3 days a week

[kariev]

I have a question. Do you ladies think that training only 3 days a week is enough to lose weight? This is my current schedule:
monday: chest/triceps; 20 min interval cardio on treadmill
tuesday: 45 min elliptical and abs
wednesday: legs
thrusday: 45 min jog and abs
friday: shoulders, back, and biceps; 20 min interval cardio
saturday and sunday are off

I was thinking of switching to monday wednesday and friday full body weight training followed by 20 min of interval cardio. i feel like i've been overtraining with my current routine even though its only 5 days per week for no more than an hour. do you think that 4 days of rest is to much? my diet is very clean with lots of protein, healthy, fats and most of my carbs from fruit and veggies. i take in about 1500 cals a day. i'm 5'3 and weigh 120lbs.

 

[pebblesus]

Yes you could certainly still see gains with a smaller split.. I would definitly take advantage of the full body training though... or if you can't rest 2-3 days in btw then maybe a 3-day split would be good for you.
Full body workouts activate the most muscle fibers which will get you burnng more during the day.. and the rest of the day as well.
If you go on the 3-day split, then utilize lots of compound movements (deadlifts, squats, high pulls, cleans etc) as they activate more (fast twich) muscle fibers which you will reap the most benefits on BUT ALSO burn more durring the workout AND thorughout the rest of the day as well.
Cardio in addition to that is good, but if you use either of the two plans above you will be pretty spent so you might consider doing cardio a different day, or a different time in the day.
Hope Ive helped ya some

 

[kariev]

thanks! i will experiment with the 3 day thing. i have been soooo exhausted since i starting interning at a pediatric physical therapy clinic. i'm constantly running around with the kids for 10hr days so top that with an hour workout each day and i think i have reached exhaustion. i couldn't get up this morning to workout so i decided to listen to my body and sleep in. i feel like i'm having to make myself do workouts instead of enjoying them