Please take a quick look at my program

[Steve]

Hmmmm...

My take on it is quite simple. I'm not a fan of a lot of volume, especially while dieting. Throwing a hundred differenet exercises at a particular body part just does't add much to your programming.

I believe I've went over this before but my favorite split of all time is an upper/lower where I alternate between pushing and pulling on the upper days and quad dominant and posterior dominant on the lower days.

Day1: Upper heavy horizontal, light vertical

For heavy you'd be looking at something like 3-5x5 and for light you'd be looking at something like 2-3x10-15.

The horizontal would be your pushing and pulling like bench and rows. You'd pick one exercise for each.

The vertical would be your overhead pressing and vertical pulling like military press and cable pulldowns. You'd pick on exercise for each.

Then you can throw in whatever you want at the end. I usually throw in some arms and direct core work. Every now and again I'd throw in more metabolic work either in the form of complexes, calisthenics, cardio, etc, etc.

Hopefully you get the idea.

 

[Bigguy]

I didn't think I was doing too much volume overall.
Not arguing, just wondering where you got that from- cardio possibly but not WT. I do think I am neglecting my lower body and need to replace something from my upper body.
Due to some time constraints and my medium range goal I am trying to do as much of a total body WT 3 days a week as I can. I want to maximize the 3 days in the gym as much as possible.

 

[Steve]

I didn't think I was doing too much volume overall.
Not arguing, just wondering where you got that from

I was speaking of photocrazed posts.

I do think I am neglecting my lower body and need to replace something from my upper body.

You need balance.

That's why I recommended what I did... I really suggest you follow something like that if you're going to train 4x per week.

Due to some time constraints and my medium range goal I am trying to do as much of a total body WT 3 days a week as I can. I want to maximize the 3 days in the gym as much as possible.

Ohhhhh, sorry. You're training with weights 3 days per week. That changes things a bit.

 

[Bigguy]

Trying to train for a 1/2 marathon in Sept. While I know WT is needed I really want my focus to be on running for the time being.
Like I said, I am trying to maximize those 3 days as much as possible. I generally have an hour to spend those days. Plenty of time in the grand scheme of things to get an effective workout if I am able to efficiently work out.

 

[Steve]

Certainly is... I frequently train full body 3x per week and get a lot of bang for my buck.

What's your caloric 'state' look like while you're training? Are you still dieting? If so, with all the running you'll be doing in mind, you might want to only train legs twice per week.

 

[Bigguy]

I have 'upped' slightly to around 2800 or so but do come in at 3000 sometimes. I focus on good fats and protein and let the carbs pretty much take care of themselves.
I am 'dieting' only because I have a proclivity to overeat if I do not consciously realize everytime/everything I eat.

 

[Steve]

And you may have said this already but I'm too lazy to read back... how much are you running?

 

[Bigguy]

Never actually said that here- so no laziness....

15-20 miles or so right now. Not counting the arc trainer miles.

 

[Steve]

If it were me, I'd do something like this... and as always, this is not written in stone.

Day1: Heavy Lower and Horizontal

Squats, Bench, Row, accessory stuff thrown in at end

Day2: Unilateral

Bulgarian Split Squats*, Single Leg Glute Bridges**, Overhead Pressing, Pulldowns

*If you can't do these start with something easier like split squats or dynamic lunges

**If you can't do these, start with both legs. There is a video on my website along with a description of these, which I believe you know the address to per that mishap on the other forum. Keep that quiet please.

Day3: Heavy Lower, Light Horizontal

Deadlifts or Romanian Deadlifts, Cable Rows, DB Bench, Accessory

Questions?

 

[Bigguy]

By accessory I assume you mean 'fluff' work- isolations and the like?

Define 'light' if you don't mind- I assume heavy would be the high end of my spectrum but not sure what would qualify as low. 10 comfortable reps?

I know its not written in stone- if it was my damn hands would be raw from all the chiseling the last 3 months.

Can you ever 'settle' into a program? In other words how often do you think one should alter the workout? In your opinion will this work- tweaked slightly for my preference- until sept or should I look into changing things up prior to then?

Appreciate your help as always. Now I need to look at split squats and glute bridges.

 

[Steve]

By accessory I assume you mean 'fluff' work- isolations and the like?

Yea, it's sort of a general term that can be used a few ways. For me though, it generally means isolation, lighter stuff, core work, etc.

Define 'light' if you don't mind- I assume heavy would be the high end of my spectrum but not sure what would qualify as low. 10 comfortable reps?

In this context:

Heavy = 3-6 reps
Light = 10-15 reps

Can you ever 'settle' into a program? In other words how often do you think one should alter the workout? In your opinion will this work- tweaked slightly for my preference- until sept or should I look into changing things up prior to then?

