Hi all, I've been looking at the site for a few weeks and see tons of information, a lot of it overwhelming info but looks like a lot of good stuff and folks. I'm looking for some input and a checkup as to where I am currently.
I just turned 40 and although very active/busy in day to day life, housework, physical job, I've gotten sick of being tired, feeling weak, and like a 65 year old out of shape fella. I'm 155lbs, 5ft 8in, eat pretty decent, usually fish once a week, chicken couple times, a little red meat or pork on occassion, lot of salads, vegetables, some fruits, not a lot of junk food like chips or deserts, no fast food, and I take multivitamins, glucosamine condroitin, and fish oil supps daily. So I feel like I do more than a lot and I'm sure not as much as some. But as busy as I am, none of that means squat to physical fitness and heart condition. So I signed up at a gym, and would like to improve overall strength, health, fitness, and feeling, add some muscle, lose a little fat, etc. Got 3 personal training hours. First day, weight is close to where I should be heighth wise but a little low, plus body fat was 25 percent, I don't appear fat, although at 40 I have ever the deflated intertube around the stomach look, not bad but beginners love handles coming, haha. Anyway, trainer put me on the following schedule for what I'm looking to achieve.
3 days a week, plus he would like to see me come in an extra day or two to do just some treadmill cardio for a half hour.
Days 1, 2, 3..
Treadmill 20 minutes fast walk, heart rate 140
Core excercises (he said core is real weak)
1. Plank 4x15seconds
2. Yoga Plank 4x15seconds
3. Cobra 2x15
4. Floor crunch 2x20
5. Natalist crunch (machine) 50lbs 3x20
Chest Machine press/push up 3x12 50lbs
DB press pushup 17.5lbs 3x12
DB press on ball (helps core) 15lbs 3x15
DB press shoulders 10lbs 3x12
Pushups 2x5 (done correctly, it's amazing how difficult these are)
Bicep wall curl 10lbs 3x12
Bicep curl on one leg 10lbs 3x12
Triceps skull crusher on ball (helps core) 10lbs 3x15
Machine row 60lbs 3x15
Cable row 60lbs 3x12
Angled leg press 180lbs 3 x 12
Ball squat w press (down on wall to sitting position while doing db press with shoulders) 3 x15 8lbs db for shoulders
seated leg press 110lbs 3x12
I also use the cable machine to do internal and external rotator cuff in 90deg position like a L to help with rotator muscles (2 rotator cuff surgerys in past) 3x12 7lb int, 5lb ext
And I use the cable machine with a strap for ankle and do an adductor and abductor raise for hips 7lbs
goal has been to do this 3 times a week, honestly, if I worked out say monday, body might still be sore wednesday, so I rest again that day, and wait till Thursday to go back in, I figure your body is telling you it's still needs rest, so don't push it, yes/no?
I asked about supplements, the trainer told me he recommended Optimum Nutrition 100 Whey Gold, Double Rich Chocolate or Vanilla after each workout, so I bought that and take a scoop with water or soymilk after each workout.
I'm not looking to be Mr. Universe, the trainer said with goals that adding 15lbs of muscle, losing some body fat and toning up should be no problem. Does the above plan of action and workout seem like I'm off on a good start, any issues you see? I have been going for roughly 4 weeks now, and one thing I do notice slightly is stomach, feels a little stiffer, I guess a little bit of ab muscle tightning, not as much jello jiggle, haha.
One thing I notice is the last few times I have done leg presses either on machine or freeweight is about half way in it, I get a massive throbbing headache. Ive read about this and I really struggle with concentrating on breathing correctly but I try to do this excercise slow, with full breath exhaled on pushing weights up, and inhaling with bringing weights down, so I'm not sure what's going on there, but it usually lasts a full day to day and a half later the headache. I am not sure if it's firing up some migraine thing or what. I try to drink quite a bit of water too?
Appreciate any feedback, tips suggestions,
Russ
Beginner with beginner questions thus far
Moderators: Boss Man, cassiegose
Re: Beginner with beginner questions thus far
not to be wanker but your trainer is a moron, especially with that program he gave youI'm not looking to be Mr. Universe, the trainer said with goals that adding 15lbs of muscle, losing some body fat and toning up should be no problem.
if you can in fact gain an easy 15pds of muscle then you won't do it with machine exercises, you'll need squats, deadlifts, lunges, chin ups etc
Re: Beginner with beginner questions thus far
Hi, well I see you are a personal trainer too, so no doubt you would know much better than me. Maybe he has me starting out slow with this routine to work our way up into more things like you mentioned? Although the highlight of machine things you mentioned, other than a few core excercises that don't utilize weights like plank, crunches, only 4 of the mentioned excercises are machine, the rest is free weights.
