been working out not enough definition, pls advise me!

i know this i long... but i do appreciate any help/advice/tips... i am very serious about getting back into shape and i have kinda run into a plateau. first couple weeks of working out i noticed a big difference but since then it seems im staying the same. ... heres my story.

ok i been trying to do a decent work out to include most my body. given the fact that i am just using a good bench and free weights. I been working out almost everyday rotating the muscle groups everyday and i have been taking creatine, i am getting bigger but nothing is defining a lot yet..

first off the creatine says to take 2 cups daily, i usually only do 1 before my work out. Do i need to take 2?

i have changed my diet completely only eating high protein foods like chicken, tuna, roast beef, cheese, steak, eggs, haven't had any fast food or soda the whole month... well except when i drink crown and coke sometimes on weekends.

I cant stand the whey protein its ****ing nasty.. bleh... do i really have to have X amount of grams of protein to match my body weight? thats a lot of ****ing protein lol.

my work out is like this..

day 1 -

chest
4-6 sets of 10 straight bench going up 20 lbs every other set and alternate between wide grip and narrow grip

2-4 sets of 10 incline usually going up only 10 lbs.

2-4 sets of 10 chest flies with dumbbells but staying at same weight cause this exercise is very hard for me.

bicep
2-3 sets of 10 curls on the bench insert where you rest your arms over and pull the weight from the leg curl thing.

2-3 sets of 10 curls sitting down with elbow resting on knee

now usually i rotate every set from bench - curl - fly, then back to bench and keep doing that... is it better to do all bench then all curls then all flies? also i rest a lot between sets like 3-5 mins.. like example... if i bench 10 reps then wait 30 seconds then go again my muscle will fail fast maybe only do 5 reps unless i wait more time, and i have no spotter cause im working out alone.. what does the time between reps effect?

Day 2 -

i do back and shoulders

bent over rows
military press with bar coming in front of my face
shoulder shrugs

sets and reps are similar to my normal work out usually 3-6 sets of 10 reps

day 3 -

legs and stomach

usually run 2 miles to warm up and work out the legs a bit

leg curls
leg extension
sit ups on the bench with a 10lb plate usually 3 sets of 25 reps
calf raises

squats really hurt my shoulders with the bar so im looking for a good pad.

-------

after that i just rotate back to day 1. pretty much go everyday unless i don't have time cause my job. but i usually get in minimum 5 days a week.

3 big questions...

1. my tricep area like... i have the front part of the "U" but it wont get really defined or big enough to really stand out and the backside just wont develop much at all... my arm is just gettin bigger altogether and i really wanted to have that U shape heh.. any ideas?

2. my midsection is kinda wide.. im not fat but i can pinch about an inch of fat on each side where "love handles" are but is there a way to really reduce the size of the waist if your not really fat? right now im a 34 waist want to get down to 30 if possible but there is not alot of fat to cut down cause its my bones that make my waist that wide. btw im only 5'6" so 34 waist kinda look a little too stalky for my taste...

3. what can i do to make my neck bigger? i am getting bigger all around but my neck seems like it looks weak and skinny.. i guess i can ducktape a barbell to my head and headbang for awhile.
 
3 big questions...

1. my tricep area like... i have the front part of the "U" but it wont get really defined or big enough to really stand out and the backside just wont develop much at all... my arm is just gettin bigger altogether and i really wanted to have that U shape heh.. any ideas?
That U shape is called a horse shoe(a horse shoe shaped tricep) and that's what most people want(from what I hear). Did you try tricep kickbacks?
2. my midsection is kinda wide.. im not fat but i can pinch about an inch of fat on each side where "love handles" are but is there a way to really reduce the size of the waist if your not really fat? right now im a 34 waist want to get down to 30 if possible but there is not alot of fat to cut down cause its my bones that make my waist that wide. btw im only 5'6" so 34 waist kinda look a little too stalky for my taste...
How much do you weigh?
3. what can i do to make my neck bigger? i am getting bigger all around but my neck seems like it looks weak and skinny.. i guess i can ducktape a barbell to my head and headbang for awhile
Do you workout your traps?
 
You're probably referring to 2 servings of creatine. When I used to use creatine, I would take one scoop in the AM with breakfast, then one scoop right before my workout.

Drop the alcohol, it's not going to help you lose weight any faster. Coke is all sugarl.

You don't need a protein shake, real food is better than supplements anyway. get your proteins from chicken, tuna, turkey, eggs, skim milk, lean beef. But yes, you should shoot for a minimum of 1 gram per pound body weight per day.


Triceps need to be trained like any other muscle group, use a variety of extensions and tricep moves. (Dips, french press/skull crushers, california press, cable press downs, kickbacks).

Diet is your best bet to shrink your belly. Say for example you exercise 1 hours every day, the other 23 hours are affected through diet and lifestyle. To really get your body fat down to a level where your abs will begin to pop through you need to maintain a clean diet for more than short stretches.


You'll need to work your traps. I see you're doing shrugs, which is great, but add deadlifts. (Make sure you have a profesional teach you how to, and then supervise your form until he/she is confident you can perform the movement on your own.).
 
agree with adler about diet and deadlifts etc.

I think you should combine days 1 and 2 since it's a bit overkill. You already work shoulders and triceps in day 1 with bench and such and you already work biceps in day 1. So I would leave out military press, or put it in day 1 and put bent over rows in day 1. I don't really like your split, but that's just me.

If any split I think you should do push pull. Like Day1 BEnch Squat Dips Calf Raises. DAy 2 Chinup(better than curls), Bentover Row, Deadlift
 
I have to disagree with the push-pull split. While it is not wrong to perform, my personal feeling on a push pull is that you're not giving your shoulder complex enough rest.

Your shoulders activate in some form, with virtually every upper body movement. Whether it is a push or a pull. That is one of the reasons I advocate upper/lower split. With upper lower you're giving your muscles a true break.

However, Dave I would like to stress that Dave is NOT incorrect. There are two conflicting schools of though. Dave and I simply subscribe to different theories.
 
Hmm, I didn't think about that Adler, thanks for the heads up. Are deltoids really used that much in rows and chinups?

My only concern with upper lower split is that there are far more upper excersizes I do than lower, I'm probably just leaving a few out though.
 
one thing is for sure you need to do more cardio i only see where you do cardio once a week and thats only running 2 miles at a time. try swimming and hitting the bike on you other days, trust me you'll see a difference in your midsection.
 
Dave: I too have more upper than lower exercises. That's why I superset almost everything in my upper day. I try to perform between 6 and 10 exercises on my upper days ( This depends on my training phase ). And I'll superset just about everything (IE: Bench/Row, Pushup/Pullup, Dips/Rear Delts, Bi's/Tri's etc.) The pump you'll feel is amazing as you really flood the area with blood.

As for the delts, yes. And even think about when you're performing a heavy bench press...don't your lats feel a little activated too? The body is an amazing machine, and to be really technical there is no such thing as an isolation movement as EVERY exercise hits at least two muscle groups, even if the second one is only your forearms.

PM me if you want me to shoot you a sample of my upper/lower split.
 
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