When should i see results?

[Kev]

I started going to the gym 5 days a week this is my 2nd week now, im not rushing anything but it would be nice to know how long it takes for your body to start adapting.

At the minute my training schedule is.
Monday: Slow and heavy weight training
Tuesday: Cardio 30Mins-1hr
Wednesday: Slow and Heavy
Thursday: Cardio 30mins-1hr
Friday: moderate weight and Fast Speed training
Saturday: resistance training

Im inquiring because although im doing strength gaining i have some stubborn fat that i want gone at least 3 inches. Should i do 30mins or cardio before my weight training? My weight training is my entire upper body its not split up like some peoples. I know diet is important to i eat healthy but under my daily recommended amount.

 

[rjc]

I'm no pro

But diet is important, and what you see on the reality weightloss shows is crap. I'd aim for 1KG loss in weight a week. If your not achieving that. Decrease your food intake or up your cardio. For food intake it could be as simple as dropping one food item like cheese/Beer/Cola from your diet. If you go for more than that too quick. You'll lose muscle.

My advice from my own experience. If you start too hard, psychologically it will ruin you. I've been there before. Guns blazing and in a few weeks you're back at square One. Mostly because you set the bar too high, and end up getting injured.

If you really want to burn fat. Check out Crossfit, or High intensity plyometric training. I'm not sure on your level of fitness. But High intensity kicks ass.

 

[Goldfish]

^ I'd probably only aim for about 0.5kg/1lb week, which is a 500kcal/day deficit, whereas 1kg/week is a 1,000kcal/day deficit - achievable for some, maybe not so much for others.

OP: Your weight training should not just be upper body. You should be doing a leg exercise (preferably a deep knee bend, ie a fullsquat variation), pushing something heavy away from your chest (eg bench press, overhead press, dips, push ups) and pulling something heavy to your chest or off the floor (eg pull ups, lat pull downs, rows, deadlifts, cleans). You should be doing all three of these things every session, until you reach the point where an upper/lower, push/pull, or bodypart split becomes more useful in your training than fullbody.

No, you shouldn't do 30min cardio before your resistance training. Strictly speaking, cardio isn't even necessary for weight loss (or, specifically, fat loss), although it can be a helpful tool, depending on how cardio affects your non-exercise based activities and how it affects your appetite. For weight loss, all that's necessary is that you consume less calories than you use every day. For fat loss specifically, this calorie deficit should be paired with full-body strength training to spare as much muscle mass as possible. You should be consuming 1g protein/lb lean bodyweight/day, which (depending on your starting point and your goal weight) will generally mean somewhere around 150g protein/day.

As far as how long it takes you to see results...well, as I said, I'd aim for 1lb weight loss per week, which is 4lb/month, 12lb/season and (assuming no limits to how much weight needs to be lost and assuming no stalls/plateaus) ~50lb/year. I don't really know how much fat fits into 3 inches, so I can't tell you how long it'll take for you to lose it. But I know that if you seriously want to lose weight and in 3 months time you haven't lost 10lb (assuming you've got 10lb to lose), something's gone wrong.