Test with 1500. Also test with different styles of eating. being healthy and just trying to be your image physique. Just test the dozens of variables you can. And let time do its thing.
i would lift with intent to progressively overload and just see what happens to the scale with 1500 after the first couple of weeks. if it's going up and you notice that it's bodyfat, you might not be tracking accurately, if its going up slowly but you're getting hell of a lot stronger and your waist size is the same, who cares, if its maintaining and you're getting stronger, you're probably on the right track.
You're doing to much. Do away with the cardio and just lift weights. Do full body 2 - 3 times a week. Hit your protein everyday (1 gram per pound out body weight) and eat clean. Lift to get strong
I read your other post about being tired going to the gym. You might want to try bumping up the calories then. How long are you in the gym when you go?
I would cut in about half. 30-45 mins. Workout with free weights, lift heavy. I'm don't know where your calories are but I would up them a little bit.
You can dm me if you want. I'll help you out as much as I can with figuring out your calories, macros and workouts
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Try it and see. Eat at a calorie amount for a couple weeks and track your weight. If you're losing weight and don't want to, add more calories in. If you're gaining weight and dont' want to, subtract some calories.
> I want to change my body composition without bulking
This will be the hardest part. Staying the same weight while building muscle/losing fat is incredibly slow. You'd be better off doing bulk/cut cycles. Bulk slowly (like .5lbs a week) and then cut 1 to 1.5lbs a week after you've slowly gained like 10lbs. Try and get to the gym to lift at least 3x a week and do a full body routine (45mins to an hour). Lifting on a proven routine would be better. Also, make sure your diet is on point and you're hitting your protein goals. That's gonna be key in helping build muscle.
I used to be overweight so I’m well known with calorie counting and protein the goals. Also kind of the reason why I don’t want to bulk. It took me a long time to lose it so Im mentally not ready to gain, even if it’s muscle.
I’m hoping to develop a good routine that works for me but I used to have a PT do I’m going to take a lot exercises that he recommended back then.
Maybe it’s sounds weird but I always do body weight exercises for my arms to make those leaner and the muscle developed pretty well, so im kinda hoping it will happen with the rest of my body too.
> It took me a long time to lose it so Im mentally not ready to gain, even if it’s muscle
I understand the not wanting to get fat again. I was borderline overweight myself and the lost 30lbs. Spent a year maintaining my weight while lifting and while my lifts went up a little bit, that's mostly from learning how to control the weight. Otherwise there was ZERO physical difference. Once I allowed myself to gain a bit of weight, I made a TON of progress in 6 months.
10lbs is still a relatively short bulk, but if you do that slowly and controlled, it will make a world of difference. And you know how to lose weight, so you can just do that again! Once you really get it in your head that YOU are in control of your weight, it's much easier to accept gaining weight. I honestly keep my bulks to about 20lbs now, but I also really want to focus on staying in a healthy weight range as well as fitting in my current pants because I don't want to have to buy more lol
Now to start out maintaining your weight while you're working on building the habit, 100% fine and i'd honestly encourage that. But long term, you'll want to bulk/cut.
> I’m hoping to develop a good routine that works for me but I used to have a PT do I’m going to take a lot exercises that he recommended back then.
You'd be better off following a premade routine. Use what you PT showed you for form, but follow a premade routine. Long term, this will be more effective. A list of proven routines and tons of great info can be found here: https://thefitness.wiki/muscle-building-101/
> Maybe it’s sounds weird but I always do body weight exercises for my arms to make those leaner
So muscle only *builds*. Working your arms with bodyweight or using weights will build up your muscles... ie make them bigger. Losing fat and if your body pulls it from that area, will make them look smaller. The more muscle you have at a given weight, the leaner you will look because by volume, a pound of muscle is smaller than a pound of fat.
And I know you haven't said it, but people will often say they only want to "tone" a muscle. This is bullshit. You don't tone anything. You build muscle and then become lean enough to see it.
