Critique my exercise routine

[allthelinterdit]

General aim is to keep weight off, get stronger, look leaner with some muscle definition. How does my routine look?

Monday: 10k run
Tuesday: Caroline Girvan workout
Wednesday: 30 minute row
Thursday: Les Mills Sprint (HIIT Spin)
Friday/Saturday/Sunday: a Pilates class, Caroline Girvan weights, a 30-45 minute run (no set day to do these, depends how I feel).

I should add, I'm likely to miss at least one of these a week but will generally stick to this 5-6 days each week.

I also walk (fast) a fair bit where possible, ie I might walk to and from the gym on my rowing day

I'm not familiar with Caroline Girvan but there doesn't seem to be a lot of weight training in there, and that's what will get you stronger and give you muscle definition.

Definitely need to add in more weight training if your goal is to get stronger and increase muscle definition. At the very least, have 3 weight training sessions a week split into categories

1. Legs

• squats
• deadlifts
• lunges
• calf raises

2. Chest/Shoulders/ triceps

• press ups
• shoulder press
• dips
• tricep extensions

3. Back/Bicep

• dumbbell row
• lateral pull down or pull ups
• bicep curls
• cable row

I think you should consider shifting the week around so you get rest days in between for recovery - it's generally better to double up workouts so you do two things one day and then rest the next day, rather than having something every day. Another way of doing this is to alternate which muscle groups you're working on e.g. after Monday's run make your Tuesday workout an upper body focussed session so your legs can recover while you work your upper body.

Why not follow one of Caroline Girvan's programmes, e.g. EPIC Heat, and add in a bit of running or rowing as and when? That way you'll make sure you target different muscles over the course of the week in a controlled way.

Though, admittedly, her once-weekly HIIT sessions can be somewhat ferocious. I tend to substitute with a Growingannanas session and some abs work...

I would keep the exercise realistic and enjoyable and focus on what you eat. You can't out exercise a bad diet.

Am I reading right that you are doing one weights session a week? I'd do 3/4 and one cardio. Eating will help more than any exercise but if you are going to do exercise, resistance training is where it's at!

The list you show seems like a lot of exercise that would be difficult to maintain and have less benefit than you think.

10k steps a day will also help more than you think.

Pacidoves schedule looks great!

A lot more weights, a lot less cardio.

If you want to be stronger and have muscle definition, cut back on the cardio and get some heavy weights in.

Saying that, I always think the best exercise is that which you will enjoy and stick to, but obviously this doesn't help with any aesthetic goals.

Thanks for all the replies, really good suggestions.
@HeyBlaby You're right. I was doing more weights, but I got a bit bored/it was harder to be motivated to do weights than to do the other workouts I do. I've gone from just running 6 days a week, which I don't think is all that good for me but I enjoyed it, to really enjoying mixing it up. If I added more weights, I'd have to drop some of the other sessions as I can't fit it all in around a full time job, and it wouldn't feel as enjoyable, so maybe I just accept what I'm doing as it's better than nothing...!

Oh ha, name change fail