General Workout Routines and Questions

[Bram Turismo]

I now deadlift my own bodyweight, 85 kilos 👍

They were brutal though, taking squats and deadlifts on the same workout at these kind of weights are getting incredibly hard. My legs feel like I've been cycling for 3 hours...

 

[Der Alta]

I now deadlift my own bodyweight, 85 kilos 👍

They were brutal though, taking squats and deadlifts on the same workout at these kind of weights are getting incredibly hard. My legs feel like I've been cycling for 3 hours...

Congrats! Doesn't it feel great to hit a personal goal that you've been striving for?

Next up, 2X body weight. Seems impossible, but I'll bet that you hit it in less than a year. I'm right on that edge now. The most I've done is 375lbs for a max, and I currently weight 190lbs.

 

[Bram Turismo]

Congrats! Doesn't it feel great to hit a personal goal that you've been striving for?

Next up, 2X body weight. Seems impossible, but I'll bet that you hit it in less than a year. I'm right on that edge now. The most I've done is 375lbs for a max, and I currently weight 190lbs.

It feels fantastic!

I was about to achieve it April '09, but due to the start of summer holiday I never got around achieving it. Next goal is 100kg, then 120, then 150, up to 2x bodyweight. Plan for squats are the same, although those will take much longer to get there. As for benchpresses, I've set a new personal record at only 52,5kg, showing just how bad I am at this exercise. The day that I will hit bodyweight on the benches will be probably my most favourite short-term goal achievement 👍

 

[NLxAROSA]

Well, I'm going pretty strong with my current schedule, I made some small adjustments, but so far, it's working out just great. I actually gained a bit of power and fat is flying off. My biceps and shoulders are bulging, despite not training them seperately. Doing those compound excercises really pays off. 👍 Too bad I'm going to have to buy new pants though, my old ones are way too wide now...

My food intake is also very strict at the moment, which means no alcohol (at all) and no fast sugars/carbs (unless at breakfast or immediately before or after workout). Add to that lots of proteins. I'll post my diet later on. Anyway, here's the schedule. It's a three day schedule, which usually is executed once a week, unless I have the luxury of an extra training day.

Day 1 (chest/back):

- Bike 20 minutes at HR of 130/140 (warmup)

- Benchpress (4 sets)
- Lying Pec fly Dumbbells (4 sets)
- Dumbbell pullover (4 sets)

- Bent over row (4 sets)
- Cable pull down (4 sets)
- Seated row (4 sets)

- Crosstrainer 25 minutes at HR of 140/150

Day 2 (legs):

- Bike 20 minutes at HR of 130/140 (warmup)

- Squats (4 sets)
- Straight Leg Straight Back Deadlift (4 sets)
- Leg extension (4 sets)
- Hamstring curl (4 sets)

- Crosstrainer 25 minutes at HR of 140/150

Day 3 (cardio fitness):

- Bike 20 minutes at HR of 130/140 (warmup)
- Bench press bar only (50 reps, 4 sets)
- Bent over row bar only (50 reps, 4 sets)
- Crosstrainer 25 minutes at HR of 140/150

 

[Bram Turismo]

Good to hear the progress is going great! 👍

I haven't set a foot in the gym this entire week because I'm sick. Went swimming last week Friday, and I was so stupid not to bring my jacket because the sun was shining quite strong. But of course it's still winter, and -15C is -15C, and I got a cold during the course of the weekend. Been going around with a headache the entire week, have no energy and no appetite. Last place I want to spent time when I'm sick is in the gym to finish half-arsed workouts and get even worse. I'm praying I'll be fit on Monday, but it's Friday night, and I'm still no good to go

 

[NLxAROSA]

I always hate that, when you really don't feel sick enough to stop training, but you know you should, because else it will only get worse. 👎

 

[TB]

An overview of my elliptical machine workouts from Jan 23 to last night:

In that time, I've used 10 different programs (ranging from I-need-a-day-off-but-don't-want-to-skip-it easy (seen where the distance is high but the calories burned are low) to dear-god-kill-me-now difficult (low distance, high calorie burn)), missed 5 days, racked up a total distance of 36.48 (I'm assuming that's miles) burned, based on 3500 calories/pound, 3.97 pounds and have actually lost closer to 7 pounds. If I can manage to drop another .8, I'll be under 200 pounds.

