Building Muscle - My Diet and Exercise Plan

Squats are always good, assuming absense of injuries or health issues. What's the exercise selection for the next phase? I'll give it a look-over and see where I think you can either add squats in or substitute them in for something else.

You're right, so long as you're adding more weight or more reps, progressive overload is happening, and you'll keep making progress.
 
Thanks Ryan... here are the two workouts for Stage 2:

Workout A:
Front squat/push press
Step-ups
Dumbbell one-point row
Static lunge, rear foot elevated
Push-up
Plank
Cable horizontal wood chop

Workout B:
Wide-grip deadlift from box
Bulgarian split squat
Underhand-grip lat pulldown
Reverse lunge from box w/ forward reach
Dumbbell prone Cuban snatch
Swiss-ball crunch
Reverse crunch
Lateral flexion
Prone cobra
 
Thursday:
Breakfast - almond butter on toast, apple
Snack - Greek yogurt and blueberries, coffee w/ milk
Lunch - leftover shrimp and noodles
Snack - carrots and eggplant hummus
Dinner - bean pasta
Snack - 1/2 banana and skim milk
Workout - NROL4W1B
Deadlifts -- 3 x 8 x 75 lbs
Dumbbell shoulder press -- 3 x 8 x 20 lbs
Lat pull down -- 3 x 8 x 65 lbs
Lunges -- 3 x 8 x 55 lbs
Stability ball crunches -- 3 x 15
 
Friday:
Breakfast - PB and banana on toast
Snack - almonds
Lunch - leftover shrimp and noodles
Snack - yogurt
Dinner - 1 cold shrimp roll, grilled eggplant salad, 4 chicken satay skewers
Snack - almond butter
Workout - none (rest day)

Saturday:
Breakfast - almond butter on toast, milk
Post-workout - cup of chocolate milk, apple
Lunch - chicken, cheese and spinach wrap
Snack - skim cafe misto, vita muffin
Dinner - edamame, seaweed salad, tuna roll, avocado roll
Snack - almond butter
Workout - Body Pump
 
Sunday -- went to a BBQ at my sister's so my diet was all over the place yesterday. Had a normal breakfast and post-workout snack followed by a massive midday meal, and two smaller evening snacks.
Breakfast - almond butter on toast, apple
Post workout - vita muffin and skim milk
Lunch - fried Italian rice and cheese ball, 2 small bruschetta slices, penne a la vodka, 1 sausage, grilled vegetables
Dessert - 1/2 glass of champagne, slice of hazelnut chocolate cake, couple of wrapped chocolates
Snack - cereal with blueberries and skim milk
Snack - peanut butter on melba toast
Workout - Boot Camp
Combo #1
Push ups (30 seconds)
Side to side shuffles and jump squats (2 minutes)
Bunny hops (1 minute)
Squat to jacks (1 minute)
Repeat

Combo #2
Tricep extensions (1 minute)
Squats off the bench with an overhead press (1 minute)
Tricep push ups (1 minute)
Jumping jacks (1 minute)
Repeat

Combo #3
Lunges off the bench (1 minute)
Walking planks with a push up (1 minute)
Quick lunges (30 seconds)
Power squats (30 seconds)
Star jumps (30 seconds)
Repeat

Core
Stability ball crunches (1 minute)
Stability ball jack knife (1 minute)
Stability ball plank (1 minute)
Lower ab crunches (1 minute)
Stability ball jack knife (1 minute)
Stability ball plank (1 minute)
 
Monday:
Breakfast - PB and banana on toast, apple
Snack - yogurt and blueberries
Lunch - mushroom and cheese omelette, toast with tomato and butter
Snack - vita muffin
Dinner - salmon cakes, broccoli and sweet potatoes
Snack - strawberries
Workout - 7 km run + yoga
 
Tuesday:
Breakfast - PB and banana on toast, apple
Snack - almonds
Lunch - leftover salmon cakes, broccoli and sweet potatoes
Snack - blueberries
Dinner - beef and vegetable stir fry with brown rice
Snack - Vita muffin
Workout - Body Attack
 
Wednesday:
Breakfast - peanut butter and banana on toast, apple
Post-workout - cup of 1% chocolate milk
Lunch - chicken, spinach and cheese wrap
Snack - popcorn
Snack #2 - mango
Dinner - chicken stew with brown rice
Snack - melba toast and hummus
Workout - boot camp
Combo #1
Jump rope 30 seconds
Push ups 30 seconds
Side shuffles and jump squats 1 min
Lateral jumps 1 min
Squat jacks 1 min
Repeat

