I have 4 weeks!! pls review and advice!!

N

need6pack

0
well im going to the beach in 4 weeks

i weigh about 150 pounds (give or take 5 pounds), 5 fee 9 inches, don't know my BF%, but u can see the 6 pack, so i imagine somewhere under 12%....

im not huge, but i have some muscle mass...i try to work out 5-6 days a week...here is my typical routine...remember, i need to be absolutly CUT in 4 weeks today! sorry if the names arn't correct...

Monday
Weight Train - Abdominals
3 sets of decline situps (with weights)
3 sets of cable abs crunch
3 sets of alternating leg raises
3 sets of dumbell side bends (w/ dumbells)
20 min of treadmill (intervals - 2 min jog, 45 sec dash)
20 min elyptical (mid-high resistance)
Tuesday
Weight Train - Back
3 sets of low row
3 sets of lateral pulldown
3 sets of dumbell pullups
3 sets of pulldowns with cable
3 sets of lowerback
20 min of treadmill (intervals)
20 min of elyptical
Wednesday
Weight Train - Chest
3 sets of flat bench dumbell
3 sets of incline dumbell
3 sets of decline barbell
3 sets of cable fly
20 min of treadmill (intervals)
20 min of elyptical
Thursday
Weight Train - Biceps
3 sets of easybar curl
3 sets of sit-down dumbell curls
3 sets of chin ups
3 sets of curls (machine)
20 min of treadmill (intervals)
20 min of elyptical
Friday
Weight Train - (any body parts that isn't sore)
20 min of treadmill (intervals)
20 of elypticals
Saturday
30 min of freestyle swimming
Weight Train - Core
3 sets of squats
3 sets of ground base squats
3 sets of leg press
6 - 10 laps jogging around the track

just a side note, when i weight train, i increase my reps by 1 every time i work out (example: chest, flat bench at 3 sets of 7s, next time i work my chest flat bench i'll work 3 sets of 8s...and so on) until i hit 3 sets of reps of 10s, then i move up my weights by 5 pounds..

i also hit the punchin bags once or twice a week...

and i also use whey protein before and after i hit the gym...

QUESTIONS:

1. i've heard that i should just do reps of 4s and move up the weights by 5 pounds when i hit reps of 8s...what do u guys think?

2. I've also heard that since i only have 4 weeks, i should INCREASE my cardio to 2 sessions a day (morning, night) and 45 min per session for 6 days a week.... man just the thought of that is tiring...what do u veterans think?

3. my worst is at my dieting...i'm alllways out (at work, at school...etc)...so a typical day of diet would look something like this...

9am - 6pm -- half a piece of 12 grain bread + 2 piece of turkey breast + a cup of spinach/lettace, a yogurt, a tangerine here and there, an apple.....i eat the above between 9-6 every 2 hrs...

6pm-12pm -- a can of tuna and a protein shake before the gym, another protein shake after the gym, a piece of 6-12 oz chicken breast, maybe another can of tuna, some salad or steamed brocoli and califlower...maybe a yogurt with some ceral for desert...and i wait for 3 hours before i hit the sack

i would have 1-2 cheat meals a week, normally on a saturday night and sunday night....just like mentioned above, mon-fri i usually consume about 1700-2200 calories a day, sat-sun i usually consume just slightly higher but always under 3000 calories...

does this look like an acceptable diet? but i've heard that bodybuilders do special diets a couple of weeks before a competition....such as carb cycling or protein loading or something...? what should i do?

4. last question... i heard that bodybuilders also try to reduce the water content in their body weeks before a competition...now...how do i do that? should i do it?

pls pls advice! thanks for taking the time!!!
 
Okay there is a lot wrong here. Your routine, toss it, it is horrible. NO ONE needs an abs day like that. To many isolations. You are training the wrong way for your goals.

The six pack is all about the diet, period. Water restriction is for pre-contest only, should never been done with out the proper technique and certainly is not useful for a beach trip. Unless this beach trip is for one day and you don't plan on eating or drinking anything you are just going to end up with a bloated stomach. Clean up your diet, change your routine, read the stickies in the nutrition and weight training sections.

This beach trip is once, your body is for life. If you start on a good program YES you can make progress by the time of the trip to some degree, but more importantly you will continue on progress afterwards.
 
so what part of my routine should i change? i am open to all suggestions, what should i do about my abs? cuz some bodybuilder told me to do my routine a year ago...and i've been following it since...lol
 
I agree,
I can't advise going forward with your workout or not becuase I have no idea of your strong points or weak points.....recovery time.....diet.....experience......kinetic and physical abilities or lack there of

I would also not try to rush into beach shape. If you already have a low percentage body fat and you don't need muscle definition. That is a big sign of you need to put on some lean muscle not cut down.
 
Since you have 4 weeks to lose the necessary body fat to let your abs show, you should really focus on full body, ineffecient workouts. As your workouts stand now, you're only working one group of muscles per day. I would suggest cutting weight training maybe 4 times a week, and 2 days of HIIT (these can be non-lifting or lifting days, just do not do cardio before lifting).

To keep your body in "calorie-burning mode", you need to work as many muscles as possible in each workout. You also want to superset exercises that do not work the same muscle group, to really get a full body, fat burning workout. Stick to compound exercises like deadlifts, squats, shoulder press, bench press, etc... a possible workout might look something like this:

Superset w/ full rest:
Deadlift 4x8
DB incline bench 4x8

Superset w/ full rest:
Squat 4x8
Bent-over BB row 4x8

Superset w/ full rest: (these can vary, based on your "problem areas")
*DB towel curls 4x8
*Dips 4x8

Finish off with an ab workout of 3x15, either swiss ball crunches, reverse cruches, woodchops, etc...

*These exercises are a little more isolated, and you can choose which area you want to isolate: Chest, do butterflys; shoulders, do shoulder press...

You get the idea... 4 weeks is pretty short term, so don't expect to go to the beach looking like a cover model for Men's Health, but this should work a little better than all of the isolation exercises you have in your current plan.

And, as stated above, your diet is key... There's a lot to be learned in the stickies on this forum, you can always refer to those...
 
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well how do i pack on lean muscles without the fat?

i mean i am scheduling my bulking period at the end of this coming august....
 
need6pack said:
well how do i pack on lean muscles without the fat?

i mean i am scheduling my bulking period at the end of this coming august....
Click to expand...


This will weigh heavily on your nutrtion. You need to keep a journal (not necessarily caloric....it can simply be the macronutrients each day ex. I had 4 eggs/ 2 apples/ 1 cup coffee....pretty simplistic. You also need a way to measure your body......whether it be body measuring tape or skinfold caliper etc. (never just a scale) Every week analyze your data.....from this you should be able to do subtle changes to maintain proper muscle to fat balance.

I assume you will be using body tape. Just measure one leg/hip/waist

You will want your waist to decrease/ hips to stay the same/ legs to increase
(Generally speaking....I do not know your true individual physical status)
 
No one should condone this sort of behavior.
 
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