Make me buff!!

In My Humble Opinion
1

So yeah, I’ve just joined a gym after months of procrastinating and while I’m sure the good people at muscles-on-muscles-R’us (brick shithouse division) know what they’re doing, I decided to take the initiative and design my own workout program. It may seem a bit on the heavy side but I’m in reasonably good shape at the moment and am pretty confident I can handle it. I’d gratefully appreciate any comments and criticisms you may have and will guarantee your personal acknowledgement in my Mr Universe victory speech, provided I’m not too busy tearing phonebooks in half with my eyelids.

Tuesday’s & Thursdays – 11:00am - Arms, Shoulders, Abs:
CARDIO
• 5 Kilometre run.
• 3 Kilometres on exercise bike.
• 2 Kilometres on rowing machine or 10 mins on cross trainer.

WEIGHTS

• 1x10 Bicep curls with 20 Kg Barbell.
• 3x10 Bicep curls with 25 Kg Barbell.
• 1x10 Bicep curls with 30 Kg Barbell.

• 3x10 Tricep extensions with 8 Kg dumbbell.
• 2xMAX tricep dips.
• 3x10 Tricep extension on cable curl machine @ 30 Kg or 3x10 Tricep extensions @ 30 Kg on tricep extension machine.

• 3x10 Deltoid raises with two 8 Kg dumbbells.
• 3x10 Shoulder raises with two 8 Kg dumbbells.

• 3x10 Shoulder press @ 30 Kg on shoulder press machine.
• 3x10 Gorilla press with 20 Kg Barbell.

• 3x30 Stomach crunches
• 3x15 Leg lifts.
• 2x20 Stomach crunches @ 40psi on Ab crunch machine in Kaiser gym

Wednesday & Fridays – 15:00pm – Chest, Legs, Back, Abs.
CARDIO
• 5 Kilometre run.
• 3 Kilometres on exercise bike.
• 2 Kilometres on rowing machine or 10 mins on cross trainer.

WEIGHTS

• 3x10 Bench press @ 30 Kg
• 3x10 Incline bench press with two 10 Kg dumbbells.
• 3x10 Chest press @ 35 Kg on chest press machine or 3x10 Pec fly @ 35 Kg on Pec fly machine.

• 3x10 Leg extensions @ 42 Kg on Leg extension machine.
• 3x10 Leg curls @ 42 Kg on Leg curl machine.
• 3x10 Leg press @ 100 Kg on Leg press machine.
• 3x10 Squats with 20 Kg barbell (ask for help with this one.)

• 3x10 Lat pull downs @ 35 Kg on Lat pull down machine
• 3x10 Seated Rows @ 35 Kg on Seated Row machine
• 2xMAX pull ups

• 3x30 Stomach crunches (or as many as you can do).
• 3x15 Leg lifts.
• 2x20 Stomach crunches @ 40psi on Ab crunch machine in Kaiser gym.

Sunday 11:00am – Mix ‘n match
CARDIO
• 5 Kilometre run.
• 3 Kilometres on exercise bike.
• 2 Kilometres on rowing machine or 10 mins on cross trainer.

WEIGHTS

• 3x10 Bench press @ 30 Kg.

• 3x10 Bicep curls with a 25 Kg barbell.

• 3x10 Squats with a 20 Kg barbell.

• 3x10 Tricep extensions with an 8 Kg dumbbell.

• 3x10 Shoulder press @ 30 Kg on shoulder press machine.

• 3x10 Lat pull downs @ 25 Kg on Lat pull down machine.

• 3x30 Stomach crunches (or as many as you can do).

• 3x15 Leg lifts.
That’s about it. What do you think?
P.S. - Can anyone recommend any protein supplements? Cheers.

