Workout Schedule Question

[ctemkg]

Hi all. I am a newbie here. At 42, 6' 1", 150 lbs, just started semi HRT with 2 IU HGH 5 days with 2 days off, 300mg Test each week. My goals are not to get to get huge, but I could use an additional 15-20 lbs of quality muscle. I am tall and thin and could bulk up a bit. I am taking the low dose route becuase it has a lower risk of side effects and is monitored kindof by a doctor.

I would like some advice on exercises and how often I should be working a specific muscle so I do not over train. I have not experience with free weights and do not want to do things wrong. I joined the local gym and there are allot of guys there that look like they hove no idea of what they are doing. The staff there is nice and I would ask for training, but the trainers are all pretty thin and I would rather learn from someone who has a good deal of muscle mass since muscle is what I want to build. I want to be sure if someone is training me that i learn the right things.

So for now, I am just using the machines. I am working out hard, pushing heavy weight for 8-10 reps. I currently am going to the gym M, W, F and am dong the same exercises each day. At this point, I think I may be over working the muscles. Its been two weeks on this HRT program and I do not see much of any growth. I did gain 1 1/2 lbs and my muscles are better toned, but that is about it. I am not larger and I have not more sex drive that everyone said I would get.

Any advice is welcome as to what I should be working out and how often. Right now, I am concentrating on:
Arms: Biceps, Tris
Back: Lats (Rotary pull down), Main Back (rotary rows)
Chest: Rotary chest, Butterfly
Abs: crunch machine with weights
Legs: Seated leg press, Leg extension, leg curls

I am working all of these each time for two sets of about 8-10 reps at heavy weight. I also increased by calorie intake by a bout 1000 calories a day and protien by about 100 a day with powders.

Thanks for your advice on this.

[Chemical King]

3 times a week is fine but if you can try and stick a 4th in there now and again. As far as I can see you mustnt have researched very much but you should really be concentrating on different muscle groups on every session. Like this :

Mon : Cardio +Chest and Triceps
Wed : Cardio +Back and Biceps
Fri : Cardio + Abs and legs

If you find time for another session I would do the muscles not mentioned above. The reason for not doing the same things every day is because you need to give your muscles time to recover from the thrashing they will have had down the gym, I also like to take a daily multi vitamin as well as whey protein after every workout and in the morning when not working out.

But hey this site is a wealth of information Im sure you will find all you need to know on here.

Hope this helped

[kboxer]

Now if doing shoulders and legs friday wouldnt I get some excellent growth? I take in 400 of protein a day. Looking to lower volume and do more cardio on off days. I have been doing 4-5 for so long though. Those days off keep me excited to come back

[Panzerfaust]

If you are looking to bulk up, i would say up the weight and drop the amount of reps. I mean how heavy is it if you are pushing out 8-10 reps?

To bulk up, sets should be 4-5 reps max IMO ( i have seen some do 3 max). 8-10 reps are more for building lean mass (hence your muscles are more "toned") and that is what i do.

Of course this is all my opinion and there are many more guys on here that can fine tune your goals for you.

We are all on here to learn, good luck bro.

[Panzerfaust]

And personally i would not do shoulders w/ legs.

Legs i have always done by themselves or like stated above, you could do abs but most of your concentration should be on legs.

[max2extreme]

When I first started lifting, those were my exact stats. 6'1", 150lbs. I got some good advice from a friend of mine who lifted, did it, and within a year and half, i was at 215lbs, 8%bf (with no juice), and pretty strong (i thought so at least, going from doing 25lbs dumbbell flat bench to 115lbs dumbbell). i did one warmup set, just to get things going, then I did 3 sets between 6-8 reps. If i couldnt do 6 reps, i went down in weight. If i could do more than 8, then i went up in weight. My workout at that time was:

Chest: flat bench, inclined, declined, and flys....very simple. all with db.
shoulders/tris:
shoulder: miltary press (bar), side raises, front raises, shrugs (i did lots of
supersets with side and front raises).
tris: rope pushdowns, sitting db extensions, skull crushers, and dips.
Back/bis:
back: old fasioned pullups *smile*, wide bar pull downs, close grip rows,
and 1 arm db rows.
bis: alternating db curls, spider curls, preacher curls, standing bar curls
legs: smith machine squats, calf raises, hamstring machine, and quad extensions

I didnt have a set day i worked abs...sometimes every day, sometimes id skip a day, sometimes skip 2 days, but never went more than 2 days without. as for cardio, I did sports and got enough cardio from that. I never really did the bike or treadmill.

I got great gains from this.

hope it helps.

-max

[needmorestrength]

I dont know what your workout history is.. but you should get a nice base going... get your diet intact first, and get some hardcore training in with free weights.. you should also get bench/deads/and squats in the mix.. Personally I find 4 dayz a week is great plus 2 extra for cardio... Sun-back..Mon-Chest.. Wed-Shoulders & legs... Friday- Bi's n tri's... I would hit max reps of 8!! but thats what works for me.. Every couple months I switch it up.. changing to 5 days a week and blasting each muscle group!
GL bro