New workout plan - Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community

bobbles · 09-25-2005, 08:39 PM

I just joined the university gym (today) and due to the lack of people around the instructor made up a plan for me (rather than just showing me what equipment does what)

Its a 2 day plan that I will be doing 3 days a week (probly mon/wed/fri) so it gets rotated every week.
All exercises are 3 sets of 10 reps, and the 'assisted' exercises are using a new piece of equipment at the gym that allows you to do these exercises using a certain percentage of your body weight.

Day 1)

Cardio: bike or run, 15-20 minutes

Bench Press
Incline Dumbell Press
Assisted Wide Chin Ups
Shoulder Press
Leg Press
Leg Curl
Calf Raise

Day 2)

Cardio: bike or run, 15-20 minutes

Chest Press
Seated Row
Assisted Chin Ups
Assisted Dip
Side Raises
Squats
Cruches (3 varieties)

What do you think of these? He ran me through them and they seem pretty good. (Considering you usually dont get a plan at all...)

pje120 · 09-26-2005, 01:32 AM

Great exercises. However a full body workout three times a week will probably be too much. To put in perspective, there is a popular full body 3x a week program, and it only does ONE set for each exercise. You are doing 3. That's too much work, you need more than 2 days between working large muscles. You can try it if you want -- but I think you'll overtrain. You will know if you overtrain if you start losing strength. There's no point doing a workout if you haven't recovered all your strength in the exercises you are going to do.

If you want to keep to that plan as close to possible, I would recommend putting all the upper body work on one day and the lower body work on the other day. If you are going to go to failure on every set, I would recommend doing less volume (or just going to failure on the last set of each exercise).

So

day 1)
Bench press 2 set
Chest press 1 set
Incline Dumbbell press 1 set
Chins 2 set
Wide Chins 1 set
Seated Row 1 set
Shoulder Press 2 sets
Dips 2 sets
Side Raises I would cut, it is out of place with the compound exercises

day 2)
Squats 2 sets
Leg Press 2 sets
Leg Curl 3 sets
Calf Raise 3 sets
Ab work

I'm assuming chest press is machine bench press or some type of bench press...

You can up the volume (number of sets) a bit if you want, but you really don't want to overtrain. Many people when they start off just do one body part a week, and even many experienced people. Mine above is one or two times per week, depending on the week, which I think is much better. That's how I train, as well.

So that you understand why I choose those number of sets so you can manipulate it yourself if you want:

In the above you still get 4 sets for chest (the bench presses) but hopefully leaving some strength in the shoulders and triceps for the rest of the exercises. Dips work the triceps (and the chest), while palms in back work works the biceps. Any type of press works the shoulders and triceps. Shoulder press is actually very much like the bench press (think about the movements) except it replaces the chest with the traps in the movement. Maybe do the chest work first on one day and back work first on other days.

In the second set there's 4 sets of the heavy compound exercises (squats and leg presses) that work most of the leg and especially the quads & glutes. Leg curl works the hamstrings as an isolation exercise. It is best to do the squats and leg presses first, as they are the heavy compound exercises that you need all the leg muscles for.

I like low volume but some people claim they do better with high volume. Up the volume if you want, but I don't really see the point in doing exercises if you only have half the strength you started with because you used it up in earlier exercises.

Cardio is better to do on off days. It's not hard on the body, and it probably helps you to recover. How much cardio and how long depends on if you want to lose weight or just trying to keep your weight stable etc. so I can't comment as you didn't supply those details.

Body building science is not really that well developed and it is best to develop your plan through personal experimentation. You can try the instructor's plan and then change to mine or another less volume plan when you overtrain (which will probably happen). Remember to take a week off if you overtrain. Or you could try mine and slowly up the volume if you don't think your muscles are getting hit enough. Just have patience and stick to training, and make sure you always keep the large compound exercises even if you change the plan because strength in one exercise can be lost if you stop it (even if you keep working those muscles) - which means if you keep changing your exercises you'll just lose all the strength you gain.

bobbles · 09-26-2005, 05:08 AM

I will be trying to do what the instructor told me, but wont be working my self with the muscle building stuff too hard, the cardio and weight loss are really the major things for me right now (but muscle burns more i know

)

But yeah, i'm still really not doing much at all, except for a run every morning I feel like it and walking to and from uni (35-40mins each way, and hilly, actually gets you working)

Thanks for the input too, I know getting bored with the exercises is a major problem, so I'll definately be trying to mix things up a little a bit further into it (a couple of weeks maybe).

A couple of mates of mine have been going and I only just started, none of them all got a plan to start off with, so I have other peoples ideas to work from as well

pje120 · 09-26-2005, 05:37 AM

That's fine, but remember what I said about overtraining if you find you can't lift as much in a session as you did in the last session and give your muscles some more time to rest between hitting them. I think some new people can misinterpret overtraining as lack of motivation, but if you feel weak in the gym it is probably due to overtraining and not psychological. (Unless it is one off.) Honestly I don't know anyone who trains a muscle group 3x a week and gets results (except for HIT people who do one set), so don't be surprised or disappointed if the plan isn't working.

Anyway, good luck

. Don't expect the results to come quick, because they won't. Have patience and you will achieve whatever you want. It doesn't matter how many mistakes you make as long as you keep at it.

