Evaluate My Routine for Fat Loss and Getting Fit? (3-Day Full Body Circuits)

Bigger Stronger Leaner
1

Hey everyone. So I’m about 3 months into working out pretty hard. I’m now 44 and gotten pretty overweight in the last 6 years at 320lbs.I was 60 pounds lighter then. Ive always been a weightlifter throughout my whole life though for just general fitness and am generally a bigger guy. IF I weight 260 that’s a pretty ideal weight for me actually.

Now, My diet and fitness routine have been pretty good. Ive been seeing some significant changes in my body too. My weight loss stayed pretty stagnant until about 3 weeks ago however Ive started shedding pounds now too. Ive lost 5lb and .5 inch in the belly in the last 2.5 weeks.

I do a lot of meal prep so my food quality is pretty good and lean. Ive lowered carbs but not cut them out, and ive raised my protein intake. I track my food daily and am pretty consistent at coming in at around 2100-2200 calories per day. It’s a pretty balanced diet for nutrients and consists of mostly Whole Foods with minimal ingredients.

I started out slow with the workouts and built up. I was doing more cardio and have been lessening the cardio for more lifting time especially because I really like circuits and those give me a cardio-like workout anyway. I like a routine where I can use minimal equipment or Bodyweight and just kill it non-stop for 30-40 minutes.

I was doing a bro-split kinda thing fora couple months but have recently switched to a M,W,F full body circuit routine and Ill try to go into the gym one of those off days and a weekend day to get some cardio only in.

My current routine is these 3 full body workouts:

Monday -
(Marcus Martinez Body Block) kettlebell
Two Hand Clean to Squat - 10 reps
Hindu Push-up - 10 reps
Leg Driver - 10 reps
Sprawl to Push-up - 5-10 reps
Around the body - 10 reps each direction
Twisting Hips - 20 reps
(I do as many rounds of this as possible for 30 min’s)

Tuesday
Light Cardio/recovery

Wednesday
(Another Marcus Martinez workout)
Push-up (to T but I cant do the T yet) -10 reps
Squat Pulse - 15 reps
1/2 Kneeling Press - 10 reps
Bear Squat - 10 reps
Dumbbell Hammer Curl - 15 reps
Reverse Grip Push-up (I did a dumbbell deadlift instead cuz this hurts my wrists) - 10 reps
(4 rounds)
100 rep Kettlebell finisher from here:

Friday
This is a modified circuit I really liked that a trainer of mine showed me a couple years ago: modified based on the t-nation article here:

Goblet Squat
Dumbbell Bench
DUmbbell Stiff Leg Deadlift
Curl to Military Press
Last Pullback
(I do the elimination method starting at 5 reps each and att a rep each round cutting out an exercise if I cant complete the reps until I’m down to one. DId 5 rounds yesterday)

Weekend
Light cardio one day if not too sore. Or a nice walk in my neighborhood which has a lot of steep hills.

SO there you go, is this a ridiculous routine? AM I crazy or on the right track? I mostly just want to shred fat and get more cut. Ive got a decent amount of Mass, I dont need to get bigger, just solidify and trim up what Ive already got.

Thanks for any help and sorry for the long post. I’m feeling pretty good but just want to make sure I stay that way and that I’m on the right track since Im starting to get more complex with my workouts.

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Awesome! Keep it going and only adjust if you’re stalling for a long time (stalling for a week or two isn’t a huge deal). I wouldn’t change what’s clearly working.

Right track since you’re making progress. I imagine you’re doing fine recovering between workouts/aren’t beating up your joints? If so keep it up!

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Cool thanks. Funny thing, the Friday workout I listed, the modified circuit based on the T-Nation article. I did that Wednesday this week instead and I have to say I might be too sore for my Friday circuit tonight. At least in the chest and shoulders. Might just bail on the full body and try to hit some back/tri/abdominal areas tonight on their own.

I guess as I get more used to it will I recover faster? Or is it an age thing where I might need more than 48 hours to recover? I’m 44 now. It’s all new to me as all my life Ive always done a bro-split type of thing so I always had around 3 days recovery for each body part before Id hit it again.

I want to keep it intense and make good progress but worry I dont know my own limits for whether its a bit of soreness or fatigue from just getting in shape and working too hard or overtraining.

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I think that unless you suffer a legit cardiac event or mechanical injury, you’re probably doing OK. You might lose a day or two to recovery if you go too far, but at least then you’ve found your limit.

1 Like
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Since your goal is to lose fat, don’t forget low-intensity work has its place, whether that’s deliberately taking walks every day or just moving around more.

Overtraining is nearly impossible.

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Thanks guys. Yeah I guess at my level its probly impossible to overtrain. Been watching too many Athlean videos, lol

yeah Ive been trying to get walks in on the weekends now as well as steady treadmill or elliptical in between my full body hardcore days.