[Quadratic]

Hi everyone,

Have just got back from Uni where I've been regularly going to the gym with a friend who's shown me how to do a few free weight exercises. I'm back now and want to join the gym over summer and create a fitness plan which I'll stick to (I'm good at sticking to things if I have a written plan) and hopefully lose some weight and gain muscle.

I've been googling it and the best solution I've found is a full body workout. I've written up a quick plan based on what I've read and wondered if someone could check it over and ok it/recommend changes. I usually just do what my friend tells me to do, so really just wanting some confirmation in that what I'll be doing is ok.

Basically the jist of what I read said do the 4 "full body" exercises first, then the 4 smaller parts afterwards, and mix the order up a bit each time and also change what exercise you do each time. The plan is to do 3 sets of 6-10 reps on each exercise. I've put together the following based on this and also based on what exercises I know how to do:

Monday

• Chest - Bench Press
• Back - Lat Pull Down
• Shoulders - Military Press
• Legs - Run 20-30 mins. (at end of workout)
• Biceps - Bicep Curl (Bar)
• Triceps - Skullcrusher
• Calves - Resistance Machine
• Abs - Crunches + Plank

Run Tuesday through Thursday for 30-60 minutes each day.

Friday

• Chest - Incline Bench Press
• Back - Unsure of name, see below (†)
• Shoulders - Seated Dumbbell Press
• Legs - Squats
• Biceps - Bicep Curl (Dumb Bells)
• Triceps - Cable Tricep Extension With Rope
• Calves - Resistance Machine
• Abs - Crunches + Plank

† Lay down on raised bench pulling up bar with weights, sort of bench press but face down

Yeah so hopefully my lack of knowledge is apparent now. Really appreciate the help

Thanks!

[catjaum]

how many sets you going to do of each?









actually it doesn't matter what you say.....its a lame routine......

why not split your workout into 2 (upper body without back and lower body with back), and do one on monday and the other on friday.....

its still a lame routine, but way better then the original

[Quadratic]

(Original post by catjaum)
how many sets you going to do of each?









actually it doesn't matter what you say.....its a lame routine......

why not split your workout into 2 (upper body without back and lower body with back), and do one on monday and the other on friday.....

its still a lame routine, but way better then the original

Plan is 3 sets of each, 6-10 reps (increase weight when doing 10,10,10)

And in what way is it lame? Does it miss out on any of the major muscles?


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[silent ninja]

(Original post by Mario Balotelli)
What I mean to say is that I'd probably concentrate on doing shoulder exercises like shoulder presses and lateral raises say on mondays, and then chest exercises eg. bench press on wednesdays, and then biceps + triceps on fridays. I wouldn't be doing compound exercises like deadlifts, pull ups etc. so would this mean I wouldn't build much muscle and just get fat?

What's your obsession with big shoulders? Don't you want a physique in proportion?

[tooosh]

(Original post by Mario Balotelli)
What I mean to say is that I'd probably concentrate on doing shoulder exercises like shoulder presses and lateral raises say on mondays, and then chest exercises eg. bench press on wednesdays, and then biceps + triceps on fridays. I wouldn't be doing compound exercises like deadlifts, pull ups etc. so would this mean I wouldn't build much muscle and just get fat?

You would put muscle on but still at a lower proportion to someone who worked everything. And we all love this guy, but no-one wants to look like him.

[tooosh]

(Original post by Quadratic)
snip

I think you underestimate how long that routine will take!

[1992dean]

why dont you want to work everything?
above you said shoulders but then only training them once a week, no reason why you cant train more.

as people have said bodybuilders dont miss out body parts and they do the big lifts.

as for a post workout meal you can eat 0 calories or 1000 calories it is your choice

skinny and new to weights....

eat

lift heavy

train well

[Quadratic]

(Original post by tooosh)
I think you underestimate how long that routine will take!

Ive been doing a similarly long routine in 2-2:30 hours and that's in a very busy gym. Can only really make it those 2 days do want to cover as much as possible


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[RawJoh1]

(Original post by Mario Balotelli)
What I mean to say is that I'd probably concentrate on doing shoulder exercises like shoulder presses and lateral raises say on mondays, and then chest exercises eg. bench press on wednesdays, and then biceps + triceps on fridays. I wouldn't be doing compound exercises like deadlifts, pull ups etc. so would this mean I wouldn't build much muscle and just get fat?

Ah OK. So what you mean is you don't want to work back and legs. You just want to work chest/shoulders/arms. The compound vs isolation thing is really a distraction (shoulder press and bench press are both compound movements, but you want to do them).

I would not recommend doing that as you will create imbalances that could lead to postural problems/injury. However, lots of people do do what you propose, and they do get bigger arms, bigger shoulders, bigger chests etc. Could just be good genetics, but I doubt it's that in all cases.

I would recommend you train your entire body.

[EonBlueApocalypse]

Why would you just want to have big shoulders, you'll look stupid as hell. Don't be one of those guys, train your whole body.

[HFerguson]

(Original post by Mario Balotelli)
but I'm only interested in getting bigger in certain areas eg. my shoulders.

not a good idea mate

[jonnny]

I'm going away to do volunteer work in a foreign country for 7 months in January and have decided that I would like to bulk up as much as possible until then.

