Am I overworking or I'm on the right path?

Which workout routine or program is best for your fitness goal? Post your programs here!

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marmourjr
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Am I overworking or I'm on the right path?

Post by marmourjr »

I'm a 28 year old , weighing about 165. I want to be "cut" in all aspect of body and, yet, have strength. I've been doing this routine for the past 3-4 weeks now.

I'm not really seeing in results but if you can, please help me with suggestions...

M-W-F: On these days, I work on upper body and back (30-40 mins)
Tues and Thurs: I work on legs (30-40 mins)
Saturday: I work on legs and abs(35-45 mins)
Sunday: I rest

I run for 20 mins (2 .5 miles); 3 times a week (This falls on the days that I work on legs, Tues/Thurs/Saturday). I may do 10 minute on the cycle, also.

Everyday at home:
100 push ups (5 sets of 20's) in the morning
40 push ups (4 sets of 10's) at night.
100 crunches (2 sets of 50's) in the morning.
100 crunches(2 sets of 50's) at night.
Also, I'll do a "4 minute" excessive abdominal exercise at night.


Is this overdoing it or I'm on the right path? Help me out please.

*Bonus*
I can feel the rips in abs but I'm having a hard time killing the fat layer over it; What should I do to focus on killing majority of that fat?
vamp
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Post by vamp »

yes

1. too much.
2. what's your daily diet consist of?
3. what do you expect in what amount of time?
4. how do you track your progress? (pictures, tape measure, body fat test?---hopefully not just a scale or just a mirror)
5. have you made realistic short term and long term goals?
marmourjr
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Post by marmourjr »

vamp wrote:yes

1. too much.
2. what's your daily diet consist of?
3. what do you expect in what amount of time?
4. how do you track your progress? (pictures, tape measure, body fat test?---hopefully not just a scale or just a mirror)
5. have you made realistic short term and long term goals?
Vamp, thank you for replying.

2. I'm a vegetarian however I eat seafood.
I eat 5 times a day - every 3 hours

Breakfast - Oatmeal, Banana or Apple, Skim Milk
Morning Snack - Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich with tortilla chips
Lunch - Veggie with Rice - Water for drink
Afternoon Snack - Nuts, or Fruits, or Cheese and Crackers
Dinner- I usually eat one of these four:

Fish with Veggie or Beans and Rice - Yogurt with fruit (Or Honey Oats Cereal)
or
2 slice of Cheese Pizza - Yogurt with Fruit (Or Honey Oats Cereal)
or
Vegetarin entree(Boca) with Veggie - Yogurt with Fruit (Or Honey Oats Cereal)
or
A sandwhich(P/J or Tuna) with chips - Yogurt with fruit (Or Honey Oats cereal)

3. I'm seeking for a change in atleast 3-6 months of physical appearance hence being "cut". Development of muscles in chest(inside and middle). Upper and lower back. Losing the fat. Bigger forearms. Nice latissimus dorsi. Nice shoulders/Neck.

I want to be able to rely on chin ups for upper strength eventually.(I'm up to doing 4 chin ups after 4 weeks.)

4. I really don't track progess. I'm somewhat doing the "look and tell" tatic. However, I do document everything on paper. ( weight, reps, the amount of weight I'm using, the different excercises I'm doing.) Any suggestions? then again you listed some lol.

5. Realistic goal is within 6 months - I want to atleast see some kind of physical change. I want to be cut but not too bulky. I figure another 10 pounds could help..I'm 5'11, 162, slim waist.

long term goal is to maintain physical development and focus more so on strength in biceps and thighs.


What kind of workout plan should I focus on? What should I cut and/or keep?
vamp
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Post by vamp »

marmourjr wrote:
vamp wrote: 2. I'm a vegetarian however I eat seafood.
I eat 5 times a day - every 3 hours Good

Breakfast - Oatmeal, Banana or Apple, Skim Milk (need protein)
Morning Snack - Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich with tortilla chips too many empty calorie go veggie or fruit
Lunch - Veggie with Rice - Water for drink (need protein)
Afternoon Snack - Nuts, or Fruits, or Cheese and Crackers keep protein here all the time
Dinner- I usually eat one of these four:

Fish with Veggie or Beans and Rice - Yogurt with fruit (Or Honey Oats Cereal)
or
2 slice of Cheese Pizza - Yogurt with Fruit (Or Honey Oats Cereal)
or
Vegetarin entree(Boca) with Veggie - Yogurt with Fruit (Or Honey Oats Cereal)
or
A sandwhich(P/J or Tuna) with chips - Yogurt with fruit (Or Honey Oats cereal)

3. I'm seeking for a change in atleast 3-6 months of physical appearance hence being "cut". Development of muscles in chest(inside and middle). Upper and lower back. Losing the fat. Bigger forearms. Nice latissimus dorsi. Nice shoulders/Neck.

I want to be able to rely on chin ups for upper strength eventually.(I'm up to doing 4 chin ups after 4 weeks.) good keep doing them

4. I really don't track progess. I'm somewhat doing the "look and tell" tatic. However, I do document everything on paper. ( weight, reps, the amount of weight I'm using, the different excercises I'm doing.) Any suggestions? then again you listed some lol. Trust me track it! with pics and tape measure.

