Critique My Workout Routine & Diet - Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community

soma · 03-06-2006, 12:15 PM

Goals To add as much muscle to my upper body as possible.

Workout Routine I work out once every other day in the afternoons. I do the following exercises:

-pushup
-bicep curl
-front raise
-lateral raise
-shoulder press

I alternate between these exercises pretty whilly nilly for about 45 minutes total. How can I work out more effectively? I hear all this talk about reps and sets, and have no idea how many I should be doing of either.

Diet I eat 3 meals daily and try to keep them protein centered. Lots of beans, nuts, meat, and I drink milk too. I also try to eat a lot of greens and other fresh uncooked vegetables. I'm also trying to cut down my sugar intake.

I was thinking about adding a multivitamin to my diet. And I've also been considering going even further and getting muscle building specific protein pills/mixes. And I'm also semi-considering creatine, but it seems kind of expensive, and I'm not a big fan of side effects. I've also been thinking of using caffeine pills to give me a boost during my workout. Any comments on vitamins/supplements/pills?

I'm pretty new to all of this so any (and I mean any) suggestions/advice/stories whatever would be appreciated.

noahfor · 03-06-2006, 01:51 PM

Your routine is pretty bad. The point is to make your body into a muscle building machine, and the way to do that is with heavy compound lifts that hit the largest muscles in the body, so your body is like "whoa I better get in muscle building mode." Right now you are hitting only the smaller muscles, so you aren't making muscle building a priority for your body. Your body isn't going put all that much into muscle building just because you lifted 45 pounds with your biceps, but if you were to lift 300 pounds off the floor then it's going to start taking stuff seriously. You are also working the muscles you work too frequently. It probably doesn;t matter since they are small muscles, but in my opinion twice a week is better.

You want to base your routine around these lifts: squat, deadlift, pull up, row, bench press, military press.

You have the right idea with your diet. Are you a vegetarian? Protein is important, but so are carbohydrates and fats. I eat 1:1:1 ratio of carbs to protein to fats. Healthy fats of course: salmon, nuts, olive oil, etc. The thing is, you have to eat more calories than your body uses in a day, so that your body can build muscle with the extra calories. If your body needs 3000 calories to do important things with, then if you only ate 2000 calories that day, your body is going to use those calories for more important things than building muscle, no matter how much protein you eat. It'll probably be pretty hard to get the amount of calories you need in 3 meals. I'd shoot for five medium sized meals. People will tell you a fist sized meal every two hours. Whatever, you have to figure out how much food you need for yourself.

A multivitamin is a good idea, from what I hear. I take one. The thing about supplements is that if you are doing everything right -eating, training, resting - then they might help you add a couple more pounds of muscle a year, or a little less fat, or something, but they aren't going to be the difference between not gaining and gaining. If you are doing something wrong they won't fix it. A whey shake post workout is a good idea. Although, I'm sure I could find something somewhere saying it isn't. If you can't afford creatine then don't worry about it. It certainly isn't required in order to gain muscle. You know? Maybe it'll help gain 2% more muscle than you would without it. Definitely not neccessary. There's not really any reason to take caffeine before your workout at this stage.

Here is a sample routine:

Monday:
Squats 3 x 8
Straight Leg Deadlift 3 x 8

Tuesday:
Bench Press 3 x 8
Pull Ups 3 x 8

Friday:
Deadlift 5 x 1
Front Squat 3 x 8
Good Morning 3 x 8

Saturday:
Military Press 3 x 8
Bent Over Row 3 x 8

That's just to give you an idea of what a good routine looks like, in my opinion. You can add in some isolation stuff, or direct arm work, or whatever.

http://exrx.net/Lists/Directory.html has videos of all exercises.

Also, on deadlifts, squats, good mornings, bent rows, you want to keep your back slightly arched, never rounded. Try and get someone to teach you these lifts.

soma · 03-06-2006, 03:29 PM

Quote:

Your routine is pretty bad.

I appreciate your honesty. When people give me feedback like that, it helps me improve.

