Help with this routine

[casgzz]

Hi, I was thinking about this routine. What i would like to achieve is: get rid of the fat around stomach first, ain't that much since I am around 160 lbs. Then I also want to build muscle and gain, say something around 15-20 lbs of pure muscle. What do you think about this routine:

Monday and Friday (upper body)

Back
Reverse Grip Bent over rows:
Warm up 1 x 20, then 1 x 15, 1 x 12
Single arm dumbbell rows:
Warm up 1 x 15, 1 x 12 ,1 x 12
Dumbbell shrugs:
Warm up 1 x 15, 1 x 12 ,1 x 12
Chest
Bench press:
Warm up 1 x 15, 1 x 12, 1 x 8 – 1
Incline dumbbell press:
Warm up 1 x 15, 1 x 12, 1 x 10 - 12
Shoulders
Dumbbell press:
Warm up 1 x 15, 1 x 12, 1 x 10
Side laterals:
Warm up 1 x 15, 1 x 12, 1 x 12
Biceps
Standing barbell curls:
Warm up 1 x 15,1 x 12, 1 x 12, 1 x 10
Triceps
Lying triceps extensions:
Warm up 1 x 15, 1 x 12, 1 x 12, 1 x 10
Abdominals
Crunches: 3 x 15 - 20

Wednesday and Sunday (lower body)

Quadriceps
Leg extensions:
Warm up 1 x 20, then 1 x 15, 1 x 12
Squats:
Warm up 1 x 15, 1 x 12, 1 x 12, 1 x 10
Hamstrings
Leg curl:
Warm up 1 x 15, 1 x 12 - 15, 1 x 12
Calves
Standing calf raises:
Warm up 1 x 25 , 1 x 15, 1 x 15, 1 x 12

Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday

Cardio, that would be running, starting at 5 laps x 700m, going for 15 laps x 700m since I want to get back into runners stuff like 10k (one Sunday a month starting Feb ´09).

To this, I will add supplements as protein, creatine, etc and good eating habits.

Regards and thanks for your help

[swanso5]

um, no

why?
- you don;t need a warm up every set
- you also don;t need eleven exercises for upper body in 1 session
- alsom if you're only 160pds and fat then you need to build muscle then exclusively try and burn fat....you have no muscle anyway so your metabolism is sluggish so you to rev that up (and thus fat loss) you need to build muscle...for this lower reps (6 - 12) are best
- most of your exercises are good but you don;t need shrugs (postural reasons), laterals, curls, lying extensions, crunches (yuck!!!), leg ext, leg curl, calf raises and add in chin/pull ups and core holds
- you can't train everyday either so do full body wts mon/wed/fri and cardio tue/sat
- drop th creatine too for now, it's years before you'll need that

[casgzz]

well i am not that fat, i have "some" excess fat.

I can change the routine to this

Monday
CHEST
Dumbbell Bench Press 2x8,2x6
Incline Bench Press 2x8, 2x6
Decline Bench Press 2x8, 2x6
TRICEPS
Close Grip Bench Press 3x8
Lying Barbell press to chin 3x8
Single arm dumbbell extension 3x8

Wednesday
BACK
Barbell Rows 4x8
Single Arm Dumbbell Rows 2x8,2x6
Hyperextensions on a ball 3x12
BICEPS
Barbell Curl 2x8,1x6
(standing)Dumbell Concentrarion Curls 3x8
Dumbbell Preacher Curl 3x8

Friday
LEGS
Squat 4x8
Stiff Legged Deadlift 3x8
Leg Curl 2x8,1x6
Leg Extension 2x8,1x6
Standing Calf Raise 1x15,1x12,1x10,1x8
SHOULDERS
Twisting dumbbell presses 2x8,2x6
One arm front deltoid dumbbell raises 3x8
Bent Over Rev Fly 3x8

Tuesday and Thursday
Running
Starting at 5 laps x 700m

Saturday
Intense cardio
4min warm up
3 x 2 mins at moderate speed then 1 min at max speed
4mins cool down
compared to a 10 speed treadmill that would be moderate = 5/6, max = 9

[RK19]

your doing too much in one sitting! you only really need to do 2 exercises per muscle group per session. and if ur wanting to build muscle u should be doing low rep-heavy weight! i wouldnt be too concerned with leg curls, leg extensions etc, really u should be focused on your compound lifts for maximum growth, deads, squats,cleans etc! try and avoid machines if u can and stick to free weights! and remember u dont grow in the gym, u grow when ur resting!

[casgzz]

thanks, actually i do exercise at home, i am trying to have a routine with free weight since i don't have machines at home, well i do have home gym but it is useless so i bought a bench, some weight and bars. I think that would be enough. I can add jump squats and the other ones where you walk with weight and standing calf raises using the stairs with own weight. An as you said I will stick to 2 sets per exercise with more weight. i can also add russian twists, finger oblique to heels touchers and these push ups where when going down you almost touch your elbow with your knee

[RK19]

remember though that pushups however fancy, if u can do 10-15 with ease theyre not much use for buildin muscle! i spent the best part of 6 months training totally the wrong way which included 3 or 4 pushup variations- didnt do a thing! instead of push ups incorporate pull/chin ups into ur program- beleive me its worth it! u can buy chin bars dirt cheap that fit between a door frame.

[casgzz]

Thanks for that but those push ups I was talking about are more like for abs. I dont remember the name. I think is for the lower part of the abs. At the same time you go down on the push up you move one of your legs as if you were trying to touch the elbow with the knee, It is nice

[thekid24]

spider pushups??

[casgzz]

yeah, thats the name

[swanso5]

change to this:

mon - full body

deadlifts, bench press, chest supported row, single arm shoulder press all 4 x 6 pairing together to save time (deads, rest, bench est etc)

wed - full body

squats, db incline press, db row, 2 db shoulder press, close grip press all 3 x 10 pairing again

fri - full body
reverse lunges, feet elevated push ups, seated row (should have one on your machine), face pull (machine too) 3 x 15 all in a row like a circuit

easy as that

[RK19]

quick question, when people talk about pairing exercises ie- bench press,bb rows how does this work? do u do 1 set of bench press 1 set of rows then bk to bench again or something?

[swanso5]

i'm not sur ewhat you mean by "works" but yes...

and yes

[RK19]

by works i mean what the process is. so its 1 set of one then one set of the other then bk 2 the first and so on until both exercises are done?

[BigChris]

Hey yea your reps look a little bit high if you are trying to gain muscle. In order to gain muscle it is best to do between 4-8 reps with a higher weight. In addition to lifting heavier weights you also need to increase your calorie intake. The balance comes from the equation of energy in VS energy used. If you want to lose weight you should eat less then you burn. In order to gain it is the opposite.

I think that if you are going to try and lift heavier a good warm up is defiantly a plus. Especially this time of year when you are already cold coming into the gym. A good warm up can prevent you from pulling a muscle or another injury.

I wish you good luck with your fitness journey. Nothing comes easy so keep up the good work


Chris Creed http://www.FitN20.com