I would like opinions on workout plan. Have made several adjustments lately.
Monday, Wed, Saturday-ab work, leg exercises, stretching.
Weight and sprint day
Lift free weights. 5 LB. various over the head, behind the head, curls and a few other moves. 40-50 reps each
Then use the machines at the gym. Leg press-40LB-50-100 times
Abductor-100 out, 100 in. 20LB in. 30LB out.
Curl machine both ways-20lb curls 30-60- times
reverse curls 30 lb. 30-60 times
I use a multigym type machine with various arm weights. Usually 30LB. 30-60 reps.
Not sure what it is called but you rest your arms on it and grip the handles your legs hang and you do leg pull-ups. Do this with legs straight out and then bent bringing knees to chest. 60 times each.
Same days as weights I do walking/sprinting.
I am on the treadmill for 50 minutes. I walk at 4.2 mph. I sprint 5 times during the walk. I run at a fast pace for 2 minutes 7.5-7.8 then I sprint at 8.1 for a minute and a half. Bring it back down and walk until the next sprint.
Tues, Thurs, Sundays-ab work, leg exercises, stretching, elliptical for 12-15 minutes. 40 minutes walking on treadmill at 4.2 mph.
Friday day off.
Would also like to know approximate calories burned doing this and how many calories a day I can eat without gaining.
I am 4' 10" 91 LB.
Pretty active during the day at work also.
workout
Moderators: Boss Man, cassiegose
- you'll put on wt doing sets of 50 and not muscle
- machines are shit, get off them
- adductor machine? you're kidding me
the bad stuff out of the way...
for intervals there's no use doing the "middle" interval as by the time you get to the hardest part, you're already tired...simply choose the spped that has you jogging jsut after a walk then increase to the fastest you can hold...alternate each for 1min x 5 cycles increasing the fast interval speen only
- you
re 91pds, you can eat what you want i'd say...it's almost impossible to be able to find exactly how many cal's you can have without gaining on ounce of wt...try different cal intakes and find out for yourself....if you're not gaining wt now then increase cal's...if you don't gain in 2 weeks, increase again until you do
- your resistance program is absoulte rubbish, i dunno what changes you made but they weren't good one's which makes me shutter to think of the last program....search "your body is a barbell" by alwyn cosgrove and do that as written
Pretty active during the day at work also.
- machines are shit, get off them
- adductor machine? you're kidding me
the bad stuff out of the way...
for intervals there's no use doing the "middle" interval as by the time you get to the hardest part, you're already tired...simply choose the spped that has you jogging jsut after a walk then increase to the fastest you can hold...alternate each for 1min x 5 cycles increasing the fast interval speen only
- you
re 91pds, you can eat what you want i'd say...it's almost impossible to be able to find exactly how many cal's you can have without gaining on ounce of wt...try different cal intakes and find out for yourself....if you're not gaining wt now then increase cal's...if you don't gain in 2 weeks, increase again until you do
- your resistance program is absoulte rubbish, i dunno what changes you made but they weren't good one's which makes me shutter to think of the last program....search "your body is a barbell" by alwyn cosgrove and do that as written
Pretty active during the day at work also.
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littleshelly
- ESTABLISHED MEMBER
- Posts: 211
- Joined: Mon Jun 09, 2008 6:09 pm
Wow, workout is shit 
Ok so for a girl do I want to do less weights and reps?
The abductor machine has really helped ab's. What is wrong with it. Or machines in general? I thought it was good to mix it up between the machines and the free weights.
Right now body is mostly muscle. I mean I have definite tone from lifting like I have been but if it is wrong I want to change. goal is lean and not bulky. I want to tighten ab's a little bit more. arms and legs are pretty much solid muscle right now. The sprinting, I believe is helping butt and the back of legs especially.
How many reps should I do and how much weight?
I looked up the article and some of it looks good but some I don't even know what it is. Never heard of some of the moves.
Thank you for your advice.
Ok so for a girl do I want to do less weights and reps?
The abductor machine has really helped ab's. What is wrong with it. Or machines in general? I thought it was good to mix it up between the machines and the free weights.
Right now body is mostly muscle. I mean I have definite tone from lifting like I have been but if it is wrong I want to change. goal is lean and not bulky. I want to tighten ab's a little bit more. arms and legs are pretty much solid muscle right now. The sprinting, I believe is helping butt and the back of legs especially.