Re: Beginner with beginner questions thus far
Having a look through the exercises, a few don't seem so great if I'm honest. The exercises you do using the ball as a platform is largely pointless in aiding any strength gains, as unstable platforms are detrimental to trying to gain strength. Therefore I would advise doing these from a stable platform, eg. a bench. If you want to work the core muscles, then do core muscle exercises. Bicep curl on one leg? For what purpose 
Also, after 6 cycles of a particular gym routine the benefits you gain from doing this regime reduce significantly as your muscles adapt to the movements. If you're doing the same workout 3 times a week, then after 2 weeks it's time to change what you're doing as you have to continually confuse your body. If you're doing 2 different workouts, say workout A and workout B, and you do each workout twice a week, you'll need to change the regime in three weeks. Make sense? Change it after 6 cycles, or 6 weeks whichever comes first.
Last thing is that you want to keep whatever you're doing at the gym to between 45-60mins. Anything over 60mins and you're causing unnecessary stress and raising your cortisol levels, which will really hurt your fat loss & muscle gaining potential.
To echo what swanso5 has said, squats, deadlifts & chin-ups in various forms are the way to gain mass. I'd drop the glucosamine from your supplements, have a read through wiki and decide for yourself, but it doesn't look like you would be getting much (if any) benefit from it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glucosamine" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Hope this helps and isn't too confusing. you've taken the first step which is great. Just make sure you get sound advice to ensure your efforts are rewarded!
Good luck!
Rich
Also, after 6 cycles of a particular gym routine the benefits you gain from doing this regime reduce significantly as your muscles adapt to the movements. If you're doing the same workout 3 times a week, then after 2 weeks it's time to change what you're doing as you have to continually confuse your body. If you're doing 2 different workouts, say workout A and workout B, and you do each workout twice a week, you'll need to change the regime in three weeks. Make sense? Change it after 6 cycles, or 6 weeks whichever comes first.
Last thing is that you want to keep whatever you're doing at the gym to between 45-60mins. Anything over 60mins and you're causing unnecessary stress and raising your cortisol levels, which will really hurt your fat loss & muscle gaining potential.
To echo what swanso5 has said, squats, deadlifts & chin-ups in various forms are the way to gain mass. I'd drop the glucosamine from your supplements, have a read through wiki and decide for yourself, but it doesn't look like you would be getting much (if any) benefit from it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glucosamine" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Hope this helps and isn't too confusing. you've taken the first step which is great. Just make sure you get sound advice to ensure your efforts are rewarded!
Good luck!
Rich
Re: Beginner with beginner questions thus far
The first part, I follow. I think he introduced the bicep curl on one leg to help a little with stability for a knee surgery I had about 8 years ago. He also has me do bicep curls where elbows are against the wall, he said that forces the movement to come right from the bicep and not the back or shoulder, I guess a lot of guys swing their shoulder or back to aid the weight in coming up, it isolates the bicep better? Today I did the bicep curls against the wall but not the one on the leg, I thought that seemed pointless too.
The tricep or skull crusher, I did those on the bench, but I also did the tricep pull downs with the bar and cable. I see a lot of guys do those, of course I can't stack the weight they can.
Squats, deadlifts and chinups, I'll check more into that. I use to do squats in highschool, for a few years, and stacked on a lot of weight but I don't know if really want to do that one again, I feel like that's what made me have knee surgery years ago, early 20's knees were sore and made racket. biggest fear is I'm not a real big guy, and with a knee shoulder and two shoulder surgerys, I don't want to hurt myself even more, that's why I thought a personal trainer with a laid out workout was a good plan, maybe not. You know it's like anything else, I'm a mechanic, you ask me how something ticks, I'll tear it apart and show you, but other stuff, if I don't know, I hire out, and it never fails, even pay good money, you always find out, that you waisted your money, you hired a fool, your not doing things right, etc, very discouraging to say the least.
You say after 6 cycles, to change the routine, I get the idea but how, for example if I'm doing a bicep curl, with other stuff, do I eliminate the bicep curl and replace it with flys or something, I'm working different areas then, yes?
45-60minutes, okay, that makes sense to me but I can't spend 5 days a week at the gym, to do one day of upper, one day lower, then alternate again, that's why I thought it was good to do it all one day to rest days in between, so I get 3 days a week at the gym, again, I don't know, is their a workup that I can make for 3 days a week, I just can't make enough time for 4-5 days a week.
By the way, you say squats, deadlifts, and chinups to gain mass, now I sure would like to add some mass, but main goal is to be stronger, not just look stronger, is that the same criteria? Sorry for all the questions but like I say, I have paid someone to help me not get hurt and deliver a plan of attack, so how does one find then a good plan of attack?
