Joined Virgin Active Gym - Routine?

[salami1212]

Well, I read the gordyr's guide which is very helpful.. Im gonna be going 5 days a week and 2 days rest in the weekend..

I looked at the routine:

Monday (Chest/Shoulder/Triceps)

Flat Bench Press – 3x8
Incline Dumbbell Bench – 3x8
Skull Crushers – 3x8 (similar to lying tricep extensions)
Close Grip Bench Press – 3x8
Seated Dumbbell Military Press -3x8
Lateral Dumbbell Raises – 3x8


Wednesday (Back/Biceps)

Dead lifts – 3x8
Bent over one arm Dumbbell rows – 3x8
Chin Ups 3x8 (Or Lat pull downs if you can’t do chins yet)
Barbell Bicep Curl -3x8
One arm Dumbbell hammer Curls – 3x8


Friday (Legs/Abs)

Barbell Squats – 3x8
Dumbbell Lunges – 3x8
Calf Raises-4x10
Abdominal workout (Crunches, leg raises, whatever)


If I did that it wouldnt increase my bicep muscles etc , or would it. As your only working them 2 days a week. Or is there more to it than that..

Cheers

 

[Morba]

or would it.


Or is there more to it than that..

or would it... the routine is just a guide, its a good place to start, from which you can manipulate it as and when you see fit.
try it for a while, if you are not growing change it.

why the emphasis on biceps? biceps dont make big arms ;]

are you planning on a 3 day routine with 2 days cardio, or are you looking at doing 5 weights days a week? if so, something a bit better could be recommended.

what are your goals?

 

[salami1212]

generally my whole body.. Im pretty skinny so kinda wanna build up legs, arms, chest.. generally my whole body. A 5 day routine, with swimming after the gym.. If you could recommend a routine, that would be great..

and the biceps was just an example

cheers

 

[Morba]

do you need to do 5 day?
do you need to swim after the weights?
could you do a 3 or a 4 day routine then do the swimming separately?

personally i see no need to do a 5 day weights routine as a beginner.

having said that, here is a once a week (per muscle group) routine.

day 1: chest / calves
day 2: back
day 3: shoulders / tris
day 4: legs
day 5: bis / abs

imo you should just concentrate on the big 4 with a few added exercises, to start with:

chest press
shoulder press
deadlift
squat

then add:

chins
tbar rows
incline bench
tricep dip / skulls
BB curl / ezbar curl
calf raises
SLDLs / leg curls

 

[salami1212]

thanks a lot

would that increase my muscle around my whole body as im not doing the same group of muscles more than once a week.. and I dont have to do 5 days a week, but i just thought it might be better.. and the swimmings just after the workout to cool down and just relax

cheers

 

[Mr.T]

Are you only meant to do each muscle group once per week? What I was doing at present was doing each group of muscles twice, but always allowing 48 hours minimum between.

 

[@if ®afiq]

Are you only meant to do each muscle group once per week?

It's whatever works best and is suitable for your target. For example, I do a total body workout (I love that phrase!) three times a week.

 

[salami1212]

It's whatever works best and is suitable for your target. For example, I do a total body workout (I love that phrase!) three times a week.

yea, but the routine that was recommended to me, is only one set of muscles a week.. like today at the gym I did INTENSE pecs. it wont build if i only do it once a week will it

 

[Morba]

yea, but the routine that was recommended to me, is only one set of muscles a week.. like today at the gym I did INTENSE pecs. it wont build if i only do it once a week will it

its not about how many times you go a week, its about the overall intensity.

for example, i do bench once a week:
flat bench
incline bench
decline bench
thats quite a lot of reps/sets.

however, @if ®afiq benches 3 times a week, but i would imagine its more like:
day 1: flat
day 2: incline
day 3: decline

so its less intensive on the muscle each workout, but overall its the same as what i do for the week.

also, there are some routines where you do an exercise lots of times a week! one of which has you benching 4 or 5 times a week!!

 

[salami1212]

its not about how many times you go a week, its about the overall intensity.

for example, i do bench once a week:
flat bench
incline bench
decline bench
thats quite a lot of reps/sets.

however, @if ®afiq benches 3 times a week, but i would imagine its more like:
day 1: flat
day 2: incline
day 3: decline

so its less intensive on the muscle each workout, but overall its the same as what i do for the week.

also, there are some routines where you do an exercise lots of times a week! one of which has you benching 4 or 5 times a week!!

ok cheers yesterday I did intense bench press and that. Today my muscles ache sooo bad lol.. really badly haha.. if i dont ache after like 2 more days, should I do more bench or wait until next friday?

and morba, are you that reallly tonk person on the "show your body thread"

cheers

 

[Morba]

ok cheers yesterday I did intense bench press and that. Today my muscles ache sooo bad lol.. really badly haha.. if i dont ache after like 2 more days, should I do more bench or wait until next friday?

and morba, are you that reallly tonk person on the "show your body thread"

cheers

if you have recovered and feel you could bench again, then feel free
just be careful of over training :]

the pic i posted is indeed me (not the cookie monster one of course!)

 

[salami1212]

one more thing really, on gordyrs guide, he says "use free weights, not machines". On the bench press I dont use free weights, I use the hydrolic one or something similar. It helps keep the bar straight as my left arm is a lot weaker than my right. Should I use this or the free weights bench?

Edit: also, on free weight bench I can do 35 - 40, on the "machine" one, i can only do 20-25. Whys this?

cheers

 

[SK07]

one more thing really, on gordyrs guide, he says "use free weights, not machines". On the bench press I dont use free weights, I use the hydrolic one or something similar. It helps keep the bar straight as my left arm is a lot weaker than my right. Should I use this or the free weights bench?