Combo #2
Jump rope 30 seconds
Push ups 30 seconds
Tricep overhead press w/ plate 60 seconds
Squat jumps on the step with an overhead press 60 seconds
Tricep push ups 60 seconds
Repeat

Combo #3
Jump rope 30 seconds
Push ups 30 seconds
Side to side squat jumps off the bench 60 seconds
Plank walk with push ups 60 seconds
Scissor jacks 30 sec
Squat jumps 30 seconds
Star jumps 30 seconds

Core
Side plank with a twist 30 seconds each side
Superman 60 seconds
 
Thursday:
Breakfast - peanut butter and banana on toast
Snack - almonds and walnuts
Lunch - 2 slices of pizza with chicken, mozzarella and asiago cheese and sundried tomatoes
Snack - apple, melba toast and almond butter
Dinner - chicken, mushrooms and broccoli in wine sauce, brown rice
Dessert - small coconut gelato
Workout - rest day
 
Sorry it's been a week - I've been on holidays and have only been on the internet for a grand total of about an hour in the last 8 days - and I haven't gotten back to you on the addition of squats in stage 2. I've gotten my hands on a copy of NROL4W and have given stage 2 a closer look. I think if you want to keep doing back squats, your best bet will be to do them on workout A, either before squat/presses or instead of them. I'd note that doing them before squat/presses may reduce the weight you can lift in the squat/press to a certain extent, but the squat/press isn't so much about weight as it is about explosiveness anyway, so that's not a biggie.

Since stage 2 has you doing each workout only 4 times, you could just do 2x10 like all the other exercises and try to add a little more weight each time. Alternatively, you could use the same model from stage 1 but decrease reps and increase weight/sets every workout, rather than every other workout. In this scenario, I'd make sure that every time you do squats, you aim for a slightly heavier weight than what you used the last time you did the same number of reps (so, say the last time you did 8 reps was 85lb, this time through it might be 90-95lb).
 
Goldfish said:
Sorry it's been a week - I've been on holidays and have only been on the internet for a grand total of about an hour in the last 8 days - and I haven't gotten back to you on the addition of squats in stage 2. I've gotten my hands on a copy of NROL4W and have given stage 2 a closer look. I think if you want to keep doing back squats, your best bet will be to do them on workout A, either before squat/presses or instead of them. I'd note that doing them before squat/presses may reduce the weight you can lift in the squat/press to a certain extent, but the squat/press isn't so much about weight as it is about explosiveness anyway, so that's not a biggie.

Since stage 2 has you doing each workout only 4 times, you could just do 2x10 like all the other exercises and try to add a little more weight each time. Alternatively, you could use the same model from stage 1 but decrease reps and increase weight/sets every workout, rather than every other workout. In this scenario, I'd make sure that every time you do squats, you aim for a slightly heavier weight than what you used the last time you did the same number of reps (so, say the last time you did 8 reps was 85lb, this time through it might be 90-95lb).
Click to expand...

No worries, I appreciate you taking the time to look through the workouts and offer suggestions. Besides, I'm not starting stage 2 until Tuesday so I still have plenty of time :) I think I'll try the squats before squat/presses option rather than replacing them altogether... the squat/press looks pretty challenging so I'd like to try it out (we do them in Body Pump but only 4 in a row and with a much lighter weight than the olympic bar). We'll see how it goes... thanks again. Hope you enjoyed your week off!
 
Friday:
Breakfast - almond butter on toast (2), apple
Post-workout - 1 cup chocolate milk, peanut butter on one slice of toast
Lunch - 1/2 pitcher of sangria, 1/2 serving of tortilla chips with guacamole, 2 jumbo shrimp with lime sauce, 3 slices of bread
Dinner - 4 pork ribs, 1/2 funnel cake w/ ice cream and strawberries
Workout - 8.4 km run
 
Saturday:
Breakfast - almond butter on toast (2), apple
Post-workout - cup of chocolate milk
Lunch - chicken, spinach and cheese wrap
Snack - peanut butter on multi grain melba toast, 1 cup strawberries
Dinner - edamame, tuna roll, avocado roll
Snack - beef jerkey
Snack - vita muffin
Workout - Body Pump. I took it pretty easy yesterday... I'm planning to get back into my lifting routine this week.
 