 

[Bram Turismo]

Great progress TB! 👍

First day of the week for me and I nearly destroyed my back today during squatting. I think I may have taken too long breaks between sets (program says 5 minutes), but for some reason my form vanished in the last set. After the first rep of the last set I felt something in my back, but nothing serious. At the 4th rep I leaned way too much to the front, making me nearly drop the weight. Had to correct and got it up, but my back took way too much of the load. I didn't do the 5th and last rep because I was afraid things might've gone horribly wrong.

Last time I did presses, I was at 30kg and the last reps were hard. Today the presses flew by like nothing, as were the bent-over rows so at least that's good 👍

 

[Vince_Fiero]

Here is the little set-up of free weights I have:

Issue is that it is not where I live , but in my "Holiday home" , so too far for regular use 👎.

 

[Bram Turismo]

I have decided to switch workouts now. Today I felt intimidated by the squats from Monday and didn't really feel like squatting heavy today since my legs are still sore so I thought I'd do some intensive hest and arm work. I did flat bench presses, dumbell flyes, french presses, preacher curls and concentration curls. The pump in both my tri- and biceps was absolutely amazing, like nothing I've ever managed. I am missing an exercise for my chest though as there no pump in my chest. I tried doing flat bench dumbell presses, but I didn't like those at all and I felt like it was the same as doing barbell benches, only more unstable.

So now I wanna continue working out 3 days a week, and my original plan was:

Monday: legs + back
Wednesday: Chest + arms
Friday: Shoulders + abs (+ neck, though it falls under shoulders)

Anyone got some good exercises? There's no chin up bar at my gym, so no hang ups and things like that, I'm too weak for those anyway.

Now I understand what Pako ment with muscle confusion, I've never seen my muscles this big right after a workout.

What I have at the moment:

Legs:
- Squats
- Deadlifts
- Leg curls (laying/seated)
- seated or sanding calf raises
- lunges

Back:
- bent-over rows (DB or barbell)
- one-knee on a bench rows
- standing rows to the chin
- shoulder shrugs

Chest:
- Flat benchpress
- incline benchpress (there does not seem to be a decline on the bench in the gym)
- DB flyes (flat/incline)
- DB press (really, really, really didn't like these)
- butterflies?

Arms:
- concentration curls
- EZ-curls
- preacher curls
- hammer curls
- french press (EZ bar/seated/flat bench)
- bent-over tricept press

Shoulders:
- front-lateral raise
- side-lateral raise
- rear lateral raise
- arnold press
- military press
- standing presses

Abs:
- knee raise
- sit-up
- crunch
- leg raise


These are exercises I have experience with/ done before, so I need to pick a set and go with that. Feel free to recommend one of these, or either introducing me to other exercises. Also, would it be wise to switch between this and Rippetoe's program every other week, or will this just upset my diet too much?

 

[NLxAROSA]

First impression: good schedule. I do have some questions:

- Back includes a lot of rowing, how about switching one for a lat pull or other exercise?
- Chest: how about a DB pullover?
- Arms: 4 biceps and 2 triceps? I would go for 3/3, unless you want to focus specifically on biceps.

Also, if you need inspiration for excercises: click here and click on a muscle for a list of exercises, including synergists, antagonists, etc. and a video of how to execute.

As for 'muscle confusion', try switching exercises (keep the muscle groups as per current schedule) every 6-8 weeks, works really well. 👍

 

[Pako]

On a three day a week program I might suggest grouping the following muscles. For example:

Back with Biceps
Chest with Triceps
Legs with Shoulders

Work abs in where ever your lightest day ends up.

The main focus with Back and Biceps on the same day, your biceps is a major secondary for most of your "pulling" back exercises and keeping them on the same day, opportunity for over training your biceps is reduced. Same goes for Chest and Triceps where triceps is a major secondary muscle group for most of your "pushing" chest exercises.

Glad to hear you are feeling some of the benefits of muscle confusion. That awesome! You might want to consider putting together a two week rotation on exercises. For example,

Week 1 Incline chest workouts, bench, db press, flys.
Week 2 Flat chest workouts, bench, db press, flys.