How many reps should I do and how much weight?
I looked up the article and some of it looks good but some I don't even know what it is. Never heard of some of the moves.
Thank you for your advice.
- everyone needs to use a heavy wt and do low to moderate reps per set...a heavy wt is one that allows for the prescribed rep range but only just...sometimes you might not even get there but then you'll work up to it over a session or 2
- the abd machine could not have possibly helped your abs, it doesn't work that way...muscles don lt work in isolation so there's no point training them that way
- machines have a "fixed" range of motion and is never your "natural" range of motion so they are injuries just waiting to happen, plus they don't use 30% the amount of muscles that free wts do...the more muscles you use the more calories you're expending
- you won't bulk, you just don't have the hormones for it (testosterone)...if you want to lean then you need to clean your diet right up, get your portions, nutrients and timing spot on and do intense exercise
- sprints are bloody great
- pop the exercises in youtube and they'll be there
- the abd machine could not have possibly helped your abs, it doesn't work that way...muscles don lt work in isolation so there's no point training them that way
- machines have a "fixed" range of motion and is never your "natural" range of motion so they are injuries just waiting to happen, plus they don't use 30% the amount of muscles that free wts do...the more muscles you use the more calories you're expending
- you won't bulk, you just don't have the hormones for it (testosterone)...if you want to lean then you need to clean your diet right up, get your portions, nutrients and timing spot on and do intense exercise
- sprints are bloody great
- pop the exercises in youtube and they'll be there
30-50 reps wow, that's like what I did for a body part over like 3-6 sets worth. High reps will burn the glycogen in your muscles off before you even work the muscle enough for it to strengthen and burn energy for you the right way.
You tube shows all sort of excercises in video form so you can learn what they are. Not only that you can see guys or girls doing the excercises.
Because free weights don't isolate muscles the same as a machine the motions resemble more of what you do in real life. For example, deadlifts are like lifting a heavy box or a laundry basket up from the floor to your hip level and putting it back down. Squats are similar to lifting a toddler up, shoulder or military presses are like putting something on a top shelf, and so on.
Because the free weight motions are similar to "everyday" things you will see strength gains throughout your daily routines and use all those muscles you use doing mundane things. Therefore, stronger body all around. In addition the more muscles you use at once (compound exercises), the more calories you burn.
Cheers
You tube shows all sort of excercises in video form so you can learn what they are. Not only that you can see guys or girls doing the excercises.
Because free weights don't isolate muscles the same as a machine the motions resemble more of what you do in real life. For example, deadlifts are like lifting a heavy box or a laundry basket up from the floor to your hip level and putting it back down. Squats are similar to lifting a toddler up, shoulder or military presses are like putting something on a top shelf, and so on.
Because the free weight motions are similar to "everyday" things you will see strength gains throughout your daily routines and use all those muscles you use doing mundane things. Therefore, stronger body all around. In addition the more muscles you use at once (compound exercises), the more calories you burn.
Cheers-
littleshelly
- ESTABLISHED MEMBER
- Posts: 211
- Joined: Mon Jun 09, 2008 6:09 pm
Thank you both for your reply. I will try utube. When you say sets, do you mean you lift for maybe 10 times, rest and then do the same thing again 10 more times. I guess I am a little confused on sets and reps.
I don't have much experience lifting with someone or getting any advice. I mostly workout alone in the gym. Not many employees take advantage of it. So when I started lifting I just kind of made up own routine and just recently started reading a little more and trying to learn the proper way.
I don't have much experience lifting with someone or getting any advice. I mostly workout alone in the gym. Not many employees take advantage of it. So when I started lifting I just kind of made up own routine and just recently started reading a little more and trying to learn the proper way.
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littleshelly
- ESTABLISHED MEMBER
- Posts: 211
- Joined: Mon Jun 09, 2008 6:09 pm
Thanks guys. You are great. I guess I want to know what amount of reps and sets would be recommended and how you do it.
Also how many days a week do you take off completely?
