- Go heavy. lifting heavy reminds your body to retain it's muscle. light/volume workouts when cutting aren't ideal.
- Hitting a muscle 72 times (72 reps) a week will make it grow. It takes 30% of that to maintain the muscle you have.
- Going heavy with 5x5 addresses the two previous points. I typically do 2 light sets to warm up before going into the heavy 5x5.
- Repeat the same lifts, with the same weights, in the same order if possible. This will allow you to see if you're losing or maintaining your strength.
- Calculate (220 - your age) * 0.6 and (220 - your age) * 0.7. That's your fat burning heart rate. 30min in that range should boost your metabolism for 48hrs.
- HIIT burns calories you've eaten today. LISS (what i described above) burns what you already have stored.
- Cardio is better after lifting, but I wont do it, if it's not first.
- I use the stairmaster for all of my cardio. It is considered one of the best forms of cardio in terms of fuctional and effectiveness.
- Squats
- Leg Press
- Calves (since the leg press can be used to this, i dont have to go anywhere)
- Leg Extension
- Leg Curl
- Hip Thrusts (if time permits)
- Downward cable flies (target the outer and lower chest)
- Pull ups (since the cable machines already have pull up bars. super set flies with pull ups to save time, if you can)
- Deadlifts (once per week. usually on Friday)
- Inclined dumbbell press (i warm up with 30lbs, 50lbs, then 70lbs is my heavy)
- Seated cable rows
- Close grip dumbbell press or regular flat bench (I swap these depending on whats available. I know my weight for each so I maintain it)
- Bent over barbell rows (targets upper back and traps)
- Standing barbell shoulder press
- Standing EZ bar curls (reverse grip. target 12-15 reps instead of 5. your wrist is really weak on this exercise)
- Tricep pulldown or pushdown (pick what you like and stick with it. i superset these with the EZ bar curls to save time)
- Cable Upright Rows (targets rear delts and traps. you can do curls with the ropes as a superset if you want some extra credit)
- Curls or standing EZ bar curls with normal grip (i prefer the EZ bar and lifting one hand at a time takes longer)
- Cable One Arm Tricep Extension (i included a link because it's an absurdly long name. I superset these with curls to save time. also be careful of your wrist in this position)
I give myself 30min of cardio and 60min of lifting. The first time I did these, I probably spent more time trying to figure out the right weight, but once I knew my numbers, I just maintained them. some of the exercises are done in this order to optimize travel time and supersets. whatever your routine is, keep thinking about how to make it faster. that way you're either out of the gym sooner or you can fit more lifts into your workout.