I know that building muscle helps burn fat faster. My question is, how many days, how many minutes is optimal?

That has always confused me.

Thanks.

I wanna know too. So I sit down and do how many reps? How heavy of weights?

My understanding is that 2-3 days a week of strength training is a healthy place to start in your lifting. Some of he seasoned lifters are training 5-6 days a week. That is not for me yet. Do you have any experience with lifting? If not, you may want to start out light, such as 20 lb dumbbells, and go from there. A trainer will also help you get off the ground running towards your strength training goals, so to speak.

Try 4 sets of 12-10-8-8+ per rotation, increasing the weights by +5 lbs in each set. Your rotations can consist of any number of lifts, but it is good to break them up into 3 days of push exercises, pull exercises and leg exercises. Give your self at least a day of rest in between lifts and do not repeat a rotation of like exercises ( eg push ) more then once per week.

Remember, muscles are made in the kitchen. You will build the best results in the least amount of time if you focus on eating a well balanced set of macronutrients and limit foods that will not help you towards your goal such as bread, dairy, alcohol, sugars, high fats and high sodium. Eat a lot of lean Protein. The recommendation is to eat .92 g of lean protein per ideal body weight. For example, my ideal body weight is 180 so my lean protein is 170 per day. I try and hit this daily, but sometimes do not make it. Plan on drinking a lot of Protein shakes because you will not be able to eat enough in order to maximize your results. For example, I drink 3 protein shakes a day in the morning, after a workout and right before bed, shooting for close to 40 g per shake as a guy. Women have smaller frames so should shoot for the optimal amount of 30g protein a day. I know- it is not fair. Women also have a lower BMI ideal weight so do not need nearly as much protein as a guy. However, the .92 scalar still applies to both sexes. The other 50 g or so I source from lean Proteins like chicken. Always balance out your protein in a meal with good fat and carbs in order for the protein to be broken down into amino acids optimally for your growing muscles. I probably eat about 1800 calories per day ( often times less because, damn, it is hard work to eat that much) and stay close to 185 lb at 16 % body fat.

You might pay attention to other amino acid supplements before and after working out to maximize muscle response during and after lifting, respectively. For example, I always take an amino acid supplement called catalyst before both strength training and cross fit sessions. The result of taking this supplement is very noticeable in the power I have during a session. I sometimes take creatine after working out to force more Water into the muscles during the repair cycle. Not every time because creatine can raise your blood pressure if you have an issue with that. I do not as my blood pressure is usually 190 / 70 and my resting pulse is 44. It is also very important to eat or drink a recovery protein food after working out. This is the optimal time to be consuming protein as your muscles are open for nutrients ready to be fed. Try to eat or drink within 20 minutes. It is also important that your Protein Shake be high quality whey with a good amount of BCAA in it. Again, the BCAA chains are amino acids in their basic for and optimal for being consumed by your muscles during repair.

I haven't deviated much from this weight of 185 in a couple months, but have changed my body composition substantially without that much work. I really can appreciate that my body fat % dropped from 19 % to 16 % and is still dropping as the weeks go by. My goal is to hit 10 % by October. I exercise no more then 1 hour a day (on cross fit days) and most strength training days are no more then 30 minutes. See the rotations below. It is not that much work and I feel comfortable with expending this amount of time each week. In fact I look forward to the relatively short, but intense sessions daily. I take at least 1 day off a week to just relax or do some walking, hiking, etc.

Drink plenty of water to flush out the toxins created from lifting and eating protein. By a lot, I mean 1-1.5 gallon a day. Depending on how far out you are, you may not be able to do this. Try your best.

Finally, aim for 7-8 quality hours of sleep a night. Your body, and specifically, your muscles, repair the most while you are sleeping, so do not skimp on sleep. Again, I am sometimes lax in this area for many reasons but I do try. If you have trouble sleeping a natural sleep aid with melatonin in it will help. I will post some more information about an example workout in a few minutes.

As stated in the post above, I have 3 days a week where I am strength training. I never use machines. First reason is I do not own any at home and do not have a gym membership. However, I do take personal training at a cross fit gym. Second, and more importantly, machines take away the balance, focus and strength required for effective strength training.

