Hey, name is Pierre, and I'm new to shapefit. I'm assuming that I am allowed to post here, as I am 18 years old, soon to be 19 in a few weeks, but sorry if I've made a mistake on that part.
I've been working out for close to 3 years now, and I've managed to stay relatively fit, despite not having an form of routine whatsoever. I would simply go to the weight room at the Y, and do what I felt like doing that day. But after looking at a mirror, I've realized that despite adequate exercise, body lacked strength and definition.
And realizing that, I've decided to make it resolution to exercise more frequently, and with a more defined routine. ultimate goal is to gain around 30 pounds of muscle weight.
After I looked around, I found ShapeFit, and immediately registered. I put in information, then looked for possible Workout Routines, but then was baffled by the number there were: 18.
And being new, I'm not sure which one to do, or which one to take. I also wasn't exactly sure what I should be doing, for instance, alternating between different routines, or working one routine.
Any help would be appreciated.
Bewildered By Workout Routines
Moderators: Boss Man, cassiegose
i dont know any of the programs they have here (don't like them anyway) but any 3/week, full body type program is good
www.uponlinetraining.com
www.uponlinetraining.com
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cassiegose
- VETERAN
- Posts: 2525
- Joined: Fri May 09, 2008 6:06 pm
- Location: Prineville Oregon
Welcome to the site!
I agree with swans... total body is the way to go... total body and compound exercises (exercises that work more than one muscle at a time). Pullup variations, rows, pushup variations, bench press variations, dips, deadlifts, squats, and lunges are all great exercises and work more than one muscle group. If you want to build strength and put on muscle you'll need to regularly overload your muscles by consistently increasing weights and you MUST feed your body properly. If you don't feed your body your muscles won't be able to grow. What does your current diet look like? Also, how many reps and sets have you been doing? For gaining mass you'll want heavy weights and lower reps. I vary reps, sometimes doing 5 sets of 5, 4 sets of 8, 3-4 sets of 10, 4 sets of 6... and vary the weight i'm using by how many reps/sets i'm doing. The weight you use should be HEAVY. If you can easily crank out 11 or 12 reps when you had only planning on doing 10 then you need to up your weight. If you can easily crank out 8 reps when you had only planned on doing 5 then again up your weight.
Make sense?
Cassie
I agree with swans... total body is the way to go... total body and compound exercises (exercises that work more than one muscle at a time). Pullup variations, rows, pushup variations, bench press variations, dips, deadlifts, squats, and lunges are all great exercises and work more than one muscle group. If you want to build strength and put on muscle you'll need to regularly overload your muscles by consistently increasing weights and you MUST feed your body properly. If you don't feed your body your muscles won't be able to grow. What does your current diet look like? Also, how many reps and sets have you been doing? For gaining mass you'll want heavy weights and lower reps. I vary reps, sometimes doing 5 sets of 5, 4 sets of 8, 3-4 sets of 10, 4 sets of 6... and vary the weight i'm using by how many reps/sets i'm doing. The weight you use should be HEAVY. If you can easily crank out 11 or 12 reps when you had only planning on doing 10 then you need to up your weight. If you can easily crank out 8 reps when you had only planned on doing 5 then again up your weight.
Make sense?
Cassie
Hey guys,
Thanks for the welcome and the replies, swans and cassie.
I've had a little experience with some compound exercises at the weight room, since swim coach had me work out on this "assisted chinup" machine...
This thing:
and I did walking lunges to build muscle for skiing.
Like I said before though, I never really had a routine, and never kept track very well. I remember I'd work on the assisted chin ups until I couldn't do any more, and same with the lunges around a indoor track.
Over the past month or so, I've begun to adopt a bit of a regimen, but I'm not sure if its effective or not.
2 sets of 8 dumbbell bench presses flat
1 more on an incline (I'm at 30 lbs on each dumbell)
2 sets of 10 assisted chin ups (I'm doing close to 100lbs, since I set it to 100, and I weigh 190 w/o shoes)
2 sets of 10 dips on the same weight, though I feel like I can do with less assisting weight
1 set of 50 sit ups
As many lunges as I can do in one attempt
2 sets of 15 forearm/wrist curls at 15lbs
2 sets of 10 preacher curls at 30lbs(I actually hate this exercise, since I'm tall and the incline bench doesn't reach chest/armpit at all, but I've been told its the best way to work out your biceps.)