With in that, you can even variate free weights with cable counter parts. Further muscle confusion can be achieved by hitting parts of the muscle head. For example with biceps, week one maybe you work on supernate grip, close vs wide grip. Next week you concentrate on like a hammer curl for core mass building.

The same concept can be carried to the rest of your muscle groups. Think of each muscle group exercises has three categories, Major, core specific, and finisher.

In this example I would consider Bench as a major, db press core specific, and flys as a finisher. The amount of weight used should help define these exercises.

I would love to elaborate more on this topic but I have to run and get my pump on myself, but I hope this makes some sense and isn't to scattered in concept. Looks good though, and keep at it! Sounds like somethings working for ya.

 

[Bram Turismo]

- Arms: 4 biceps and 2 triceps? I would go for 3/3, unless you want to focus specifically on biceps.

Keep in mind that that was just a list of exercises I have done and that I have experience with

Thanks for the input both of you, it's much appreciated! I generally don't like cable machines that much since I feel I'm getting very little feedback from them, although many say cable machines are among the best machines to work with. I personally feel I'm getting much more out of the exercise when working with DB and barbells. I also hate lat pul-downs either in front or behind the neck; I don't like the tremendous stress these put on my joints, even with a light weight, as if the body isn't designed to do these kind of exercises. Don't be afraid to tell me to do alot of flyes, I love flyes! Tomorrow is shoulder and abs day, I'll see how my own program for tomorrow works out for me.

Plan for shoulders:
- front lateral raise
- side lateral raise
- rear lateral raise

Abs:
- crunches (alternating between centre, left and right)
- knee raises/leg raises (whichever I can reach a decent amount of reps with)

I may need to throw in an extra exercise for my abs, but I tend to get a good pump from sit-ups and leg raises. I especially found leg raises to be very fun and effective. I don't know if I should throw in an extra shoulder exercise, perhaps shrugs, or should I have those at back days? What I do know with these 3 exercises is that I work out all 3 deltoids.

Will get back tomorrow with feedback on the workout 👍

 

[Pako]

I just did shoulders today so here's some feedback of an example workout for them.

Machine Shoulder Press (got up to 315lbs for 6 reps today, woot!)
DB shoulder press
Bent Over machine raises (rear delt)
Super set Cable Side delt raises, front delt db raises.

One thing that seems to help keep the blood in my shoulders, is between sets, to do some band resistance to keep the pump in there.

Next week I will change up the exercises, but will hit four exercises getting all the heads and majors again.

~Cheers~ ♫♪♪♫

 

[Bram Turismo]

That's an insane amount of weight on the shoulder presses, nice job! 👍

Had a good workout as far as my plan goes. Front raises felt good, went lighter on the side raises but they burned already after the first set. Kept the same light weight for the rear raises but could've gone with the front raise weight. Didn't really feel like I worked them out hard so I slid in 3 sets of arnold presses which got really hard at the end.

As for my abs, I'm not quite sure. I really felt the leg raises in the top of my abs. Did some knee raises but they weren't as effective as I was hoping for and the crunches were just akward because I'm used to do them on a bench and not on the floor.

 

[CAMAROBOY69]

Just another minor update from me. I checked in again with my trainer, and he's happy with the progress. My lean mass came up a 1/2 lb, and my body fat dropped another 1/2%. I'm currently 8.6% and standing at 191.8 lbs total.

I also had a bit of an epiphany last night.
In the past 14 months that I've been training, I have concentrated on moving the weight. Which, for a Bodybuilder is the wrong approach. I should have been concentrating on making the muscle contract. I figured this out as I was training side bay side with the gym owner. He can't move the same weight I can, but yet he looks twice my size. And I outweight him by 30+lbs. He's also at 10% bodyfat. he just has spent his time in the gym, ignoring the amount of weight he moves and focused very intently on making the muscle contract.

D'oh!.

Congrats on the progress Der Alta. 8.6% dang you are doing very well. I will have to keep visiting this thread to see the updates with everyone.

Its also nice to see Pako back hitting it hard. 315 shoulder press. That weight is insane like always.

I plan to do some light training up until January 2011. Then I am going to hit it extremly hard for 6 months to prepare for the wedding. I dont have much room in my house for any equipment and I am not ready to commit to the gym. So I will take it slow this year and try to get my back in shape. Because once January 2011 hits its going to be brutal. Its been 7 years since I was in the gym so right now I am just starting with basic triangle pushups, some sit ups, leg lifts, and other minor excercises to build by body back up. Gotta take it slow so I dont slip a disk in my back again. I would also like to lose about 5% of my bodyfat. But I want to stay around 175lbs. I dont want to go any lower than that.