Appreciate the info and help,
Russ
The tricep or skull crusher, I did those on the bench, but I also did the tricep pull downs with the bar and cable. I see a lot of guys do those, of course I can't stack the weight they can.
Squats, deadlifts and chinups, I'll check more into that. I use to do squats in highschool, for a few years, and stacked on a lot of weight but I don't know if really want to do that one again, I feel like that's what made me have knee surgery years ago, early 20's knees were sore and made racket. biggest fear is I'm not a real big guy, and with a knee shoulder and two shoulder surgerys, I don't want to hurt myself even more, that's why I thought a personal trainer with a laid out workout was a good plan, maybe not. You know it's like anything else, I'm a mechanic, you ask me how something ticks, I'll tear it apart and show you, but other stuff, if I don't know, I hire out, and it never fails, even pay good money, you always find out, that you waisted your money, you hired a fool, your not doing things right, etc, very discouraging to say the least.
You say after 6 cycles, to change the routine, I get the idea but how, for example if I'm doing a bicep curl, with other stuff, do I eliminate the bicep curl and replace it with flys or something, I'm working different areas then, yes?
45-60minutes, okay, that makes sense to me but I can't spend 5 days a week at the gym, to do one day of upper, one day lower, then alternate again, that's why I thought it was good to do it all one day to rest days in between, so I get 3 days a week at the gym, again, I don't know, is their a workup that I can make for 3 days a week, I just can't make enough time for 4-5 days a week.
By the way, you say squats, deadlifts, and chinups to gain mass, now I sure would like to add some mass, but main goal is to be stronger, not just look stronger, is that the same criteria? Sorry for all the questions but like I say, I have paid someone to help me not get hurt and deliver a plan of attack, so how does one find then a good plan of attack?
Appreciate the info and help,
Russ
Re: Beginner with beginner questions thus far
this is true, cosgrove style but as long you're increasing the wt or doing more reps with the same wt you're good - it's more so 6 times doing the 3 x 10 @ 50pds that's the problemAlso, after 6 cycles of a particular gym routine the benefits you gain from doing this regime reduce significantly as your muscles adapt to the movements. If you're doing the same workout 3 times a week, then after 2 weeks it's time to change what you're doing as you have to continually confuse your body. If you're doing 2 different workouts, say workout A and workout B, and you do each workout twice a week, you'll need to change the regime in three weeks. Make sense? Change it after 6 cycles, or 6 weeks whichever comes first.
its always good to pay someone for what you don't know but unfortunately help is not always good
those i exercises i listed will get you big and strong, that's why they're so good
all you need is to do 4 - 5 exercises per session and be progressive with them, either in wt or reps done each workout...so maybe:
workout 1 - deadlifts, single arm military press, split squat, chest supported db row, prone ab brace
workout 2 - squats, chin ups, db bench press, seated row, side ab brace
something like 3 sets of 5 will be fine for week 1 then try and add wt each week while not going higher then 8 reps (so long as form is maintained)
once you reach a preety challenging wt then start increasing reps to 10 or 12 then once you reach that, go back to 5 - 8 reps and start increasing wt again
Re: Beginner with beginner questions thus far
no worries about the questions mate, you're doing the right thing. Me and swanso5 have your back!
When it comes to changing things around there's various things you can do. If you had been doing flat bench press for the previous 6 sessions, you could then change to incline bench press. This results in muscles being recruited in a different way. You could change the amount of reps you were doing. So if you were doing 4-6 reps for the previous 6 sessions then you could go for 10-12 reps for the next 6 sessions. You'd be lifting less weight, but for more reps again recruit muscles in a different way. Lower reps tends to develop strength, where as reps in the 8-12 range go for hypertrophy.
Added to this you can change the temp at which your working. Say for 6 sessions in the DB bench press you lower the weight over 3 seconds and raise over 1, the next 6 sessions you could lower over 4 seconds and raise over two. All of the above change the stimulus to the muscles adding variation. Hand positions, time under tension, amount of reps, all ways to change things around. The options are almost limitless.
With your injuries, I would still say go for squats, making sure you're fully squatting with your hamstring covering your calf at the bottom of the movement, but you would start off incredibly light, and I mean really light and increase the weight up slowly. Avoid things like the leg extension machine as these don't really build functional strength, plus place a shearing force on the kneecap. On top of this it might be wise to favor squats that work the Vastus Medialis, which is the tear drop shaped muscle above the kneecap and on the inside of the leg (google it to see which one I mean). This muscle is heavily responsible for aligning the knee, so strength in this muscle is a great for strong knees. Having your heels elevated (you elevate them by standing on a plank of wood or something that lifts your heel an inch or so) whilst squatting targets this muscle more during the movement.
