Juggling Life and Lifting

J

joe3523

0
Hi all,

Its been a while since I have been on here b/c i stopped working out for a while and now am getting back into it. I have been working out for the past month on a 3 day work out routine but want to step it up and get and mass on me. I am 5'6" and 142 lbs. I dont know my % of bodyfat but i am guessing its in the teens.

My goal is to bulk up and maybe get some abs showing...although the abs arent that realistic to me :) But my main goal is to really bulk up.

The problem is I work full time and I am a full time night student at college. Yeah! So this semester I have I have class on Monday and Wednesday on campus so those days are packed full from 7:00 AM till 8:00 PM. So i guess that gives me 5 days to work out on the other days, but they are separated by these 2 days. Does anyone have any suggestions on my routine that will help me bulk up or any suggestions from those that are maybe doing this time of hectic schedule.

Here is my routine:

Monday:

CLASS

Tuesday: BICEPS/FOREARMS

Hammer Curls 25lbs. 3x10 Increase by 2.5 pounds each week
Concentrated Curls 22.5lbs. 3x10 " "
Dumbbell Bicep Curls 25 lbs. 3x10 " "
Cardio for 10 minutes but looking to turn down speed and do 20-30????

Wednesday:

CLASS

Thursday: SHOULDER/BACK

Front Shoulder Raise 15lbs. 3x10
Side Shoulder Raise 12.5lbs. 3x10
Shoulder Shrugs 65lbs 3x10

Friday:

REST

Saturday: CHEST/TRICEPS

Kick Back 25lbs. 3x10
Butterflys 25 lbs. 3x10
Bench Press 96lbs. 3x10
Close Grip Bench 40lbs. 3x10
Push Ups At the end as many as I can do with 2 sets

Sunday:

Home Work

So there it is. If anyone can give me some tips or anythign to help me and my routine get me bulkier I would appreciate it.

Thanks
 
whoa..stop stop stop and stop again..

sorry to say it but that routines pretty bad..
you dont need a whole day for you biceps..
add some military presses and take out the front raises for now..
throw in some rows and pull ups for your lats..
train the bigger body parts before the smaller ones..
oh and work your legs too...
it looks to me like your just training the muscles you see when you look in the mirror..
 
Ok well what about this routine?

Tuesday
chest triceps
flat bench 3x10
incline bench 3x10
flys 3x10
french press 3x10
kick backs 3x1 0

Thursday
legs shoulders
squats 3x10
leg extension 3x10
shoulder press 3x10
laterial raise 3x10
shoulder strugs 3x10

saturday
back biceps
pull ups 3x10
dumbell rows 3x10
bent over row 3x10
hammer curls 3x10
concentrated curls 3x10

And 20-30 minutes of running before hand
 
I"m not even going to read your routines, because the biggest influence on bulking is your diet. If you lift 3 days a week and they are solid workouts, then all that matters is that you're eating more calories than the body needs for maintenance...and that the macronutrient ratios are correct.

For example, if you eat 2,000 calories right now, consistently every day, and you're not gaining or losing weight, then bump up to 2,500 calories. That should start adding about 1 lb per week.

Also, weights first ALWAYS...cardio is second. stop running for 30 mins prior to weight training. its counter productive to your weight training session, and is more effective at burning fat to do it after weights anyways, though for a bulking goal, you should do your cardio on a different day than weights.

Now I'll look at your second routine...
Ditch the tricep kickbacks. its not a powerful move. french press is great, as are close grip bench, behind the head tricep extensions, and cable pressdowns.
add deadlifts to back day. concentration curls shouldn't be a staple move. I'd go with hammers and then some kind of barbell curl...straight or EZ bar, and mix in preacher curls every few workouts.
You're missing calf exercises too.
I'd drop leg extensions, unless you wanna do light ones for squat warmups. Do some lunges, leg curls, or hack squats to get some more work on the hamstrings.
 
Thanks for all the advice.

So I will start counting my calories and add calories so that the weight can be turned into mass. And this will work fine even though I am only doing 3 day work out and not the 5 day?
 
Thanks a lot guys!

One more question...

I am a relatively small guy at 5'6" and 142ish lbs. Is there a norm for calorie intake that I should be consuming? I was thinking about that and I really dont consume a lot of calories. I am starting to make eggs for breakfast, which i never ate breakfast before, and trying to get on a 5 meal plan. But is there a place that has a chart or something like that? Or do any of you know how many i should be consuming?

Thanks
 
No problem, just ignore the "extreme fat loss" number - it is too extreme and often below the minimum calorie requirements. It's best to drop about 500 cals from your maintenance level for fat loss.
 
Another one...

Is there a website that has a list of a bunch of everyday food with the calories on it. Where I am having problems is I get deli tureky meat and have that for lunch along with some fruits but I dont know how many calories are in a turkey sandwich or an apple...
 
is a free way to log calories, weight, exercise, etc.

also, take calorie calculators with a grain of salt. they give a decent estimate, but everyone is unique in their true calorie needs. Follow the calculator for a week or two, weigh in, test body fat if possible, and then tweak calorie intake if necessary.


getting started is the hardest part because you have to figure out just what you need. once a baseline is established, and you have a good idea of what your eating habits give you calorie wise, you don't have to track things so closely.
 
joe3523 said:
Another one...

Is there a website that has a list of a bunch of everyday food with the calories on it. Where I am having problems is I get deli tureky meat and have that for lunch along with some fruits but I dont know how many calories are in a turkey sandwich or an apple...
Click to expand...
 
Ok so I am waiting to bulk up but I dont want to gain weight in the wrong places. So should I try to eat healthier....ie. no mcdonalds and junk like that...or can i eat that. I mean i eat it now, not a lot, and i dont gain weight but would like chicken and meats and things like that from be more easily used when exericsing?
 
You want to still eat the good food just more of it. This will allow you to gain muscle while gaining as little fat as possible. Bulking is not an excuse to pig out, it will just lead to unwanted body fat. Read this...
 
So 5 smaller meals a day of healthy non processed items adding up to my daily calorie intake. See that seems like a lot to me. With me just doing a 3 day work out plan I will be fine eating that much and gain the fat weight?
 
Think evolution man...5,000 years ago, humans were still heavy on hunting and gathering...on a daily basis.

Do you think they sat down for 3 square meals a day and gorged themselves? Hell no. You found some berries..you ate them. You kill a rabbit...you skin it and cook it on the spot, then consume. They didn't have good food preservation technology...so they nibbled all day long. Kept their energy levels up, and didn't cause blood sugar yo-yo'ing that leads to lethargy.

Think about it. 2,000 calories a day is 2,000 calories a day...whether you eat a whole pizza at one sitting, or five 400 calorie meals. But eating 5 times a day keeps the fire burning hot and thus energy levels high.
 
Alright yeah I got it. My main food intake (was) lunch and dinner so if I just spread out how many calories a day (on average) I use into 5 meals then it will be the same but better since its not all at once. Gotcha!

Ok so I am going to start on five meal plan and start counting calories for 2 weeks then find how many on average I eat a day. Once I figure that out I can get a ratio going on what I should be eating...correct way of going about this?

Thanks
 
correct, although you can already determine somewhat of a ratio. Typically people go for around 30% protein, 40% carbs, 30% fat calories a day. But it can vary...you might do better at 35/40/25, or 30/50/20...

I suggest you aim for 1g of protien per pound...that's a constant. You want at least .5g of fat per pound...that should get you to at least 20% fat intake. Add carbs til you hit your caloric goal. Fitday tracks % for you which is helpful.

but yes, in general you're on track with your reasoning.
 
Alright thanks a lot!
 
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