 

[Pako]

Congrats on the progress Der Alta. 8.6% dang you are doing very well. I will have to keep visiting this thread to see the updates with everyone.

Its also nice to see Pako back hitting it hard. 315 shoulder press. That weight is insane like always.

I plan to do some light training up until January 2011. Then I am going to hit it extremly hard for 6 months to prepare for the wedding. I dont have much room in my house for any equipment and I am not ready to commit to the gym. So I will take it slow this year and try to get my back in shape. Because once January 2011 hits its going to be brutal. Its been 7 years since I was in the gym so right now I am just starting with basic triangle pushups, some sit ups, leg lifts, and other minor excercises to build by body back up. Gotta take it slow so I dont slip a disk in my back again. I would also like to lose about 5% of my bodyfat. But I want to stay around 175lbs. I dont want to go any lower than that.

I must have missed something..... "the wedding"? As in your wedding? Sounds like a good plan to take it slow for sure....

Further updates, got up to 495lb shoulder shrugs for 15 reps. This is the most weight I have hung off of my arm since before my injury. I am finding that if I hit it hard one week and take it easier the next, I'm fine. However, if I try to push it two weeks in a row, residual pain starts to set in my left arm which is not good. I think over time, as I continue to progress, I will be able to get back into it fully.

 

[Der Alta]

I just did shoulders today so here's some feedback of an example workout for them.

Machine Shoulder Press (got up to 315lbs for 6 reps today, woot!)
DB shoulder press
Bent Over machine raises (rear delt)
Super set Cable Side delt raises, front delt db raises.

One thing that seems to help keep the blood in my shoulders, is between sets, to do some band resistance to keep the pump in there.

Next week I will change up the exercises, but will hit four exercises getting all the heads and majors again.

~Cheers~ ♫♪♪♫

It must have Been Shoulders Day yesterday, as that was also what I did.

Cut the Cardio warm-up 5 minutes short and did 15 minutes of Treadmill. Then a Superset for Shoulders. 10 sets of 10 reps each. Non-stop.
Side Lateral Raises, squeezing at the Peak for contraction. 15lb dumbells.
Upright Rows, Again with the squeeze. 60lb Barbell.

Second Super set. Again, 10x10- non-stop. Never got up from the bench I sat on.
Prone Dumbell Laterals, 15lb dumbells, and again with the squeeze at the top.
Posterior Bar Raises, 80lb Barbell, Yep, Squeeze at the top of the motion.

And finally, Shrugs.
135x25, 225x15, 315x6 and 405x3

All total, it took just under an hour to hammer through all of it.

On my progress, I took Progress shots last week, and decided I'll not post shots, until I have a tan. Which I start on Monday. So in a few weeks, I'll post up the shots. In addition, I'll be getting my body fat tested next Wednesday. It'll be interesting, as I've been following a new diet for the past two weeks and seen some great changes. My Serratus is clearly visible.

Congrats on the progress Der Alta. 8.6% dang you are doing very well. I will have to keep visiting this thread to see the updates with everyone.

Its also nice to see Pako back hitting it hard. 315 shoulder press. That weight is insane like always.

I plan to do some light training up until January 2011. Then I am going to hit it extremly hard for 6 months to prepare for the wedding. I dont have much room in my house for any equipment and I am not ready to commit to the gym. So I will take it slow this year and try to get my back in shape. Because once January 2011 hits its going to be brutal. Its been 7 years since I was in the gym so right now I am just starting with basic triangle pushups, some sit ups, leg lifts, and other minor excercises to build by body back up. Gotta take it slow so I dont slip a disk in my back again. I would also like to lose about 5% of my bodyfat. But I want to stay around 175lbs. I dont want to go any lower than that.

Thanks for the Kudos. I've been hitting it harder than I ever have before. Recently pushed 900x2 on the leg Press.

Its great to see You back at the gym Pako. Gives all of us small guys incentive.

