General Workout Routines and Questions

[Der Alta]

I'm currently upwards of 360 grams protein, at 3300 calories a day.

Starting this week, is my "Diet, before my Diet". I'll bring my intake back down to normal (3000 calories) , or slightly negative. I stay at that level, decreasing my weight by about 4 pounds over the next month, then a huge blow-out feast on July 4th, then begin my contest diet. At which point I'll drop to about 2700 calories and decrease them in steps as October 16th gets closer.

One goal I have for the next month, is to set personal records in my Bench, Deadlift, and Squat. I'll use these as guides as I trim down for the competition. Ideally, I'd like to break 1000lbs combined as I'm right on the cusp. The breakdown is 225lb bench, 315lb squat and 460lb deadlift.

Last night, was Back, so I started with...

Deadlifts Supersetted with neutral grip Chin-ups.
135lbs x 15, 8 chin-ups
225lbs x 12, 6 chin-ups
315lbs x 6, 5 chin-ups
365lbs x 4, 4 chin-ups

Next exercise: Wide Grip Pull downs
70lbs x 25
85lbs x 20
115lbs x 15
145lbs x 6
160lbs x 4

And done.

 

[Pako]

Nice DA! I have been working on my diet, trying to strip some body fat and it's working. I'm down about 8lbs, but so is my energy. Workouts have sucked. I'm still getting the weight up but I get light headed in the workout and my motivation is down. I just don't "feel" strong. Down to 224lbs, btw. The lightest I've been for a long time.

 

[CAMAROBOY69]

About a week ago sunday May 23rd I got severly sunburnt. So all of last week we did not workout at all. Then to top that off I almost got a heat stroke on this Sunday May 30th. Just way too much sun for an entire week straight just killed me. I was working way to hard in the yard, didnt drink enough water, and almost passed out. I ended up going inside for the entire night then slept for 12 hours straight after getting very sick.

The good news is that on my weigh in on Saturday May 29th I weighed in at 187lbs!!! I put on another pound even though we didnt work out the entire week. I was quite nervous about that but happy with the results. So I am at 187lbs shooting to my goal of 190lbs!! Getting so close.

The only bad thing about taking last week off and the heat exhaustion is that it took a toll on me this week. We did chest / tris on Tuesday and I had to drop down some of the weight. Just felt weak. In fact we both felt a little weak so we will see how today and tomorrow go. I am sure by next week we will have more energy and motvation again.

But the crazy news is that Heather is STILL losing weight even though she reached her goal a few weeks ago. Her weightloss method is incredible and soooooooo easy to do. In fact if it wasnt for the muscle building she is doing with me, she would be even lighter. She was already quite small but now she is getting very small. But its great news for both of us.

 

[Public'sTwin]

About a week ago sunday May 23rd I got severly sunburnt. So all of last week we did not workout at all. Then to top that off I almost got a heat stroke on this Sunday May 30th. Just way too much sun for an entire week straight just killed me. I was working way to hard in the yard, didnt drink enough water, and almost passed out. I ended up going inside for the entire night then slept for 12 hours straight after getting very sick.

The good news is that on my weigh in on Saturday May 29th I weighed in at 187lbs!!! I put on another pound even though we didnt work out the entire week. I was quite nervous about that but happy with the results. So I am at 187lbs shooting to my goal of 190lbs!! Getting so close.

The only bad thing about taking last week off and the heat exhaustion is that it took a toll on me this week. We did chest / tris on Tuesday and I had to drop down some of the weight. Just felt weak. In fact we both felt a little weak so we will see how today and tomorrow go. I am sure by next week we will have more energy and motvation again.

But the crazy news is that Heather is STILL losing weight even though she reached her goal a few weeks ago. Her weightloss method is incredible and soooooooo easy to do. In fact if it wasnt for the muscle building she is doing with me, she would be even lighter. She was already quite small but now she is getting very small. But its great news for both of us.

Out of curiosity, what is your weight loss method? I'm basically combining an amateur-bulking diet with a healthy amount of cardio to balance things out; I've been trying to bulk and lean at the same time, which I know is antithetical. I typically go on a week-by-week basis, alternating between bulking and leaning. I think I'll have to switch (more consistently) to a fortnight-by-fortnight basis.