09-25-2005, 08:39 PM	#1 (permalink)
bobbles Crazy	New workout plan I just joined the university gym (today) and due to the lack of people around the instructor made up a plan for me (rather than just showing me what equipment does what) Its a 2 day plan that I will be doing 3 days a week (probly mon/wed/fri) so it gets rotated every week. All exercises are 3 sets of 10 reps, and the 'assisted' exercises are using a new piece of equipment at the gym that allows you to do these exercises using a certain percentage of your body weight. Day 1) Cardio: bike or run, 15-20 minutes Bench Press Incline Dumbell Press Assisted Wide Chin Ups Shoulder Press Leg Press Leg Curl Calf Raise Day 2) Cardio: bike or run, 15-20 minutes Chest Press Seated Row Assisted Chin Ups Assisted Dip Side Raises Squats Cruches (3 varieties) What do you think of these? He ran me through them and they seem pretty good. (Considering you usually dont get a plan at all...) Last edited by bobbles; 09-25-2005 at 08:46 PM..

09-26-2005, 01:32 AM	#2 (permalink)
pje120 Upright	Great exercises. However a full body workout three times a week will probably be too much. To put in perspective, there is a popular full body 3x a week program, and it only does ONE set for each exercise. You are doing 3. That's too much work, you need more than 2 days between working large muscles. You can try it if you want -- but I think you'll overtrain. You will know if you overtrain if you start losing strength. There's no point doing a workout if you haven't recovered all your strength in the exercises you are going to do. If you want to keep to that plan as close to possible, I would recommend putting all the upper body work on one day and the lower body work on the other day. If you are going to go to failure on every set, I would recommend doing less volume (or just going to failure on the last set of each exercise). So day 1) Bench press 2 set Chest press 1 set Incline Dumbbell press 1 set Chins 2 set Wide Chins 1 set Seated Row 1 set Shoulder Press 2 sets Dips 2 sets Side Raises I would cut, it is out of place with the compound exercises day 2) Squats 2 sets Leg Press 2 sets Leg Curl 3 sets Calf Raise 3 sets Ab work I'm assuming chest press is machine bench press or some type of bench press... You can up the volume (number of sets) a bit if you want, but you really don't want to overtrain. Many people when they start off just do one body part a week, and even many experienced people. Mine above is one or two times per week, depending on the week, which I think is much better. That's how I train, as well. So that you understand why I choose those number of sets so you can manipulate it yourself if you want: In the above you still get 4 sets for chest (the bench presses) but hopefully leaving some strength in the shoulders and triceps for the rest of the exercises. Dips work the triceps (and the chest), while palms in back work works the biceps. Any type of press works the shoulders and triceps. Shoulder press is actually very much like the bench press (think about the movements) except it replaces the chest with the traps in the movement. Maybe do the chest work first on one day and back work first on other days. In the second set there's 4 sets of the heavy compound exercises (squats and leg presses) that work most of the leg and especially the quads & glutes. Leg curl works the hamstrings as an isolation exercise. It is best to do the squats and leg presses first, as they are the heavy compound exercises that you need all the leg muscles for. I like low volume but some people claim they do better with high volume. Up the volume if you want, but I don't really see the point in doing exercises if you only have half the strength you started with because you used it up in earlier exercises. Cardio is better to do on off days. It's not hard on the body, and it probably helps you to recover. How much cardio and how long depends on if you want to lose weight or just trying to keep your weight stable etc. so I can't comment as you didn't supply those details. Body building science is not really that well developed and it is best to develop your plan through personal experimentation. You can try the instructor's plan and then change to mine or another less volume plan when you overtrain (which will probably happen). Remember to take a week off if you overtrain. Or you could try mine and slowly up the volume if you don't think your muscles are getting hit enough. Just have patience and stick to training, and make sure you always keep the large compound exercises even if you change the plan because strength in one exercise can be lost if you stop it (even if you keep working those muscles) - which means if you keep changing your exercises you'll just lose all the strength you gain. Last edited by pje120; 09-26-2005 at 01:50 AM..

09-26-2005, 05:08 AM	#3 (permalink)
bobbles Crazy	I will be trying to do what the instructor told me, but wont be working my self with the muscle building stuff too hard, the cardio and weight loss are really the major things for me right now (but muscle burns more i know ) But yeah, i'm still really not doing much at all, except for a run every morning I feel like it and walking to and from uni (35-40mins each way, and hilly, actually gets you working) Thanks for the input too, I know getting bored with the exercises is a major problem, so I'll definately be trying to mix things up a little a bit further into it (a couple of weeks maybe). A couple of mates of mine have been going and I only just started, none of them all got a plan to start off with, so I have other peoples ideas to work from as well

09-26-2005, 05:37 AM	#4 (permalink)
pje120 Upright	That's fine, but remember what I said about overtraining if you find you can't lift as much in a session as you did in the last session and give your muscles some more time to rest between hitting them. I think some new people can misinterpret overtraining as lack of motivation, but if you feel weak in the gym it is probably due to overtraining and not psychological. (Unless it is one off.) Honestly I don't know anyone who trains a muscle group 3x a week and gets results (except for HIT people who do one set), so don't be surprised or disappointed if the plan isn't working. Anyway, good luck . Don't expect the results to come quick, because they won't. Have patience and you will achieve whatever you want. It doesn't matter how many mistakes you make as long as you keep at it.