First..i am 5'7 and weigh 120 pounds

I can curl 40 pounds (+15 bar =55 pounds) 10x and bench press 70 pounds (+45=115 pounds) 10x. Those are my max..and i can't do another rep with full strength.

I heard from numerous ppl that the best way to work out is to not work out everyday, which allows muscles to heal..but i was wondering..wat if u work out everyday..but u work out a different part of your body everyday? For example..

Day 1 (Mon, Fri)
Chest (8-12 reps; 1 set)
1) weighted pushups
2) inclined fly
3) bench press
4) declined dumbbell press
5) inclined dumbbell
6) declined fly

Day 2 (Tues, Sat)
Biceps; triceps (8-12 reps; 1 set)
1) two-hand triceps extension
2) inclined dumbbell curls
3) dumbbell curls
4) curl bar
5) hammer curls
6) reverse wrist curls
7) wrist curls

Day 3 (Weds)
Abs
1) Barbell Twist
2) Twist Crunch
3) Basic Crunch
4) Knee up Crunch
5) Bicycles
6) Frog Crunch
7) Knee Raise

Day 4 (Thurs, Sun)
Legs and back
1) Step Ups
2) Single-leg Pelvic Lift
3) Lunge
4) Stiff Leg Deadlifts
5) Squat
6) One arm Dumbell
7) Bent Over Row
8) Upright Row
9) Barbell Deadlift
10) Back situps

but..everyday i do a normal

Reverse Lunge (2mins)(no weights)
Leg Lift (3mins)(no weights)
Narrow Pushups (1min)(no weights)
Crunches (3mins)(no weights)
Chair Dip (1min)(no weights)

Every week.. i can either add another set to my routine or increase the load..Is this an efficient way to get a full body work out without harming my body? I was wondering if this way a more effective way:

Week 1 (days 1,3,5,7): chest
Week 2 (days 1,3,5,7): triceps biceps
Week 3 (days 1,3,5,7): abs
Week 4 (days 1,3,5,7): legs stomach

Or..are both ways bad?? If there is a better routine u can give me..please do so..and also give me any pointers that u can give me..thx!

Well........work a healthy diet into your life........coz it really helps with workout. Also don't strain yourself or please don't take steroids or supplements........i'm told they do more harm then good.

Sup STK, let me try and give you some pointers you might not already know about working out. First off, working out everyday does not only tire your body out, but you will start to get sick of going every single day in the near future. I've been working out for quite a while now, and right now I'm sticking to 3 days on, 1 day off... here is my routine.

Day 1
Chest - 4 Exercises, 4 Sets each
Triceps - 2 to 3 exercises, 3-4 sets each

Day 2
Back - 4 Exercises, 3-4 sets each
Biceps - 2 to 3 exercises, 3-4 sets each

Day 3
Shoulders - 4 Exercises, 4 sets each
Legs - 4 Exercises, 4 sets each

Day 4
OFF

And repeat...

I have seen the most improvement from this routine, however, if you just started to work out you don't want to overdo it, workout light for 2 to 3 months, then you can start adding more sets and exercises.
I like to work same muscles groups the same day (chest and triceps, back and biceps) cuz if you do back one day and biceps the next day, your biceps will already have gotten a work out from doing your back exercises, and you want to give your muscles time to rest.

Most important for gaining weight... EAT ALOT! Around 6 small meals a day is important, I eat around 2 hours before I workout, and immediately afterwards. You can try the weight gainers and shakes, but I'm doing good without supplements, I'm too lazy to use them.

Hey bigjimslade! STK, take his advice too, he's a STRONG dude! Adam, hope to see you at Ferry bro!!!!! Peeze.

ID

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I am a DJ.

hey man, first its good to see that someone is more motivated than i am...haha

sounds like you are pretty new at this. you should try and read as many fitness magazines as possible to get an idea of the different routines out there and just to get a general understanding of the body and what stimulii it responds too. if you see me now you'll laugh cos i am one out of shape pathetic piece o crap, but in my second year of university about 4 years ago, I was shredded. I really chunked out and made a new years resolution to get in shape and i went hardcore for about 8 months of working out 6 days a week. My program included really crazy protein dieting. It really is not sustainable, because eventually the body cannot resist. You sound pretty light and my routine would not work for you since you would probably want a bit of mass. All I can say is keep the reps lower 6 to 8 range, increase your sets since your reps will be fewer. Minimize the rest in between and use supersets to develop aerobic capacity as well. Supersets involve not resting between sets but does not mean working the same muscle group. Example; supersets I used to save alot of time and help develop some cardio without running etc.

