Can 3 days in the gym be good enough?

[inthepottershands]

@luin31 3 days/week is good, especially if ur still in a beginner phase. i'd do upper, lower and full body, but if upper body isn't the focus then what u have in mind sounds nice too.

in about 4-6 months of consistent lifting and progressing, u would benefit from increasing the amount of training up to 4 days/week but what matters the most is how hard u train, how many sets per muscle/week and how well u can recover.

i'm 5'0 too and feeling okay at 121lbs right now, almost a year into lifting

 

[luin31]

@inthepottershands I wouldn’t say I’m in a beginner phase really. I went to the gym on and off for years but was never consistent for more than a few months. And then last year I got a personal trainer and lifted for 4 months and tracked macros. I’d say I’m definitely more intermediate. I think if I start with 3 I can always see how I feel each week and go 4 days sometimes if I’m really feeling it.

 

[inthepottershands]

@luin31 what i mostly mean by beginner phase is the amount of muscle and strength u gained, as whether u have any newbie gains left, or not. because the longer u train, the harder it is to continue progressing. so when newbie gains phase is over it is important to optimize both training and diet as best as possible to continue progressing, so it would be the time to go from 3 sessions to 4, or from 4 to 5, start looking into optimal carb intake, starting using aiding supplements, tweaking and adjusting the exercises, training until true failure, etc.

personally in this year of lifting i been very consistent, and i think i just recently finished my newbie gains phase. now it's pretty boring as i can't increase loads as often as i did before

 

[luin31]

@inthepottershands I think there are still some newbie gains that could be made potentially but I’m not quite sure how much…also, I know if I eat at maintenance I would essentially be recomping which I know can take a long time so I’m considering cutting first and then building from there..

 

[inthepottershands]

@luin31 u can cut and train just as hard as u would do during maintenance, all at the same time. it will suck at times since u won't have as much energy but u will still make progress if u get enough protein and push hard. if possible, add more cardio vs lowering calories further, lifting sessions will expand some energy too so it will aid with weight loss.

i'd recommend losing any excess weight now vs later, because it appears that after getting buff, the appetite skyrockets and cutting becomes way harder (personal experience, and others reported that happening also). i wouldn't try to achieve beach body with this cut but rather just bring it down to comfortable level and then focus purely on building muscle (while eating around maintenance or tiny surplus) and do smaller cut again in 6 or so months to reveal that.

building wider back, shoulders and bigger glutes is essentially what makes ur waist appear smaller and it really helps. also avoid oblique exercises such as twists as it can give wider waist look. but bellies are normal and everyone, except for genetic freaks, has them

 

[rotlex]

@luin31 I do full body workouts that average about 30-45 minutes 3x a week and make sure I get my steps in everyday. I definitely feel like that’s enough.

 

[luin31]

@rotlex What’s your workout split? When I was doing a 5 day split I was in the gym for close to 2 hours..this is including getting on the treadmill for maybe 30 minutes after lifting so I could get some steps in since I work from home

 

[rotlex]

@luin31 I pretty much do the strong lifts 5x5 however I am now doing 8x4. A/B workout days with one day being squat, bench press, OH press and one day being squat, bent over row, and deadlift. I do maybe two additional accessory lifts as well. It hits all the major compound exercises without being in the gym 2+ hours.

 

[luin31]

@rotlex What are the strong lifts? Are those the compound movements? Are they full body days? This sounds very appealing to me

 

[rotlex]

@luin31 It’s the name of the workout plan. If you Google strong lifts 5x5 you’ll find all you need to know! There’s also a subreddit for it I believe. And yes, this is a full-body workout. You can add a few accessory lifts if you would like (bicep curls, triceps, calves) but it is not really necessary and up to the individual.

 

[magsinfaith]

@luin31 If you say you carry more fat in your mid section, I’d check your estrogen levels. I too was working out and never able to lose that mid section fat. Turns out had estrogen dominance. I had to rethink my whole diet even thought I was eating very healthy I guess I wasn’t the correct vegetable to balance estrogen and progesterone.

 

[perviasrectas]

@luin31 I workout 3 times a week. I do a push/pull/legs split. I am more focused on growing my upper body. I have dropped 9 pounds in 3 months. I’ve also cleaned up my eating and I get 7,000-9,000 steps at least 5 days a week. I follow Dana Lynn Bailey and her workouts.

 

[luin31]

@perviasrectas Do you track what you eat? Or do you just eat clean and balanced?

 

[perviasrectas]

@luin31 I mostly track my calories and protein. I try to get at least 125g of protein everyday and I stay around 1500-1600 calories. I weigh most of my food with my scale and I use the Lose It app.

 

[luin31]

@perviasrectas Do you eat the same amount on days you don’t work out?

 

[perviasrectas]

@luin31 On my non workout days I tend to eat closer to the 1500 calories.

 

[perviasrectas]

@luin31 I also have some carbs before I workout and protein after I workout.

 

[sweetkf]

@luin31 I had great success with 3 days. I’m doing 4x now just to amp up my progress and it’s working great. I definitely get burnt out otherwise.

 

[scarletginn2013]

@sweetkf Seconding this. Was working out 3x a week and was doing well, but upped to 4x/week these past 2 months and my results have increased greatly based on how clothes are fitting/how I feel. Balance of 2x Pilates, 1 HIIT full body day, 1 anything I want (either another strength day or cardio)

 

[luin31]

@sweetkf What was your split like?