Best lifting routine for me?

[medic2012]

Here's what I currently do every other day. I also run and do an ab workout every other day. Running is always at least 1m but normally more.

3 sets of 8-10 bench press
3 sets of 8-10 military press
3 sets of 10 dead lift
3 sets of 10 squats
3 sets of 8-10 preacher curls
4 sets of 12 dips
3 sets of as many pull ups/chin ups as I can do (usually 5 or 6)
3 sets of (haha) 2 or 3 widearm pull ups.


I have a bench, curl bar, preacher curl rest, pull up/widearm bar, and uhh that thing for dips and leg raises.

How does that look? Can I split it up, or add anything else with the equipment I currently have?

[medic2012]

Anyone..................................

[AD]

hi med,

how long have you been lifting?
are you doing this in your home gym? how long have you been following the above routine?
what are your results so far?
what is your current stats?
what is your goal?

[medic2012]

I've been lifting around 3 months.

Yes it's a home gym, and i've been doing this routine almost the whole time.

My results have been favorable, but I want to make sure i'm lifting effeciently for what I have.

http://forums.steroid.com/showthread...-about-cutting Here is some more info on stats and some pictures.

My goal

I've lifted before, while in Afghanistan. I got up to benching over 200, my life highest, but never got definition or my desired body.
I think it was a lot about the crap diet over there. Now my diet is a lot better, and I think most of my results are from the diet.
I want to get bigger, without getting fatter. I've starting to get convinced my body with always either be really fat, or really skinny. I seem to not be able to get inbetween.


It's been brought up to me from a lifting partner that I need to stop doing things I enjoy, like kayaking, hiking, and other physical activities like that I do daily to gain any weight.

I've also been told I need to increase my calories to near 3-4k now, but i'm worried about getting fat again. What should I do?

[AD]

i feel you probably can stick to your current routine for a few more months. if its only being 3 months so far, and you are still making good gains, you're probably not going to hit any plateau soon. in order to keep gaining, you can make sure you increase the poundage regularly or add a couple reps or sets here and there.

you definitely can continue with the physical activities that you enjoy. staying active helps you burn fat. this is even more important as you increase your calories in order to feed your muscle growth. if you're worried about putting on too much fats, simply increase your calories slowly, and re-assess every wk.

dont forget to post your diet in detail in the Nutrition Section. good luck!

[bigZthedestroyer]

How do you feel at the end of your workouts? Maybe adjust the intensity some and see what happens.

[medic2012]

I normally feel decent. I feel like it was a good workout. I rarely feel soreness the next day anymore though. I'd like to split it up so I can concentrate more on arms, then chest. Right now 3 sets of curls just doesn't make me feel like it used to. I feel I need more, but this workout takes up about all the time/energy we have for one day.

What concerns me is my neighbor started lifting with me about 2 months ago. I had a month on him and was lifting more, but now he's doing 3 sets of 10 unassisted bench press at 165 ready to bump it up, but i'm still struggling to do 8. How did he pass me up? All he eats is fast food, probablly 4k calories a day at least....and he just sits on his ass.

[medic2012]

you definitely can continue with the physical activities that you enjoy. staying active helps you burn fat. this is even more important as you increase your calories in order to feed your muscle growth. if you're worried about putting on too much fats, simply increase your calories slowly, and re-assess every wk.

dont forget to post your diet in detail in the Nutrition Section. good luck!

Two neighbors are telling me that is counterproductive to gaining muscle mass. That you never see any athlete that isn't skinny and toned. They're telling me I need to dump 3-4k calories in every day, and on the every other off day to sit on my ass. That's what bodybuilders do....

Is there any truth to this?

[AD]

Two neighbors are telling me that is counterproductive to gaining muscle mass. That you never see any athlete that isn't skinny and toned. They're telling me I need to dump 3-4k calories in every day, and on the every other off day to sit on my ass. That's what bodybuilders do....

Is there any truth to this?

In my opinion.... a load of bull

If you want to gain strength fast, you can do fewer reps but increase the weights every wk and do 5x5. If you want to gain endurance, do 4x10 with just 30sec rest between sets.

If you want to gain weight regardless of whether its fats or muscles, then go ahead with the fastfood and bumming.

Obviously not everyone need the same "3-4k calories" to grow. If you go to the nutrition section, the guys there will teach you several fancy formulae to calculate exactly how many calories you need. But the best way is to listen to your body. Stay active and eat healthy. Eat more next wk if you're not getting too fat, or a little less if you are.