I basically go into the gym and start with the free weights. I do different lifts with those. When I lift I just do one set of muscles, until I reach 30-100 depending on the part I am working and then move to the next. Then I use the nautilus equipment and use it the same. Start with one machine. Work that group of muscles and move to the next. I don't really stop in between, maybe for a minute if I am tired but I just keep moving until I am done. It sounds like that is not the right way to do it and I have been doing it wrong all along.
I do have really good definition. I mean it is visible and I have no fat on arms and legs. Pretty much solid muscle. back is the same. tummy is pretty much the same but I do have some fat there. I never had anyone show me how to lift properly. There are a couple of guys in the gym with me sometimes but we pretty much do our own thing. They have never told me I was doing it wrong really. They did tell me not to lift 2 days in a row and I did not listen and I believe overtrained myself. I got sick, very tired, no energy, leg cramps and weakness very bad. So I stopped working out for a week. Very hard to do since I do it everyday. Then I changed routine. I lift on Mon, Wed and Saturday. I sprint the same days, (Thank you swanso for the sprinting tip). I don't look forward to the sprinting but when I am done I feel great. It definitely gives me kind of a euphoria feeling after. I am more relaxed after sprinting than any other time. I feel happy and good for quite a while after I am done. For me that is hard because I am a very busy, tense, stressed person. I have tons of responsibility at work. I am in the computer field and do tech support for a large company. I am in charge of all of the Windows computers in the company, troubleshooting, repair, ordering, setting up all of it. We have a large corporate office with a few hundred people and then 28 branches. So work is a lot of pressure. husband is disabled and son has epilepsy so home is busy and stressful to. Working out is how I stay calm and the only thing I really do for myself. I like to keep fit and healthy because I am always on the run and need the energy.
I use the treadmill and elliptical the other days. I like that schedule. I take Friday completely off and make that cheat day also. Not cheat day, cheat meal. I eat pretty clean every other day. For breakfast and lunch for sure. Dinner sometimes I eat things I shouldn't but still don't eat a junk like chips, butter, mayo. No transfats and so on. I alter all of recipes to be healthy and low fat. I eat fresh veggies and fruit everyday and almost never eat anything white, white rice, flour, bread and so on. A little bit maybe in things like the low fat Bisquick I use for pancakes only because I don't like the taste of the whole wheat or buckwheat pancake mix. But I use water instead of milk and an egg white instead of a whole egg. Never use oil in the mix. I eat pancakes about once a week. I eat a lot of chicken and fish, tuna. I never drink calories. Ton's of water. 1 cup of coffee (black) a day. One cup of green tea (plain) and fat free milk in cereal. No other drinks. No pop, diet or regular at all.
So overall I do pretty good and I am not really willing to give up everything good. For a while I restricted calories big time and just messed myself up. Now I am trying to find just the right balance to maintain current weight of 90-92 LB. I am so little that if I gain more I feel uncomfortable.
Thank you again. I really appreciate the support and advice. Most of the people I work with and most of friends are not like me. They don't workout at all and eat whatever they want. They don't really "get" lifestyle and don't understand why I want to workout and eat clean. They think eating clean is an eating disorder.
Oh gosh I think I just told you whole life's story. Sorry
Also how many days a week do you take off completely?
I basically go into the gym and start with the free weights. I do different lifts with those. When I lift I just do one set of muscles, until I reach 30-100 depending on the part I am working and then move to the next. Then I use the nautilus equipment and use it the same. Start with one machine. Work that group of muscles and move to the next. I don't really stop in between, maybe for a minute if I am tired but I just keep moving until I am done. It sounds like that is not the right way to do it and I have been doing it wrong all along.
I do have really good definition. I mean it is visible and I have no fat on arms and legs. Pretty much solid muscle. back is the same. tummy is pretty much the same but I do have some fat there. I never had anyone show me how to lift properly. There are a couple of guys in the gym with me sometimes but we pretty much do our own thing. They have never told me I was doing it wrong really. They did tell me not to lift 2 days in a row and I did not listen and I believe overtrained myself. I got sick, very tired, no energy, leg cramps and weakness very bad. So I stopped working out for a week. Very hard to do since I do it everyday. Then I changed routine. I lift on Mon, Wed and Saturday. I sprint the same days, (Thank you swanso for the sprinting tip). I don't look forward to the sprinting but when I am done I feel great. It definitely gives me kind of a euphoria feeling after. I am more relaxed after sprinting than any other time. I feel happy and good for quite a while after I am done. For me that is hard because I am a very busy, tense, stressed person. I have tons of responsibility at work. I am in the computer field and do tech support for a large company. I am in charge of all of the Windows computers in the company, troubleshooting, repair, ordering, setting up all of it. We have a large corporate office with a few hundred people and then 28 branches. So work is a lot of pressure. husband is disabled and son has epilepsy so home is busy and stressful to. Working out is how I stay calm and the only thing I really do for myself. I like to keep fit and healthy because I am always on the run and need the energy.
