Quote:
Originally Posted by pman10
Sorry it took me so long to reply. Thanks for all the advice, I really appreciate it.
Goal is just to get into shape and moderately bulk up and get some tone into my muscles. I have a BMI of ~20 with little to no muscle, so you can tell that I'm pretty damn skinny. It's probably too early to put numbers to it, but I'd like to gain 20-30 lbs of muscle.
I'm about 1.5 months into this thing, doing it at a pretty leisurely pace (I hit the gym 3-5x/week).
I've split up my workouts into two separate days:
Day A: Back/Biceps/Quads/Gluts -> this means squats, bicep curls, triceps, rowing, lower back, and a Glut exercise that someone taught me (leg lifts is the name?). I'd like to add deadlift but I'd like to have someone walk me through it in person first.
Day B: Chest/Shoulders/Abs -> that means bench press, chest press, crunches
On top of that, I run 20 minutes (2-3 miles) or bike 1 hr outside (battery park to GWB and back) before each workout.
So far, progress is good. I've gained about 5 lbs over 1.5 months, which appears to be all or mostly muscle. I'm also trying to combine it with an effective diet: turkey or chicken for dinner, pasta or sandwich for lunch, no sodas, no booze, fruits + cereal as snacks.
I'll just add that I've skipped calves/lower legs for now -> my gastrocnemius is pretty solid since I've been running for the past 6 or 7 years and used to play bball.
Any more suggestions, folks? Anything I should add or remove?
P.S. - You're right Bill, Bodybuilding.com is a great resource. Helped me correct my form
|
I am a former College FB player and black belt. So here's my $0.02:
Day A is fine.
Day B you should split into B (Chest) & C (Shoulders).
Day D - legs
Day E - Off
(Cardio at least 3x per week after weights and you'll need to carb up in order to maintain energy).
Sets should be as follows once you gain enough strength:
At least 5 sets each exercise = pyramid style, so set 1 = 60% of max wt, Set 2= 70% max wt, Set 3 = 80 % max wt, Set 4 = 90% max wt, Set 5 = 60% max wt. This equates to = reps Set 1 (8reps), Set 2 (6reps), Set 3 (4reps) Set 4 (1-4reps), then set 5 @ least 10 reps. Once you are able to lift 4 reps of Set 4 move up in overall wt.
This can be applied to each major exercise...EG: bench (flat & incline), Shoulder press (barbell & dumbell), Lats (wide pull & narrow), Leg press.
The objective of this type of routine is to maximize your strength while increasing mass.
Remember to warm up for 5 minutes before and stretch after your routine. Good luck and you may want to change up your routine on occasion.