I use dumbbells and body weight exercise. Currently, my strength training at home is done using Bowflex adjustable dumbbells and strength training / HIIT cardio done at cross fit is a mixture of body weight exercises and barbell lifts in an intense circuit. A good WOD performance should take every bit of strength, breath and focus you have. You asked about rotation and weights so I will focus on my dumbbell-based strength training rather then my cross fit sessions.

I do the same rotations from week to week, but increase the intensity by increasing the weight +5 lb and paying attention to maximum focus and proper form.

Push day

Dumbbell bench press

Dumbbell flys

Dumbbell side raises

Dumbbell triceps kickbacks

Dumbbell biceps curls

Pull day

One arm dumbbell rows

Dumbbell pullovers

Reverse dumbbell flys

Lying dumbbell triceps extensions

Dumbbell biceps curls

Leg day

Dumbbell squats

Dumbbell step lunges

Dumbbell straight leg dead lifts

Dumbbell sumo squats

Dumbbell single leg calf raises

As stated above, you might start your rotation at 20 lb and work up to 35 lb for push and pull. For leg days, you might start at 30 lb and work your rotation up to 45 lb. It all depends on where your starting strength lies. This is how I started out a month ago. I am already 10 lb heavier per starting weight. The weight amount progresses week to week, but keep your movements slow and focused, pausing at the high intensity points to maximize the contraction. Think about the muscle as it contracts. Try and make the mind body connection. This is key to building strength more effectively, but does require practice in order to prevent the repetitive mindset from kicking in. Remember, the return trip out of a lift is as important or more important then the lift so keep the focus going all the way though. If you feel like you are getting bored, then increase your focus or perhaps increase the weight. The answer is not always to increase the weight. The more high intensity you make the peak of your rotation, the better results you will get in the least amount of time.

My sets look like 12-10-8-8+ for each exercise in a rotation where there might be 1-2 additional drop sets. I keep track of rest between sets, planned weight / reps, target intensity level, actual weight / reps and actual intensity level. Tracking this information helps with measurable progress and helps me make changes as they are needed. If you are serious in transforming your body composition, it is vital to measure and track these numbers in order to understand where changes need to be made long term in the continuous feedback loop that exists between you and your workouts. It is, and should be, a very dynamic experience every time you start a session. Anticipate progress and learning.

The intensity and focus of each set builds as the set reps drop and set weight increases. Intensity must come from your focus and not just from heavier weights delivered from a machine. That is why dumbbells are much more effective then machines when seeking true intensity, but dumbbell exercises do not tend to map onto functional movements very well. Hence, they are a little unnatural in terms of functional movements your body is naturally programmed to do.

Body weight exercises, such as push ups, tire flipping, car pushing, squatting and pull ups, are *much* more effective then dumbbells (or barbells) because they do map onto functional compound body movements and, hence, tend to be safer with less prone to joint injury. I am going to start doing exclusively body weight training on my strength days starting soon, perhaps this coming Monday. A fair comparison is to state that most free weight exercises are isolation based where body weight exercises are compound based by the nature of which muscles they engage. You will get results 10 x faster from compound strength training then isolation training as larger and bigger sets of muscles will be used at the same time. Consider the classic pull up exercise. It is going to work you deltoids your lats, your triceps, your biceps and many other groups of muscles. This single compound exercise would take a dozen isolation exercises such as triceps extensions, biceps curls, flys and so on. Which would you rather do if your time is of the Essence?

Hope this helps.

Two great sites about nutrition and weight training that does not try to sell you any crap is scoobysworkshop.com and askscooby.com

Two great sites about nutrition and weight training that does not try to sell you any crap is scoobysworkshop.com and askscooby.com

Nice sites! Thanks for the links.

Those are great sites! Thanks!!!

I have been working with a trainer two days a week and I can definitely tell a difference in my measurements, but the scale doesn't move as quickly for me..but you know I am okay with that. I like how much stronger I feel.

Yesterday I helped my brother move from his third floor apartment to his new home from noon until 8pm. I helped carry and lift his bed, dresser, dining room table etc. My UP band recorded over 20,000 steps. I was exhausted at the end of the day but damnit I climbed those 3 flights more times than I cared to count. I could have NEVER done that almost 50 pounds and no muscles ago!!!

