I posted most of this thread over in the "New Members" forum a few days ago but have yet to receive a response, so figured the topic might be more appropriate to this forum. Any advice would be greatly appreciated! The rest of this post is from my original thread:
First let me say that after having browsed this board for a few days, you people are doing a very respectable thing by helping out us newbies with advice (and free of charge!). Just for a bit of an introduction, I'm a 23 year old guy, about 5 feet 10 inches tall and currently weighing about 145 pounds. I've always been the type of person that has a metabolism so fierce I sometimes think there's no possible way I could ever get fat. So, not unexpectedly I've always been a bit on the skinny side. I've always been a relatively active person though and always look for an opportunity to turn any type of chore into something physical.
A couple years ago, I decided to get a bit more serious about trying to bulk up a bit and bought a weight bench for my home. I'll say right now, one of my biggest obstacles to overcome (as far as keeping exercise routines) is that I'm a medical student and tend to always be on the go. So, while I have had no problem in organizing routines and finding useful exercises, failed implementation has been what has been holding me back. Anyway, I decided it was time to get more serious about it this summer and have managed to keep to a fairly consistent schedule of weight lifting.
I've been going at it pretty solidly for about 2 months now and have been noticing the differences starting to show up - both in how I look and what I can do. Now that I'm starting to see some results, I'd really like to make sure that what I am doing is an effective schedule and what improvements I can make.
Because it is still sometimes difficult to predict which days I will not have time to do a workout, my schedule is not that set in stone (such as working out every Mon., Wed., & Fri.). However, I have been keeping to a rotation of 5 different focused workouts which I rotate through with each day I have time to train (although many of the exercises are compound in focusing on several muscle groups). On average, I have probably been working out about 4 days a week. From the little I've read on this board though, I get the impression that doing a full-body workout each day might be the better way to go. However, I tend to only get about 1-1.5 hours to workout each day, and spreading it over so many different muscle groups seems like I wouldn't be pushing any of them hard enough. Here is a rough idea of the schedule I've been following. Rest days usually tend to fall every 1-2 days. For each of these exercises I tend to do about 5 sets of 5-10 reps for each of these exercises, but the exact amount varies with the exercise and how much I can handle before getting fatigued).
DAY 1 - Chest
Benchpress (also occasional incline bench press) - 120 lbs.
DAY 2 - Back (Lats, lower back, middle back)
Stiff-Legged Barbell Deadlift (http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/exercises.php?Name=Stiff-Legged+Barbell+Deadlift)
Bent Over Barbell Row (http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/exercises.php?Name=Bent+Over+Barbell+Row)
All using barbell of 70lbs
DAY 3 - Legs (Calves, Hamstrings, Quadriceps)
I'm not sure what you call the "device" but for the quads and hams, I use the little thingy on the end of my weight bench - sitting on my butt for quads, lying on my stomach for hams. I'm sure you guys know what the device is I'm talking about - it's on practically every weight bench. I have about 50lbs on the end and do maybe 15-20 reps for each (unless otherwise stated).
For the calves I do the Standing Barbell Calf Raise (http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/exercises.php?Name=Standing+Barbell+Calf+Raise) although I don't have a board to stand on. I do this with a 70lbs barbell across my shoulders and do many reps (maybe about 30).
DAY 4 - Shoulders (Neck, Shoulders, Traps)
Standing Military Press (http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/exercises.php?Name=Standing+Military+Press)
Upright Barbell Row (http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/exercises.php?Name=Upright+Barbell+Row)
Both with 70lbs barbell
DAY 5 - Arms (Biceps, Forearms, Triceps)
Barbell Curl (http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/exercises.php?Name=Barbell+Curl)
For the forearms, I do wrist curls while standing with 70lbs barbell (usually can do only a few reps)
I don't do any specific tricep exercises on this day as many of the of the exercises I do on other days also utilize the triceps fairly well.
I also do Abdominal exercises on every workout day normally consisting of Crunches (http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/exercises.php?Name=Crunches), and Cross-Body Crunches (http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/exercises.php?Name=Cross-Body+Crunch). I think that these exercises focus mainly on the upper abs though and I've noticed that they are growing larger than my lower abs. Any ideas of how to add more balance? Something else I've noticed is that the upper part of my left abs is a bit larger than on my right (I'm left-handed if that makes any difference). How can I keep this from getting worse? Would more cross-body crunches for the right side help more?
My main concern with this strategy of workouts is that I'm leaving each muscle group too long before the next workout and that I'm not putting enough focus into the areas I really want to see results in - namely, chest, arms, and shoulders. I also always follow up my workouts with a protein shake of about 1/3rd cup of protein powder.
