Cutting down to 1-2 exercises per muscle?

Alabaster said:

Male / 27 / Overweight but fairly strong, experienced lifting

I need cut down my workout, because my old routine was getting in the
way of my other activities--which led to my skipping days. I am a
professional musician and teacher, so practicing, running rehearsals,
and lesson planning have to take priority, and I can no longer spend 2-3
hours at the gym every day. I'd like to cut it down to an hour and
fifteen minutes (or 1:30) if possible.

Or you could move towards lifting 3x/week.

Quoted message said:

My main priority now is to lose weight--I am significantly overweight
and would like to lose as much as possible by my wedding (7 months from
now). I plan to spend at least 45 minutes of my workout on Cardio.

This leaves me about 30 minutes for lifting. In the past, I have always
done 3 different exercises per muscle/group (3 exercises, 3 sets each),
but this takes a lot of time, especially when the gym is crowded. Can I
cut this down to 1-2 exercises per muscle group?

Yes. But you can do even better by sticking to compound movements so that you
don't need to do an exercise to target each muscle group. For example, chinups
or pulldowns (supinated grip) will target biceps and lats.

Quoted message said:

Is this to little to have any effect at all?

No, it will definitely have some effect.

Quoted message said:

Keep in mind I'm in fat-loss mode right now,
not looking to bulk up--my goal for lifting is to maintain and tone
muscle, and hopefully to burn calories and boost my metabolism.

By the way, I work out 4-6 days per week, alternating between
biceps/back/legs and chest/shoulders/triceps. Cardio usually consists

Skip the biceps and triceps specific exercises. Your back, chest and shoulder
work should already give these muscles something to do.

Cheers,
--
Donovan Rebbechi
http://pegasus.rutgers.edu/~elflord/

"Alabaster" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Male / 27 / Overweight but fairly strong, experienced lifting

I need cut down my workout, because my old routine was getting in the
way of my other activities--which led to my skipping days. I am a
professional musician and teacher, so practicing, running rehearsals,
and lesson planning have to take priority, and I can no longer spend
2-3 hours at the gym every day. I'd like to cut it down to an hour
and fifteen minutes (or 1:30) if possible.

My main priority now is to lose weight--I am significantly overweight
and would like to lose as much as possible by my wedding (7 months
from now). I plan to spend at least 45 minutes of my workout on
Cardio.

This leaves me about 30 minutes for lifting. In the past, I have
always done 3 different exercises per muscle/group (3 exercises, 3
sets each), but this takes a lot of time, especially when the gym is
crowded. Can I cut this down to 1-2 exercises per muscle group? Is
this to little to have any effect at all? Keep in mind I'm in
fat-loss mode right now, not looking to bulk up--my goal for lifting
is to maintain and tone muscle, and hopefully to burn calories and
boost my metabolism.

By the way, I work out 4-6 days per week, alternating between
biceps/back/legs and chest/shoulders/triceps. Cardio usually consists
of 30 minutes on an eliptical and then (later) another 15 minute
cooldown on the eliptical (or treadmill, bike, whatever).

Any tips would be appreciated... If you have a suggestion for a
completely different (short) workout that focuses on weight loss and
muscle maintenance, that would be welcome as well.

Best use of time is compound exercises like the deadlift. Squat also,
pullups and/or bench or overhead press. If you're doing at reducing 9
sets per workout to 3-6 sets per workout, you'll do well with a very
simple program such as pressing every day and deadlifting or squatting
every other day, or alternate days of DL/SQ and BP. If you want to keep
it very simple, clean and press for 20 minutes 3x/week, getting in as
many heavy singles as you can without losing form - can't get much
simpler than that.

-S-
http://www.kbnj.com

"Alabaster" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Male / 27 / Overweight but fairly strong, experienced lifting

I need cut down my workout, because my old routine was getting in the way of
my other activities--which led to my skipping days. I am a professional
musician and teacher, so practicing, running rehearsals, and lesson planning
have to take priority, and I can no longer spend 2-3 hours at the gym every
day. I'd like to cut it down to an hour and fifteen minutes (or 1:30) if
possible.

My main priority now is to lose weight--I am significantly overweight and
would like to lose as much as possible by my wedding (7 months from now). I
plan to spend at least 45 minutes of my workout on Cardio.

This leaves me about 30 minutes for lifting. In the past, I have always done
3 different exercises per muscle/group (3 exercises, 3 sets each), but this
takes a lot of time, especially when the gym is crowded. Can I cut this down
to 1-2 exercises per muscle group? Is this to little to have any effect at
all? Keep in mind I'm in fat-loss mode right now, not looking to bulk up--my
goal for lifting is to maintain and tone muscle, and hopefully to burn
calories and boost my metabolism.

By the way, I work out 4-6 days per week, alternating between biceps/back/legs
and chest/shoulders/triceps. Cardio usually consists of 30 minutes on an
eliptical and then (later) another 15 minute cooldown on the eliptical (or
treadmill, bike, whatever).

Any tips would be appreciated... If you have a suggestion for a completely
different (short) workout that focuses on weight loss and muscle maintenance,
that would be welcome as well.

Thanks,
chris.

Switch to a 4 Day Split Workout (4 on, 1 off) like this:
http://www.exrx.net/Workouts/Workout4PPTS.html

You will shorten the amount of time you spend lifting and have more time for
cardio.
You can continue to do 3 different exercises per muscle/group and still finish
your workout in 1:30.
Do 40 minutes of cardio with a 5 minute cooldown rather than 15.