How do I figure out what weight I should be lifting for each exercise? I imagine there is some general formula for figuring this stuff out, like ... if I can do up to 10 reps with a certain weight (but no more) than that weight would be appropriate. If not 10 reps, how many? And then how many sets should I do.

noahfor · 03-06-2006, 04:22 PM

How many sets and reps you do is up to you, and it depends on the exercise. I take it you are interested in muscle growth(hypertrophy) more than gaining strength, so you'd want to stay in the 6-12 rep range because that is the range of reps that will stimulate the most hypertrophy, or so they say. I'm sure it is way more complicated.

Then, and I don't know why, but this what I've read, you want to pick a number of sets so that sets x reps = between 24 and like 60 I think. That number refers to the volume of your workout. Alot of people will do alot of different things.

Intensity refers to how heavy of a weight you are using. If you are going to failure (the point where you can't do any more reps with good form) then you probably only want to reach that point on the last rep of the last set. Anything else will be too taxing, or so I've heard. Alot of people condemn going to failure, and you certainly don't have to in order to gain muscle.

You want to vary your volume an intensity. One month you might want to do high volume low intensity. Another, you might want to do the opposite.

In the routine I posted above it calls for 3 sets of 8 reps, which is like right in the middle of everything, so it's a good scheme to start off with. You just want to make sure you aren't over training.

One thing you want to keep in mind is that you should be increase the workload every single week. This can be done in a variety of ways, such as increasing the weight, increasing # of sets, increasing # of reps, decreasing rest in between sets.

So in the routine above, you'd pick a weight that would allow you to do three sets of 8 reps and will take you pretty close if not all the way to failure on the last rep, and then the next week add five pounds to that, and do the three sets of 8 reps.

soccerchamp76 · 03-06-2006, 10:37 PM

To keep it simple, pick a muscle or few that you want to work in a day, then use several different exercises for that.
Say chest/tricep day:
Bench press, dumbbell bench press, pushups, inclined bench press, cable pulldowns, etc.

GREAT INFORMATIVE SITE (has pictures for each exercise, and descriptions):
http://bodybuilding.com/fun/exercises.htm
If you can think of an exercise, it is in this site.

noahfor · 03-06-2006, 10:59 PM

Nevermind.

03-06-2006, 12:15 PM	#1 (permalink)
soma Addict Location: USA	Critique My Workout Routine & Diet Goals To add as much muscle to my upper body as possible. Workout Routine I work out once every other day in the afternoons. I do the following exercises: -pushup -bicep curl -front raise -lateral raise -shoulder press I alternate between these exercises pretty whilly nilly for about 45 minutes total. How can I work out more effectively? I hear all this talk about reps and sets, and have no idea how many I should be doing of either. Diet I eat 3 meals daily and try to keep them protein centered. Lots of beans, nuts, meat, and I drink milk too. I also try to eat a lot of greens and other fresh uncooked vegetables. I'm also trying to cut down my sugar intake. I was thinking about adding a multivitamin to my diet. And I've also been considering going even further and getting muscle building specific protein pills/mixes. And I'm also semi-considering creatine, but it seems kind of expensive, and I'm not a big fan of side effects. I've also been thinking of using caffeine pills to give me a boost during my workout. Any comments on vitamins/supplements/pills? I'm pretty new to all of this so any (and I mean any) suggestions/advice/stories whatever would be appreciated. __________________ Having Girl Problems?

03-06-2006, 10:37 PM	#5 (permalink)
soccerchamp76 Go Cardinals Location: St. Louis/Cincinnati	To keep it simple, pick a muscle or few that you want to work in a day, then use several different exercises for that. Say chest/tricep day: Bench press, dumbbell bench press, pushups, inclined bench press, cable pulldowns, etc. GREAT INFORMATIVE SITE (has pictures for each exercise, and descriptions): http://bodybuilding.com/fun/exercises.htm If you can think of an exercise, it is in this site. __________________ Brian Griffin: Ah, if my memory serves me, this is the physics department. Chris Griffin: That would explain all the gravity.

03-06-2006, 10:59 PM	#6 (permalink)
noahfor Addict	Nevermind. Last edited by noahfor; 03-07-2006 at 06:50 AM..