Current height: 6 foot 2
Current weight: 79 kg

Since my gym does not have the equipment to do squats + bench press (and there are no other gyms near me - I live in the middle of nowhere), I have decided to do a very much bastardised version of starting strength, with a focus more on the upper body than the standard routine. My planned routine is as follows.

Workout A:

3 x 5 leg press
3 x 6 dumbbell bench press
1 x 6 machine chest press (so I can go to failure)
3 x 5 deadlift
2 x 12 barbell shrugs
2 x 8 tricep dips

Workout B:

3 x 5 leg press
2 x 8 calf raises (on the leg press)
3 x 6 military press
3 x 6 barbell rows
2 x 8 lat pulldowns (working up to chin ups as I can't do them yet)

I will do this routine 3 times a week with the two workouts alternating.

What are your opinions on this routine? Is this a decent workout to bulk up? Obviously I will be eating plenty and drinking protein shakes. I would also be interested to hear your opinions on which way to do the lat pulldowns - palms facing me or facing away?

Many thanks for your responses

[AMG44]

leg me get this righ, you plan on doing leg press 3 times a week?


good night sweat prince.

[BKS]

That has nothing to do with SS If you hadn't mentioned it I wouldn't have assumed you'd even looked at it first

Don't deadlift 3x5, 1x5 is more than enough

[HFerguson]

(Original post by AMG44)
leg me get this righ, you plan on doing leg press 3 times a week?
.

whilst I can't advocate leg press, and prefer squats, what's wrong with doing it 3 times a week? legs are larger muscles so don't need as much rest and can be trained more often

[AMG44]

I an avid believer of doing more than 5 reps on dead lift as 6-12 is that of maximise musical growth, if you’re a beginner do 3 sets, move on to 4 sets later. SS is designed for people starting out in weight lifting; I for one do never want to be called a weight lifter. Rippetoe states don’t change the program yet people do anyway. You should follow a more conventional 4 day split.

[AMG44]

(Original post by HFerguson)
whilst I can't advocate leg press, and prefer squats, what's wrong with doing it 3 times a week? legs are larger muscles so don't need as much rest and can be trained more often

Spend some time researching, I get major DOMS after doing legs(Delayed onset muscle soreness). You're workout has 6 exercises, while SS has 3,see where this is going.

Barbell Squat vs. Leg Press vs. Hack Squat
http://voices.yahoo.com/barbell-squa...28.html?cat=50


The Starting Strength Novice/Beginner Programs
http://startingstrength.wikia.com/wi...ginner_Program

Try something like this:
http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=4195843

[chickenonsteroids]

I didn't know this thread existed.

I want to do a 3 day split (I'll probably up it to a 4 day split as I start working out more) so I'm just wondering what my split should be.

At first I had:

1 - biceps, abs, chest
3 - legs and shoulders
5 - triceps, traps and back abs

But I think I'll change it to

1 - chest, triceps, shoulders
3 - legs
5 - biceps, lats, back

Is anyone more efficient than the other? I can write down the exercises I was considering but a lot of them look really similar lol

[The Blind Monk]

(Original post by chickenonsteroids)
1 - biceps, abs, chest
3 - legs and shoulders
5 - triceps, traps and back abs

But I think I'll change it to

1 - chest, triceps, shoulders
3 - legs
5 - biceps, lats, back

Is anyone more efficient than the other? I can write down the exercises I was considering but a lot of them look really similar lol

It's not completely clear but it is normal to write your split out in the order in which it will be performed. So in general, it would be wise to put chest before biceps or abs and back before triceps as bench presses/deadlifts/bent over rows are more energy consuming than tricep extensions or curls.

The classic chest, legs, back split is better than the first split you designed yourself. There's less overlap so there's more recovery, which is useful for this particular style of training (once a week per bodypart and blitz yourself as opposed to a more strength training approach with higher frequency and lower volume per workout.)

If you think it's pretty similar it's because most bodybuilding isn't that complicated for beginner-intermediate trainers. Get strong(er) on key excercises, learn to develop a mind muscle connection and do some volume to fill in the gaps and get bigger. So you need to learn how to do excercises in a way that agrees with your joints.

[chickenonsteroids]

(Original post by The Blind Monk)
It's not completely clear but it is normal to write your split out in the order in which it will be performed. So in general, it would be wise to put chest before biceps or abs and back before triceps as bench presses/deadlifts/bent over rows are more energy consuming than tricep extensions or curls.

The classic chest, legs, back split is better than the first split you designed yourself. There's less overlap so there's more recovery, which is useful for this particular style of training (once a week per bodypart and blitz yourself as opposed to a more strength training approach with higher frequency and lower volume per workout.)

If you think it's pretty similar it's because most bodybuilding isn't that complicated for beginner-intermediate trainers. Get strong(er) on key excercises, learn to develop a mind muscle connection and do some volume to fill in the gaps and get bigger. So you need to learn how to do excercises in a way that agrees with your joints.

Ah thanks. That's quite helpful. I'm not sure what order I'll do the exercises in.

But I have an issue with some exercises. Like for the bench press do you need a spotter all the time? I don't have a partner so I'm not really sure whether I should do it. Also with squats I can't do them properly because I have an ankle problem but I've been doing body weight squats so I can hopefully in corporate them later on. Does it matter? I feel like I've omitted quite a few of core exercises because of injuries.

Sorry for the questions. I'm new to this