Any lifters/gym people here?

[Killacortes]

Man I remember when I was 190 and I felt hella fat (I'm only 5'8) when I started going to the gym again a was only running about half a mile for warm up. Now about 4 months later I warm up with 2 miles. Or 1 mile running as hard as I can.
I break my workout schedule like this
Monday-shoulders
Tuesday-back
Wednesday-off or strictly cardio
Thursday-chest
Friday-legs
Saturday-cardio
Sunday-off day

I do abs every other day. I like switch it up. One week I'll do 100 sit ups straight then as many leg raises I can till failure. Next week is interval abs like bicycles or crunches.

Diet is definitely the most important. I try to eat 6 meals. Lots of protein shakes. Tuna. Brown rice. Chicken. Bannanas. Eggs. That sorta stuff. As far supplements I take multivitamins with minerals in them. BCAA pills for amino acids. Glutamine powder for post work out and recently just started taking creatine :)

[slaterd]

About the squats and glutes, he's very correct. During highschool I joined the conditioning class, when I started I had extremely weak legs, could barely squat 90lbs 5 times and weighed 110lbs. wet. After 2 months I was able to squat 320lbs and weighed 140. Eventually my legs and glutes' were too strong for my joints and I blew my left knee doing my third set on 350. Those muscles are dangerous because they can get too strong for your skeletal system and you could seriously hurt yourself.

[RondoAcapriccio]

^i might say diet is even more important. lol

But yes, as he mentioned, legs are huge! (get it..... work out pun. )

Had probably the best leg workout of my lifting life thursday, and boy was it rough. but worth it. feels good man.

Mention BB.com..


U aware ? lmao. If not...awkward..but feelsgoodman so...

[Dermeister3]

^i might say diet is even more important. lol

But yes, as he mentioned, legs are huge! (get it..... work out pun. )

Had probably the best leg workout of my lifting life thursday, and boy was it rough. but worth it. feels good man.

[RondoAcapriccio]

You said you don't do legs.

Your quads and glutes are your biggest and most powerful muscle groups. you need to get on the squat rack and do some squats and deadlifts. You'll put on muscle fast.

THIS THIS THIS THIS THIS!!!

If you don't squat or dead lift you DON'T know what a real work out is. Also Legs and Lower back are a LARGE muscle group and increases your testosterone production. If you seriously commit to these muscles you should be able to put on about 10lbs of muscle very quickly. Also a dead lift is a HUGE compound movement that really targets your lower back, forearms, traps, and hammy's / glutes. Make sure to start off low weight and get the form down because you can cause serious damage performing this exercise incorrectly.

Mon- Back (Consist of Deadlift, Weighted Pull up, DB rows, Lat pull down, Shrugs, Bis).. I Really only do compounds.. when I finish off with Bi's I just do a few sets.. I mainly stick to a 5x5 or some other type of pyramid strength program for all my lifts.

Wed - BB Flat Bench, DB Incline bench, Weighted Dips, Tricep Isolations

Fri- Squats, Shoulders.

If you noticed I do back with bis and chest with tris because firstly I do not really dedicate anything to isolations and these are secondary muscle groups that get worked when you do the compound lifts so Its easy to just finish up with some isolations to really get them done.

Also if you are not willing to get your diet in check.... well I don't want to hear you complain in a few months. Diet is probably 60% important and workout intensity is 40%.

I consume around 4-5k calories a day, But I also have to run a mile in 6minutes so I do a lot of cardio.

[Dermeister3]

^ body wieght exercises (as i think someone mentioned) are things that move your bodyweight, instead of using dumbbells/barbells.

Pushup, Pull ups, dips, sit ups.

For legs, you can TRY and do 1 leg squats. They are when you stand straight up, grab one leg behind you like youre doing a quad stretch, then lower yourself down like your doing a squat, then come back up. They are VERY hard lol. you can do lunges or (i call them) duck walks to build leg muscle as well.

Whats your usual routines? Do you use complimentary muscle groups? I love pairing chest with tri workouts. doing chest first, you pre exhaust your triceps and stimulate hypertrophy (which is basically swelling of your muscle cells and allowing more blood to flow there) And how many sets/reps are you doing for each exercise. lastly, what are your goals exactly? building muscle, toning, fat loss?

you can try bodybuilding.com for more information as well.

[JeST]

You said you don't do legs.

Your quads and glutes are your biggest and most powerful muscle groups. you need to get on the squat rack and do some squats and deadlifts. You'll put on muscle fast.

Will do. I've been seriously neglecting any muscle groups that's not targeting my upper body.

The sealfit program is great for working your core and getting cut.

Body weight exercises will put on good mass, that is pretty cut at the same time (aka lean mass)

I am trying to put on as much mass as possible. Ive been strugling to gain weight for a while. right now eating about 3500 cals per day, gym 4 times a week. Chest/tri one day, next back and bi, rest, Legs next, then shoulders. Core and cardio on the weekends.

Its all about tracking. Track everything: calorie intake, weight, how much youre lifting, how active you are. That will help regulate what you do.

Not going to lie... just a quick glance at the sealfit forum and workouts it's a bit over my head.

By bodyweight exercises do you mean calisthenics or? I can't imagine intaking 3500 calories a day...

As for tracking I really don't have the patience. I need someone to tell me if my gym routine is good enough (that's with added routines from the ideas given) but in the same routine I do on a daily bases (cardio, lift, then end with cardio again).

Just from what I've been told I'm in need of adding muscle groups and protein intake.