Bench Press (10 reps), after finishing the tenth rep, don't rest go straight to the lat pulldown and do 10 reps, then back to bench, then back to lats until you get you desired number of sets in. It sounds easy or not really beneficial because you will get tired and lift less weight. REMEMBER: Less is more. This will be so intense that you will be drained by the end of your workout and will have accomplished way more than the other idiots posing at the gym. I used to do a 40 minute workout that accomplished more, gave me more muscle burn and physically exhausted me more than me previous approach was. Rest alot and lift heavier or more reps. Less rest effectively gives you cardio and exhausts the muscle more making it adapt and grow and devlop.

As for how often to workout, I think you are very light and you may want to limit your workouts to 3 times a week if doing a full body workout. If you want to develop some mass and can go to the gym more than 3 days, do 3 days upper body, and 2 days lower. Will make you focus more on specific area which is important when you want to develop some size because your goal is to exhaust the muscle as opposed to just toning it. Use as heavy weight as you can lift for 6 to 8 reps in strict form. If your form sucks use half the weight until the form is good...don't get discouraged by meatheads who make you feel like you are lifting too little.

You are right about being able to work different body parts every day.
But there is a flaw in your proposed plan. Big muscles such as chest and back require compound movements usually. Such exercises such as presses, deadlifts and rows, involve the use of biceps and triceps. You can exhaust these just by doing presses or rows. The general rule is if you work chest one day, try to work your triceps the same day or wait a day between working them. Back and biceps go together as well because to develop back you gotta pull requiring the use of biceps. Also, given your size I would cut out alot of the exercises you have in your routine for the daily routine. If your workout gets boring add some different moves etc to break the monotony but you may want focus on compound movements which work many muscles at the same time and help develop overall strength and mass.

Day 1
Chest, Shoulders & Triceps
Bench Press
Pushups
Millitary Press
Lateral Raises
Upright rows
Dumbell kickbacks

Day 2
Legs and lower back

(start with really light weight until you can do these properly)
Squats
Deadlifts (very easy on the weight again you'll kill your back...this should work your glutes and hamstrings the most)
the rest of your workout for abs and back and legs looks good but I would focus on fewer exercises and just add some of the more concenration exercises later when you are more developed and when you get bored of the core routine.

Day 3 Back (upper)

Bent over rows
One arm rows

I assume you don't have access to a lat machine. Use it if you got one. If not add in bent over lateral raises as well. Also, back is an antagonistic muscle group to the chest and has much more mass. You should work back much more intensely than chest. Evry body loves working chest but neglect back. If you do 5 sets of chest exercises you should strive for at least 5 if not 10 sets of back exercises.

Good luck!


I am just getting back into the workout scene again since my office job has made go from a size 31 waist to 34 size with a squeeze...off to my treadmill

My apologies people

Besides the actually routine...you'll need to remember this too.

1.) Read magazines for tips (I like Men's Health)
2.) Stick to a good, healthy diet...that doesn't mean cutting down your food intake. It means watching WHAT you eat. This is going to be 1/2 the battle!
ie. no fried foods, no carbs after 3-4pm, no chips etc etc.
3.) Consistancy. This is a huge key. Get into a routine and stick with it. Don't make excuses and fake yourself out.
4.) Keep a small gym journal of your progress. It's nice to see after a while if you're actually making progress or not.

That's it from me.
I'm no expert (by far) but this works for me.
Enjoy!

___________________
"...End? No, the journey doesn't end here. Death is just another path...one that we all must take.
The grey rain-curtain of this world rolls back, and all change to silver glass...and then you see it...
...white shores...and beyond...the far green country under a swift sunrise."

keep to that and you wil lbe fit , i hada training program and i failed in 4 weeks , i just kept going to the pub instead , hopefully goto gym tommorow

___________________

" You bet your ass we're all alike... we've been spoon-fed baby food at school when we hungered for steak... the bits of meat that you did let slip
through were pre-chewed and tasteless. We've been dominated by sadists, or ignored by the apathetic. The few that had something to teach found us will-
ing pupils, but those few are like drops of water in the desert."

quote:

Originally posted by Fir3start3r Besides the actually routine...you'll need to remember this too. 1.) Read magazines for tips (I like Men's Health)

that's a joke, right?
I mean how good can a magazine be that has covers like "a perfect 6 pack in 2 weeks", "fit for the summer in 4 weeks", "15 min. workout for a perfect body" and stuff like that.
They are still selling the myth that crunches can make your belly-fat go away. On the other hand, it's probably better than reading Flex, cause that's even more bull.. and nobody is ever going to look like that naturally.