Anyway, sorry for that this post is so long... I promise all my posts will not be this way.
I look forward to any advice you all guys can offer.
First let me say that after having browsed this board for a few days, you people are doing a very respectable thing by helping out us newbies with advice (and free of charge!). Just for a bit of an introduction, I'm a 23 year old guy, about 5 feet 10 inches tall and currently weighing about 145 pounds. I've always been the type of person that has a metabolism so fierce I sometimes think there's no possible way I could ever get fat. So, not unexpectedly I've always been a bit on the skinny side. I've always been a relatively active person though and always look for an opportunity to turn any type of chore into something physical.
A couple years ago, I decided to get a bit more serious about trying to bulk up a bit and bought a weight bench for my home. I'll say right now, one of my biggest obstacles to overcome (as far as keeping exercise routines) is that I'm a medical student and tend to always be on the go. So, while I have had no problem in organizing routines and finding useful exercises, failed implementation has been what has been holding me back. Anyway, I decided it was time to get more serious about it this summer and have managed to keep to a fairly consistent schedule of weight lifting.
I've been going at it pretty solidly for about 2 months now and have been noticing the differences starting to show up - both in how I look and what I can do. Now that I'm starting to see some results, I'd really like to make sure that what I am doing is an effective schedule and what improvements I can make.
Because it is still sometimes difficult to predict which days I will not have time to do a workout, my schedule is not that set in stone (such as working out every Mon., Wed., & Fri.). However, I have been keeping to a rotation of 5 different focused workouts which I rotate through with each day I have time to train (although many of the exercises are compound in focusing on several muscle groups). On average, I have probably been working out about 4 days a week. From the little I've read on this board though, I get the impression that doing a full-body workout each day might be the better way to go. However, I tend to only get about 1-1.5 hours to workout each day, and spreading it over so many different muscle groups seems like I wouldn't be pushing any of them hard enough. Here is a rough idea of the schedule I've been following. Rest days usually tend to fall every 1-2 days. For each of these exercises I tend to do about 5 sets of 5-10 reps for each of these exercises, but the exact amount varies with the exercise and how much I can handle before getting fatigued).
DAY 1 - Chest
Benchpress (also occasional incline bench press) - 120 lbs.
DAY 2 - Back (Lats, lower back, middle back)
Stiff-Legged Barbell Deadlift (http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/exercises.php?Name=Stiff-Legged+Barbell+Deadlift)
Bent Over Barbell Row (http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/exercises.php?Name=Bent+Over+Barbell+Row)
All using barbell of 70lbs
DAY 3 - Legs (Calves, Hamstrings, Quadriceps)
I'm not sure what you call the "device" but for the quads and hams, I use the little thingy on the end of my weight bench - sitting on my butt for quads, lying on my stomach for hams. I'm sure you guys know what the device is I'm talking about - it's on practically every weight bench. I have about 50lbs on the end and do maybe 15-20 reps for each (unless otherwise stated).
For the calves I do the Standing Barbell Calf Raise (http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/exercises.php?Name=Standing+Barbell+Calf+Raise) although I don't have a board to stand on. I do this with a 70lbs barbell across my shoulders and do many reps (maybe about 30).
DAY 4 - Shoulders (Neck, Shoulders, Traps)
Standing Military Press (http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/exercises.php?Name=Standing+Military+Press)
Upright Barbell Row (http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/exercises.php?Name=Upright+Barbell+Row)
Both with 70lbs barbell
DAY 5 - Arms (Biceps, Forearms, Triceps)
Barbell Curl (http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/exercises.php?Name=Barbell+Curl)
For the forearms, I do wrist curls while standing with 70lbs barbell (usually can do only a few reps)
I don't do any specific tricep exercises on this day as many of the of the exercises I do on other days also utilize the triceps fairly well.
I also do Abdominal exercises on every workout day normally consisting of Crunches (http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/exercises.php?Name=Crunches), and Cross-Body Crunches (http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/exercises.php?Name=Cross-Body+Crunch). I think that these exercises focus mainly on the upper abs though and I've noticed that they are growing larger than my lower abs. Any ideas of how to add more balance? Something else I've noticed is that the upper part of my left abs is a bit larger than on my right (I'm left-handed if that makes any difference). How can I keep this from getting worse? Would more cross-body crunches for the right side help more?
My main concern with this strategy of workouts is that I'm leaving each muscle group too long before the next workout and that I'm not putting enough focus into the areas I really want to see results in - namely, chest, arms, and shoulders. I also always follow up my workouts with a protein shake of about 1/3rd cup of protein powder.
Anyway, sorry for that this post is so long... I promise all my posts will not be this way.
I look forward to any advice you all guys can offer.