calorie surplus to add muscle, calorie defecit to lose fat

That’s a nice summary.

Your routine won’t build mass without the calories to support it. If you don’t want to bulk up, don’t eat more.

Train as you always did.

no real expertise here on what quantity/weight to lift,
and not wanting to be over-cautious but just a reminder that if using a bar on your own it could be a problem if you get into difficulty for whatever reason…
go with dumbells initially ??

Dumbbells are worse without a spotter. If you start to lose balance there’s no-one to correct you.

Some terrible advice here and some good advice also! Sad thing is there will be loads of contradicting posts after this and you wont know what to think. It’s hard to give you advice unless we know your goals and if you are factoring this in with a cycling training program at the same time. If you are then your weight training programme will have to be quite different to say a bodybuilders. As others have said I would go for compound exercises (google this) such as the stronglifts programe but reduce the weight and up the reps to allow recovery to fit in with cycle training. Avoid isolation exercises such as bicep curls.You probably know this if you have a background in training anyway. There are some excellant books on factoring in weight training with cycling that include the diet etc. I think the one I have used is “how to go wheely fast”

I’ve done a lot of programs thanks. I’m not an expert but I know better than to recommend a heavy strength program to an older bloke with heart problems who just wants to get in better shape

Fair enough. What OP does is up to him/his doctor, no-one can given an internet diagnosis about what level of exercise he’s capable of doing. He DID start this thread specifically about gym/weight training though, and I’m still of the opinion that if you’re not going to go heavy, you’re wasting your time and will be better off riding your bike or going for a nice walk.

The saying go heavy or go home lives true. If you don’t do a heavy weight you won’t build any mucle. Lifting heavy allows you to keep mucle while losing weight which we all want. losing weight without lifting means you lose mucle mass as well so you end up lighter with close to same levels of body fat…

Depends what you mean by heavy. Have a look at the physiques of gymnasts and swimmers.

To be honest quite a bit of bodyweight stuff I would count as “heavy”, dips/pullups/etc and probably a lot of stuff gymnasts do. The human body has a fair amount of mass to it. As for swimmers, well here is a quote from Phelps:

“In preparation for Beijing, I started adding weightlifting to my dry-land work,” Phelps says. “Since then, we’ve expanded the amount of weights I am using, and I’m running more than I ever have. Pushups and pullups have also always been essential.”

Certainly the swimmers I see in the pool who don’t also lift do not look particularly muscular. I would be very surprised if most sports people who look muscular (including gymnasts) get that way without lifting some heavy weights.

To be honest quite a bit of bodyweight stuff I would count as “heavy”, dips/pullups/etc and probably a lot of stuff gymnasts do.

Fair enough. Dips and chins at bodyweight are light as far as I’m concerned. Anything you can do more than 10 of is light.

Here’s Johnny Weissmuller. I doubt very much he trained with weights and I’d guess he’s got the kind of physique the OP is talking about:

Yeah, but whipping out a 1-in-a-million genetic freak (in the nicest possible way!) doesn’t really prove much does it? 🙂

He’s no genetic freak. 😆

There are endless example of people with a ‘beach body’ who don’t lift heavy weights.

Heavy weights are only mandatory* if you want to get unusually big or unusually strong.

*No reason not to use them, you just don’t have to.

Wow, look at what you have done now Ton, been away for ages come back with threads galore & an instant bun fight on training!!

I wont give any advice, I think you have had enough for a lifetime here.

wow, some of you really get tetchy about this stuff

lay off the drugs doods.

Ton – my tuppence worth, find a nice simple easy to remember set of bodyweight exercises (movements and statics) and do them three times a week.
keep up the healthy eating and good luck with your op, when it happens.

Has the OP considered kettlebells? Work lots of muscles at the same time.

I did start my post with speak to your Doctor! I would say chins and dips are definitly heavy for ton! 😉

We get women in our gym who say the classic ‘I want to tone up – not get huge muscles’.

Unless you are working to ‘failure’ at each gym session it is very very unlikely your muscles will grow too big! The amount of dedication you need to get huge muscles is …. well huge!

Dedication and testosterone…