2

Congrats, George. I, too, have recently started a workout regimen of my own, primarily consisting of dumbbells and isometrics, like pushups and situps. It’s doing wonders in short order. One of the things I found helpful, though, to get a quick result, was to skip the traditional “reps” process. According to an article I received from my E-Fitness newsletter, some recent research indicates results are quicker, and last just as long, by weight training to point of failure, rather than a set number of reps and sets. Basically, work until you can no longer work that muscle on that exercise. They indicated that this works well, even if you don’t go back and repeat that exercise in multiple sets. So far, I’ve found that to be true. I’m down from 264 to 239 pounds, and my shoulders are finally starting to fill out the pads in my suit jacket. Just something to consider, instead of all of those reps/sets that you have planned. Also, working a particular set of muscles every other day or even only twice a week seems to work just fine, as the body will continue to build muscle when taxed for up to a week after you quit exercising…
Hope some of this is helpful.

3

Seems like a lot of work to me :slight_smile: I’m pretty sure you’ll buff up. Good luck.

4

If you don’t burn out within six weeks, you’ll be setting yourself up for chronic pain and failure down the line. There’s almost no attention to your recovery needs, no attention to the need for balancing work so you don’t fuck up your joints (most notably your shoulders), and no attention to training economy. Shall we address each of those issues briefly?

First, recovery. A good workout places a lot of stress on your body, and it takes time to recover. That recovery time is when muscle growth happens. If you don’t give yourself time to recover, you get no growth. Good programs feature 3-5 days of lifting per week and never have three consecutive days of lifting. Aerobic work is less stressful, but it’s counterproductive to the goal of bulking up, so you have to be careful there. Oh, and your abs don’t have magic recovery capabilities that are missing in other muscles. Train them with the same frequency you would anything else.

Second, your shoulders and other joints. The pectoralis muscles pull your shoulders forward. The latissimi dorsi pull them down. So if you train those muscles with no attention to their opposite numbers, you’re going to end up with shoulders that are forward and down of where they ought to be. It won’t hurt at first, so there’s nothing to keep you from going forward until it does hurt. At that point, you need to spend some serious time on rehab. You need rows and military presses to counterbalance your bench presses and pulldowns, and sometimes you even need to prioritize the former over the latter. Similar ideas apply to other joints.

Third, let’s talk training economy. After about an hour to 75 minutes of weight training, cortisol kicks in, and your workout starts being counterproductive. You don’t want that, right? So you’ve got a little over an hour to get the work you want to do done. The key is to find exercises that give you results, and do them in place of ones that don’t. Deadlifts, squats and flat bench presses are the top three (in that order) and should be the focus of your program. Fill up the rest with other multi-joint heavy movements and a little bit of isolation exercises.

If you want more specific advice, post over on T-Nation. If you’re feeling thick-skinned, post the program you posted here. Oh, and buy their protein supplement. It’s cheap, it’s better for you than a lot of the more expensive powders out there, and it tastes like a $5 milkshake.

5

Way too much cardio. Save the energy for the weight smashing. Go lower reps. Most importantly, keep at it, Consistancy. It takes years with the right program to get “Buffed”.

6

Thanks a million, guys. With your comments in mind, I’ve designed a new workout which I hope will be more effective.

Mondays, Wednesdays, & Friday’s

CARDIO
• 5 Kilometre run.
• 3 Kilometer bike ride.
• 2 Kilometres on rowing machine or 10 mins on cross trainer.
WEIGHTS

• 3x10 Bench press @ 30 Kg.
• 3x10 Incline bench press with two 10 Kg dumbbells.

• 3x10 Bicep curls with 25 Kg Barbell.
• 3x10 Dumbbell hammer curls with two 10Kg dumbbells.

• 3x10 Tricep extensions with 8 Kg dumbbell.
• 2xMAX tricep dips.

• 3x10 Shoulder press @ 30 Kg on shoulder press machine.
• 3x10 Military press with 20 Kg Barbell.

• 3x10 Squats with 20 Kg barbell.
• 3x10 Leg press @ 100Kg on leg press machine.

• 3x10 Lat pull downs @ 35 Kg on Lat pull down machine.
• 3x10 Seated Rows @ 35 Kg on Seated Row machine.