But your tips 2-4, I'll second that! Consistency, diet, gym log. Very important....

___________________

RetroActive 4

quote:

Originally posted by djdawn that's a joke, right? I mean how good can a magazine be that has covers like "a perfect 6 pack in 2 weeks", "fit for the summer in 4 weeks", "15 min. workout for a perfect body" and stuff like that. They are still selling the myth that crunches can make your belly-fat go away. On the other hand, it's probably better than reading Flex, cause that's even more bull.. and nobody is ever going to look like that naturally. But your tips 2-4, I'll second that! Consistency, diet, gym log. Very important....

Heh...no I don't actually fall for any of that. But the tips they give about the exercise itself is usually pretty good.
Now the 2 week part? Yea, that's sketchy and I don't believe it either.
They usually have some good articles in their though (beside the workout ones I mean...)

___________________
"...End? No, the journey doesn't end here. Death is just another path...one that we all must take.
The grey rain-curtain of this world rolls back, and all change to silver glass...and then you see it...
...white shores...and beyond...the far green country under a swift sunrise."

First of all:
http://www.cyberpump.com is the best resource for working out and weightlifting. They have Q&A, articles, etc. Check that out.

Secondly: the biggest mistake people make, is not letting your body REST and RECOVER properly. They think that if they exercise 3-4 times a week, they will get stronger. WRONG! Your body needs to rest adequately, because: muscle growth occurs when you are resting, or sleeping. NOT when you exercise. This is very important!

Thirdly: the single best exercise for increasing your strength, FAST, is "negative pull-ups". Start in the "up" position of a pull-up (i.e. over the bar), then VERY SLOWLY lower your body, maintaining control at all times. This exercise is extremely difficult and severe, but if you do 8-10 very slow "negatives" every 4-5 days, your strength (biceps, back, chest) will increase so much that you will be AMAZED!..

NOTE: Do NOT perform this exercise very often, because your body must recover properly, as mentioned above. Give your body a lot of rest, eat properly, and you will get very, very strong!

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Let me continue with what I posted above and give you some more background.

Everything in human anatomy is based on adaptation. When you stress your body during a hard exercise, the muscle tissue becomes damaged temporarily. Then, during recovery, the body ADAPTS to the recent stress and grows new muscle tissue that is not only good again but also BIGGER than the previous one! This occurs because the body adapts itself to stress, so that next time it will deal with the stress more effectively.

Adaptation -- the body's mechanism for growing BIGGER muscle, to deal with similar stress -- is very important for two reasons.

First, as you can see, if you switch to heavier weights, or do harder exercises *over time*, the muscles will grow more and more, each time adapting to the stress better and better. This is why you gradually become stronger and are able to do more reps.

SECOND -- very important! This process occurs naturally, it is "wired" into human bodies, but it will work !! ONLY !! if you give the body plenty of rest, and enough time to recover. You MUST, absolutely must, rest as much as possible! Otherwise, when you do lots of exercises, you'll be very disappointed to find that nothing seems to work, that you're tired, fatigued, etc.

Give your body plenty of rest and exercise twice a week, "to failure" (i.e. intensively), but NOT MORE! stk, in light of what I just said, your routine looks TERRIBLE. You exercise way too much and you won't make any gains. Gotta let your body recover and adapt! Just do a twice-a-week schedule with very demanding exercises like "negatives." Then you'll see results.

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quote:

Originally posted by djdawn that's a joke, right? I mean how good can a magazine be that has covers like "a perfect 6 pack in 2 weeks", "fit for the summer in 4 weeks", "15 min. workout for a perfect body" and stuff like that. They are still selling the myth that crunches can make your belly-fat go away. On the other hand, it's probably better than reading Flex, cause that's even more bull.. and nobody is ever going to look like that naturally. But your tips 2-4, I'll second that! Consistency, diet, gym log. Very important....

Their cover page is typical american style...bigger faster, harder, better, less time, less work etc. Somewhat overrated but if you read the article referred to on the cover, the article does offer a more realistic timeline of when to anticipate results. I agree they shouldn't say you'll have a six pack in 3 weeks...they should say, you'll tighten up your midsection and notice some fat loss around your midsection in 3 weeks...but typical American media. Bullshit as usual.

Again sorry for my earlier long post people...I just realized how painfully long it was...

Wish me luck I am starting a new fitness routine again, as I have been out of it for too long. I just set-up all my new fitness equipment at my house (cost me an arm and a leg damnit), now I got no excuses (too far to get to the gym, I got no time at all etc.).