Am I overdoing it?

I am 18 years old and this is my current workout plan for the week:
Monday: Upper Body, (Optional: run a mile)
Tuesday: Lower Body
Wednesday: Running (5K)
Thursday: Upper Body, (Optional: run a mile)
Friday: Lower Body
Saturday: Running (5K)
Sunday: Rest Day (or 5K if I was unable to do it on Saturday)

Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

Welcome to RMF! Thanks for setting out your week clearly.

The schedule alone doesn’t tell us whether you’re overdoing it. Four lifting sessions and two runs could involve very different workloads depending on the exercises, number of sets and how hard you push each session.

What’s your main goal: building muscle, getting stronger, improving your running, or a mixture? How long have you been following this routine?

Could you also post one upper-body and one lower-body session, including sets and reps? Are your 5Ks comfortable runs or hard efforts, and how are you feeling by the end of the week?

I’ve kept the discussion together in this thread so everyone’s advice is in one place. Looking forward to hearing more.

 

Thanks for your reply!

My main goals are to build muscle and improve my cardio health via running. I have been lifting for approximately 3 months and only started running about 1 month ago.

In both my upper and lower body workouts for every exercise I do 3 sets, 10 reps each, training close to, but not to failure (this is how I choose what weight to do). One of my follow up questions was going to be if it's fine keeping a simple 3 x 10 for each exercise or if there is any benefit to changing how my sets are structured for each exercise.

Currently all the exercises I do on the machines at my gym. Are free weights and other things better for muscle growth?
Another question I have: for every exercise I rest about 30 seconds between sets. Is this too little? Does it really matter?

UPPER BODY:
*Warmup: 5 mins on treadmill - 3 mph*
Chest Press - 45 lbs
Preacher Curl - 45 lbs
Tricep Extension - 55 lbs
Chest Fly - 60 lbs
Rear Deltoid Fly - 40 lbs
Shoulder Press - 30 lbs
Lat Pulldown - 65 lbs
Seated Row - 60 lbs
Crunch - 100 lbs
Back Extension - 140 lbs
*Cooldown: 5 mins on treadmill - 3 mph*

LOWER BODY:
*Warmup: 5 mins on treadmill - 3 mph*
Crunch - 100 lbs
Back Extension - 140 lbs
Seated Leg Curl - 75 lbs
Leg Extension - 60 lbs
Standing Calf Raise - 95 lbs
Hip Abduction - 100 lbs
Hip Adduction - 105 lbs
Horizontal Leg Press - 110 lbs
*Cooldown: 5 mins on treadmill - 3 mph*

Follow up questions:
1. How much does the order that I do things in matter? Is it bad if I do 2 exercises back to back that overlap which muscles they work on?
2. Are certain types of exercises better for building muscle?
3. Are there any muscles that I am leaving out in my workouts? I'm trying to get a full body workout each week.

All the running I do (5Ks and the occasional mile) is done with the intention of having my best time. I am constantly trying to improve my time. However, I have not been running for very long, so those times are not anything crazy. My best 5K time is 24:27 and my best mile time is 6:44.

At the end of the week I usually feel fine and any fatigue I feel is likely due to not enough sleep, something I have recently been trying to work on.

Again thank you so much for your advice! (And sorry for how long this is ).

 

No need to apologise for the length, Aaron. This is exactly the information needed to give you a useful answer.

First, a 24:27 5K and 6:44 mile are very respectable times after only a month of running. Your weekly schedule doesn't look excessive, especially since you feel reasonably good by the end of it. I would make a few adjustments, though.

1. Is 3×10 a good way to train?

Yes. Three sets of ten is perfectly suitable for a beginner, and you don't need to keep changing the structure just for variety.

What matters is having a way to progress. You could use an 8–12 repetition range:

• Start with a weight you can manage for three controlled sets of at least eight repetitions.
• Finish each set with roughly one or two good repetitions left.
• Gradually add repetitions over the following workouts.
• Once you reach 3×12 with good form, increase the weight by the smallest available amount.
• Your repetitions may initially fall back towards eight, and you then build them up again.

That allows you to progress without forcing exactly ten repetitions regardless of how the set feels.

2. Are free weights better than machines?

Not automatically. Machines can build muscle very effectively when you use good technique, a suitable range of motion and progressive overload.

Free weights require more balance and coordination, but that does not make them inherently better for muscle growth. After only three months of training, there is nothing wrong with continuing to build your foundation on machines.

You could gradually learn one or two free-weight exercises if they interest you, preferably with someone checking your technique, but you do not need to replace your current routine.

3. Is 30 seconds of rest too short?

For your muscle-building goal, this is the main change I would make.

Thirty seconds can turn the workout into more of a conditioning session. You may start the next set before your muscles, breathing, and concentration have recovered enough, causing your weight or reps to drop.

Try approximately:

• 90 seconds to two minutes after chest presses, shoulder presses, pulldowns, rows and leg presses
• 60–90 seconds after curls, triceps extensions, flies and similar smaller exercises
• A little longer whenever you still feel too breathless to perform another good set

You do not have to follow the clock perfectly. The aim is to start the next set when you can perform it properly.

4. Does exercise order matter?

Usually, you will perform best on exercises placed near the beginning, so start with the movements you consider most important.

For your upper-body workout, I would place the larger presses and pulls before the arm exercises:

1. Chest press
2. Lat pulldown
3. Shoulder press
4. Seated row
5. Chest fly and rear-delt fly
6. Preacher curl
7. Triceps extension
8. Core work

For the lower-body workout, I would put the leg press first, followed by the leg curl, leg extension, calves, hip exercises and then core work.

There is nothing inherently wrong with performing overlapping exercises consecutively. The only drawback is that fatigue from the first may reduce your performance on the second. For example, doing triceps extensions before chest pressing could make your chest press weaker.

5. Are any muscles missing?

You are covering most of the major muscle groups. You have pressing, vertical and horizontal pulling, direct arm work, quadriceps, hamstrings, calves, hips and core.

The main pattern not clearly represented is a glute-dominant or hip-hinge movement. A glute bridge machine would be a simple addition. You could eventually learn a Romanian deadlift, but there is no need to rush into it.

I would swap something rather than continually adding exercises. Your upper workout already contains 30 working sets, so a slightly shorter session with longer rests may be more productive than making it even longer. You probably don't need crunches and back extensions in every upper and lower session either.

6. Running and muscle growth

Running and lifting can work together, but I would not attempt a personal best every time you run.

A hard 5K is a proper training session. If every 5K and optional mile becomes an all-out effort, the accumulated leg fatigue may eventually affect your lower-body workouts.

A simple approach would be:

• Wednesday: an easier 5K at a pace where you can still speak in short sentences
• Saturday: your faster 5K, intervals or an occasional attempt to improve your time
• Optional miles after upper-body sessions: easy rather than all-out

The easier running still improves your cardiovascular base and may ultimately help your faster performances.

Overall, I would not overhaul your routine. Keep the upper/lower structure and the machines, increase your rest periods, use the 8–12 progression system and make at least one weekly run genuinely easy.

Try those changes for three or four weeks and let us know whether your weights, repetitions and running recovery improve. It would be good to follow your progress.