my beginner workout

[NoTimer]

Okay,i really need your advice on this one,because just the thought of working out and not getting anywhere makes me crazy

After i lost quite a bit of fat(see here http://forums.steroid.com/showthread...32-my-fat-loss )i decided to pick up weights again seriously.After a lot of research i found out that the 2 important things about a good workout is how many sets you do for each muscle group and how many times you do them in a week.Hearing that for beginners less sets more frequently works better i thought i'd follow this:

romanian deadlift
bent over barbell row
bench press
lat raises(i thought that front delts work with bp,so i work the middle ones)
crunches
squat
calf raise

all exercises are 4 sets for 8-12 reps except squat(3 sets) and calf raises(15-20 reps).I do this workout 3 times per week.

what do you think?I'm wondering if i should do a split and work each muscle group twice per week instead of 3 with more sets

thanks

[HawaiianPride.]

I'm a big advocate of training large muscle groups twice per week, but I only suggest this to intermediate+. Squatting 3 times per week with that kind of volume will surely lead into OT without performance enhancement drugs.

Stick to the big 3 compounds all trained once per week, with complimentary isolation movements surrounding them. Train this way until you feel a deload is necessary, then you can bump it up to a 2 on 1 off.

[NoTimer]

thanks for the quick reply.I'm keeping what you said in big consideration.I was also thinking of another alternative.Doing something like this

workout A:back,biceps,legs(6 sets for back,3 for biceps,9 for legs-3 for squat,3 for hams,3 for calves)
workout B:chest,shoulders,triceps,abs(6 sets for chest,6 for shoulders,3 for tri's,6 for abs)

Monday:A
wednesday:B
friday:A

Monday:B
etc...

that way i'm increasing the sets and reducing the frequency to about 1,5 times a muscle group in a week.

does it still look like overtraining?

[HawaiianPride.]

I personally don't like it. You'll be spending a lot of time in the gym which will be taxing on your CNS and may lead into OT.

[NoTimer]

ok i'll try out what you said then thanks

[tbody66]

I am going to offer a differing opinion, for a twenty year old without a lifting base I think you are okay with a high intensity program, which is a total body program three times a week, I gained 33 pounds in 8 weeks on this program when I was 21 years old. The key is to go from largest muscle group to smallest muscle group with no rest between sets and the entire workout should only take between an hour to an hour and fifteen minutes. A sample would be like this squat, stiff legged deadlift, calf raise, deadlift, bentover row, bench press, incline bench, military press, dips, straightbar curls. Two exercises per body part 3 sets per exercise, no rest between, superset where able. I believe your body produces enough recouperating chemicals at your age to make this work. I would recommend this for two months and then change to a push pull routine with a mon/tue - thur/fri split.

[NoTimer]

thanks for the feedback tbody! With all these different opinions that are going around i decided to just try a bit of everything and see how it goes.

The program i started is like this:

WORKOUT 1

BACK
romanian deadlift 3x8-10
bent-over rows 3x8-10

BICEPS
seated dumbbell curls 3x8-10

ABDOMINALS
crunches 3xMAX




WORKOUT 2

CHEST
incline bench press(smith) 3x8-10
dumbbell bench press 3x8-10

TRICEPS
Dips 3x8-10

ABDOMINALS
horizontal leg raises 3xMAX




WORKOUT 3

SHOULDERS
military press(smith) 3x8-10
lat raise(moon bench) 3x8-10

LEGS
squat 3x8-10
calf press 4x15-20

I will follow this and see how it goes.Basic exercises on every workout with a few other exercises added.plus cardio to fill up an hour.

After this i'm thinking to do the following:
1)Add a second basic exercise on each workout,like adding bench presses on back/biceps day and adding deadlift on chest/triceps day.No squat,because along with the deadlifts i noticed i don't get time to recover

2)After stoping no 1(removing the extra basics and going back to the first),to stop the 3rd workout and divide it in to the other 2.putting legs in workout 1 and shoulders in workout 2.So i'll be doing:

monday:workout 1(back,bi's,legs,bit of abs)
tuesday:workout 2(chest,tri's,shoulders,bit of abs)
wednesday:workout 1
friday:workout 2

2 of the workouts will be the heavy ones and the other 2 will be normal.That way i will be doing the same amount of exercises/sets twice the times in a week.How does that look?

I thought of this on my own so please be gentle I know it might not be such a good idea...And if i feel like overtraining,i'll just go back to the first program and just slowly add exercises/sets.

btw you look great in your avatar!

[tbody66]

I like the new program, I would suggest you add a barbell/mass builder for the biceps on day one, barbell curl for size on the whole arm, before shaping and frying them with the dumbbell curls. I would also add a shaping exercise for triceps on workout 2, the dips will give you size so you could finish with reverse grip pushdowns or standing dumbell extensions.

best of luck and keep us posted.

[NoTimer]

thanks again for the feedback.The reason i am only doing dumbbell curls for bi's is that my right bicep is far stronger from my left and i wanna start like this in case i fix it now at the beggining.Once i get going a bit with the program and add more sets/exercises the ones you suggested will be the first ones to be added(damn,and i love barbell curls )

Thanks man

[GetSwole83]

I routinely prescribe exercise programs for my patients and training clients and I feel that I have to agree with HawaiianPride on this one. Almost worse than overtraining would be an injury....which is common when you load multi joints to quickly. How much of a beginning weight lifter are you? Never before? or occasionally, (less than 3 x a month?) I am a huge fan of Dorian Yates protocol which I have adapted to fit into exercise physiology...Are your goals to gain strength? or Hypertrophy? or Endurance? Each one carries a slightly different "shell" so to speak which you need to work in. I would train one body part or two, one large and one small IE chest with tris or chest with bis....back with tris etc...one day a week and rotate every 7 days. Start slow. You may even want to drop your sets to 1-2 in the beginning. As for the Squats, Deadlifts etc make sure your technique is spot on as well. Take it from me...it hurts when it is not. You will see a lot of gains in the initial phase no matter what due to Neuromuscular adaptations in your body...just start slow to avoid injury. Once you got some time under your belt and on your joints, then you can jump up to multi sets/ reps etc.

[NoTimer]

thanks for the feedback getswole.

I have been lifting for like 4 years now...But without proper nutrition or workout...For example when i was 16 or so i used to go the gym maybe twice a day and spend about an hour and a half And tried not to eat nothing all day hahahaha

Only last year i started working out with a split(back-bis,chest-tris,shoulders-abs,legs-abs).That was about for 3 months.At that period i added about 35 lbs on the bench press.I was doing all basic exercises plus some extras(flys,leg extensions etc...)12 sets for all muscle groups except for tris and bis.I did 9 sets for them.Then i just dropped the weights and only did cardio to lose most of the fat for summer

Now i have started that second program i posted and it's going well so far...Bench is already up around 15-20 lbs in two weeks

As for the injuries i'm not very worried because i use good form and do good warm ups.I did try something like what you and HP are suggesting but i just felt like i was going to the gym and doing nothing which didn't make me feel comfortable

Thanks again

edit:my goal is hypertrophy