Hi Cathy,
I have increased muscle mass by reducing the reps and going heavier. And you can superset while still using this principle. Also I lift slower on the negative portion of the lifts. I also reduced the cardio but made it more intense over a shorter period of time by using intervals. This is supposed to help with fat burning.
This works for me. I obviously am male and maybe it's different for women.
I'll say this about lifting. You should stick with basic lifts mostly. You can use isolation lifts to enhance the burn but make sure you have the core lifts in your workout. Alot of people will use machines like the glute blaster, adductor, and abductor endlessly and while these are ok to work in and out of your routines as a change of pace, if you wanna build muscle, don't waste valuable time on those machines. If you want a sample of what I do I can email it to you.
Also, make sure you eat enough protein and total cals. I use a 40-30-30 ratio, or close to it, for my diet. That's 40% carb, and 30% each of proteins and fat. Cathe uses this same ratio.
Lastly, experiment a little to tune your workouts to meet your goals. If you aren't seeing changes that you want to see, within the limits of your genetics, then change your routine. Again I see people all the time in the club who look the same year after year. They are wasting their time because they just keep doing the same old stuff even though it isn't working for them. Be able to recognize this and be able to adjust.
If you want to email me go for it.
Trevor
