LiveOriginal

I've been doing mainly upper body workout and cardio.

I'll do this, not in any particular order: (Say Mon/Wed/Fri) (I just increase the weight when I feel comfortable, except for bench, where I sometimes start lighter, work up in weight and then down.)
Free weight curls - 4 sets of 12 reps
Shoulder shrugs - 3 sets of 12 reps
Flat bench - 3 sets of 8-12 reps (Depending)
Incline bench - 3 sets of 8 reps
Butterfly - 3 sets 10 reps
Ab machine - 4 sets of 20
I sometimes run a few laps on these days, too, depending on how I feel.

On Tues/Thurs
I'll run a few miles, normally walk a little, run one, walk a little, run half, walk a little.
Then a few miles on a bike.

My main focus is to build size in pecs and shoulders, and some more defintion in my abs. I have a 5 and 1/2 pack, which annoys me.

I use just a protein shake, "Swole".
I'm actually out right now.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[Edit] What would be some good lower body exercses to add in when I start working that?

LiveOriginal

Any advice? This is a bump, by the way.

shred_head

First of all, you need to start doing lower body. What's the point of having big arms if you've got twigs for legs? Your body will be out of proportion and won't look right. Try squats and leg presses for your quads, leg curls or straight-leg deadlifts for your hamstrings, and either standing or seated calf raises for your calves.

If you're wanting to put mass on your shoulders then you should also include some barbell or dumbbell shoulder presses in your routine, and perhaps some lateral raises. However, I would split that stuff up and not do it 3 times a week, your muscles need more time to rest than you're giving them, unless you're not working them hard enough which I'm guessing is the case. Don't finish a set just because you've reached a certain number, keep going until you can't lift anymore. So you should probably seperate your workouts by different muscle groups and only work them either once or twice a week. You're also missing back and tricep exercises. You've got a lot of work to do.

__________________
"Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds" -- Albert Einstein

"A clear indication of women's superiority over man is their refusal to play air guitar." --Frank Zappa

LiveOriginal

Okay, thanks a lot for the advice.
I'll never be BIG, I don't have the build, but yeah, I'll start doing some leg exercises. I do triceps extension, too, I forgot.
I can start some lat. pulldowns and stuff too, my friend does a lot of them, they're his focus right now.

jamessh1

your chest and your back are the biggest muscle groups in your upper body, so you'll probably want to spend more time on your back since your current regime is excluding them. The comment about working your lower body is right on the money, I remember my buddies always telling if you want a bigger upper body, work your lower body (something about the leg muscles being the largest in the body and thus creating the most testosterone, i think).

If your working out three days a week you could try a program like:

day 1. chest and bi's
day 2. back and tri's
day 3. shoulders and legs

fit abs in on cardio days

These are just some recommendations i've found useful in my training. hope they help a little.

Paradise Lost

Actually, I think it's better to do back and biceps, and chest and triceps because they use
the same muscles during most exercises... ie, most back exercises usually use some biceps,
and chest workouts use triceps...

__________________
"Marino could do it."

KMA-628

Ditto on the separation of muscle groups - you get size from tearing the muscle down and then letting it heal (rebuild-bigger).

So that you don't get bored - try different rep routines. I like to switch between:

Lower weight - higher rep
Higher weight - lower rep
Failure
Medium Weight - Very slow rep (i.e. ten count up and ten count down on the curls)
Slow up - Go very slow when pushing the weight up (i.e. bench)
Slow Down - Go up quick but come down really slow

In my opinion, the best rep for curls are "21's". Medium weight, seven reps from bottom to half-way up, seven reps from half-way to all the way up and then seven reps all of the way without stopping.

Also, if you are using a curl bar, make sure you range your grips - i.e. narrow grip, wide grip, over hand, under hand.

I use a different separation of the muscles:

1) Chest/Triceps/Shoulder (because the different workouts use the same muscles)

-incline bench, decline bench, bench, military bench, lat pull-down, upright row, single arm row, pull-ups, dips, tricep pushdowns, etc


2) Legs/Biceps/Abs (I throw abs in on other days as well)

-isolation curls, hammer curls, 21's (I do a lot of reps on curls), leg extension, leg curl, sit-ups (different kinds), no squats or anything like that because of my knees.

Each workout starts with 20min on the treadmill and then 10-12 minutes on the Eliptical Machine. Plus, I get a "free" workout everyday walking the kids to school in the morning and afternoon (1/4 mile uphill to the school, pushing a stroller - yeah, I am a stay-at-home dad).

I don't really work out my back (probably should, though) - any suggestions on some good back exercises (I have a bad back which is probably why I kinda ignore it).

coash

no point in slow concentric.. but long negative can be useful. not a fan of 21's either...fatigue is no indication of effectiveness

that's too long for a 'warm up' before weights. waste of energy and it doesn't warm up your cns for lifting.

what kind of knee problem and back problem is it? I ask because some of these problems occur when people don't exercise their weak parts eg no deadlift because scared for back therefore blaringly weak back

coash

what you talking about..of course you won't have the build now that's why you lift and MAKe the build. don't give up before you even start dude

KMA-628

The "warm-up" really isn't a warm up. I haven't lifted in years and my girth shows it. The running and the cross-training is to accelerate my weight-loss (have lost 35 lbs so far, no change in eating, strictly exercise).