 

[CAMAROBOY69]

Out of curiosity, what is your weight loss method? I'm basically combining an amateur-bulking diet with a healthy amount of cardio to balance things out; I've been trying to bulk and lean at the same time, which I know is antithetical. I typically go on a week-by-week basis, alternating between bulking and leaning. I think I'll have to switch (more consistently) to a fortnight-by-fortnight basis.

Its not my weight loss method its Heathers (my fiance). If you are try to bulk you will want to set the calories lower.

Anyway here is her weight loss method that she actually created herself. Obviously you will have to watch what you eat too. Heather's easy weight loss program.

But if you are trying to bulk and lose fat at the same time then use her program lightly. I am concentrating more on a bulk so I am currently not using her program. But later if I decide I want some cardio or if I want to start cutting then I will use her program for sure.

 

[Der Alta]

Out of curiosity, what is your weight loss method? I'm basically combining an amateur-bulking diet with a healthy amount of cardio to balance things out; I've been trying to bulk and lean at the same time, which I know is antithetical. I typically go on a week-by-week basis, alternating between bulking and leaning. I think I'll have to switch (more consistently) to a fortnight-by-fortnight basis.

There's a huge debate about the body's ability to add muscle while loosing body fat. There are genetic factors, environmental, and mental factors that all weigh in.

To be completely honest, I've done it. I was in the beginning stages of training and my body was really out of shape, and as such it was very easy. I'd look sideways at a treadmill and drop two pounds. Pick up a dumbell, and put on a pound of muscle. It's a bit harder right now, but on my current diet plan it's all geared towards adding muscle and stripping body fat. The BB'er I train with, trains for every one of his shows the same way.

When I start my Competition diet, I'll post it in the Eating thread and we can review/discuss it.

 

[Max Powers]

I'm having a pretty good week this week. So far I've fit three days of lifting in already. I got an excellent chest workout on Tuesday, and actually I'm still feeling pretty sore from it.

Here's what I did. Note that I was opting for minimum rest between each exercise
bench press 140 pounds (my weight) for three sets of 12
close grip chin-ups 3 sets of 10
Dumbell flys ~35 pounds for 3 sets of 10
Dumbell presses 40 pounds for 3 sets of 15
And to finish it up, 3 sets of 12 inclined push-ups.

Reducing the amount of time resting between each chest exercise is what I am attributing to the extra soreness, because that is a fairly common chest routine for me, but usually I will mix it up by throwing in my other exercises for the day (abs or whatever it happens to be) in the mix between the sets.

Doing the same thing for my abs like Pako mentioned earlier in this thread, doing four tough exercises in a row with minimal breaks btw. the sets and exercises. Right now I'm doing bicycle crunches->Planks->Captain's Chair->Weighted crunches.

Anyway, good week for me so far. I was planning on getting in another workout today, but I'll be playing hockey for 3 hours tonight instead, so I don't think I will feel too bad about missing today. I'll get my 4th of the week in tomorrow.

Usually what I'm doing now is

Day 1: Biceps/Back +AbS
Day 2: Tris/Chest + Lower Back
Day 3:Shoulders + Abs + running

on the 4th day, I usually try to fit in a full body lifting workout to try to put it all together. On a busy week, the 4th day is the one that ends up getting skipped, but that's pretty rare.

Also I go at least 20 minutes on the heavy bag before every workout to work up a sweat.

 

[Der Alta]

I'm having a pretty good week this week. So far I've fit three days of lifting in already. I got an excellent chest workout on Tuesday, and actually I'm still feeling pretty sore from it.

bench press 140 pounds (my weight) for three sets of 12
close grip chin-ups 3 sets of 10
Dumbell flys ~35 pounds for 3 sets of 10
Dumbell presses 40 pounds for 3 sets of 15
And to finish it up, 3 sets of 12 inclined push-ups.

Good to hear that its working. I do have one question, in regards to the bold portion, above. Close grip chins is a bicep/Back exercise. Why are you including them in a Chest workout? You'd be better served doing dips.

 

[ROAD_DOGG33J]

For a beginner dumbbell workout, is it okay to do a full body workout every other day with a couple of compound and isolation exercises?


What about abs? Can they be done every day or should there be a rest?