[CW325]

If your trying to shed off pounds than dieting and cardio is best. Keep the carb intake down. Also walking on an incline at the gym is a good way to get your heart rate up if you dont feel like jogging or going on the elliptical. If your looking for a core workout, Bicycle situps are one of the most effective ab workouts you can do at home.

[Dermeister3]

The sealfit program is great for working your core and getting cut.

Body weight exercises will put on good mass, that is pretty cut at the same time (aka lean mass)

I am trying to put on as much mass as possible. Ive been strugling to gain weight for a while. right now eating about 3500 cals per day, gym 4 times a week. Chest/tri one day, next back and bi, rest, Legs next, then shoulders. Core and cardio on the weekends.

Its all about tracking. Track everything: calorie intake, weight, how much youre lifting, how active you are. That will help regulate what you do.

[steinbachphoto]

You said you don't do legs.

Your quads and glutes are your biggest and most powerful muscle groups. you need to get on the squat rack and do some squats and deadlifts. You'll put on muscle fast.

[JeST]

I break mine into Chest, Back, Shoulders/legs, arms. With a bit of ab work randomly chucked in. TRX is good fun and surprisingly effective. Other than that tend to do regular exercises and then make stuff up.. Keep it fun and enjoyable.

That's the plan. I'm liking the TRX workouts.

It really all depends on your goals, are you trying to loose weight or gain muscle or both?

Both. I'm 10lbs away from hitting my target weight so mostly just trying to tack on some muscle.

I do all body weight stuff, and love it. Its a lot of hand stands, hand stand push ups, pull ups, dips, work with rings, and a wide variety of ab work outs. You dont gain mass like you would lifting, but its a more practical strength, i feel great and the stuff ive been doing works my whole body very equally. Youd be surprised how sore you are in strange places after doing some hand stands, funky push ups, and goofy looking ab workouts.

I've been reading some different calisthenic workouts with dumbbells. Looking forward to trying some of them out.

you could try some supplements or some changes in your workout, different exercises. i was working out a few years until i got bored, stopped and got fat again. now i'm on the hard way back where i was, hopefully. when i had the feeling that my workout got stuck i changed a few things here and there, like chest/triceps i changed it to chest/biceps + a few different exercises or different ways to punish the musclegroup. those small changes got me a step further every time.

the first few months are those where you see the most changes. i had the feeling that it stopped after 5-6months and then nothing... but try to log your workouts (weight, reps, sets,...) and your bodymeasures (chest, belly, legs, calves, biceps, etc) this shows you the small steps you make but don't see (cause you see yourself everyday in the mirror)

I just dont have the patience to record everything. I keep a mental note on which muscle groups I worked out and which to work out next. The biggest motivators for me have been comments from friends and coworkers.

OP what kind of exercises do you do?
i LOVE to change it up, think about how the muscles work and how you can manipulate them!
for instance, sometimes on my back i switch it up, i do cable crosses standing and pull down using my back muscles. or get some dumbells, lean forward a tad and do some rows while rotating the dumbells 90* through the rep.

chest day, out LORD how i love chest work outs! sit your but down on an incline, grab some dumbells, hold them as if doing hammer curls and do chest flies, feel the burn?
also variation in push ups, or dumbell push ups are terrific

shoulders? i do love me some iron crosses, reversed grip bench press, standing rows...you know the good shit!
or try holding a 45lb plate over your head and rotating it in circles for 1min intervalls, YEAH BROTHA!

treat yourself dammnit! enjoy lol

That's exactly what I need. Appreciate the variations :)

[devon.818]

OP what kind of exercises do you do?
i LOVE to change it up, think about how the muscles work and how you can manipulate them!
for instance, sometimes on my back i switch it up, i do cable crosses standing and pull down using my back muscles. or get some dumbells, lean forward a tad and do some rows while rotating the dumbells 90* through the rep.

chest day, out LORD how i love chest work outs! sit your but down on an incline, grab some dumbells, hold them as if doing hammer curls and do chest flies, feel the burn?
also variation in push ups, or dumbell push ups are terrific

shoulders? i do love me some iron crosses, reversed grip bench press, standing rows...you know the good shit!
or try holding a 45lb plate over your head and rotating it in circles for 1min intervalls, YEAH BROTHA!

treat yourself dammnit! enjoy lol

[OldsCool]

you could try some supplements or some changes in your workout, different exercises. i was working out a few years until i got bored, stopped and got fat again. now i'm on the hard way back where i was, hopefully. when i had the feeling that my workout got stuck i changed a few things here and there, like chest/triceps i changed it to chest/biceps + a few different exercises or different ways to punish the musclegroup. those small changes got me a step further every time.

the first few months are those where you see the most changes. i had the feeling that it stopped after 5-6months and then nothing... but try to log your workouts (weight, reps, sets,...) and your bodymeasures (chest, belly, legs, calves, biceps, etc) this shows you the small steps you make but don't see (cause you see yourself everyday in the mirror)

[Joe G]

I do all body weight stuff, and love it. Its a lot of hand stands, hand stand push ups, pull ups, dips, work with rings, and a wide variety of ab work outs. You dont gain mass like you would lifting, but its a more practical strength, i feel great and the stuff ive been doing works my whole body very equally. Youd be surprised how sore you are in strange places after doing some hand stands, funky push ups, and goofy looking ab workouts.

[CW325]

It really all depends on your goals, are you trying to loose weight or gain muscle or both?