I use the treadmill and elliptical the other days. I like that schedule. I take Friday completely off and make that cheat day also. Not cheat day, cheat meal. I eat pretty clean every other day. For breakfast and lunch for sure. Dinner sometimes I eat things I shouldn't but still don't eat a junk like chips, butter, mayo. No transfats and so on. I alter all of recipes to be healthy and low fat. I eat fresh veggies and fruit everyday and almost never eat anything white, white rice, flour, bread and so on. A little bit maybe in things like the low fat Bisquick I use for pancakes only because I don't like the taste of the whole wheat or buckwheat pancake mix. But I use water instead of milk and an egg white instead of a whole egg. Never use oil in the mix. I eat pancakes about once a week. I eat a lot of chicken and fish, tuna. I never drink calories. Ton's of water. 1 cup of coffee (black) a day. One cup of green tea (plain) and fat free milk in cereal. No other drinks. No pop, diet or regular at all.
So overall I do pretty good and I am not really willing to give up everything good. For a while I restricted calories big time and just messed myself up. Now I am trying to find just the right balance to maintain current weight of 90-92 LB. I am so little that if I gain more I feel uncomfortable.
Thank you again. I really appreciate the support and advice. Most of the people I work with and most of friends are not like me. They don't workout at all and eat whatever they want. They don't really "get" lifestyle and don't understand why I want to workout and eat clean. They think eating clean is an eating disorder.
Oh gosh I think I just told you whole life's story. Sorry
- the amount of sets and reps depends on your goal...generally for strength you want a total of 9 - 15 total reps over 3 - 5 sets (5 x 3, 6 x 2, 3 x 5 etc), muscle gain you want 36 - 50 total reps over 3 - 6 sets (6 x 8, 3 x 12 etc) and for fat loss you want 24 - 36 total reps over 3 - 5 sets (3 x 10, 6 x 6 etc) with short rest
- you need at least 1 full day off a week and depending on what type of training you do, maybe 2
- you want 1 exercise per "movement" (it's better to train movements then muscles) of which there are 6 being a deadlift, squat, row, chin up, push up/bench press, shoulder press and core can be added in...depending on your goal, choose an exercise variation of each and do it using the paramters from the sets/reps above
- free wts all the way, no machines or smith machine
- you can lift 2 days in a row but it needs to be planned
- you're better off sporinting on just 1 other day, not a wts day
- you're a machine with your work and family life, astonishing
- don't have a cheat "day", have a cheat "meal"..i don;t scgdeule these in, i just have them when i want...it's better to cheat on a training day i think as your metabolism is firing so you'll utilise most if not all of it
- you're acticity seems high so i wouldn't even bothe counting cal's...the secret is to eat when you're hungry until your content (not stuffed) then eat again when you feel hungry (not starving)...easy
- lift stories are fun
- you need at least 1 full day off a week and depending on what type of training you do, maybe 2
- you want 1 exercise per "movement" (it's better to train movements then muscles) of which there are 6 being a deadlift, squat, row, chin up, push up/bench press, shoulder press and core can be added in...depending on your goal, choose an exercise variation of each and do it using the paramters from the sets/reps above
- free wts all the way, no machines or smith machine
- you can lift 2 days in a row but it needs to be planned
- you're better off sporinting on just 1 other day, not a wts day
- you're a machine with your work and family life, astonishing
- don't have a cheat "day", have a cheat "meal"..i don;t scgdeule these in, i just have them when i want...it's better to cheat on a training day i think as your metabolism is firing so you'll utilise most if not all of it
- you're acticity seems high so i wouldn't even bothe counting cal's...the secret is to eat when you're hungry until your content (not stuffed) then eat again when you feel hungry (not starving)...easy
- lift stories are fun
Swanso, that was clean and concise and easily read. I like it and would suggest it be put as a sticky in here. Well worded friend!