 

[Max Powers]

Good to hear that its working. I do have one question, in regards to the bold portion, above. Close grip chins is a bicep/Back exercise. Why are you including them in a Chest workout? You'd be better served doing dips.

I really don't have any set up to do dips on at the moment since I'm working out of my home gym. Hopefully, I'll set up a bar that I can use for that and a more effective captain's chair exercise.

Though they don't work the chest primarily, I definitely noticed that my chest muscles were still being worked during the exercise, and I haven't been able to replicate the chest motion that I am using for them in any other exercise, so until I can replace them with the dips, I am just throwing them in experimentally.

I also do them on bicep/back days.

For a beginner dumbbell workout, is it okay to do a full body workout every other day with a couple of compound and isolation exercises?


What about abs? Can they be done every day or should there be a rest?

Full body won't usually hurt if you're just starting, especially if you don't have a ton of equipment to do a huge number of exercises. If you are doing full body, at least try to concentrate on one specific area each a day a bit more than others.

I could be wrong, but it's probably not the best idea to do abs every day, unless it's a really light workout. You'd be much better off doing a more intense workout for them a few times a week with more rest in between.

 

[CAMAROBOY69]

I really don't have any set up to do dips on at the moment since I'm working out of my home gym. Hopefully, I'll set up a bar that I can use for that and a more effective captain's chair exercise.

Though they don't work the chest primarily, I definitely noticed that my chest muscles were still being worked during the exercise, and I haven't been able to replicate the chest motion that I am using for them in any other exercise, so until I can replace them with the dips, I am just throwing them in experimentally.

I also do them on bicep/back days.

I also work at home in a very very small room (7' x 7') but I made a dip bar out of exhaust pipe and it works perfectly. It just sets in the end of my bench where the preacher curl cushion goes. I am 187lbs and it holds me with no problem. Plus it was VERY cheap and easy to make. On chest / tricep day I just put it in and it only takes about 30 seconds. When I am finished I pull the dip bar out and set it on the floor against the wall out of the way.
Here are some pics of it. It slides into that preacher curl cushion hole in my bench.

 

[Max Powers]

I also work at home in a very very small room (7' x 7') but I made a dip bar out of exhaust pipe and it works perfectly. It just sets in the end of my bench where the preacher curl cushion goes. I am 187lbs and it holds me with no problem. Plus it was VERY cheap and easy to make. On chest / tricep day I just put it in and it only takes about 30 seconds. When I am finished I pull the dip bar out and set it on the floor against the wall out of the way.
Here are some pics of it. It slides into that preacher curl cushion hole in my bench.

Nice! I'll probably rig up something very similar. Hopefully I can get it to fit into my bench, but if not, I'm sure I can figure out a way to secure it somehow.

Gives me a good reason to fool around with my dad's arc welder, too.

I'll probably be buying a new bench soon, too. I'm going to keep my one I have now for benching and whatnot, since it's a good flat bench, but I want to get one that can incline/decline properly as well. I saw a Gold's Gym one at Wal Mart for 50 bucks, so I'm gonna pick that up and hope it's not a piece of crap.

 

[Max Powers]

Ugh, I feel like I broke my wrist playing hockey tonight. I'm icing it for now and hoping for some improvement in the morning, since I can't really tell if it's broken or not yet. Either way, I can't support very much weight on it right now, so I'll prob need some sort of brace for lifting.

 

[Pako]

Ugh, I feel like I broke my wrist playing hockey tonight. I'm icing it for now and hoping for some improvement in the morning, since I can't really tell if it's broken or not yet. Either way, I can't support very much weight on it right now, so I'll prob need some sort of brace for lifting.

Brace it up good or stay off of the wrist for a week or so. Injury's suck man, but they seem to heal. 👍

 

[Max Powers]

Well I don't think it's broken, at least. It felt pretty bad up until I woke up this morning, but it actually feels quite a bit better now, though still not 100%. I'm probably going to take today off and wait until Thursday or so to start again.

Sucks taking so many days off after such a good week last week, but I'm just glad I didn't break anything.

 

[Omnis]

I did some lat pulldowns, chest press, and some leg press before doing a ton of cardio yesterday. I woke up with my arms not wanting to be straight and have been pooping like whoa all morning.