• 3x30 Stomach crunches.
• 3x15 Leg lifts.
• 2x20 Stomach crunches @ 40psi on Ab crunch machine.

This workout is much more stripped down and targets only the major muscle groups (whereas before I was trying to train every muscle to the point of disintegration). I know it’s still a bit cardio heavy but I want to get my body fat percentage to under 12% so I figure I need to get at least 45 mins cardio in there.

So, whaddaya reckon? Is this an improvement or should I confine my exercise solely to one handed bicep curls with dorito’s? :slight_smile:

7

Here’s a sponge. There’s my car. Make it shiny or else!! :smiley:

8

Assuming alot of things (diet, commitment, etc…), this routine would yeild a phsyique more like brad pitt. Very lean not alot of musculature but not scrawny for sure. If that is your goal, then go for it. In terms of supplements, I use Metrx Protein Supplements. Whey Protein (even Isolated) is too tough on my stomach for some reason.
In your new routine, are you doing all these excercises on Monday,Wednesday, adn Fridays? You don’t have them split according to days.

9

It might help if you tell us what your goals are. By buff, do you mean ripped and huge, like Mr. Olympia, or do you want a slender, toned and defined look like Bruce Lee? If it’s the former, I’d say you’ve still got too much cardio in your new workout.

10

The Brad Pitt look works for me. Ideally I’d kinda prefer to be bigger than that but I was reading about the three main categories of body types today and, in retrospect, I don’t think I have the right kind of body for the Mr Universe look as I’m somewhat ectomorphic.

That’s the plan. Hit all the major muscle groups three times a week. Is that a good idea?

11

Not a good idea. You would overtrain and plateau. Assume a more extensive workout 3 times a week separating bodyparts by days.

For example:

Day 1 Chest/Triceps

Flat Bench
Incline Dumbbells
Flys

Tricep pulldowns
Donkeykicks
Dips

Day 2 Rest

Day 3 Legs

Squats
Deadlifts
Calf raises
Leg Extensions

Day 4 Bicep/Shoulders

Straight Bar Curl
Hammer Curls
Dumbell Curls

Seated Press (Behind neck/In front)
Arnold Press (Ooo I love these)
Lateral Raises

… and so on. Experiment around, some people like combining Push/Pull excercises. Example, Do Chest (push) and Back (pull) on the same day. For warmup do your 30 mins of aerobic excersice of your choice. Then a cool down one after for less time. Use just enough effort to work a little sweat, but don’t train for a marathon. Watch what you eat, lifting weights is a good workout in itself and REST! You grow when you rest, not when you lift.

12

If you’re going for under 12% bodyfat, you’re going to need to pay a lot of attention to your diet–in fact, your training almost doesn’t matter compared to how important diet is in a situation like this.

It’s also damn near impossible to lose fat and gain muscle at the same time, so you’re going to have to pick one goal and eat towards it. There’s a lot of good diet info over at the link I posted earlier, so I won’t attempt to cover it.

You’ll also need to be careful to get a lot of sleep, keep your stress down, and not drink too much (as far as physique goes, alcohol’s one of the worst drugs out there).

Just for shits and giggles, here’s a program I wrote for a buddy of mine about a year ago. It’s definitely suitable for maintaining muscle mass on a fat-loss diet:

You should look into interval training for your aerobic exercise, and consider walking in place of running to keep your aerobic fitness up.

13

10 kilometers of cardio 3 times a week? I don’t do that much during cutting season.

Looks like ultra and Burrido have handled your training split, so now ask us about your diet. Or, rather, tell us about your diet. What do you eat? How much? How often? How often can you be picky about what you eat?

You’re looking at between one and two grams of protein per pound of body weight. If you weigh 150, 200g of protein a day a good number to aim for. www.fitday.com helps keep track of your food intake. Quite useful, if a bit tedious to use at first. To bulk, you generally go 25% above maintainence, and then adjust from there.

It’s useful to keep a training diary. Don’t write about your feelings or anything; just keep track of what you do by way of diet and exercise and rest, so when something works, or fails to, you have an idea what not to do anymore.

