LONG DETAILED POST BELOW Hey guys here is the background info. I just turned 29. I am 5'10 and weigh 195 lbs, although I just got back from a weeks vacation in the Caribbean at an all inclusive resort and realistically have pushed it to 200. I would say that my body fat count is around 16-18%. I have been working out on and off for the past 5 years but never have achieved an awesome chiseled body that I have wanted. I know that most of this has to do with me not following a strict diet for an extended period of time. Over the course of my workout history I have basically followed one type of workout routine that I got from The Body for Life Book a few years ago. Basically it was: Monday - Chest, Shoulders, Back, Biceps, Triceps Tuesday - Cardio Wednesday - Quads, Hamstrings, Calves, Abs Thursday - Cardio Friday - Chest, Shoulders, Back, Biceps, Triceps Saturday - Cardio Sunday - Rest The next week would start with lower body and continue the cycle. Each muscle group was separated into 6 sets increasing weight steadily and resting 1 minute between each set. The final two sets would be burnout sets with no rest in between. The sets would be divided into the following reps. 12 x 10 x 8 x 6 then 12 and a burnout set of 12 but a different exercise. So an example of my chest workout would be: Dumbbell Bench Press (lbs) 50 x 12 minute rest 60 x 10 minute rest 70 x 8 minute rest 80 x 6 minute rest 70 x 12 no rest and immediately dumbbell flies 40 x 12 I would switch this routine up every month changing the exercises as well as muscle rotation. For example I would start the next month in the order of biceps, triceps, back, shoulders and chest. This workout was great because the most I would spend in the gym every day would be 50 minutes. This is a factor because I go in the mornings before work and cannot stay more than an hour per session. I wanted to shake things up and see what some of the professional trainers and workout gurus on this forum recommended. I am really serious about doing whatever I can to get my body fat % down below 10%. I know that diet is the key to this and am already changing that. However I wanted to know if there are better workout routines that I could do that might improve my results. (P90X is not an option right now FYI). I know this is a long detailed post and I really appreciate those of you that read it. Thanks in advance and if you have any more questions I'm here to help you help me.
Not sure why this routine has you doing upper body twice a week and lower body only once....doesnt seem balanced...i'd split the upper body workout into two and keep everything else the same mon- chest, triceps fri- back biceps Shoulders can be added to either...technically they should be done with chest and tris because they all target similar muscles, but 3 major body parts for the same muscles may be too tiring for ya...if it's not then fine, if it is, then do shoulders on fri It's all about calories in vs calories out...no realy magical workout or one that's clearly better than the rest...just cut back on excess calories and excess times of non movement. Eat better/less, move more.
It rotates. Upper, Cardio, Lower, Cardio, Upper, Cardio, Rest, Lower, Cardio, Upper, Cardio, Lower, Cardio, Rest, then rinse wash repeat. I was thinking about breaking up the workouts for upper and lower body due to the fact that at the end of my upper body day, whatever muscle group I am targeting at the end of that workout whether chest or biceps, I am spent and can't really do much with them.
sorry, i think i skipped that middle part....but yeah, i think it's still too much to do for upper body in one work out, at least for the chest/tri muscle group...if you were doing very light weight you may be able to get away with it, but its still a lot of reps..
Hit every muscle group hard once a week. I mean 6-7 exercises atleast per group. You have to split up the muscle groups. I split my days like this - biceps/triceps, chest, shoulders and back. Up your abs & cardio to 4 times a week. Diet is key. High protein, low carbs, fats, oils, and sugar. Look up the warriors diet. Also look up Max OT principles. It'll give you lean muscle and good results in general.
abs are like any other muscle...you dont need to work them out 4 times a week, especially since you engage them unconsciously throughout other exercises...carbs are ok if complex and eaten at the right times... And you dont know what he's doing as cardio, so 4 times a week may be overkill for him. He's already cutting calories and lifting 3 times a week, full body, too much cardio may just leave him fatigued.
Tip of the day: don't do this every day. You don't need it. You don't work other parts of your body every day. You shouldn't work abs every day, especially ab ripper x.....I HATE IT BUT I LOVE IT!