3 days a week at the gym is absolutely fine. You could split up your workouts like: day 1: chest & back, day 2: Arms & shoulders, day 3: legs. It's all about assimilating it into your life, not trying to force it in so if 3 days works for you, then base you regimes around that.
And yes, squats, deadlifts & chinups will increases strength as well as your size as I've mentioned above somewhere, lower reps tends to build strength and higher reps tend to go for hypertrophy. Do switch between strength and volume with regimes as you'll make more progress.
Ok essay over, well done if you make it this far!
Good luck!
Rich
When it comes to changing things around there's various things you can do. If you had been doing flat bench press for the previous 6 sessions, you could then change to incline bench press. This results in muscles being recruited in a different way. You could change the amount of reps you were doing. So if you were doing 4-6 reps for the previous 6 sessions then you could go for 10-12 reps for the next 6 sessions. You'd be lifting less weight, but for more reps again recruit muscles in a different way. Lower reps tends to develop strength, where as reps in the 8-12 range go for hypertrophy.
Added to this you can change the temp at which your working. Say for 6 sessions in the DB bench press you lower the weight over 3 seconds and raise over 1, the next 6 sessions you could lower over 4 seconds and raise over two. All of the above change the stimulus to the muscles adding variation. Hand positions, time under tension, amount of reps, all ways to change things around. The options are almost limitless.
With your injuries, I would still say go for squats, making sure you're fully squatting with your hamstring covering your calf at the bottom of the movement, but you would start off incredibly light, and I mean really light and increase the weight up slowly. Avoid things like the leg extension machine as these don't really build functional strength, plus place a shearing force on the kneecap. On top of this it might be wise to favor squats that work the Vastus Medialis, which is the tear drop shaped muscle above the kneecap and on the inside of the leg (google it to see which one I mean). This muscle is heavily responsible for aligning the knee, so strength in this muscle is a great for strong knees. Having your heels elevated (you elevate them by standing on a plank of wood or something that lifts your heel an inch or so) whilst squatting targets this muscle more during the movement.
3 days a week at the gym is absolutely fine. You could split up your workouts like: day 1: chest & back, day 2: Arms & shoulders, day 3: legs. It's all about assimilating it into your life, not trying to force it in so if 3 days works for you, then base you regimes around that.
And yes, squats, deadlifts & chinups will increases strength as well as your size
as I've mentioned above somewhere, lower reps tends to build strength and higher reps tend to go for hypertrophy. Do switch between strength and volume with regimes as you'll make more progress.Ok essay over, well done if you make it this far!
Good luck!
Rich
Re: Beginner with beginner questions thus far
Thanks to u both for ur detailed replies back, that is making things a little more clearer. Although you mention some different excercises I need to add to regimen, I was thinking you meant to say like drop bicep curls after 6 weeks and do something to a different part of the body but wheat u are actually saying is change the excercise itself, either reps, or way of doing it to work the muscle differently, I completely get that, and actually yesterday morning I did, for example. The bicep curl, I went up two pounds and raised arm normally but lowered it 3-4 seconds to work it more intense. Several of excercises I have changed after 4-6 times of doing em, like adding more weight and reducing the reps, so I guess I have been kind of doing what ur saying but not realizing it. I'm gonna change some things up like you have called out, and look into some of these other excercises you guys mentioned. You got a particular site that shows these done correctly, otherwise I'll just google it and see what video's come about, thanks again...
Re: Beginner with beginner questions thus far
There's a load you can find here: http://www.shapefit.com/trainingmap.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Just make sure you're working the full range of motion during exercises. If you're only working your partial ROM in order to lift more weight you're only cheating yourself
If you find an exercise have a quick search on youtube to see some examples in motion. Just make sure you choose one where the person isn't being a complete plonker and doing it badly!
Just make sure you're working the full range of motion during exercises. If you're only working your partial ROM in order to lift more weight you're only cheating yourself
If you find an exercise have a quick search on youtube to see some examples in motion. Just make sure you choose one where the person isn't being a complete plonker and doing it badly!
Re: Beginner with beginner questions thus far
http://getphenomenallystronger.blogspot ... -take.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
does this work?
does this work?
Re: Beginner with beginner questions thus far
That has some useful information on that site, thanks. I have taken some of the excercise demos off this site as well as bodybuilding.com, they have videos for each excercise which helps me visualize it better as well. And a little bit of you tube but I think you have to take some of that with a grain of salt, some of those don't explain techniques or anything they just got music blasting, 5 or 6 reps and the video ends, ha.