help some more

[notsobigjim]

Great, thanks for the reply, I'll keep waiting!

[SpiderDan]

Firstly, why superset everything?

Secondly, have you calculated what your intake actually is for calories and macros?

Thirdly, how is your gym performance, what are your lifts doing? are they up, down, remaining the same?

Fourthly, how are you feeling generally? hunger, sex drive, concentration?

[notsobigjim]

Hi Dan

Sorry I should have said,

1. I superset every other week (read somewhere supersetting helps burn more cals) on the non superset week its exactly the same without supersetting.

2. Roughly, hitting 180g of protein per day (bar maybe a lower non training day at the weekend). Calorie wise I'm not 100% I'd guess at around 2000? I'll start making a note.

3. Lifts are going well really, I'm up on my chest/back and arms weight wise.

4. Hunger wise, I'm ok, wary of eating too much, always have an eye on my body fat (feeling like im fighting a bit of a losing battle). Everything else is fine.

[MiniHulk]

If your calories are clean, you can do much more than 2000 calories and be safe... it's hard to pack on mass while losing weight, unless you do some kind of cyclical keto diet. Focus on gaining some size and then cut the fat after, that is the best way IMO.

Eat salmon, olive oil, chicken, potatoes and that kind of clean food and you will be safe to eat up to 3000 calories as long as you are lifting heavy. If you just want to tone, then drop that amount a bit. I would suggest sticking to a 5x5 routine if you are still relatively new to weight lifting until you hit a plateau.

[notsobigjim]

I think thats the question - weather I should cut or not. I think I should looking in the mirror but I'll upload some pics tomorrow. I wouldn't class myself as new to lifting, I've been lifting properly for around 2 years.

Do you think I should work each body part more than once per week? Should I keep up with the cardio also? or just still to weights and diet for a cut?

[MiniHulk]

I am lucky to get severe DOMS after I lift weights hard. I generally don't work the body part that still aches from the previous lifts, but I do try to train every day.

Deadlifts and squats will obviously need to be used a lot less than other moves because they are the most taxing. I don't think you will overtrain if you take the weekend off though, I never have.

[dope540]

i would have the flat/ incline bench and the deadlift non supersetted. i'm not a fan of supersetting the big lifts as going heavy forces your body to hold onto more muscle when cutting. more muscle= higher metabolic rate at rest. same goes for the squat and olympic lifts and their variations.

only time i super set oly lifts is when i go crossfit. the weight is a lot light and your form does go to poop after a few sets.

[SpiderDan]

Quote

Hi Dan

Sorry I should have said,

1. I superset every other week (read somewhere supersetting helps burn more cals) on the non superset week its exactly the same without supersetting.

I wouldnt bother with supersets (for the large exercises at least) the number of calories burnt whilst lifting is minimal. Use weights to maintain mass not burn calories. Theres nothing wrong with pairing antagonists (i.e. press/row combination) just make sure there is a rest between the exercises

Press
1 min rest
Row
1 min rest
press
1min rest
etc.

Quote

2. Roughly, hitting 180g of protein per day (bar maybe a lower non training day at the weekend). Calorie wise I'm not 100% I'd guess at around 2000? I'll start making a note.

You'll be surprised about how quickly calories add up, get on to fitday and plug some numbers in, see what it comes out as.

Quote

3. Lifts are going well really, I'm up on my chest/back and arms weight wise.

Thats great and one of the most important things, performance should not drop off with dieting

Quote

4. Hunger wise, I'm ok, wary of eating too much, always have an eye on my body fat (feeling like im fighting a bit of a losing battle). Everything else is fine.

Be mindful of your mental state, its very easy to convince yourself things are okay when they arent (trust me I know) if you feel good then things are generally alright.


One thing you havent done is quantify how much progress you've made, has your waist measurement been dropping? has scale weight gone down?