5. Realistic goal is within 6 months - I want to atleast see some kind of physical change. I want to be cut but not too bulky. I figure another 10 pounds could help..I'm 5'11, 162, slim waist. (with proper tracking you'll see results in weeks not months! chuck the scale)

long term goal is to maintain physical development and focus more so on strength in biceps and thighs. (why limited to these?)


What kind of workout plan should I focus on? What should I cut and/or keep?
(full body 3x per week or upper lower split 2 each a week)
Christopheel
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Post by Christopheel »

Your diet, even if vegan, needs work on.

As Vamp said, solid proteins a every meals and you need more variety! Yogurt as a main protein source isn't good in opinion ... You can eat eggs ? Oysters ? Shrimps ? Salmon ? Tuna ? etc.
marmourjr
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Post by marmourjr »

Sorry, if I'm typing and asking so much. I'm just excited about finally sticking to something I enjoy and wanting to gain as much correct information as I can.


Vamp, thanks for all your help.

Christopheel, thanks for replying; I do eat other source of seafood for dinner. I just forgot to mention that when I typed fish in list provided. I really don't have time to cook eggs in the morning but I'll be sure to be do so on the weekends. Any other "quick fixs" for protien?

I think I'm going to include in the "whey protien" powder drinks. How often should I include this in the diet? Any suggestions on dry fruits or/and food with strong source of protien?

Should I eliminate daily workout at home? (Crunches, abdominal exercise, and push ups) I have too many people suggesting too many things about cardio/workout in the gym.

I was running 2 miles, cycling 2 miles and 2 miles on the elliptical machine - 2 minute breaks in between and doing them every other day.

However I was told that I'm doing too much and trim cardio down to running 2 miles - 3 times a week.

Here's an example of average workout:

Of course on M-W-F, I work upper body:

So I'll do 3 sets of 3 different circuit exercises with 4 sets of 10's.

This is what I have written down for this past Friday workout:

Incline Dumbbell Flyes -4 sets of 10's with 20 sec breaks in between reps

2 minutes rest

Pec Deck Butterflys - 4 sets of 10's with 20 sec breaks in between reps

2 minutes rest

Decline Dumbbell Bench Press - 4 sets of 10's with 20 sec breaks in between reps
_____________________________________________
2 minutes rest

V Bar Pulldowns 4 sets of 10's with 20 sec breaks in between reps

2 minutes rest

Wide Grip Pulldowns - 4 sets of 10's with 20 sec breaks in between reps

2 minutes rest

Behind the back grip pulldown - 4 sets of 10's with 20 sec breaks in between reps

_____________________________________________

2 minutes rest

One Arm Front Deltoid Dumbbell Raises - 4 sets of 10's with 20 sec breaks in between reps

2 minutes rest

Back Extensions - 4 sets of 10's with 20 sec breaks in between reps

2 minutes rest

Dumbbell Wrist Flippers - 4 sets of 10's with 20 sec breaks in between reps

Then I'll do as many chin ups as I can. And also, do the "suitcase" around the gym three time.

I try to do different excercises for different muscles on upper body workout. The use the same formula for legs workout, I just do different ones - mostly different deadlift exercises, squats exercises, quads machine weight lifting. But I include running before doing the legs lifting.

Any suggestions on the workout?
Sean786
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Post by Sean786 »

Im not very professional at this yet, I have only been working out for 6 months and just recently adopted a whole new program, but I do have some suggestions.

First off, If you are looking to gain more muscle mass you want to increase sets and decrease reps with HEAVY weight as much as you can do to get a weight overload which is good for muscle building.

You also might want to decrease the 2 minute rest inbetween workouts, it is better to do them closer together to keep you working.

Also, you shouldnt be doing treadmill or any other running activity at a constant rate unless you are trying to lose fat. For your lower body workout you should focus more on deadlifts, squats, lunges etc. But, keep the running if you are still trying to lose fat. Once you lose the fat if that is what you are trying to do, you can also do wind sprints for leg excercise.

About the whey protein, it is best to do your workout first, then right after you finish the workout, get out your whey protein and take it directly after the workout. You can also mix it with milk for an increased effect, but it doesnt taste all that great so it is better if you put in a little liquid then the protein and chug it down to get it over with.

Also, ab excercises are said to not be that effective, it is better to do all-around workouts with a mix of lower body and upper body 3 times a week and the abs will come with it.

Like this for example -

Monday -

Workout day, upper/lower body mix

Tuesday -

Rest

Wednesday -

Workout day, lower/upper body mix

Thursday -

Rest

Friday -

Workout day, lower/upperbody mix

Saturday and Sunday -

Rest


It is bad to excercise excessively I know this as a fact. When I first started I was trying to lose fat, after I accomplished that with every-day workouts I started muscle building. 5 months of muscle building I hardly noticed any difference because I did workouts every single day all spread apart. It is best to do it 3 times a week and to do the designated workut each day all at one time, then do NO WORKOUTS on rest days.