Wish i could help but im currently bulking since im an ecto and never had a problem cutting. I do think doing upper body twice a weak is a bad idea as well as working out abs i wouldnt waste my time as long as theres fat your abs arent gonna show.
yeah, especially with fat over it.... work out your muscle slings, that can be helpful for your core, especially if they're uneven....search for myofascial slings for more info....one exercise called dead bug is pretty good to start with
I am on my 12th week on the B4L program. Ive dropped 32 lbs on the program. I am starting to see more definition in my body that will come more and more as I continue with the program. A HUGE part of it is the diet. I say about 60% of the results you are looking for are within your diet. I also follow the eating for life program. For my wife and I, along with dinners for my in-laws and kids we spend about $125 a week on groceries. The first month we spent about $200 bucks a week to get our stock of spices and stuff built up in our pantry then after that you just find yourself buying the produce and protein along with the carbs needed for the week, which makes things a lot cheaper. With each meal i have a serving of lean protein and good carbs (i.e. brown rice, whole wheat pasta,etc.). I have a serving of veggies with two meals and some cashews for my fat one meal a day. I take multivitamins throughout the day. I changed it up a little, the program states on cardio days to do 20 mintues of cardio using HIIT. I do this but do two rounds on my cardio days in a total of 40 minutes. On my lifting days i end my workout with a 20 minute HITT cardio session. So I have added extra cardio to the regime. I also work my abs every weight training day. I also play vball, tennis and bball on Tues, Thurs and Saturday for about 2 to 3 hours. I eat about 6 meals a day out of the book along with protein shakes and bars. I am seeing more and more definition from day one to where I am at now on day 79. I am sure eventually I will start looking the way i wanna look. I am very very very happy with the results and the work outs dont seem to burn me out like (P90x, insanity, etc.) I havnt missed a single day...so IMO...just do it regulary with a healthy diet and you should see results in a couple months. I go at 5am. I was 5'8" 218 with about 26% body fat. I am now 186 with 14% Body Fat. Let me know if you need anything. Hope this helps.
I started working out routinely/seriously just over a year ago and have continuously researched different methods to achieve results. At this point, all I can say is that you should probably look into a personal trainer or at least seek advice from one if you want serious results. Most of what you want to achieve will probably come from diet. Your routine is probably fine. One thing I have learned is that you really only need one exercise per muscle group to build muscle mass, as long as you are going all out on that exercise (IE if you're doing chest, a warmup set and then 2 or 3 sets of whatever weight you can get 6-8 reps). This way you are calling every muscle fiber possible with the lift, rather than doing lighter weight/more reps and not using all of your muscle fibers. I recently went from a segmented twice a week workout, doing multiple exercises per muscle group ... then decided to switch to full body workouts, one exercise per muscle group each workout. Because of time constraints (work and school), I've only been able to do one day a week for the last month ... and I feel like I've actually added muscle mass rather than just maintained (it's possible my body just needed the rest). Just my .02. this link crashed my browser...
It shouldn't. If it does, just google "Westside for Skinny Bastards part 3" It's a 4 day a week split. 2 days are upper body. 2 days are lower body. It has a workout program for older people, in season training and off season training.
Thats awesome man, congratulations. The Body For Life program was awesome when I first started. It does work and is its always cool to run into fellow Body for Lifers. The books are extremely well written. I also bought the Eating for Life and was doing well until my work brought be to South America. Here it was an adjustment. Everything from finding a good gym to having to substitute ingredients that you can't find here. When I started the B4L I was so pumped. Motivated and everything. After several years of on again off again cycles I think I am just in need of something new to get that motivational spark back. The program is awesome its just that I have been doing it for so long, I have slacked off and lost my motivation causing a half @ssed effort. I want to return to the gym with a brand new start.
that's all relative to the person, it's impossible to set a specific meal plan for everyone...have to consider your current weight, activity level, usual meals, goals, etc.. Generally you want to limit simple carbs, bad oils fats, and processed sugars as much as possible...get most of your calories from complex carbs, proteins, and good fats...