I must have missed something..... "the wedding"? As in your wedding? Sounds like a good plan to take it slow for sure....

https://www.gtplanet.net/forum/showthread.php?t=125592

Further updates, got up to 495lb shoulder shrugs for 15 reps. This is the most weight I have hung off of my arm since before my injury. I am finding that if I hit it hard one week and take it easier the next, I'm fine. However, if I try to push it two weeks in a row, residual pain starts to set in my left arm which is not good. I think over time, as I continue to progress, I will be able to get back into it fully.

Taking it easy is by all means the way to go. Not that you need my thougths.

My trainer had to drop out of the show, because in the midst of us training hard, he hurt his shoulder and now anything over 135 lbs on a bench hurts. Shoulder training is completely out as well. He has vowed the he will continue to do my workouts though, as it instills some pride and satisfaction on what I'm accomplishing.

This is one thing that I'm apprehensive about. I'm training harder than I ever have before, and heaving weights about that are far heavier than I have even thought of venturing towards. I ended my Leg workout last week with 8 sets on the leg extension. This was after using the Squat Machine for 270x8, 360x6, 450x5, and 540x4. Then it was Leg Presses, 360x25, 540x8, 720x6, and 900x2. The Leg Extensions were 55x25, 90x25, 130x15, 145x5, 160x5, 175x5, 190x5, 205x4.
I'm using weights and sets that are far beyond what I imagined I could do and it makes me a bit nervous about hurting myself. Add on to that, that I'm dropping my body fat down fast, and the potential for disaster is elevated. So I'm extremely careful and aware of the muscle contraction.

Oh, and I set a personal record the other day. 90lb Dumbells for 4 on the Flat bench. I have a clear defining line between my Front Deltoids and my Pecs.

 

[TB]

The numbers you guys are putting up and the results you're seeing is incredible! 👍

Sadly, I did not reach my goal of loosing a meager .8 pounds this week. Just goes to show how important exercise is and when you're sick and don't exercise, the scale doesn't move. I was only on the elliptical twice this week and the session I did on Wednesday, I couldn't finish the 45 minute program - I had to bail with 12 minutes left because I was completely tapped.

Yesterday I had a fever of around 101 and ended up sleeping most of the day - sleeping from Thursday at 5:30pm to 7pm, back asleep by 10pm to 6:30am, asleep at 7:30am to 12:30pm, 3pm to 4:30pm then 10:30pm to 7am this morning. 👎

Hopefully soon I'll be able to get back into my rhythm exercising again soon.

 

[Bram Turismo]

The numbers you guys are putting up and the results you're seeing is incredible! 👍

Agreed. Fantastic numbers both of you, Pako and DA! 👍

Yesterday I was unsure about my ab work, but today I'm more than pleased. Extreme soreness was assured when I got up this morning. My biceps and triceps are still incredibly sore after Wednesday. I've missed this feeling when I worked with Rippetoe's program.

 

[Der Alta]

Thanks guys. I'm treading into unfamiliar territory and amazing my own self.

To continue with the numbers, I did back today. Started with deadlifts at 135lbs x 25, 225x12, 315x2, 375x4. I've only once in my life gone heavier than that. When I was 19, I managed 405x1. I'll post up the rest of the workout in the "Back" thread. Twas a brutal heavy day.

 

[Bram Turismo]

When I was 19, I managed 405x1.

It's people like you who inspire me when I read stuff like this. Such a weight at such a young age is amazing. My sister's boyfriend is 18 and I think his personal 1-rep best at bench is around 315lbs. Amazing stuff for people so young, but I can only envy those numbers and hope that one day I can truly say I am happy with how I look. I am a year older than you were at that time, and my 1 rep best at deadlifts would probably be around 200lbs. This only shows the long journey that is still ahead of me. Exiting stuff!

 

[Der Alta]

Thanks!

But don't let it fool you. As a young kid, I rode my bike nearly every where. A BMX bike. That position, and the exercise I did on it, really strengthened my lower back. In addition, I grew up in the back woods of Vermont. Which means I carried, split and stacked a fair share of Fire Wood, every winter. Plus, growing up on a Farm tends to give you a solid base of muscle.

I may not have looked like I could move the weight, but I certainyl could. The only thing that it didn't do for me, was give me a big chest. I may be able to deadlift loads, but I certainly can't bench press a comparable amount. My personal record was just the other day. 90lb dumbells for 4 reps.