14

Okay, right. There’s a lot of information to digest here. In fact, I think the topic of digestion might be a good place to start.

ultrafilter

Is that so? I always knew diet was an important factor in any workout routine but I always thought its importance was overshadowed by the amount of Cardio one does. I’d best do a little research, be right back.

<cue jeopardy music>

Woah! Lotta information out there, some of it conflicting, most of it pretty far over my head!

From what I can tell, it seems that correctly managing ones diet to keep my body fat percentage under 12% involves a heck of a lot of time, effort, discipline, and expense. You’ve got to timetable every meal, measure the carbs: protein: fat ratio’s of everything you eat, and keep your caloric intake within tightly defined parameters. Now, I’ve never been one for discipline in eating so I’ve taken the information I’ve read and distilled it into three simple rules which I have creatively termed ‘George’s guide to eating right’.

  1. On a workout day, try to eat about 2500. On a ‘rest’ day try to eat 2000 calories. Don’t ever go under 2000 calories.

  2. Make sure that the food which makes up those 2000 calories is nutritious and low fat. Don’t eat junk food or drink alcohol (man, that’s gonna be tough for me :frowning: ). Basically, eat when you feel hungry but go for apples instead of bags of chips and whatnot.

  3. Try to eat about 150g protein a day (What I’ve read so far indicates that 200g might be a bit much for someone like me).

Now, I know I’m leaving a lot of stuff out. The pro’s recommend having six small meals a day rather than the 3 larger meals most people are used to. That’s too much like hard work for me and I’d never be able to stick to it so I’ve ditched that. Hopefully doing so won’t scupper my plans. I’m just going to eat when I’m hungry and make sure that what I eat is healthy.

As for the protein, I think that if I eat 3 grilled chicken or turkey breasts a day and have one protein shake, that’ll account for about 100g. The rest I’ll make up here and there from all the other stuff I’ll eat.

So, with that in mind, here is what I can see myself eating on a typical day once I’ve started my workout program.

  1. 8:00am - Breakfast - Cereal with skimmed milk.

  2. 13:00pm - Lunch - Four or five Ham and salad sandwiches (Isn’t it amazing how hungry one can get just working in an office? I guess quiet desperation is one hell of a calorie burner :p)

18:00pm - WORKOUT

  1. 20:00pm - Protein shake.

  2. 21:00pm - Dinner - 3 turkey breasts, peas.

I might also throw in the odd apple or orange in there if I fancy it.

Now, I know that doing it this way won’t produce optimal results. However, I do think that I’ll be able to stick to this far more easily than a convoluted diet involving carbohydrate splits and 6-7 daily micro meals. At the end of the day, the only important thing is that I stick with this. I may be eating somewhat counterproductively but, if I stick to my gym training, the benefits will eventually shine through regardless, right?

Am I barking up the wrong tree with this? Or will the diet I’ve roughly outlined above suffice for my purposes? My purposes, in case you’ve decided to skip the previous posts, are to lose fat and increase lean muscle mass. Basically, I did want to become proper buff and uber-muscular, but then I realised that that was impossible for my body type and now I just want to become toned in the Bruce Lee mould.
Burrido

Okay, how about this? I’ve taken the basics of your workout and slightly tailored it to what I think I’d be most likely to stick with.

Monday - Cardio, Chest, Triceps, Abs.

  1. 5KM run.

  2. Bench Press (3x10).

  3. Incline Dumbbell Bench Press (3x10).

  4. Flys.

  5. Tricep Extensions (3x10).

  6. Tricep Dips (2xMax to failure).

  7. Stomach Crunches. (3x30)
    Wednesday - Cardio, Legs, Back, Abs

  8. 5KM run.

  9. Squats (3x10).

  10. Leg Extensions (3x10).

  11. Calf Raises (3x10).

  12. Chin-ups (3xMax to failure).

  13. Deadlifts (3x10).

  14. Decline Stomach Crunches (3x30).
    Friday - Cardio, Biceps, Shoulders, Traps, Abs

  15. 5KM run.