Sunday:
Breakfast - almond butter on toat (2), apple
Post-workout - banana, skim milk
Lunch - omelette and baked sweet potato fries
Snack - peanut butter on melba toast
Dinner - cheeseburger
Snack - Vita muffin
Workout - RPM
 
Monday:
Breakfast - peanut butter and banana on toast (2), skim milk, apple
Post-workout - protein shake
Snack - vita muffin
Lunch - tuna sandwich, blueberries
Snack - almond butter on melba toast
Snack - cucumbers and hummus
Dinner - chicken and brown rice tabouleh
Workout - NROL4W 2A + 20 min. elliptical
Squats - 2 x 10 x 85 lbs
Front Squat Push Press - 2 x 10 x 40 lbs <--- not as complicated as I thought it would be. Challenging but not complicated if that makes sense...
Step ups - 2 x 10 - no weight, 6 risers
One Point Dumbbell Row - 2 x 10 x 15 lb dumbbells
Lunge rear foot elevated - 2 x 10 x 15 lb dumbbells
Push ups - 2 x 10
Plank - 2 x 90 seconds
Cable wood chop - 10 x 10 lbs; 10 x 13 lbs
I think I'm gonna have a lot of fun with stage 2!!
 
Good job on your first day of stage 2. You did really well on the squats by the look of things - more reps at more weight than in your last session of 1A. Big kudos to you.

How are you feeling now, 24 hours after the training session?
 
Thanks! My quads were really sore yesterday but they are completely recovered this morning... I was smart last night and talked myself out of doing a Body Attack class even though I really wanted to go. Instead I went for a 30 min walk with my sister and then we did a yoga class together. Much better idea!
 
Tuesday:
Breakfast - almond butter on toast, apple
Snack - almonds, coffee w/ milk
Lunch - leftover chicken and brown rice tabouleh
Snack - blueberries and walnuts
Dinner - chickpea salad (it was my mom's night to cook but she wasn't feeling well and this is all that was in the fridge)
Snack - PB & Banana on toast, skim milk
Snack - vita muffin and almond butter
Workout - 30 min walk + Body Flow

Wednesday:
Breakfast - almond butter on toast, apple
Snack - 1/2 banana with skim milk
Lunch - chicken, spinach and cheese wrap
Snack - peanut butter on melba toast
Snack - tuna and tomato on slice of toast
Dinner - Amy's teriyaki bowl
Snack - vita muffin with almond butter
Workout - Boot Camp
Combination #1:
Front squat push press (1 minute)
Side jumps (1 minute)
Dynamic lunges (1 minute)
Jump rope (2 minutes)
Repeat

Combination #2:
Plank with row (16 each arm)
Stagger jumps (1 minute)
Wide row (1 minute)
Jump rope (2 minutes)
Repeat

Combination #3:
Box jumps with plate (1 minute)
Tricep dips (1 minute)
Sumo squat with overhead press (1 minute)
Repeat
 
Thurdsay:
Breakfast - almond butter on toast, skim milk
Snack - almonds, coffee w/ milk
Lunch - amy's teriyaki bowl
Snack - walnuts
Dinner - whole wheat penne with mushrooms, snap peas, goat cheese and olive oil
Snack - vitatop with almond butter
Rest

Today I did Workout B. A couple of the exercises here are similar to the ones from stage 1 so I wasn't sure whether I should keep adding or start at a lower weight. I went with the second option just to see how it went.
Wide deadlift from box - 2 x 10 x 65 lbs <-- I don't know if it's because it's been awhile since I've done deadlifts with the olympic bar, but I was struggling with my grip today
Bulgarian split lunge - 2 x 10 x 10 lb plate
Underhand lat pullodwn - 2 x 10 x 55 lbs
Reverse lunge with forward reach - 2 x 10 x 10 lb dumbbells
Cuban snatch - 2 x 10 x 5 lb dumbbells (wow I suck at this one! It's all good until the rotation at the top)
Stability ball crunch - 2 x 10
Reverse crunch - 2 x 10
Oblique crunch - 2 x 10
15 minute cardio intervals on the treadmill
 
Friday:
Breakfast - peanut butter on toast (2) and scrambled eggs (1 egg + 1 egg white)
Post-workout - Vitatop and skim milk
Lunch - chicken, cheese, spinach and hummus in a whole wheat tortilla, carrots and celery with hummus
Snack - apple, almond butter on wasa crackers
Dinner - stir fried beef and vegetables; 1 bottle of beer
Workout - NROL4W 2B
 
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