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[Ashy]

Hi, I'm new to these forums. I am trying to figure out a weekly routine but don't really know how i should go about it.
I'm a 20yr old male, about 180cm tall and weigh about 66kg (yeah really thin, heh). I'd like to put on some weight and build some muscle. I have a bench press and some dumbells. I'd like to start by focussing on my chest and arms and abs i guess. There's also a pool nearby so i could swim as part of the routine aswell.
How should i structure my workouts? Should i focus on a couple muscle groups one day and do a different set the next day etc.?

thanks.

edit: weight doesnt mean much without a height

[swanso5]

for starters don't worry about arns as the wt u'd use to train them won't be heavy enough to do anything anyway...try this:

day 1
deadlifts alternated with bench press heavy x 6 - 8 reps each with 90secs rest between exercises
squats and rows / chins done the same way but lighter for 10 - 15 reps

day 2
squats and chins heavy and deads and bench light

alternate these 2 days for 3 sessions/week...on 2 other days do interval training for 10mins doing 90secs as slow as you can then 30secs as fast as you can

food will nned to be oprder sp post what you plan on eating and we''ll go from there

[Ashy]

i just read the massive eating articles on t-nation. i worked out that i need 3080 calories a day.
i usually eat a steak for dinner or maybe some chicken. i like bacon and eggs and hash browns a lot. i was eating only bacon and eggs and hash browns for a couple weeks last month and lost a heap of weight (i wasnt trying to lose weight, just really enjoy bacon and eggs).
The article says to eat protein and carb meals (with little fat) 2 to 3 times a day. And also to eat protein and fat meals (with little carbs) 2 to 3 times a day.
I'm not really sure what i should eat to achieve that.

oh, i have some protein powder too for after workouts.

can you give a bit more detail on the workouts?
what is interval training?
i assume you mean chin ups by "chins".
also, should i do these workouts for about half an hour or longer/shorter?

thanks for your help so far and sorry for the annoying newbie questions.

[swanso5]

must have been a jon berardi article...he's excellent on nutrition

Protein - poultry, red meat, fish, whey powder, dairy

carbs - veg, fruit, rice, oatmeal, pasta, bread

fats - fish, nuts, walnuts, almonds (all non salted), avocados, natural peanut butter, fish oil supplements

keep powder for post meal only

day 1
deadlifts alternated with bench press 3 x 6 - 8 reps each with 90 - 120 secs rest between exercises
squats and rows / chins done the same way but lighter for 3 x 10 - 15 reps with 30 - 45 secs rest

day 2
squats and chins heavy and deads and bench light

alternate these 2 days for 3 sessions/week...on 2 other days do interval training for 10mins doing 90secs as slow as you can then 30secs as fast as you can

choose a wt that on the 1st set you can just get 8 or 15 reps depending on the exercise (after warm ups though) but not less than 6 or 10 on the 3rd set...mon - day 1...wed - day 2....fri - day 1 etc for schedule...do cardio probably on thu and sat preferably...interval training is where you mix high and low int speeds within the same set...lets take the exercise bike for example...you would do 90secs as slow as you can without the machine turning off and when 90secs is done you will pedal as fast as you possibly can for 30secs...do this 5 times...find rpm's for both intervals...the slow will ALWAYS remain the same but you want to gradually increase the fast interval or where you can hold it at...once you get 5 cyclces, increase the pedal resistance and so on...if fitness is no good than start with a slower interval but keep at 30secs...ideally you want to find levels that you can hold for the entire 30secs as opposed to starting off at 130rpm and by the 20sec mark being down to 100

chins are chin ups yes

stick to the rest and they shouldn't take longer than 45mins i wouldn't think...if they do your not sticking to rest

any other questions please post

[Ashy]

I've been following this routine for about a week now. It seems pretty good. I've noticed that the weights seem to be getting easier.
I've been using 25kg for the heavy weight and 20kg for the lighter weights.
Next week i might upgrade the weight by a couple kg.

Straight after the workout i've been having protein powder in a glass of milk. The jar says that it's soy-based protein powder, hopefully that is ok.

thanks for helping me out with the routine . It's been enjoyable so far and it's even helped me cut back on smoking aswell (now down to 3 or 4 a day).

[swanso5]

don't wait for the wt to get easy...as soon as all sets and reps are reached with one wt, increase it the very next session...also use the correct wt..that is a wt that allows you to just the higher rep range on the 1st set and lower rep range on the last set...i.e. if it says 3 x 8 - 12, then set 1 you should just get 12 reps but stop even if you can do more...2nd set you might get 10 and last set you may get 7 or 8...stick with that wt untill all 3 sets are at 12 then increase slightly and start again