Need help with my routine

[MarkGarro]

Hello, my name is Mark. I'm 25 and have been lifting seriously for about 6 months now (covid really got me into it). I'm trying to figure out what my first step should be. My goal isn't to get jacked but to have a healthier physique overall by putting on a reasonable amount of muscle. My routine (a push pull 5 day split with an emphasis on compound lifts to hit multi-muscle groups at once) is posted below along with a progress picture that was taken Thursday of last week. Last time I weighed myself (about 2 days ago) I was at 141. I'm a hard gainer, particularly in the chest area.


Routine

Monday (Push day 1)

Military press (standing; smith machine) 3x 8 reps

Incline bench press (Dumbell) 3 x 8 reps

Lateral Raises 3 x 8 reps

Bench Press (Dumbells) 3 x 8 reps

Upright Row (Dumbells) 3 x 8 reps

Dumbell Shrug 3 x 8 reps

Leg extension (Machine) 3 x 8 reps

Leg press 3 x 8 reps

Chest press (machine) 3 x 8 reps

Pec Deck 3 x 8 reps

Tricep dip (Assisted) 3 x 8 reps

Walking for half an hour on tread (steady state cardio)


Tuesday (Pull day 1)

Bicep curl (Dumbbell) 3 x 8 reps

Bent over row (Dumbell) 3 x 8 reps

Bicep curl (barbell) 3 x 8 reps

Preacher curl (Machine) 3 x 8 reps

Deadlift (smith machine) 3 x 8 reps

Seated row (cable) 3 x 8 reps

Lat pulldown (cable) 3 x 8 reps

Standing calf raise (dumbbell) 3 x 8 reps

Squat (smith machine() 3 x 8 reps

Pull up (Assisted) 3 x 8 reps

Chin up (assisted) 3 x 8 reps

Bicep curl (cable) 3 x 8 reps

Flat leg raise 3 x 8 reps

Plank (2 and 1 min. each)

Walking for half an hour on the tread (steady state cardio)

Wednesday (Cardio day)

Walking for an hour on the tread (steady state cardio)

Thursday (Push day 2 = same as Push day 1)

Friday (Pull day 2 = same as Pull day 1)

Saturday (rest)

Sunday (rest)


Thank you and God bless

 

[timewerx]

You should also pay attention to nutrition. Make sure you're getting enough protein and calcium.

More protein and less carbs. Protein is needed to build muscles and all the tiny damage inflicted to the muscles in the workout. Calcium is also needed by the muscles and also the bones.

So instead of drinking soda, drink milk or milk chocolate instead. Milk has protein and calcium. "Fortified" milk would also contain Vitamin D which helps the bones absorb calcium.

Also if you feel like snacking on something or hungry between meals, consider oatmeal. It's loaded with all the good stuff needed for an active lifestyle and well-known for weight loss. You can add milk chocolate to it or whatever you like to give it some flavor. Just don't make it too sweet.

Since you're not looking to get jacked up but just healthier physique, you should allocate more time or more intensity to cardio.

Make the treadmill walk into brisk walking. Another option is the elliptical bike / machine. The elliptical machine can allow you to increase intensity of the cardio workout without increasing the perceived difficulty.

 

[timewerx]

Whether you need to "starve" yourself or not to try to lose fat is a tricky one.

If you cut back on food so may feel hunger quite often, your body might get into "fat storage" mode and losing fat gets even more difficult.

You also need to eat enough carbs, in addition to protein so the body has enough energy from carbs to prevent switching your body into "protein-burning mode". If your body does, you could lose muscle mass and keep in mind that even just the presence of more muscle mass helps in fat-burning so it's a bad thing.

Don't push yourself to hunger and get your carbs and protein and anything else the body needs from healthy sources. Avoid junk food, avoid deep-fried foods, things like that.

As long as you're doing those workouts and cardio, you'll lose fat eventually if you eat right.