Having a training partner can be a good thing if you take it as a positive motivation. If he can go 10reps and you are struggling with 8, give yourself a few slaps (joking) and squeeze out 3 more! You might surprise yourself if you really want it enough.

[AD]

Other than the Nutrition section, dont forget to go to the Lounge and read "Marcus' Diary". That should give you everything you need, from training technique to mental motivation.

[kronik420]

I normally feel decent. I feel like it was a good workout. I rarely feel soreness the next day anymore though. I'd like to split it up so I can concentrate more on arms, then chest. Right now 3 sets of curls just doesn't make me feel like it used to. I feel I need more, but this workout takes up about all the time/energy we have for one day.

What concerns me is my neighbor started lifting with me about 2 months ago. I had a month on him and was lifting more, but now he's doing 3 sets of 10 unassisted bench press at 165 ready to bump it up, but i'm still struggling to do 8. How did he pass me up? All he eats is fast food, probablly 4k calories a day at least....and he just sits on his ass.

no one ever got big doing bicep curls........

squat, bench, dead lift

[ironbeck]

try splitting it up to to days until u become more advanced, like one day do your bench, dips, curls and the rest on the other day. And remember that your body as a whole is connected, so just don't concentrate on the things u like to do? a stronger back gives u a better bench...and so on. I can't stress how important legs give u the important base u need for overall body strength.
Try the pyramid technique ex: bench 5 sets set1 12 reps increase weight 2 set 10 increase weight 3 set 8 reps 4th set increase weight 6 reps 5th set increase weight 4 reps.
Do 4-6 sets, but ultimately when u increase weight your muscle groups are going to need aat least 48 hrs in between works out, leading to a 3 days split 2 major body muscle a day.
Its always important to stay focused on each set and keep form good and intensity very high.............u get out what u put in bro!

[tigerspawn]

“It's been brought up to me from a lifting partner that I need to stop doing things I enjoy, like kayaking, hiking, and other physical activities like that I do daily to gain any weight” I wouldn’t give them up. They are cardio and they will help keep BF% down while increasing caloric intake.

“I'd like to split it up so I can concentrate more on arms, then chest”
If your wanting to get bigger than you need to concentrate on heavy compound movements. The body's natural production of test and release of GH can be increased through hard work on the big, compound movements, especially those where the body actually moves up and down, such as the squat and deadlift. The more muscle mass being used, the more growth hormone released, the more you grow and get stronger.

“What concerns me is my neighbor started lifting with me about 2 months ago. I had a month on him and was lifting more, but now he's doing 3 sets of 10 unassisted bench press at 165 ready to bump it up, but i'm still struggling to do 8. How did he pass me up?”
It doesn’t mean he is stronger than you. It depends on his form. If he is cheating a lot of course it’s going to be easier for him. Of course he could be using correct technique which I have seen increase bench as much as 115 lbs. Also you said he eats a lot of junk food. How fat is he? How far does he have to move the weight compared to how far you have to move it?

If you want to increase bench it starts by working on correcting your technique. Work on strengthening your triceps. Strengthen your back this will assist your pressing
drive. I have also had clients do explosive squatting techniques. This helps them get a more explosive drive with the legs which helps drive the weight when benching. Any of these will increase your bench. When you put them all together your bench will explode.

[bigsiv]

Here's what I currently do every other day. I also run and do an ab workout every other day. Running is always at least 1m but normally more.

3 sets of 8-10 bench press
3 sets of 8-10 military press
3 sets of 10 dead lift
3 sets of 10 squats
3 sets of 8-10 preacher curls
4 sets of 12 dips
3 sets of as many pull ups/chin ups as I can do (usually 5 or 6)
3 sets of (haha) 2 or 3 widearm pull ups.

I have a bench, curl bar, preacher curl rest, pull up/widearm bar, and uhh that thing for dips and leg raises.

How does that look? Can I split it up, or add anything else with the equipment I currently have?

IMO buddy you need to try and isolate each muscle and do more work to them. Maybe try a 4 day split which will look like this:

Monday chest and triceps

Bench press
Dumbbell flys
Dips

Skull crushers
Close grip bench press
Tricep dips

Wednesday back

Dead lifts
Bent over rows
Pull ups/weighted pull ups
Dumbbell bent over row

Friday shoulders and biceps

Shoulder press
Upright row
Over head press

Preacher curls
Concentration curls
Hammer curls

Sunday legs

Squats
Calve raises
Leg press

Rest and repeat.

This is a bit more advanced than the routine your doing now but as you say you need more. The exercises can be changed up every couple of weeks but this is a basic split you could use. Good luck