Hello All,

Im looking for tips and suggestions on how to improve my weekly workout routine. If I am doing something wrong please say. I want to be optimising my time at the gym. I will give you a bit of background first. Im doing all this for large weight loss – Im 34 (male) and 115kg (Yikes!) I started about 4 days ago (lost about 1.3kg so far). Im a member of a Gym but I live in Japan and dont speak the lingo, so cant ask the staff there, hence im here! I have lost weight before but put it back on. I was about 100kg about 2 years ago, but put on alot. This time I want to get to about 90kg over the next 18months if possible.

Firstly I have changed my diet and am consuming about 1300 calories per day during the week. More at weekends, but Saturday is my splurge day (I need one day to relax!). Plenty of Fruit and Veg etc.

Now my Gym routine. I should say I read too many articles on the interent about whats the best type of excercise etc so Im a bit confused, as people have different opinions. But heres what I have started on (and have done in the past) –

Gym 3 times per week – (at least 24 hours in between sessions, more like 48 hours usually)

Start off on weight machines – Will do 7 different machines, starting from leg muscles working up the body. Do 2 sets of ten on a weight thats challenging (so the last rep is difficult), with a break between sets. I move between the machines quickly to keep the intensity up. I repeat the whole process to do 2 rotations. This takes about 30 mins by the time I move between all the machines and breaks etc. My muscles are sore after so I can feel the workout and can certainly feel them the next day(s). Should I be doing this whole rotation quicker? Is this type of strength training good for fat burn?

After the strength training I go on the Elyptical for 20 mins. I try doing this Intensity training I have been reading about. Heres how I go about it –

First 3 mins – warm up

30 seconds – flat out full sprint
90 seconds – reduced speed rest period

Repeat this 8 times

Cool down for 3 minutes.

After this overall workout (weights and cardio) Im really trired. My main concern is do you think im doing too little cardio in that routine? Whats best combo for fat burn? Is the elyptical good, or is bike better? I cant do fast on a treadmill as have a dodgy knee.

In between these Gym intensity workouts I will do normal cardio. I love to swim, so I will swim for about 45 minutes in which I will do about 2km alternating between frontcrawl and breast stroke. I do this twice a week in between the workouts.

I also usually go into the pool after my gym workouts, as my Gym has this really cool relaxation swimming pool that has focused jets of water that hit your body. Really good for easing the muscle soreness. But is this advised? Should I be cooling down after these intensity workouts? I read something somewhere that suggested this might be iil advised? I really have no clue , please help LOL!

So what do you think of my routine? Is it balanced? Should I be doing more of one thing, less of another? How should it be tweaked/changed for Fat burn?

Any tips/suggestions/comments/improvement ideas are really appreciated!