  16. Straight Bar Bicep Curls (3x10)

  17. Military Press (3x10)

  18. Trapezius Shrugs (3x15) - (NB: I’m not sure that’s the proper name for what I’m thinking of. Basically, I’m talking about that exercise where you hold a dumbbell in each hand and slowly shrug your shoulders)

  19. Stomach Crunches (3x30).
    Now, you may be asking why I’m training my abs every workout. The simple answer is that I’m after a six pack (well, I’d settle for a 4 pack, really) in pretty short order. According to what I’ve read (and I could be getting this a little muddled, cos I’ve been doing a lot of reading the last couple of days and some of it’s pretty confuzzling) your muscles need 48 hours to regrow before you can train them again. Way I figure, if I train my abs more often, they’ll grow quicker. All I need to be careful of is to make sure I don’t train them twice within 48 hours.

15

Arse! I pressed submit too soon. I just wanted to add that I really appreciate all the trouble everyone here has gone to in order to help me get in shape. If I should have the good fortune to meet any of you at a dopefest, the drinks are on me!

16

Oops, also wanted to add: Would it be counter productive to my goals if I were to do a little gentle swimming on one or two of my ‘off’ days? It’s just that I think it’d help break the monotony of running and, consequently, help me stick to my gym plan. Thanks in advance for any comments you may have.

17

Having six-pack abs has more to do with your body fat level than your ab training, and you’re still missing any sense of training economy or joint protection. You need to prioritize deadlifts and squats over other lifts. You need to row in equal proportion to your bench presses to keep your shoulders healthy.

18

Resting on your days off is much better for you. If you absolutely have to, do it on a weekend day, like Sunday morning or something.

The workout plan is a good starter. Evaluate it again in a couple months to see if it is productive. Instead of running 5km at the start of the workout, maybe slam it on the end of the workout. Personally I like to save the majority of my energy for lifting. And change it up as well, run on Mondays, bike on Wednesday, stairclimber on Fridays. This will help your body from adapting and gives ya a change of pace.

19

ultrafilter

Yeah, that makes sense. Doesn’t matter how ripped you are if your abs are covered by flab, does it :slight_smile:

When you say I lack training economy, do you mean I’m training too much, or that I’m not training efficiently, or both? How about if I add 3 sets of 10 rows to my Monday workout to counteract Mondays bench presses? Also, would I be successfully prioritizing deadlifts and squats if I added a couple of sets of each to my Wednesday workout? Or should I include some deadlifts and squats on Mondays and Fridays too?

20

I have to question the sanity of a man who’d want to do a 3 mile run, squat and deadlift in the same day. You’re either going to go way lighter on the lifts than you should to accomodate the training stress and volume or you’re going to be spending a lot of time lying down and hyperventilating. :slight_smile:

As for “training economy”…my two cents would be to cut down your volume and get rid of some of the redundant exercises. Your exercise order is kinda off, too–you should be doing the heavy compound stuff first and isolation work later.

If you’re training 3 days a week, i’d pick a full body routine like this:

Squats or Deadlifts (alternate days), 2x10
Military Press, 2x10
Lat Pulldown (if you can do chins, do those instead), 2x10
Bench Press, 2x10
Some kind of row (I do barbell rows, seated cable rows or db rows are good, too), 2x10
Calf Raises, 2x10-12
A couple sets of direct bicep work, like curls, 2x10 (optional)
A couple sets of direct tricep work, like skullcrushers, 2x10 (optional)
Ab work of some sort, 2x10.

Start out light and focus mainly on good form to begin with. After a few months, reduce all those 10 rep sets to 8 rep sets and go heavier. If you’re really feeling adventurous, change the squats/deadlifts and bench to 5x5’s and go really heavy. :slight_smile:

I don’t think working a body part only once a week is very optimal for a beginner–much better to hit each part 2-3 times a week, in my opinion.