Hi, I'm a 5'4"
150 pound woman but I don't know my body fat percentage.
I joined a gym
about 3 months ago and I lost about 22 pounds. Unfortunately I've hit my
plateau.
I understand that
I have to change my workout a bit, but my workout plan is different and
very specific from a lot of people and I couldn't find a website that
could help me.
My workout schedule is everyday but Fridays..
(Classes are normally 55 minutes, with a stretch for 5 minutes)
Monday: 1 high impact cardio class, and 1 weight lifting class.
Tuesday: 1 high impact circuit training class, 1 low impact
cardio/weight training class
Wednesday: 1 high impact cardio class, 1 yoga/Pilates class
Thursday: 1 cardio ball class (works abs mostly), 1 high impact
cardio.. then at night I run for 3 miles
Friday: day
off
Saturday: 1 spin class, 1 weight lifting class, 1 high impact
cardio class
Sunday: 1 high impact cardio, 1 low impact cardio..
I'm 5'4 and weigh around 149..although I like what I see in the mirror,
my attitude is there is always room for improvement.
My goal weight is
130. I eat around 1200 calories a day. I stay away from red meats,
sodium, and cheese (doctors order).
I eat 3 main
meals a day, a snack only in between meals. After my workouts I consume
anywhere between 26-40 grams of protein. Before workouts I snack on a
granola bar. I eat fruits and raw veggies at least once a day.
I only eat light
wheat or rye bread and I'm a pretty good eater when it comes to
snacking.
I'm not sure what more I can do to break this plateau. If you could help
me based on my information that would be greatly appreciated.
I can definitely
advise you on how to proceed now that you've run into that plateau...
As you've likely heard, plateaus occur in training once you've gotten to the
point where your body has gotten used to the stresses that have placed upon
it.
This is usually do to repeated employment of the same techniques and
strategies over an excessively long period of time without any new stimulus
to shock it back into improvement mode. And yes you are exactly right that
you have to change up some things about your activity.
From reading over your info, I see that you have a very large volume of
activity over those six days throughout the week.
The thing that stands
out to me is that it is dominated by cardio classes, and most days combine 2
or even 3 different activities all of similar intensities.
Furthermore, doing virtually the same or similar activities 6 out of 7
days for 3 months has most certainly made it's stamp on the body to where
there's nothing for your body to figure out anymore. It's almost like your
activity is as natural as breathing at this point.
Also, I notice that you do have a decent amount of weight training sessions
in there, but you run into the same problem with strength training as you do
with cardio....
It's too much rooted in classes which are all the same intensity week in
and week out. So, the biggest thing you will need to change is to find a way
to do your cardio and weights on a more intense routine. Something on the
next level in difficulty for you, and something that you can easily
manipulate and adjust on your own.
This means getting on treadmills and ellipticals and going out
into the main gym areas with free weights and machines so that you can "
lock in " and organize yourself the way YOUR body needs.
You have to start to work at least some of the days of the week with
weights, rest intervals, reps, sets and exercise sequences different than
what the classes always keep consistent.
There's not as much altering of exercise variables in the classes which
is exactly what you need now if you are going to change up and get the rest
of that weight off that you want. You need freedom to be able to adjust
things and push yourself more specifically.
Please feel free to read about me and check out my experience and expertise
on my site so that i can better assist you with any further concerns you may
have in the future!
JasonSpencer.askthetrainer.com
I hope this was helpful to you and gives you the right train of thought
towards what's more necessary for you at this point in your training. Don't
hesitate to contact me for anything else I can help you with.
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