As for your personal best, the only way to know it, is to try it.

my 1 rep best at deadlifts would probably be around 200lbs.

I think you might suprise yourself. How have you done so far?

 

[Pako]

What can I say, had the best chest day since I've been back in the gym.

Flat Bench, got 315 for 4 reps with a spot up to 8 reps.
Incline db press, got up to 100's for 7 reps with a spot up to 10 reps.

There were reps leading up to that, but that is by far the most comfortable I've been and felt the most "normal" since I've been back. The biggest thing was wrist strength. Was not a problem today. YAAAAHOOOOOO!

 

[CAMAROBOY69]

What can I say, had the best chest day since I've been back in the gym.

Flat Bench, got 315 for 4 reps with a spot up to 8 reps.
Incline db press, got up to 100's for 7 reps with a spot up to 10 reps.

There were reps leading up to that, but that is by far the most comfortable I've been and felt the most "normal" since I've been back. The biggest thing was wrist strength. Was not a problem today. YAAAAHOOOOOO!

Holy crap congrats!! Must feel great after the recovery! Man thats some serious weight. 👍

 

[Pako]

Holy crap congrats!! Must feel great after the recovery! Man thats some serious weight. 👍

It does man. I still have some chronic pain in my left arm, but mainly just when I am doing certain curl exercises and only when the angle is just right. I think I have some built up scar tissue I need to break up. I wouldn't go as far to say I am a 100% recovered but I would say I am a good 85% there, which is encouraging. I think the rest of the recovery will be slow at this point now and expect that I will one day just realize it doesn't hurt anymore. To be honest, I give it another 6 months or so. But what the hell, as long as my bench is still doing good, that's all that matters right?

 

[CAMAROBOY69]

I still havent fully recovered from my back injury. Still dont even know exactly what happened to it besides slipping a disk. So I need to get my back built up this year and get in shape. Because when January 2011 rolls around its going to be all strait up mass building and very heavy weights. So I am probably going to lose about 7-10 lbs this year to get rid of fat. Then next year put some serious muscle weight on. At that time I will bulk up for 6 months straight instead of the 3 months that I did 7 years ago.

 

[Pako]

Lots of core exercises for sure! I hate trying to get ripped. Something about the 80% nutrition part that seems so hard for me. I definitely like the bulking and lifting heavy a lot more. To be honest, I want to bulk up to about 250lbs before I start trying to loose body fat. Just about 15 more pounds of muscle weight to go. I figure by this fall or winter, I should be ready to start trimming up. This of course means more cardio, which I hate, but will put it into my daily regiment and scale back the lifting a bit. Shorter sets, lighter weight, better eating habits, and more cardio.... YUCK! But it will be good and a healthy start for 2011.

 

[CAMAROBOY69]

I am the same way I ONLY like to bulk up. Actually I loved it!! So this year will be a very strange change for me because all I have been doing the last 7 years is eating everything in site to maintain my weight. I like to weigh right around 180lbs. So to actually lose a few pounds is going to be disappointing in a way. So I cant wait until January when I can actually start bulking again. Yeah looks like we can both start an interresting year for 2011. I will be posting my workout, gains, bodyfat, and everything else when I start in 2011. For now it will be a little cardio here little this little that. Nothing really worth keeping track of.

 

[Bram Turismo]

As for your personal best, the only way to know it, is to try it. I think you might suprise yourself. How have you done so far?

I've actually never tested my 1-rep max. I should test it soon, but I'm too lazy

I went with Pako's split-up recommendation today and it worked out well for me. Worked out back and biceps today, doing the following:

Back:
- Upright rows
- Benched rows (not sure what they are called, rows with one knee placed on a bench)
- Inverted sit-ups (as I like to call them)

Biceps:
- Concentration curls
- Preacher curls

One question: Do you aim for a straight back through the whole movement in inverted sit-ups or do you actually round your back at the bottom of the movement? Today people were doing inverted sit-ups, and all of them rounded their backs heavily at the bottom. I was told to never, ever round your back in any exercise involving weights...

Oh and 2 exercises for my biceps seems to do the trick pretty good as I didn't even manage all reps on the preacher curls. (Mainly due to doing a very long and concentrated negative on the very last rep, which is HARD)


👍