Just Starting

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Depthcharge

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Hello Everyone, I am new to both these forums and lifting weights and was hoping you guys could help me formulate a good workout plan. I am 20 years old 5'10" 148 pounds and fairly lean (10% body fat or so). I have little in the way of lifting experience but have done alot of reading on the matter and have a pretty good bench and weight set. I want to work mostly on my upper body strength so here is the routine I have come up with so far.

Day1 - Biceps,Triceps,and Quadriceps
5 sets of 10 reps for each exercise
-Bicep Curls
-Preacher Curls
-Triceps Extension
-Lying Triceps Extension
-Squats
+100 Crunches

Day 2 - Chest, Back, Shoulders
5 sets of 10 reps for each exercise
-Bench Press
-Dumbbell Flyers
-Shoulder Press
-Upright Row
-Deadlifts
+100 Crunches

Basically I would preform day ones exercises, rest, then day 2, then rest, then repeat. Can anyone help me with this? Is this a good plan, too light, too heavy, not enough variety? Thanks for any replies.
 
I would sugest something like this:

Sunday
  • Rest
Monday
  • Bench Press
  • Pull Ups
  • Military Press
  • Squat
  • Dead Lift
Tuesday
  • Rest
Wednesday
  • Bench Press
  • Pull Ups
  • Military Press
  • Squat
  • Dead Lift
Thursday
  • Rest
Friday
  • Bench Press
  • Pull Ups
  • Military Press
  • Squat
  • Dead Lift
Saturday
  • Rest

Now for ab work. If your doing 100 crunches with your body weight you won't get far. Thats basicly just a parlor trick to show up your friends. To get the strong and good looking abs you'll want to add weight. Try holding a barbell across your chest and only do about two sets of 20 sit ups. Do Two sets of 20 V Sits. You could also throw in some flutter kicks. Don't forget though: Abs are made in the kitchen, not the gym.
 
Opps... Forgot something.

Dips should be done on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

For your non-pull up exercises try doing 3 sets of 8. For pull ups do three normal grip, three close grip, and three wide grip.
 
If you stick with what you have, you need some lat work in there, pullups, pulldowns, etc. But also, working your arms that much would come out to 3 times a week, which is far too much, in my opinion.

I disagree with xxx's plan because squatting and deadlifting three times a week, and on the same day, is too much. When I use to do squats and deadlifts on the same day, I would only do them once a week.

You have some good basic exercises though, I would look into a push/pull routine.
 
I haven't found any problems doing them on the same day.

I guess a beginner would want to split them up though.
 
xXx said:
I haven't found any problems doing them on the same day.

I guess a beginner would want to split them up though.
Click to expand...

Yeah I think it's fine to do them on the same day, but the three times a week part would be too much. Maybe squat once or twice a week, and deadlifts once or twice a week. Or squats monday and deadlifts friday.

With three times a week though, I would still go with a push/pull and legs (only upper with the push/pull days).
Monday: push or pull
wednesday: legs (could do squats and deadlifts)
friday: push or pull
just an idea
 
Ok thanks for the help so far. So a revised plan might look like this?

Sunday
Rest

Monday
-Bench Press
-Bicep Curls
-Preacher Curls
-Military Press
-Pull Ups
-Dead Lift

Tuesday
Rest

Wednesday
-Bench Press
-Pull Ups
-Shoulder Press
-Squat
-Dead Lift

Thursday
Rest

Friday
-Bench Press
-Bicep Curls
-Preacher Curls
-Pull Ups
-Military Press
-Squat

Saturday
Rest

A few more questions if you don't mind. How many sets/reps for each exercise, before I choose 5x10 rather blindly but upon paging through the forums I see all sorts of differing number of sets and reps. Does the shoulder press or military press have any advantage over one another? Any other comments? What is a Push/Pull routine, does that mean relyiing only on push pull exercises or grouping push pull exercises together? I should also mention that I do cardio 3 times a week for 30 minutes, usually jumping rope but sometimes running.
 
I just realized I have no Triceps workout in there, would it be overload to to add in some tricep extensions on wednesday, and will doing them just once a week be enough to make any improvements?
 
I can't bench 3 times a week nor do squats more than once a week. Everyone is different so consider a variety of workout plans and pick one that suits you best. Try them out and see how you like them, there's no workout plan set in stone.

My usual workout (it varies) Usually 4 sets per exercise:
Monday - 4 exercises chest, 2 triceps
Tuesday - 4 ex back, 2 biceps
Wednesday - 3,4 ex shoulders, 2 ex traps
Thursday - 3,4 ex biceps, 3,4 ex triceps
Friday - Legs

I rest twice a week never really on a specific day, just whenever I feel like it. I also throw abs in twice a week and run about 3 times a week.
 
Last edited:
Depthcharge said:
Ok thanks for the help so far. So a revised plan might look like this?

Sunday
Rest

Monday
-Bench Press
-Bicep Curls
-Preacher Curls
-Military Press
-Pull Ups
-Dead Lift

Tuesday
Rest

Wednesday
-Bench Press
-Pull Ups
-Shoulder Press
-Squat
-Dead Lift

Thursday
Rest

Friday
-Bench Press
-Bicep Curls
-Preacher Curls
-Pull Ups
-Military Press
-Squat

Saturday
Rest

A few more questions if you don't mind. How many sets/reps for each exercise, before I choose 5x10 rather blindly but upon paging through the forums I see all sorts of differing number of sets and reps. Does the shoulder press or military press have any advantage over one another? Any other comments? What is a Push/Pull routine, does that mean relyiing only on push pull exercises or grouping push pull exercises together? I should also mention that I do cardio 3 times a week for 30 minutes, usually jumping rope but sometimes running.
Click to expand...

This is looking better, if you are doing this, I would really recommend a variation of Bill Starr's 5 X 5 program. It would be five sets of five reps for every set, Monday is the heavy day, Wednesday the medium, and Friday the light day.

Here is a link to look at it more:


You should be fine going between shoulder and military. Make sure if you are doing isolation exercises (the curls) that you do them very last. If you do end up doing dips, throw them on one day, again at the end.

This could get pretty intense, make sure you keep an eye on fatigue etc.

Push/pull is a routine that one day involves pushing movements, ie: any presses (bench, military, dips) you can do some isolation exercises at the end too. Pull day is pulling motions: pullups, rows, pulldowns, shrugs, etc, again isolations at the end - if desired. Squats would go on push and deadlifts on pull - but - a variation is doing legs on their own day, thats what I did when I did a push/pull.
 
friday the light day on the bill starr? i dont think so, it has the most exersices, i always felt most shot after the friday on that program :p
 
Karky said:
friday the light day on the bill starr? i dont think so, it has the most exersices, i always felt most shot after the friday on that program :p
Click to expand...

You didn't look at the link. With this "variation" it is exactly that, a variation. Friday, the load is lighter.
 
oh sorry about that:p still.. the 5x5 is a good workout, i gained both str and size while being on it, but gained stopped pretty fast, probobly since i might have needed a bit more advanced workout, its intermid afterall:p
 
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