That's a tough question to answer. If you're adding weight on the bar consistently, there's not too much a reason to switch things up. And even then, I'm not a fan of arbitrarily changing exercises just for the sake of changing. I'd much sooner change other parameters as they're what the body adapts to quickest.... so rep range would be something I toy around with a bit. For me, that happens every 4-8 weeks, in general.

Appreciate your help as always. Now I need to look at split squats and glute bridges.

I don't have the split squats or bulgarians up on the site yet.

The glute bridges are.

 

[photocrazed]

I was speaking of photocrazed posts.

I totally knew this one was coming, and that's why I prefaced my prior posts with something about doing way too many. hehe.

 

[Steve]

Haha, I didn't even read the entire thread... I just saw your huge lists and was like

 

[photocrazed]

Haha, I didn't even read the entire thread... I just saw your huge lists and was like

Yeah, I don't know why we do so much, but I don't usually do a lot of sets. Normally it's 1 set of 8-10 and we try to do the 4 count on the down motion and 2 counts up or whatever, but I'd rather do 2 sets and am working on incorporating that.

Hubby wanted most of the leg workouts other than squats and deads and I said I wanted those, so we do them all instead of cutting out leg ext and curls.

 

[Bigguy]

Yea, it's sort of a general term that can be used a few ways. For me though, it generally means isolation, lighter stuff, core work, etc.



In this context:

Heavy = 3-6 reps
Light = 10-15 reps



That's a tough question to answer. If you're adding weight on the bar consistently, there's not too much a reason to switch things up. And even then, I'm not a fan of arbitrarily changing exercises just for the sake of changing. I'd much sooner change other parameters as they're what the body adapts to quickest.... so rep range would be something I toy around with a bit. For me, that happens every 4-8 weeks, in general.



I don't have the split squats or bulgarians up on the site yet.

The glute bridges are.

Thanks Steve, this is really a big help.

 

[Steve]

Yeah, I don't know why we do so much, but I don't usually do a lot of sets. Normally it's 1 set of 8-10 and we try to do the 4 count on the down motion and 2 counts up or whatever, but I'd rather do 2 sets and am working on incorporating that.

Hubby wanted most of the leg workouts other than squats and deads and I said I wanted those, so we do them all instead of cutting out leg ext and curls.

Just remember...

Training must match your goals for it to be effective.

Sounds to me like hubby has read one to many magazines and listened to one to many bodybuilders.

Which is great if you're hopped up on steroids and aren't dieting.

But you're not.

Not saying what you're doing won't have an effect.

But everything has an effect.

 

[Steve]

Thanks Steve, this is really a big help.

Welcome...

See how it goes and if you have questions or want to run some modifications by me you know where to find me.

 

[ali2]

Ok I'm ressurecting an old thread in the hopes of having a question answered (I'm sure you won't mind Brian )

Ok guys - I find myself doing my workout on my own more and more lately (no lifting partner) and I feel like I need to revamp my workout of at least modify it or something...I was looking at what Steve suggested to Brian and my question is this:

Does it matter if you are male or female when contructing a WT program? You all know that I am still in the losing phase of things and will most likely be here for a while...I am right at 180 right now and want to get below 150 and then evaluate where I am and where I need to go...

I know that your goals dictate your program but in looking at what Steve suggested to Brian, I figured that was a good starting point since he is still in the losing phase as well.

If I should start a separate thread for this, just let me know but I wanted to reference the program suggested for Brian since that was where my thinking was.

If you need more information, just ask - I'm not sure if my current program is relelvant or not...

Thanks

 

[Steve]

I don't differentiate between men and women in my programming for the most part. Yea, something like this could work for you.

It all depends on you though. Is weight loss your primary goal. Are there any other goals? Any problems I should know about? How many days do you hope to WT per week? What else are you doing in terms of exercise? What is your caloric intake on average?

 

[ali2]

I don't differentiate between men and women in my programming for the most part. Yea, something like this could work for you.

It all depends on you though. Is weight loss your primary goal. Are there any other goals? Any problems I should know about? How many days do you hope to WT per week? What else are you doing in terms of exercise? What is your caloric intake on average?

I am still in the losing phase of things, currently 5'4" and 180 or so. My initial goal was 150 but I have decided to just keep losing until I'm happy with how I look.

I want to continue losing my excess fat, getting fairly lean (if that is even possible for me) and once I am done with the fat loss, I think I would like at add some muscle. I have a hard time describing how I want to look partly bc the only word that comes to mind is toned, which I so often used incorrectly.

Already, I WT 3 x/week, I also do cardio 3 x/week for 30 min per session on average as well. I do what is probably too many exercises, if you want them, I'll post them. I want to get more efficient w/o losing effectiveness.

Only 'problem' is a herniated disc, which hasn't really bothered me since I've lost weight, I know my limits and plan accordingly.

Caloric intake is approx. 1800 per day with some fluctuation.

Thanks Steve, I've been at this for such a long time now, I just don't want things to get stagnant - gotta keep the ball rolling, you know?