I hurt my back and my knee working out (incorrectly of course--when I was much, much younger)

wegofsoma

here are my golden rules...


start from bigger muscle groups then move into the supporting muscles for example
first work out chest shoulders upper legs then towards the end of the work out do biceps and triceps calvs abs etc .

always move from bigger groups to smaller groups cause if you work your biceps to shit first there is no way you will be able to work out your back same for triceps and chests.

basically for mass you want higher weights and lower reps try to stay around 8.

make sure you eat protien after working out.

what I normally do is start off with a run or some other sort of warmup cardio.

then go right to chest one major thing and I switch off so like (bench one day, incline next some shit with barbells one day whatever) then I do back (again on diff days do diff things to keep it intresting) then shoulders.

then ill take another run or some other cardio for 5 min. then move onto the smaller muscles biceps triceps deltoids calvs etc.

do weights every other day and cardio every day it actually helps with the bodybuilding

shred_head

Lifting the weight slow and controlled is extremely beneficial, jerking the weight up quick is of no real use and is often accompanied by poor form.

Yes, this can be helpful, but just make sure you're not taking in more protein than you need because protein that is left over and not used will still turn into fat.

__________________
"Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds" -- Albert Einstein

"A clear indication of women's superiority over man is their refusal to play air guitar." --Frank Zappa

coash

poor form and having a fast concentric phase are different things. tell me how extremely beneficial slow and controlled is when you're trying to do a clean or snatch

BigJ11

I would also switch up the workout so you get more out of each rep. Instead of doing all 3 set of curls one after the other, try a set of curls, then shoulder press, then bench press, then tricep, then back to curls. You can switch up the exercises from what I have listed, but you should get the idea. It gives your muscles just enough time to rest before you crank out another set. I personally have a strength day (Mon, Wed, Fri) and a cardio day (Tues, Thur, Sat.) I do a circuit on the strength days and cardio and abs on the cardio days. My workouts are about 45-60 each and I am in and out. This givs each muscle group time to rebuild.

Also if you want size, go heavier weights, less reps. 8-12 for size, 12-15 for definition. Eat lots of protein and take those shakes and some creatine along with your vitamins within 30 minutes of working out. Your muscles will absorb the nutrients much faster and less will be wasted by your body flushing them out.

Good Luck!

coash

don't mean to nitpick but 12-15 for definition is a myth :/

shred_head

And you tell me what good fast squats or fast curls will do you?

__________________
"Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds" -- Albert Einstein

"A clear indication of women's superiority over man is their refusal to play air guitar." --Frank Zappa

coash

lookie...a slow eccentric is alright. a fast concentric is necessary to lift your max potential. if you're aiming to squat a 1RM and you don't think to friggin power up the weight you will never achieve your best poundage.

think of it this way - the only reason why it looks fast is because the weight is too light. if you are really pushing and thinking 'speed speed speed' it should still go up slowly if you're pushing heavy. and there's no benefits to using light weight when you can use more.

and yea...how do you do clean or snatch with 'slow and controlled'

alibaba

There's already a lot of good advice here. I recommend adding 3 sets of Lateral raises to your workout to put some size on your shoulders. They don't require you to lift your arms above your shoulders like military presses, which can cause injury .

If you have enough workout time, do some Dips, which are good for shoulders, chest and triceps.

Lateral Raises

1. Stand upright with your feet shoulder width apart and your knees slightly bent.
2. Let your arms hang in front of your body with each hand holding a dumbbell, ends facing front to back.
3. Inhale and lift your arms out and away from your body, using your shoulders, until your hands are at shoulder height.
4. When you reach the top position the arms and body should resemble the letter "T".
5. Lower your arms, using the shoulders, back to the starting position.

shred_head

Yes, I'd agree, however I was not referring to a one rep max, I was referring to a basic set.


Ok, I agree with you for the most part. We just had different intepretations of the term "fast." You say fast while it really looks slow, I say fast because the weight is moving fast and usually in a jerky motion. I don't think taking 10sec for the positive movement is worth it at all, however, a 4sec positive is about what it should take. And always under control, never jerking up the weight up because momentum will take over.

Yes, clearly slow and controlled wouldn't work for either of those because those are fast movements, you're right about that.

__________________
"Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds" -- Albert Einstein

"A clear indication of women's superiority over man is their refusal to play air guitar." --Frank Zappa

spizzel

Yes! if you do squats and deadlift it will help you get big everywhere. Not just your legs, which you probably need anyway. Both exercises release the most muscle growth hormones.
Actually, deadlift will almost work every muscle in your body. I think The biggest problem with people not doing these exercises is that if they haven't ever done them before they won't try them for the fear of looking stupid. Ask someone to show you! Or they could be too lazy I suppose. Make sure if you start doing squats and deadlifts then eat a bunch after. You'll be starving about a half hour after, trust me.
day 1 Back and Bi and deadlift(10 10 8 6 4) adding weight each set
day 2 chest triceps
day 3 Shoulders legs(squats)

Always do your deadlifts and squats first, most important. SO if you don't have any energy afterward to do anything else then it won't matter as much you'll still get big.