Is this a well rounded exercise plan?

OP, you know yourself best, so you know if you will realistically stick to this kind of schedule.

I have recently been in a similar situation, and have gone from no exercise at all in April to a position where I feel significantly stronger and more mobile. I signed up to an online strength training programme and I do it twice a week. At the beginning I was so enthusiastic I actually had to stop myself doing it more, because I know from previous experience that I tend to go all in, and then burn out or get injured. And, barring holidays, I've stuck to it for 6 months I'm just starting to go to 3 a week. So, I get what people are saying, that three times a week is ideal, but twice (or even once!) a week for 6 months is better than 3 weeks of enthusiasm and then ditching it. (For me! You might be different)

In terms of cardio, I really liked michael mosley's advice on a just one thing podcast. This is a massive paraphrase. But he said your body doesn't really care if you're running or walking fast in terms of fitness. So, take something you do anyway, and then just make sure your heart rate goes up to 100bpm. So, I just upped my pace for my walk to work and found that really helpful, and now I'm fitter have replaced it with cycling. But I don't have to worry about motivation because I'm doing it anyway iyswim.

Anyway, everyone is different, different things work for different people, this is just what has worked for me (I am 47, was edging into obese territory, and my knees were complaining every time I stood up, and now they aren't). Good luck with it all, I found the idea of maintaining mobility into older age to be the best motivation, I hope you get to where you want to be.

Why do you need 3-4 weights a week out of interest?

From someone who was in the same position as this in January, it sounds an incredibly demanding schedule to kick off with. I was 5 stone overweight with all the accompanying aches, pains, injuries and stiffness. I started off with 1 session of aquafit a week. Then 2 sessions. Once I'd done that for a couple of months I added in more and more. I now train 5 or 6 times a week but it's all been built up gradually. Previously when I've tried to get in an exercise routine I've gone too hard at it and ended up injured and out for 6+ months and then it's so hard to get back into it again.
i understand your point about making the gym trip worthwhile but I think you're really being quite over-ambitious. better to start slowly and build up.

Kindly, it might be quite a lot, OP with your being so much overweight, but what you have put isn't a bad balance. Perhaps 1 x yoga, 1 x spin, 1 x PT weights session to start with. Get in as much walking as you can.

If you can keep up and enjoy this for six months THEN start focusing on diet. If the exercise plan is too much, focus on weights, yoga and walking.

If you really want to lose weight though as a first priority, diet should be the focus. Exercise wise ten minutes of walking a day, building up to half an hour. One weights session and one yoga.

Be gentle with yourself when making lifestyle changes. Too much exercise, particularly something like spin will raise your cortisol which will put too much stress on yoir body You'll also retain water and be hungrier it will make weight loss much harder.

If you can spend time building muscle first and toning up for six months without worrying about the scales before tackling diet properly that would be the best way. With dieting you inevitably loae some muscle. By building the muscle first you are likely to keep a good shape, have less or no loose skin, plus there are lots of other benefits.

I think that’s a very ambitious plan for someone with “shocking” levels of fitness tbh. I worry that you’re setting yourself up to fail.

Id also say that it’s hard to get fit if you’re not strong. I’d definitely be adding in strength work before you go hell for leather on cardio. Building strength will help your knees and hips massively.

I wouldn’t drop the stretch class on Monday if it’s convenient.

You could also do a self-directed second weights session. You really need 3-4 weights each week, so why not do that on Friday.

You’ve been given good advice so I’ll add a very practical point!

If you’re doing two or three lots of activity in one go, think about whether you’ll need two or three changes of clothes, and whether you’ll be able to cart them all to work then gym, and keep on top of the washing! Spin will get you very sweaty, and you’ll likely be uncomfortable and perhaps a bit smelly in your weights and stretch class if you’re still in that kit.

Honestly, if it's a 2hr round trip to the gym it feels like you're setting yourself up to fail. Unless you have no other commitments (unlikely) that's going to be hard to fit in long-term. Whereas if you did couch to 5k three times a week from home, and a Caroline Girvan video 3x a week from home as well for strength - perhaps throw in some yoga with Adriene for strength and flexibility- you could fit far more in and have a more rounded exercise schedule at the same time.

I think it’s good but I’d add in a walk or run from home a couple of days a week too. I do 2 spin classes then body pump sometimes. It’s doable but I am pretty tired doing pump (especially legs obviously!)

I think it sounds sensible to drop pump (at this stage! You can always add it in later).

Otherwise you're in danger of too much too soon - that's happened to me a few times in the past.

You've got a PT session and that can be useful for so much more than the actual session - she/he could show you some body weight exercises that can be done at home for example, talk about the timings of your workouts, what your aims are and how to achieve them.

You say the gyms a fair trek - and you hate walking. Is it cycleable? Just a suggestion, but I find cycling (to get somewhere, as opposed to lycra cycling!) a good way of getting cardio in whilst going about my day

If you used to actually enjoy running, have you considered doing Couch to 5km? My knees used to complain a LOT when I ran but they were actually fine when I built up slowly enough, alongside some stretches to strengthen my glutes.

Could you get off a bus too early? So just a little walk that has a reason (to gym/to home) and that can act as your warm up and cool down?

Look, you can do what suits you. But you could also look at the evidence for middle-aged women and obesity generally.

Diet is the main thing.

Then everyday exercise: getting your steps in.

Establishing good habits of everyday movement and mobility - mobility is far more important than stretching - can you get yourself up off the floor if you fell?

Then building muscle through resistance training - weights are a convenient way of doing this, and ensuring you’re doing full body training with progressive overload. That’s why the “classic” lifts - squats, deadlift, bench press, overhead press - are so classic - and good for you !

If you enjoy Spin classes - go for it!

But generally, do strength training before cardio if you’re doing them in the same session. You need to challenge your muscles and overload them so they respond to that stimulus of overload and grow, so they can better deal with the overload.

You might aim for 4 training sessions a week, but try to have active rest on days in between. So your spin and stretch classes on Monday, then a long walk or a swim on Tuesday. And so on.

Id really recommend listening to Dr Stacey Sims on the best way for middle-aged women to train. In a nutshell, she says: lift heavy, and sprint interval training. I do both, and it’s not easy, but boy oh boy, the results are wonderful in terms of my strength, mobility, and overall well-being.