Little Shelly,
Good for you and keeping going on excercise and diet and work and home, honestly, I got outa breath reading it. You are a very strong person and am happy to have met you.
I myself work out 6 days and rest sundays:
Mon, Wed, and Fridays are weights-currently I'm working a circuit program trying to improve strength but burn calories as well, running bpm(beats per minute) in the range of 112 to 140 during workout.
Tues, Thurs and Saturdays are "cardio" days for me, I do intervals, elyptical, swimming that sort of thing and am for the 1/2 hour to 1 hour range depending on what I do. On the Elyptical I do 2 min easy and 30sec full out style intervals with goal to go from 30 sec to 1min. keeping the rest the same. This is done over a 30 minute time.
Swimming is laps for 15 minutes to 1/2 hour all out or 10 lengths 2 minute rest 3-5 times going as hard as I can for those 10 to be completed.
Recently I've added skipping in to help improve overall coordination as well as burn calories and fat and endurance. Lets just say its been awhile since I used a skipping rope, lol.
I guess what I'm getting at is that variations and changes in your program and what you do, keeps your muscles adapting and growing which is a good thing.
Also, glad to hear I'm not the only one who is not big on sprints lol.
Little Shelly,
Good for you and keeping going on excercise and diet and work and home, honestly, I got outa breath reading it. You are a very strong person and am happy to have met you.
I myself work out 6 days and rest sundays:
Mon, Wed, and Fridays are weights-currently I'm working a circuit program trying to improve strength but burn calories as well, running bpm(beats per minute) in the range of 112 to 140 during workout.
Tues, Thurs and Saturdays are "cardio" days for me, I do intervals, elyptical, swimming that sort of thing and am for the 1/2 hour to 1 hour range depending on what I do. On the Elyptical I do 2 min easy and 30sec full out style intervals with goal to go from 30 sec to 1min. keeping the rest the same. This is done over a 30 minute time.
Swimming is laps for 15 minutes to 1/2 hour all out or 10 lengths 2 minute rest 3-5 times going as hard as I can for those 10 to be completed.
Recently I've added skipping in to help improve overall coordination as well as burn calories and fat and endurance. Lets just say its been awhile since I used a skipping rope, lol.
I guess what I'm getting at is that variations and changes in your program and what you do, keeps your muscles adapting and growing which is a good thing.
Also, glad to hear I'm not the only one who is not big on sprints lol.
-
littleshelly
- ESTABLISHED MEMBER
- Posts: 211
- Joined: Mon Jun 09, 2008 6:09 pm
Thanks again guys! For the great advice and support.
swanso, I do squats, lunges, crunches, push-ups and some leg lifts and ab work. I will follow your plan for the most part. I agree that cheat meal. That is what I do, cheat meal should probably be on a workout day and for a long time it was, then I decided to make Friday "happy" day and rest and eat but I have been thinking about skipping workout on Monday instead.
vamp, I am happy to have met you too. I think most people that are dedicated to working out and healthy eating are strong. That is why we do it. It is part of our personality I think. I am pretty strong willed and dedicated as I am sure both of you are too.
your workout sounds impressive too. Swimming is suppose to be an excellent workout. Skipping sounds interesting too. Yes, I don't look forward to the sprinting but I do feel great after I am done so that is motivation and I am sure soon I will see the payoff.
swanso, I do squats, lunges, crunches, push-ups and some leg lifts and ab work. I will follow your plan for the most part. I agree that cheat meal. That is what I do, cheat meal should probably be on a workout day and for a long time it was, then I decided to make Friday "happy" day and rest and eat but I have been thinking about skipping workout on Monday instead.
vamp, I am happy to have met you too. I think most people that are dedicated to working out and healthy eating are strong. That is why we do it. It is part of our personality I think. I am pretty strong willed and dedicated as I am sure both of you are too.
your workout sounds impressive too. Swimming is suppose to be an excellent workout. Skipping sounds interesting too. Yes, I don't look forward to the sprinting but I do feel great after I am done so that is motivation and I am sure soon I will see the payoff.