I'm easing into it and trying to get my heart in shape first so I don't feel dizzy doing other stuff. My VO2 max must suck right now. I took my mom though and she did OK for not having worked out in 25 years. She couldn't turnover the pedals on the arc trainer though. She says it hurts her hip. That thing is sick... totally blasted my legs.

 

[CAMAROBOY69]

I mentioned back in post 393 that I got sunburnt one week and then almost heat stroke a week later... Well something still seems to be wrong. I still feel dizzy almost all day long and I ended up losing 2 lbs last week when I weighed in on Saturday the 5th. So now I am down to 185lbs. I am not sure if I got sun poisoning, dehydration, or if I have an electrolyte imbalance but something is wrong. I hate doctors but might have to go in if this doesnt get better. Which really sucks because now I have skipped 2 weeks of leg workout.

Oh oh i do have some good news. I hit a new personal best last wednesday. I deadlifted 230lbs 5 times. So thats the good news. Bad news is that I seriously thought I was going to pass out after I was done. So the last couple days I have been drinking Gatorade and lots of fluids hoping to fix whatever is wrong.

 

[Omnis]

Have you checked blood sugar, pressure, and heart rate?

 

[CAMAROBOY69]

Nope. Is there a way to check blood sugar at home? lol I am trying to avoid the doctor.

 

[ExigeEvan]

Decided to mix things up this week, different gym buddy and finally getting some consistancy on attending.

Sunday - Chest/Back split (abs) - Bench, DB Row, Incline flye, lat pull down, decline weighted sit ups.
Monday - Legs. Squats, calf raises, ham' curls machine, quad extension machine (hill climb on the bicycle on the way home)
Tuesday - Shoulder/arms (abs) - DB Shoulder press, Incline alt' DB curl, Skull crushers, standing vert' row, leg raises.

All in all, I thought it worked out pretty well. They are short, to the point workouts and are trying to introduce 5x5 on the first exercise of each day. This will possibly mean subbing in BB rows and doing them before DB bench on day 1.

 

[Public'sTwin]

Crisis: I've temporarily run out of money and protein supplements.

June is going to suck. (I suppose this gives me an impetus to start cardio, then. . .)

 

[CAMAROBOY69]

What is everyone doing for their PRE workout meal? My pre workout meal worked for my very first bulk up 8 years ago but I am looking for something different this time.
Just looking for some ideas.

 

[Omnis]

What is everyone doing for their PRE workout meal? My pre workout meal worked for my very first bulk up 8 years ago but I am looking for something different this time.
Just looking for some ideas.

Pre workout is a turkey sandwich with sri racha and dense whole grain bread with one Orange Triad multi-vitamin and a fish fats pill. Sub the turkey with whatever meat happens to be on sale at Publix. I got the turkey BOGO.

Post workout is usually a whey shake, CoQ10, and some greek yogurt for desert.

 

[Pako]

Pre workout is a turkey sandwich with sri racha and dense whole grain bread with one Orange Triad multi-vitamin and a fish fats pill. Sub the turkey with whatever meat happens to be on sale at Publix. I got the turkey BOGO.

Post workout is usually a whey shake, CoQ10, and some greek yogurt for desert.

Do you take a bucket with you on leg days?

Seriously, if I ate that much pre-workout, most the nutrients would end up on the floor, in the waste basket, or all over my spotter. I try to have my Animal pak, and some yogurt about 2 hours pre-workout. I have the larger snacks for post, along with the whey. I will say that my nutrition is horrible and should not be taken as sound advise.

 

[Pako]

On a side note, I might start working legs twice a week, Wednesday as normal and on Saturdays. Honestly, I'm working my upper body 4 times a week, Mon, Tues, Thurs, and Friday, it seems my legs should be able to handle it. I actually took my oldest to the gym on Saturday. My legs were a little sore from Wednesdays workout, but damn I felt good when we got done. Will let you guys know if I do, and how it goes.

 

[Omnis]

Do you take a bucket with you on leg days?

Seriously, if I ate that much pre-workout, most the nutrients would end up on the floor, in the waste basket, or all over my spotter. I try to have my Animal pak, and some yogurt about 2 hours pre-workout. I have the larger snacks for post, along with the whey. I will say that my nutrition is horrible and should not be taken as sound advise.