The thing where you do some push-ups etc. every day is bad, you muscles arent having enough time to rebuild and get rested so you wont gain anything. Just stick to a 3 times a week schedule and you will be fine. I just started own like 4 days ago and first two workout days worked me out like no other and I feel that I am gaining for the first time.


Here is program as a sample-

Every Workout day
- 3 minute treadmill warm-up
- Stretch before and after workout

Monday
- Power Cleans - 5x5
- BB Bench press with BB Rows - 5x5 each
- Cuban Press with Dips - 3x12 each

Tuesday
- Off!

Wednesday
- Deadlifts - 10x3
- Pull ups with Military Press - 5x5 each
- T-Rows with Close grip Bench - 3x12 each

Thursday
- Off!

Friday
- DB Squats - 10x3
- Chin ups with Lunges - 5x5 each
- DB Press with DB Rows - 3x12 each

Saturday
- Off!

Sunday
- Off!


Good luck and I hope this helps you out.
vamp
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Post by vamp »

Sean786 wrote:Im not very professional at this yet, I have only been working out for 6 months and just recently adopted a whole new program, but I do have some suggestions.

First off, If you are looking to gain more muscle mass you want to increase sets and decrease reps with HEAVY weight as much as you can do to get a weight overload which is good for muscle building. Look at waterbury method or riptied workout, ideally you want compound heavy excercises

You also might want to decrease the 2 minute rest inbetween workouts, it is better to do them closer together to keep you working. For strength training with heavy weight, 2-3 minutes is actually ideal.

Also, you shouldnt be doing treadmill or any other running activity at a constant rate unless you are trying to lose fat. For your lower body workout you should focus more on deadlifts, squats, lunges etc. But, keep the running if you are still trying to lose fat. Once you lose the fat if that is what you are trying to do, you can also do wind sprints for leg excercise.
Actually, steady rate cardio burns more calories at the workout itself whereas intervals help increase metabolism over entire day so overall the intervals will burn more fat over time. Remember calories burned doesn't mean fat burned. Also overtime, steady rate cardio can actually decrease muscle size and therefore decrease metabolism.

About the whey protein, it is best to do your workout first, then right after you finish the workout, get out your whey protein and take it directly after the workout. You can also mix it with milk for an increased effect, but it doesnt taste all that great so it is better if you put in a little liquid then the protein and chug it down to get it over with. Taste is a matter of preference and brand.

Also, ab excercises are said to not be that effective, (Do core excercises like Plank and Bridge) it is better to do all-around workouts with a mix of lower body and upper body 3 times a week and the abs will come with it.

Like this for example -

Monday -

Workout day, upper/lower body mix

Tuesday -

Rest

Wednesday -

Workout day, lower/upper body mix

Thursday -

Rest

Friday -

Workout day, lower/upperbody mix

Saturday and Sunday -

Rest


It is bad to excercise excessively I know this as a fact. When I first started I was trying to lose fat, after I accomplished that with every-day workouts I started muscle building. 5 months of muscle building I hardly noticed any difference because I did workouts every single day all spread apart. It is best to do it 3 times a week and to do the designated workut each day all at one time, then do NO WORKOUTS on rest days. (Actually Rest 1 day a week and take the other 3 as cardio days, high intensity for 30-45 minutes tops, like intervals. Usually I suggest saturdays as a "fun" cardio like playing sports with friends, swimming, hiking, etc., also I suggest not resting 2 days in a row so you can keep metabolism raised)

The thing where you do some push-ups etc. every day is bad, you muscles arent having enough time to rebuild and get rested so you wont gain anything. (Very true)Just stick to a 3 times a week schedule and you will be fine. I just started own like 4 days ago and first two workout days worked me out like no other and I feel that I am gaining for the first time.


.
Sean786
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Post by Sean786 »

:D Thanks vamp, i leanr things everyday haha
vamp
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Post by vamp »

no problem sean, we all do ;)
Sean786
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Post by Sean786 »

I actually just changed program with some cardio on tuesday, thrusday, and saturday if I am not sore from the previous strength training day after hearing that.

Also, I hope you are getting all of this mrmourjr, and good luck with your goals. 8)
vamp
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Post by vamp »

Sean, try stretching after all your workouts, either weights or cardio and it will help with stiffness and soreness. Also, I have found that having a cardio day after a weight day gets the joints and muscles oiled up and relaxes them some. You may start out a little iffy at the beginning of a cardio session but after you get going and get er done you're gunna feel great!

Cheers
marmourjr
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Post by marmourjr »

Sean786 and Vamp, thank you both for your insights. I just came back from Vitamin Shoppe to purchase a 23 g High quality Whey Protien.

I will make sure to keep in mind of all these suggestions. Thank you both so much. I'll keep you posted as the month goes by.
Sean786
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Post by Sean786 »

Nice job marmour :)

You might be dreading your workout days at first because of soreness and the work it takes, but after a few sessions and your soreness goes away, it will be a breeze.

Have fun and good luck to you.
vamp
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Post by vamp »

keep us posted,

Cheers
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