So earlier this year I was in the best running shape of my life, sitting at 240 lbs, I just broke my personal record for a 10k. This was May 5th. After than I started deadlifting and was able to lift 455 lbs near the end of May.

Fast forward to today, I have gained 20 lbs in the last 6.5 months! I have been sick for the last 3 weeks and apparently eating junk food and stopping exercising hasn't helped. I have also been playing a lot of video games honestly, and this is partly to blame.

But anyway, I need to come up with a liveable workout routine, so this is what I came up with, what do you think?



Also in additional to taking lean protein after the 2 weights days and amino acids after the HIIT days, is there a Weight Loss/ Metabolism suppliment that you recommend I should take?
This has gotten super popular HERE

I'd like to knock off 5 lbs before Christmas and then lose another 15 lbs by the end of March. I am going to train for a half marathon next year and slim down for my buddy's wedding. The bonus days are an idea I had. Instead of playing games all evening or watching TV, I could go to the gym and just pedal on the exercise bike to get some mild exercise. Replace sedentary with semi active.

Would love any thoughts you have on this.

eat less drink more water

Your post isn't really helpful. At all.

The first thing I would do is to ditch the leg presses and insert back squats, and more of them.  I would also ditch some of the other exercises for more barbell work, and more squats.

How about eat better, drink more water, and start riding a bike 50-100 miles a week?

Yeah eating better is part of the plan. So you think massive amounts of highish intensity constant cardio is the way to go? I can do ~16 miles on the recumbant bike in an hour with the resistance up pretty high. It's getting to be too cold/icy to ride the bike outside consistently.

Tag to post some shit later....

No I don't think long bouts of cardio is the way to go at all.
HIIT burns more fat.

I'm on my phone so this will be quick- in addition to fixing diet issues IMO most people would be best served by 3-4 lifting sessions a week based around compound movements- squats, deads, bench and press. These can be done pretty quickly in a 3x5 or 5x5 setup. Pullups, dips, push-ups and other body weight movements  great to finish with.

Do HIIT afterward or on other days. These sessions should be short and brutal. A day with a bit of active recovery is great too- this is your "bonus day" idea. A nice bike ride or jog.

Eta to fix stupid autocorrect

Everyone nailed it. You're not going to burn significant calories doing cardio unless you exercise all day like a professional athlete. Lifting and intense anaerobic activity will raise your baseline caloric needs. Couple this with reduced caloric intake.

The cardio won't hurt, but the conventional wisdom that lifting gets you big and cardio gets you lean is crap. Eating well gets you lean.

A real bike will give you a better workout than a stationary. Sure, you're getting cardio on the stationary, but the overall movement while actually riding will benefit you. And yes, it's getting cold (my riding has dropped to practically zero right now), so stay on the stationary until it warms up.

Lifting has never gotten me huge, only stronger and leaner. I am fine with lifting as heavy as I can.

So what you are suggesting is perhaps 30 minutes of heavy sets compound movements followed by brief intense HIIT for 15-20 minutes?

During the HIIT I have been doing, I have been getting my HR up to 175+ easily during the runs. I acutally hit 188 BPM about a month ago. Usually the max HR goes up as I do more cycles. As I get better at it I increase the speed.

Cardio is unnecessary for weight loss. If you have issues controlling your diet, you can use cardio to help put yourself into a caloric deficit.

Yep something like that. Then play around with diet and such until you find what works.

If you can afford it, join a CrossFit box.  Go through their onramp then do unlimited classes.  Follow the box's prescribed diet as well.  But go to a box that does Strength wods as well as metcons.

If not, follow a routine modeled after CrossFit, such as CrossFit Football, 5/3/1+metcon, ect.

http://www.startbodyweight.com/p/why-bodyweight-training.html

Yeah unfortunately it's out of the question due to cost. My gym is $20/month most crossfit boxes are $150/mo +

One of my best friends is a CrossFit trainer.

Get your legs cut off...
Or hopefully dont get them cut off

He won't give you a bro rate?

With him being a trainer and a friend, what would he do for someone with your goals?

Maybe the trainer is not the owner, or sole owner.  Did you ask about military discount?  Ours gives a really big discount, IIRC.

I am a veteran, but not active duty.

Your goals of 20 lbs are easily done.
Just watch your calories and do some type of workout.

Walking and a few calisthenics will do it.
Doesn't have to be special or cool.
5 lbs can be done in 2 weeks just watching what you eat
and a little exercise.

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Ditch the bro stuff and get more compound lifts in there.
A program without squats is scarcely a program at all.

All of that cardio and hiit will be useless if you aren't controlling your energy intake in a smart way.
Your first step should be to record everything you're eating or drinking so you can figure out how far out of whack you are with your energy intake.
After that calculate your maintenance calorie intake, shave 10-15% off that and stick with it.