My understanding is that 2-3 days a week of strength training is a healthy place to start in your lifting. Some of he seasoned lifters are training 5-6 days a week. that is not for me yet. Do you have any experience with lifting? If not, you may want to start out light, such as 20 lb dumbbells, and go from there. A trainer will also help you get off the ground running towards your strength training goals, so to speak.

Try 4 sets of 12-10-8-8+ per rotation, increasing the weights by 5 lbs in each set. Your rotations can consist of any number of lifts, but it is good to break them up into 3 days of push exercises, pull exercises and leg exercises. Give your self at least a day of rest in between lifts and do not repeat a rotation of like exercises ( eg push ) more then once per week.

Remember, muscles are made in the kitchen. You will build the best results in the least amount of time if you focus on eating a well balances set of macronutrients and limit foods that will not help you towards your goal such as bread, dairy, alcohol, sugars, high fats and high sodium. Eat a lot of lean Protein. The recommendation is to eat .92 g of lean protein per ideal body weight. For example, my ideal body weight is 180 so my lean protein is 170 per day. I try and hit this daily, but sometimes do not make it. Plan on drinking a lot of protein shakes because you will not be able to eat enough in order to maximize your results. For example, I drink 3 protein shakes a day in the morning, after a workout and right before bed, shooting for close to 40 g per shake. The other 50 g or so I source from lean Proteins like chicken. Always balance out your protein in a meal with good fat and carbs in order for the protein to be broken down into amino acids optimally for your growing muscles. I probably eat about 1800 calories per day ( often times less because, damn, it is hard work to eat that much) and stay close to 185 lb at 16 % body fat.

I haven't deviated much from this weight in a couple months, but have changed my body composition substantially without that much work. I exercise no more then 1 hour a day (on cross fit days) and most strength training days are no more then 30 minutes. See the rotations below. It is not that much work and I feel comfortable with expending this amount of time each week. In fact I look forward to the relatively short, but intense sessions daily. I take at least 1 day off a week to just relax or do some walking, hiking, etc.

Drink plenty of Water to flush out the toxins created from lifting and eating protein. By a lot, I mean 1-1.5 gallon a day. Depending on how far out you are, you may not be able to do this. Try your best.

Finally, aim for 7-8 quality hours of sleep a night. Your body repairs the most while you are sleeping, so do not skimp on sleep. Again, I am sometimes lax in this area for many reasons but I do try. If you have trouble sleeping a natural sleep aid with melatonin in it will help. I will post some more information about an example workout in a few minutes.

Well put Fiddleman! You've really done your homework the past few months and you're really well-informed! Getting where you want to be starts with informing yourself and setting some realistic goals in phases. "Dansgem"......remember, in the weight room, it's a little more towards quality than quantity. Like Fiddleman said, it's really about focus and intensity, though there are some benefits in regards to "time under tension" as far as lifting, especially early on if you've not lifted before. But as you progress, having really good focus and intensity (with supporting nutrition), will get you to where you want to be. Don't forget to go really light early on, learn proper technique and form and then you'll progress and hopefully stay injury free. Good luck!

Thanks Fiddle and aroundhky. This is the information I've been looking for. Very well written as usual Fiddle.

Honestly I think we should sticky Fiddles and Hky's posts about this. I have learned a ton from them on these topics.

Might be a good source for people to refer back to.

Just my two cents

Honestly I think we should sticky Fiddles and Hky's posts about this. I have learned a ton from them on these topics.

Might be a good source for people to refer back to.

Just my two cents

Thanks "Maharet"! I'm just passing along info that other helpful people were considerate enough to pass along to me in the past. So I'm very thankful to them! I certainly hope it's accurate and applicable for others as it has been for me.

Honestly I think we should sticky Fiddles and Hky's posts about this. I have learned a ton from them on these topics.

Might be a good source for people to refer back to.

Just my two cents

Thanks for your kind response. I want to pay it forward to the newer post op folks as an appreciation of information I have received from others on VST or information I have discovered in my own research and experience as a post op. Every day is chance to keep learning.