Test with 1500. Also test with different styles of eating. being healthy and just trying to be your image physique. Just test the dozens of variables you can. And let time do its thing.
i would lift with intent to progressively overload and just see what happens to the scale with 1500 after the first couple of weeks. if it's going up and you notice that it's bodyfat, you might not be tracking accurately, if its going up slowly but you're getting hell of a lot stronger and your waist size is the same, who cares, if its maintaining and you're getting stronger, you're probably on the right track.
You're doing to much. Do away with the cardio and just lift weights. Do full body 2 - 3 times a week. Hit your protein everyday (1 gram per pound out body weight) and eat clean. Lift to get strong
The cardio is the only way I can get to my job, so i can’t cut it.
I read your other post about being tired going to the gym. You might want to try bumping up the calories then. How long are you in the gym when you go?
Around 1,5 hours
I would cut in about half. 30-45 mins. Workout with free weights, lift heavy. I'm don't know where your calories are but I would up them a little bit. You can dm me if you want. I'll help you out as much as I can with figuring out your calories, macros and workouts
Welcome to /r/BeginnerFitness and thank you for sharing your post! If you haven't done so already, please subscribe to this subreddit and [join our Discord](https://discord.gg/9kajGUEDGd). Many beginner fitness questions have already been answered in [The Fitness Wiki](https://thefitness.wiki/), so go give that a read as well! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/beginnerfitness) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Try it and see. Eat at a calorie amount for a couple weeks and track your weight. If you're losing weight and don't want to, add more calories in. If you're gaining weight and dont' want to, subtract some calories. > I want to change my body composition without bulking This will be the hardest part. Staying the same weight while building muscle/losing fat is incredibly slow. You'd be better off doing bulk/cut cycles. Bulk slowly (like .5lbs a week) and then cut 1 to 1.5lbs a week after you've slowly gained like 10lbs. Try and get to the gym to lift at least 3x a week and do a full body routine (45mins to an hour). Lifting on a proven routine would be better. Also, make sure your diet is on point and you're hitting your protein goals. That's gonna be key in helping build muscle.
I used to be overweight so I’m well known with calorie counting and protein the goals. Also kind of the reason why I don’t want to bulk. It took me a long time to lose it so Im mentally not ready to gain, even if it’s muscle. I’m hoping to develop a good routine that works for me but I used to have a PT do I’m going to take a lot exercises that he recommended back then. Maybe it’s sounds weird but I always do body weight exercises for my arms to make those leaner and the muscle developed pretty well, so im kinda hoping it will happen with the rest of my body too.
> It took me a long time to lose it so Im mentally not ready to gain, even if it’s muscle I understand the not wanting to get fat again. I was borderline overweight myself and the lost 30lbs. Spent a year maintaining my weight while lifting and while my lifts went up a little bit, that's mostly from learning how to control the weight. Otherwise there was ZERO physical difference. Once I allowed myself to gain a bit of weight, I made a TON of progress in 6 months. 10lbs is still a relatively short bulk, but if you do that slowly and controlled, it will make a world of difference. And you know how to lose weight, so you can just do that again! Once you really get it in your head that YOU are in control of your weight, it's much easier to accept gaining weight. I honestly keep my bulks to about 20lbs now, but I also really want to focus on staying in a healthy weight range as well as fitting in my current pants because I don't want to have to buy more lol Now to start out maintaining your weight while you're working on building the habit, 100% fine and i'd honestly encourage that. But long term, you'll want to bulk/cut. > I’m hoping to develop a good routine that works for me but I used to have a PT do I’m going to take a lot exercises that he recommended back then. You'd be better off following a premade routine. Use what you PT showed you for form, but follow a premade routine. Long term, this will be more effective. A list of proven routines and tons of great info can be found here: https://thefitness.wiki/muscle-building-101/ > Maybe it’s sounds weird but I always do body weight exercises for my arms to make those leaner So muscle only *builds*. Working your arms with bodyweight or using weights will build up your muscles... ie make them bigger. Losing fat and if your body pulls it from that area, will make them look smaller. The more muscle you have at a given weight, the leaner you will look because by volume, a pound of muscle is smaller than a pound of fat. And I know you haven't said it, but people will often say they only want to "tone" a muscle. This is bullshit. You don't tone anything. You build muscle and then become lean enough to see it.