New Routine - Tell Me What You Think

You work out more than I do

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I would try a Mon-Wed-Fri routine with those exercises, and give yourself the weekend off. No cardio, no weights, none of it. Just have fun, and come back ready to work on Mon. You'll be so itchin' to go at that point, you'll be breathing fire. And I wouldn't do more than 3 sets on any exercise in total, and only the last one to failure. I know it seems crazy, but less really IS more. Everything else looks pretty good, as long as you are making progress.

Good luck- keep us posted.

 

i've been lifting for years, and whats worked well for me and what i think Jcow is talking about in regards to over-training is...
take chest for example.
we'll bench press, do incline dumbell press, and flys for this workout.
you should do 7 sets total.

bench, 1 warm up for 12 or so reps, 1 moderate set, 50-70%max of 8 reps, then one set to absolute failure.

then incline: 1 warm up set 8-10 reps, then one set to failure.

flys: 1 warm up set 8-10 reps, then one set to failure.

you really should not be able to do any more chest exercises if you truly do this the right way. any more would be over training. here we're doing 7 sets, 3 of which are work sets.

 

basically the first sets dont matter that much, you're building towards that last set. you want a little rest before your last set because thats by far the one you want to use optimal exertion on...when training like i suggested.

if you're just doing a bunch of sets, all of equal intensity, then yeah you can cut down on rest in between.

 

I have to agree. Your routine in the 1st post sounds like over-training to me, and that of course will actually hinder any kind of growth you want to attain.

 

There are two basic needs for any exercise routine to work- a progressive workload and adequate rest in between workouts. That's really all it boils down to. Whatever works for you, go for it. If you like spending time in the gym, or prefer isolation movements to compound ones, or are all about the latest in stability balls and kettlebells, it doesn't matter.

As long as every workout stimulates growth and you allow yourself to rest long enough for that growth and adaption to happen, then it doesn't make a whole lotta difference whether you're doing 1 set per exercise or 3 sets of 4 exercises per targeted body area (for a total of 12 sets). I can tell you which one is more efficient- but some people like spending their free time working out.

As to what Seth was writing about earlier: Yes, that's pretty much what I was talking about, except I would nix the warmup sets on the last two exercises if you're targeting the same muscle group.

After the first set to failure, your muscles are going to be absolutely engorged with blood transporting glycogen and trying to flush out lactic acid. They are as 'warmed up' as they are going to get. It also allows for the decrease in time that you mentioned slick, as you said-increasing intensity, thereby upping the inroad made into your starting strengh level.

Also, with three sets to failure on any one (or couple of) muscle group(s), you have to take into account the inroad you are making into your initial level of strength and the body's finite recovery resources. The farther you take the damage done to your muscle tissue, the longer it's going to take for the body to repair itself and compensate. While in theory, the greater the inroad=the greater the adaptation, at a point the iroad becomes too great and hampers your ability to function normally. It also will increase the time needed for the body to rebound and adapt (sometimes to a month or more), and for most people that's too long in between to really form and keep a good habit going. Just something to keep in mind.

 

i like those late warm up sets, for purposes of prepping for balance and the rhythm of the move. not really for muscle growth. especially if its a new exercise. one thing thats funny is, my muscle memory needs a little fine tuning with things like dumbell presses and other classic moves. my balance and rhythm is off after the hiatus.

 

That's cool. Good points about the balance and getting into a rhythm with the movement of the exercise, especially if you're using free weights. I didn't think about that b/c I'm so used to doing those exercises...nice catch.

 

So, are days 1,2, and 3 consecutive days, with no rest days in between? If so, it's going to take more than one day for your body to simply recover, let alone grow, after 3 con. days of hard training.

If you're already pretty built, you could put anywhere from 2-5 days(or even longer) in between small workouts like these and not have any loss of muscle mass/strength. For example, you could do Chest/Tri's on Mon., Sh./Back/Neck on Fri. and Legs/Abs/Bi's on the next Tues.