It's not like I eat right before I start working out. Plus, I walk to the gym so that helps it digest. And I haven't started doing anything heavy yet. I can't even do squats right because my legs aren't flexible enough.

I think I screwed up doing lat pulldowns the first day I went because my biceps and forearms are sore as hell. I think I went too heavy. I dunno. Yesterday I woke up and had to literally force my arms straight. They won't relax to a straight position unless I force them there.

 

[CAMAROBOY69]

Do you take a bucket with you on leg days?

Seriously, if I ate that much pre-workout, most the nutrients would end up on the floor, in the waste basket, or all over my spotter.

Yeah no kidding. I saw all that and instantly thought about throwing up. lol

For my pre-workout meal I usually have 1 cup of cottage cheese, a cup of random fruit, and sometimes half a cup of mixed nuts all about an hour before I workout. The mixed nuts really seem to help a lot with energy. I have experimented without the mixed nuts and dont seem to have as much energy by the time my workout is done. I might start putting in a scoop of peanut butter like I did with my first bulk up 8 years ago.

Last night was back and biceps and felt great all the way around. For the last month or so I have been doing close grip pull ups and have noticible new muscles in my upper back below my traps and between the upper part of my shoulder blades. So last night I started with wide grip pull ups, palms facing away from me. Felt great but most of them were assisted. I really need to work my lats more. After that I went to deadlifts and set another person best.

Deadlifts
220 x 9
225 x 8
230 x 6
235 x 5!!!

Once I hit 230lbs my double overhand grip started to slip so I switched to a mixed grip and it made a huge difference.

 

[Max Powers]

Well, I'm going to try to get back into my routine today after taking a week off because of my wrist scare. The pain has subsided from very dull to almost none at all, so I think I'm pretty good to go. Plus I played hockey on it last night for 3 hours of open ice, definitely not broken.

Either way, I'm excited to get back into things.

 

[Der Alta]

Crisis: I've temporarily run out of money and protein supplements.

June is going to suck. (I suppose this gives me an impetus to start cardio, then. . .)

You can't beat real food for good nutrition. But that also falls under the cash issue as well. 10lbs of chicken isn't cheap.

What is everyone doing for their PRE workout meal? My pre workout meal worked for my very first bulk up 8 years ago but I am looking for something different this time.
Just looking for some ideas.

I never eat within 90 minutes of lifting. Mainly for the reason Pako stated. I will note, that I often pound a cup of cold coffee before I lift.

There's been some new research that shows lifting on an empty stomach burns more bodyfat than lifting with food in your stomach. The workout will suffer, as your body doesn't have as much energy, but you burn more body fat. This is where the coffee comes in. Gives me that extra bit of boost to hit the lifts I need to.

This actually brings up this post by Pako. On the days you know you want to go heavy, add in two or three extra potatos through out the day. It'll give you a bit more fuel for the heavy lifts. Yesterday I was a carb depleted and barely made 405lbs move on my deadlift. The week before, I had no trouble and likely could have pulled it twice.

Diet is a funny thing. Subtle little tweaks can be so important.

This is also the irritating part. I'm only 20lbs lighter than Pako, yet I can't move the weights that he can. just goes to show what 20lbs of muscle really means.

 

[CAMAROBOY69]

I am not a coffee drinker at all so thats not an option. Also if I dont eat at least an hour before I workout, I just simply dont have any energy. Maybe that has something to do with my ectomorph metabolism.

I bought some natural peanut butter and I am going to start taking a teaspoon or 2 of that with my cottage cheese and fruit cup pre-workout meal. Just like I did with my first bulk up in 2003. I also noticed that even a simple 1/2 cup of dried fruit or 1/2 cup nuts adds quite a bid of energy. I will see how the peanut butter goes for a week. Probably swap out some dried fruit/peanuts in place of the peanut butter once in a while as an experiement. I might even add in a 7th meal to help carb myself up a little before the workout. Currently I am at 6 meals per day but I have a fairly large gap between 12:00 and 4:15 ish where I could have a small carb meal or snack. I could fit it in around 2:30 like I used to.

It doesnt help that i have been dealing with this constant dizziness throughout the day after I got sunburnt a few weeks ago. 3 weeks later and still peeling. It is slowly getting better. Tonight will be the first night we have worked legs/shoulders in 2 weeks.