03-06-2006, 01:51 PM	#2 (permalink)
noahfor Addict	Your routine is pretty bad. The point is to make your body into a muscle building machine, and the way to do that is with heavy compound lifts that hit the largest muscles in the body, so your body is like "whoa I better get in muscle building mode." Right now you are hitting only the smaller muscles, so you aren't making muscle building a priority for your body. Your body isn't going put all that much into muscle building just because you lifted 45 pounds with your biceps, but if you were to lift 300 pounds off the floor then it's going to start taking stuff seriously. You are also working the muscles you work too frequently. It probably doesn;t matter since they are small muscles, but in my opinion twice a week is better. You want to base your routine around these lifts: squat, deadlift, pull up, row, bench press, military press. You have the right idea with your diet. Are you a vegetarian? Protein is important, but so are carbohydrates and fats. I eat 1:1:1 ratio of carbs to protein to fats. Healthy fats of course: salmon, nuts, olive oil, etc. The thing is, you have to eat more calories than your body uses in a day, so that your body can build muscle with the extra calories. If your body needs 3000 calories to do important things with, then if you only ate 2000 calories that day, your body is going to use those calories for more important things than building muscle, no matter how much protein you eat. It'll probably be pretty hard to get the amount of calories you need in 3 meals. I'd shoot for five medium sized meals. People will tell you a fist sized meal every two hours. Whatever, you have to figure out how much food you need for yourself. A multivitamin is a good idea, from what I hear. I take one. The thing about supplements is that if you are doing everything right -eating, training, resting - then they might help you add a couple more pounds of muscle a year, or a little less fat, or something, but they aren't going to be the difference between not gaining and gaining. If you are doing something wrong they won't fix it. A whey shake post workout is a good idea. Although, I'm sure I could find something somewhere saying it isn't. If you can't afford creatine then don't worry about it. It certainly isn't required in order to gain muscle. You know? Maybe it'll help gain 2% more muscle than you would without it. Definitely not neccessary. There's not really any reason to take caffeine before your workout at this stage. Here is a sample routine: Monday: Squats 3 x 8 Straight Leg Deadlift 3 x 8 Tuesday: Bench Press 3 x 8 Pull Ups 3 x 8 Friday: Deadlift 5 x 1 Front Squat 3 x 8 Good Morning 3 x 8 Saturday: Military Press 3 x 8 Bent Over Row 3 x 8 That's just to give you an idea of what a good routine looks like, in my opinion. You can add in some isolation stuff, or direct arm work, or whatever. http://exrx.net/Lists/Directory.html has videos of all exercises. Also, on deadlifts, squats, good mornings, bent rows, you want to keep your back slightly arched, never rounded. Try and get someone to teach you these lifts.

03-06-2006, 04:22 PM	#4 (permalink)
noahfor Addict	How many sets and reps you do is up to you, and it depends on the exercise. I take it you are interested in muscle growth(hypertrophy) more than gaining strength, so you'd want to stay in the 6-12 rep range because that is the range of reps that will stimulate the most hypertrophy, or so they say. I'm sure it is way more complicated. Then, and I don't know why, but this what I've read, you want to pick a number of sets so that sets x reps = between 24 and like 60 I think. That number refers to the volume of your workout. Alot of people will do alot of different things. Intensity refers to how heavy of a weight you are using. If you are going to failure (the point where you can't do any more reps with good form) then you probably only want to reach that point on the last rep of the last set. Anything else will be too taxing, or so I've heard. Alot of people condemn going to failure, and you certainly don't have to in order to gain muscle. You want to vary your volume an intensity. One month you might want to do high volume low intensity. Another, you might want to do the opposite. In the routine I posted above it calls for 3 sets of 8 reps, which is like right in the middle of everything, so it's a good scheme to start off with. You just want to make sure you aren't over training. One thing you want to keep in mind is that you should be increase the workload every single week. This can be done in a variety of ways, such as increasing the weight, increasing # of sets, increasing # of reps, decreasing rest in between sets. So in the routine above, you'd pick a weight that would allow you to do three sets of 8 reps and will take you pretty close if not all the way to failure on the last rep, and then the next week add five pounds to that, and do the three sets of 8 reps.