Of course, it's comes to whatever works for you. If consecutive days are productive, then that's totally awesome. Just letting you know that if you can't get a workout in/it isn't working, you can insert a few extra rest days without any appreciable loss. Good luck!

 

If your doing 7 or 9 sets of Dumbell curls and hammer curls or anything..........then you should move up the weight,because at that point your turning you work out into a cardio workout.I'm sure you know this but still.

I have 25lbs dumbell's and after a lil time i was doing like 15 or 16 sets of 10 reps and i really wasn't getting any stronger but just getting super defined.

I find it's very easy to just kept on adding sets to my work out when all i have is the same 25 pound dumbell's at home............anyways i think this is a post i should read to myself before i start working out again lol, cuzz every time i start working out it's the same dame thing lol i need to go to a gym so i'll just move up the weight instead of just doing more sets .Never mind.

 

haha ~ i just read your other thread, now i get what your saying about doing between 7-9 sets for a specific muscle group.

I don't think your over doing it at all, but then again i just play with dumbells and do pull ups,push ups and sit ups.

I'm a freak and just work out for the cardio for the most part, and i love doing a'lot of reps as you can see with the 150 to 160 reps i do.

Anyways i must be doing something right,because i just looked up the tale of the tape on Tyson and Holy s%$^ my forearms are the same size as his and my biceps are 2 inch bigger lol that's crazy. http://brevheart.tripod.com/taleofthetape.htm

 

im shocked his arms are that size, but maybe its not flexed. his arms seem way bigger than 16". usually people measure flexed..i dunno. the again, my arms are bigger than that just hangin loose at my sides.

lol, his neck is way thicker though!

how much you weigh funkdat? some people just have genes with big *** arms.

 

Seth, while most people don't do it, you should always measure your biceps flexed and unflexed for a true measure of your arms.

 

which one do you go by then? the bigger

 

I'm one of those that when I was lifting heavy about 7 years ago, I got stronger, but my arms just never would grow. I was 6ft 2, 227 lbs and my arms never got bigger than 16 3/4 inches.

 

You should always use unflexed but most people want the showy number, so they use the flexed.

 

thats good size! some people are 5'5 210 with 20" arms...some peeps are just built with big arms...and they dont even have to try

 

I read up about it last and night and they measure with a flexed bicep.

My girlfriend got on a " measure kick " one day with me a few years ago cuzz she thought my arms were not as long as they should be ala Matt Roth but mine were fine and i'm not a T`rex, lol.........i was 180 at the time.

I was doing 500 push ups and sit ups a day, well 2 days on then one day off and i did that for a a lil under a year.It took about 4 or 5 months to build to 500.....anyway.

As far as genes go it could be the 1/4 german in me.

 

I have a friend like you and he is wayyyyyyyyy stronger then me.

 

My friend Mike Mollica, who granted he is a bodybuilder, but he has the biggest arms I have ever seen in person in my life.....19½ inches cold....when pumped over 20 !



This was a pic I took in 2002

 

Well strength though has never been my "strong" point

I never got above doing dumbell curls with more than 45's or a max rep bench press more than 185 lbs, and that was a struggle. The only things I could do that was halfway "strong" was deadlifts and squats. Looking at one of my old lifting journals (I recommend every one use one...never go to the gym without one and chart every rep and set)

Squats : warmup set with the bar x 10, then ......10 x 135, 7 x 165, 7 x 185, 4 x 215, and finally 7 x 155.
Deadlifts : 10 x 135, 10 x 205, 3 x 265, 2 x 265, 1 x 265, 6 x 185

I'm sure most of you guys think that is pretty pansy weight, but I was 41 yrs old at the time, and I had only started lifting at age 38 (never ever lifted before that).

