# How do I create a workout routine? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 22, 2009, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-create-a-workout-routine/507271 "2009-08-22T02:18:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 2\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Toxylon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f05b48/32.png) [@Toxylon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toxylon)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2009, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-create-a-workout-routine/507271/21 "2009-08-24T12:09:14Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > Yeah, it’s called eating too much. Somehow I don’t think you can put on 20 lbs of lean muscle mass a year simply by lifting 3 hours a week. Let’s shed some light here to dissipate the doubts. I didn’t weigh 140 lbs. three years ago but six years ago, at age 26. Back then I wasn’t just thin, I was extremely thin (I’m 5’11" tall) and had very little muscle mass. I have narrow shoulders, long limbs, very small hands and thin wrists (actually my wrist size equals average 12-year-old-male’s, or the wrist of average women)\*. A full-blown ecto. Three years ago when I resurrected my weight training hobby, I weighed 160 pounds. This summer, at my heaviest, I weighed in at 202 lbs. Now, after increased cardio for the past two months, I’m down to 194 lbs. So, 34 pounds of mass increase in three years, 62 pounds in six. Not all of it is muscle. Everyone knows un-enhanced muscle building does not happen without an increase in bodyfat: you gain both and then proceed to lose the fat while trying to keep the muscle. While happily bulking for the past several years I have lost my sixpack and easily have 10 lbs. of extra fat around my once-27" waist, but couldn’t care less since the ladies don’t. In terms of muscle development, just today a friend commented on my “dramatic change” in the past three years. We’re brutally honest with each other, so fat gains weren’t brushed under the rug. But the fact remains that I’ve greatly increased my muscle mass, strength and conditioning by just three hours of training per week. - why do I know this? Many classic physical culture formulas for ideal proportions start on the individual’s wrist circumference. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2009, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-create-a-workout-routine/507271/22 "2009-08-24T15:10:31Z")
> [@Interconnected\_Series\_of\_Tubes](#): > > This comment is extremely dismissive and a little misinformed. Without any knowledge of his bodyfat or routine you’ve got no idea what kind of gains he’s talking about. Fair enough. > [@Interconnected\_Series\_of\_Tubes](#): > > Just out of curiosity, can you preform a proper squat? Yes, I am in reasonably good shape. My routine consists of running about 3 miles and heavy weights at the gym about 3 times a week. If there isn’t an an aerobics class in the training room I might also hit the heavy bag for about 20 minutes too. On off days I might do a 30 minute total body cardio/strength routine (pushups, light dumbells, etc) or run hills or stairs for leg strenght. I’m not working though so I have a lot of free time. Actually one thing I did have to worry about at first was overtraining. You don’t want to work out so much the muscles don’t have time to regenerate. > [@Mojo Pin](#): > > You mean endomorphic? I thought that ecto-meso-endo model was kind of a crock of bs? I know body builders seem to like it, but you might as well say “skinny, medium, fat” and lose the weird psychological profiling baggage I would say “tall & lanky”, “medium”, “short & squat”. People do have different builds but it’s not necessarily an indication of how in shape they are. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-create-a-workout-routine/507271.md?page=1)