Edit: also, on free weight bench I can do 35 - 40, on the "machine" one, i can only do 20-25. Whys this?

cheers

The smith machine.

In all honesty I find it just as good as the bar. Even as a beginner I rec it because it gives you a lot less to worry about. Like you may worry incase it gets to heavy you don't have a assistant you can easilly clip it in. You won't have to worry about balancing it either. With the smith machine it eliminates this.

35-40 KG? are you doing it as soon as you go in? are you warming up? are you doing exercises before you do this? meaning your muscles would be more tired out. I get that where say if someones using something I skip to another exercise then come back to the bench I may only be able to lift a lighter weight. Happened last week. I bench 87.5KG and I did other exercises which involve the chest which was the incline db flys and then went to the bench press which I did a lot less than I usually would.

Also are you holding the bar correctly? you should keep your hands far apart, hard to explain in writing but I use markings on the bar itself for assistance so I know the exact place, alough once you do it a lot you would end up knowing by instinct what to do without even thinking about it.

 

[salami1212]

The smith machine.

In all honesty I find it just as good as the bar. Even as a beginner I rec it because it gives you a lot less to worry about. Like you may worry incase it gets to heavy you don't have a assistant you can easilly clip it in. You won't have to worry about balancing it either. With the smith machine it eliminates this.

35-40 KG? are you doing it as soon as you go in? are you warming up? are you doing exercises before you do this? meaning your muscles would be more tired out. I get that where say if someones using something I skip to another exercise then come back to the bench I may only be able to lift a lighter weight. Happened last week. I bench 87.5KG and I did other exercises which involve the chest which was the incline db flys and then went to the bench press which I did a lot less than I usually would.

Also are you holding the bar correctly? you should keep your hands far apart, hard to explain in writing but I use markings on the bar itself for assistance so I know the exact place, alough once you do it a lot you would end up knowing by instinct what to do without even thinking about it.

yep, I did it straight away, but I did the free weight straight away. Would protein shakes decrease the aching time of my muscle lol, and fix my muscles quicker? cheers

edit: would something like this be worth it, or is it a scam:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/WEIGHT-GAIN-P...ryZ97034QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

 

[Morba]

Also are you holding the bar correctly? you should keep your hands far apart, hard to explain in writing but I use markings on the bar itself for assistance so I know the exact place, alough once you do it a lot you would end up knowing by instinct what to do without even thinking about it.

for what reason are you recommending to keep the hands wide apart?
hand placement is a very important thing, to the point that being wider or closer has an effect on the muscles that are being used. changing hand placement once in a while is a good thing.

if one arm is a lot weaker than the other, go do dumbell press. using a machine will not make your weaker arm stronger, all it will do if make you use the stronger arm more when lifing the bar.

 

[SK07]

for what reason are you recommending to keep the hands wide apart?
hand placement is a very important thing, to the point that being wider or closer has an effect on the muscles that are being used. changing hand placement once in a while is a good thing.

if one arm is a lot weaker than the other, go do dumbell press. using a machine will not make your weaker arm stronger, all it will do if make you use the stronger arm more when lifing the bar.

Meh, I feel that when doing it with hands quite close together makes it feel more like a tricep workout, when further apart I really feel the chest getting a workout.

 

[Morba]

Meh, I feel that when doing it with hands quite close together makes it feel more like a tricep workout, when further apart I really feel the chest getting a workout.

too close and it turns into a tricep press yes, but that is not to say that you should only do bench at a set width.

 

[@if ®afiq]

however, @if ®afiq benches 3 times a week, but i would imagine its more like:
day 1: flat
day 2: incline
day 3: decline

Here is what I'm doing at the moment, I start my second course tomorrow - can't wait. But I would start off with a nice basic routine for several weeks before attempting this.

 

[salami1212]

well, ive been going to the gym a few times now and everytime afterwards the gym, I feel like it was a good workout, but im not doing any set routine so its basically pointless.

Going to the gym just for: squats, deadlifts, bench press and shoulder press is pretty pointless as I could do all that at home. If anyone could recommend a routine similar to the HST one that I could print off and take into the gym with me, then that would be greatly appreciated as looking at the thread that "Bison" (Chong??) made is unbelievably confusing and I cant seem to create my own routine. So if someone would be able to help, I will be verry grateful

CHeers

 

[Chong Warrior]

Workout 1
Squats
Stiff-Legged Deadlift
Pulldowns - (shoulder width grip, palms in) - Change to chins on the 10 reps
Inc DB Press
Hang Clean & Press
Dips
Standing Calf Raises

Workout 2
Squats
Stiff-Legged Deadlift
Bench Press
Bent Over Row
Seated DB Press
V-Bar Pushdowns (superset)*
BB Curls (superset)*
Standing Calf Raises

*(superset) - do these one after the other with no rest between sets.

Alternate these two workouts.

For the 15 rep cycle perform 2 sets on all exercises.
For the 10 rep cycle again 2 sets on all exercises is good but you can do 3 sets on Bench Press, Bent Over Rows, Chins and Squats if you feel you can handle it.
For the 5 rep cycle I would change the routine slightly by dropping some exercises and introducing deadlifts.

Hows that look? Can you do all those exercises? There are quite a few difficult lifts there and you really need to get the form nailed or you'll hurt yourself. get someone who knows what they're doing at the gym to watch and advice you. Squats, SLDL's and Clean & Press especially are technically difficult. Give them a go and see how you feel, if you enjoy it and stick to it then post again either here or on MP and I'll help you with a 5 rep workout as it needs more thought depending on your ability and goals.