I've wanted to do deadlifts for some time, but this past summer, I've had some lower back pain, and I've been afraid to go ahead with it. I've tried just doing the motions to make sure form is correct with a 20lb barbell, and I can't seem to keep back straight.
As for diet... (looks side to side), I'm nineteen, and I'm on the "Will regret it in 20 years diet." On the plus side, I actually do not eat candy often, and I make sure that I have a enough of everything on the food pyramid every day. But other than that, I tend to like Coke Cola Classic, fruit juices("Fresh!"...from concentrate), red meat, and fried foods.
Just to get an idea though, how much is too much? The first time I seriously worked out was first year in high school; friend Joe took me to his local Y, and I tried to do all the stuff he was doing - and he was far more experienced than I was. The next morning, I woke up, and felt like I just fell down 10 flights of stairs. I mean, I could function, like, walk properly and lift, and I had no joint pain, but I was in a great deal of pain from muscles being ridiculously sore. Nowadays, I'll hit the gym, and the next day, I'll feel slightly sore the next day, which I think is good and bad, since I'm not in pain, but might not be doing enough.
Sorry about the long post, and thanks for the help!
Thanks for the welcome and the replies, swans and cassie.
Yes, makes sense.Welcome to the site!
I agree with swans... total body is the way to go... total body and compound exercises (exercises that work more than one muscle at a time). Pullup variations, rows, pushup variations, bench press variations, dips, deadlifts, squats, and lunges are all great exercises and work more than one muscle group. If you want to build strength and put on muscle you'll need to regularly overload your muscles by consistently increasing weights and you MUST feed your body properly. If you don't feed your body your muscles won't be able to grow. What does your current diet look like? Also, how many reps and sets have you been doing? For gaining mass you'll want heavy weights and lower reps. I vary reps, sometimes doing 5 sets of 5, 4 sets of 8, 3-4 sets of 10, 4 sets of 6... and vary the weight i'm using by how many reps/sets i'm doing. The weight you use should be HEAVY. If you can easily crank out 11 or 12 reps when you had only planning on doing 10 then you need to up your weight. If you can easily crank out 8 reps when you had only planned on doing 5 then again up your weight.
Make sense?
I've had a little experience with some compound exercises at the weight room, since swim coach had me work out on this "assisted chinup" machine...
This thing:
and I did walking lunges to build muscle for skiing.
Like I said before though, I never really had a routine, and never kept track very well. I remember I'd work on the assisted chin ups until I couldn't do any more, and same with the lunges around a indoor track.
Over the past month or so, I've begun to adopt a bit of a regimen, but I'm not sure if its effective or not.
2 sets of 8 dumbbell bench presses flat
1 more on an incline (I'm at 30 lbs on each dumbell)
2 sets of 10 assisted chin ups (I'm doing close to 100lbs, since I set it to 100, and I weigh 190 w/o shoes)
2 sets of 10 dips on the same weight, though I feel like I can do with less assisting weight
1 set of 50 sit ups
As many lunges as I can do in one attempt
2 sets of 15 forearm/wrist curls at 15lbs
2 sets of 10 preacher curls at 30lbs(I actually hate this exercise, since I'm tall and the incline bench doesn't reach chest/armpit at all, but I've been told its the best way to work out your biceps.)
I've wanted to do deadlifts for some time, but this past summer, I've had some lower back pain, and I've been afraid to go ahead with it. I've tried just doing the motions to make sure form is correct with a 20lb barbell, and I can't seem to keep back straight.
As for diet... (looks side to side), I'm nineteen, and I'm on the "Will regret it in 20 years diet." On the plus side, I actually do not eat candy often, and I make sure that I have a enough of everything on the food pyramid every day. But other than that, I tend to like Coke Cola Classic, fruit juices("Fresh!"...from concentrate), red meat, and fried foods.
Just to get an idea though, how much is too much? The first time I seriously worked out was first year in high school; friend Joe took me to his local Y, and I tried to do all the stuff he was doing - and he was far more experienced than I was. The next morning, I woke up, and felt like I just fell down 10 flights of stairs. I mean, I could function, like, walk properly and lift, and I had no joint pain, but I was in a great deal of pain from muscles being ridiculously sore. Nowadays, I'll hit the gym, and the next day, I'll feel slightly sore the next day, which I think is good and bad, since I'm not in pain, but might not be doing enough.
Sorry about the long post, and thanks for the help!