 

theres only pansie effort...no pansie weight...imo.

i've been lifting since i was 15/16, so i basically transformed what god had intended for me(skinny & slight), and have a rather stout frame considering. but that also lets me take hiatus and come back and still be able to throw around 225 on bench even after months & months off. and im only 185lbs.
conversely, my brother who is naturally bigger boned and thicker than me, struggles to rep 225 once. he started lifting later in life...and its almost like speaking a language...its best to do it young...lay that foundation.

and your friend has sick arms. my tri's are big, but i just cant get my biceps to grow and peak like that, they've always been my weak spot.

 

yeah, thats big arms for 180...and you should change your name to herschel walker.

 

Yeah Seth, Mike just has sick genetics.....but don't get me wrong he works for that body. I've seen him squat 7 plates a side for 6 reps (675 lbs). Talk about shutting a gym down. Every eye in that place was focused on him.

I used to get so jealous Seth. I used to work hard....I mean freakin' HARD. My t-shirt was soaked after each workout, and on leg days often times I puked. And I didn't grow or get as strong as some of these guys who would start from stratch and BOOM, in a few months were outlifting me. Eventually I became comfortable with who I was, and what genetics I had. It was hard, but there was nothing I could do about it. God didn't intend for me to be a real muscular type of guy.

I think all of that came from my stupid thinking that people would judge me and my worth in the gym from how much I lifted. But my friend Mike was the one that made me realize that its not the amount of weight that makes people respect you, its the effort you put in. After Mike pointed that out, I noticed that a lot of the personal trainers/bodybuilders/powerlifter guys always liked me and spoke to me, shook my hand when they saw me, and asked me how I was doing. I always treated my gym time, as serious lifting time, and I never stood around and BS'd with folks. My gym time was 50 minutes to an hour....period. Those guys respected that and treated me pretty good.

 

Yes, good gym etiquette will go a long way with the people that matter. I also agree with Seth- there are no pansy weights, only pansy effort and sloppy form. If you stop six reps shy of what you could potentially do, all the while throwing the bar around like some raver on acid, then yes- you are a pansy. Nothing in my conversations w/ you PQMZ have ever led me to believe you are anywhere near that.

Funk, I would agree with you that while 7-9 sets per exercise may not be excessive for some, it is certainly most inefficient for all. If you could get the same or comparable results from 1-2 sets/exercise or 7-9 sets/exercise, which would you choose? There isn't necessarily a right or wrong answer to that question, as it amounts to personal preference.

*As a general statement to all*-
I am of the mind that personal fitness should be used as a tool to allow one to live their lives to the fullest. To be able to go and do physically whatever they set their mind to (within genetic possibility) and spend time w/ their family and friends without ever having to think about the body doing what is asked of it. If I can cut down my time in pursuit of physical fitness by hours a week(without sacrificing gain), then I can re-allocate that time to spend with the people I love, doing the activities I enjoy most. That's my perspective on it.

Just something to ponder...

 

nice point. as i mentioned, i started going to the gym at 5:30am, and the biggest motivting factor is to get on a better sleep schedule, so i can be tired at night at a decent time and goto bed with my wife..spend some pilow time we'd otherwise miss, and be a better husband.

 

Thanks bro, I can assure you I was one of those who was anal to a point on strict form. So I used to sacrifice some show-off pounds on my weights because of that.

I appreciate that you guys didn't laugh at the weights I posted. I had a different reaction once before when I posted my poundages at Anabolic Review.

By the way, the weights I posted were both from May 2001 workouts.

 

Hey, the average guy can only bench press around 145lbs. So the people that laugh at what you posted are just pricks.

..................and you know how Geraldo Rivera kind of acts like a bad ***,,, well back in 1988 he tried to bench press 145lbs on his show and couldn't move it up at all.

 

I would but then my girlfriend would trade me in for a'lot of other guy's and she'd end up winning the lottery a few years later.

 

Well they have a lot of guys that think they are bad-*** on that site. Most of them are just a-holes who only wish they were the Governator (Ahhhhhhhhnold S).

 

Get well soon bro.

 

Ya man- hope you get well soon. Just remember to be fully well when you start on the routine again. You don't want your body still fighting off the infection and then have to repair itself on top of that. You can't defend the castle and repair it at the same time.