<p>This is more geared towards undergrad guys who lift but aren't "serious" lifters. By this I mean those who are more concerned with doing less weight and higher repetitions. What kind of work-outs do you guys do? Are you able to follow a strict diet? </p>
<p>I currently follow a work-out that targets a different muscle group a day for 4 days a week. It goes like this:</p>
<p>Mon: Chest - Pushups, Bench Press, Nautilus Chest, Nautilus Incline, Chest Fly
Tues: Back - Pullups, Seated Rows, Lat pulldowns, T-bar rows
Wed: Shoulders - Arnold dumbbell press, Lateral Raises, Front Raises
Thurs: Bicep/Tricep - Preacher Curls, EZ cable curls, Hammer Curls, Tricep pushdowns</p>
<p>I'm concerned that my work-out doesn't incorporate some of the harder exercises like squats and deadlift. Given this routine, would you guys say I should incorporate aforementioned exercises? Or is it sufficient the way it is?</p>
<p>why would you do less weight an higher repetitions? Unless you’re training muscular endurance for some sport.</p>
<p>way too many exercises per bodypart and you don’t even train legs? Jesus Christ.</p>
<p>Chest day - way too many exercises. And there’s absolutely no reason to use any machine for chest. </p>
<p>Barbell or dumbell presses and dips are all that you should be doing.</p>
<p>Back - Again, too many exercises. Why are you alternating horizontal and vertical pulls? Doesn’t make any sense. Do deadlifts, 1 horizontal pull, and 1 vertical pull. If you really want, you can add 1 more exercise for whichever part of your back is lagging.</p>
<p>Delts - Arnold presses are garbage. Do regular overhead presses (bb or db). Front raises suck. Do rows to chest for rear delts and add trap work.</p>
<p>arms - Needs more close grip bench and less cables.</p>
<p>And yes, you should be squatting and deadlifting. You need a leg routine centered around back squats, front squats, glute-ham raise, etc. Nothing stupid like leg press or leg extension. Leg curls are fine, though.</p>
<p>Your routine is beyond repair. Unless you’re serious about this, you aren’t going to make any progress. There’s a million of you guys who aren’t “serious” lifters in the gym who look the same year after year because you don’t do what it takes. I suggest you find a proper weightlifting forum and make a real routine, because what you have now is terrible and I’m not making a routine for someone who doesn’t even train legs and will almost certainly give up anyway.</p>
<p>day 1 (chest and triceps): bench press, dumbbell incline, chest press, tricep pull, dips
day 2 (shoulders and legs): leg press/toe raises, leg extension, leg curl, squat, shoulder raise (w/ machine), shoulder raise (w/ dumbbell)
day 3 (back and biceps): rowing, bicep curl, lateral pull down, low row (rowing while on the ground), hammers</p>
<p>it works for me, although im open to suggestions.</p>
<p>I’ve been seeing a lot of progress in terms of strength and growth with this routine over the summer. I’ll be working on squats starting first week of semester once I join the power lifting club.</p>
<p>Deadlifts are over-rated and straight up bad for you. Easiest way to blow out your back, hands down. Maybe it’s just because I’m younger, but our football coach at our school has ruined kids for the rest of their lives from some of his weight lifting program, with heavy deadlifts, and not just scrawny kids, our top althetes. Forget deadlift, however what is good to do is find those blance boards and lift ontop of those, focuses a lot on your core.</p>
<p>It’s 80% diet and 20% what you actually do in the gym. Not an ounce of that effort will matter, however, if you don’t take the time to learn the basics. Don’t waste your time unless you’re taking 500+ calories over maintenance daily and about 2g protein per lb you weigh (you almost certainly require whey/casein supplements). That’s if you’re thin and are putting on muscle. If you’re overweight, you have to cut down to a reasonable weight and then begin or you could just bulk and look like an idiot. You need to balance out your carb-protein-fat macronutrient ratios (something like 35-45-20 if you’re bulking). You need to drink between 1 and 2 gallons of water a day, depending on how much you sweat. Putting on muscle involves sequences of “bulking” and “cutting”; you put on muscle by bulking and reveal definition by cutting. The only real difference between the two comes in the form of your diet. When cutting you take 500 cals less than maintenance and 500 cals more when you’re bulking. You should be eating 5-8 meals a day, spreading out your calories as much as possible. Your diet itself should consist entirely of healthy choices. Anything that contains saturated fat or refined carbohydrates will prevent you from getting anywhere by slowing down your metabolism and stimulating fat retention. You need plenty of sleep for muscle repair and growth (which was a rare enough commodity in HS, so I can’t really imagine how bad it is in college). Your routine needs to be changed up every four weeks or so and the weights you lift should be consistently increased bi-weekly or even weekly depending on your capability. You should always include all the essential compound lifts in your routine (these include deads, squats, bench, pullups, dips, rows) and you should aim to consistently increase your weight on these. You should make sure you have proper form on every exercise you do or risk injuring yourself; get a trainer or a friend with experience to help you perfect your technique. Perhaps most importantly of all, you have to remember to stick to all these guidelines day in and day out and you have to be patient as this is a VERY long-term process. If you don’t have the balls to change your lifestyle, then quite frankly you shouldn’t waste your time and energy in the first place. That being said, I can almost guarantee you that after a while, once you start seeing changes and feeling more energetic and in control, you’ll be far more inclined to stick with it.</p>
<p>Deadlift isn’t a bad exercise. It’s ■■■■■■■ who use bad form who give it a bad name. I’ve been DLing for 6 years without an injury. The only people who get injured are people who round their back, those who don’t slide the bar up along their legs, and the people who lift their ass up before the weight is off the ground. It’s one of the best exercises and you definitely need to start light. Deads are one of the best exercises for lower back and hips and (if done with a wide stance) hamstrings and glutes.</p>
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<p>Saturated fat is necessary for testosterone production. There have also been studies to show that people with high saturated fat intake achieve the same fat loss as those with low saturated fat intake. This isn’t the 80s; saturated fat is fine.</p>
<p>There’s really only a handful of exercises necessary to get strong and big as a beginner to strength training. Squats, deadlifts, bench press, press, and cleans (all Olympic lifts are good for that matter, but a clean is the easiest to learn of technical lifts). And the accessory lifts including the main lift variations, dips, pull-ups/chinups… </p>
<p>Keeping it simple is the best way. You don’t have to go to the gym 6 days-a-week and split all your body parts up. Eat lots (preferably healthy unprocessed food), lift heavy, and condition some.</p>
<p>For each muscle I usually do the following:
4 exercises, 2-3 sets of each exercise. First excercise is usualy 2 sets of warm up, doing 15-20 reps. Second is heavy, doing 6-8 reps. Third is medium, 10-12 reps. 4th is 3 sets of burnout, light weight, repping till failure.
Day 1: Chest/Triceps
Day 2: Quads
Day 3: Lats/Biceps
Day 4: Delts
Day 5: Hams/Calves</p>
<p>Look into Starting Strength written by Mark Rippetoe. By far the best book out there for representing a way (note: it’s not the only way) to use the main lifts with good form. And it gives you a program that incorporates 6 lifts (squats – every workout, deadlifts, power cleans, BP, and press).</p>
<p>It’s so simplified and straightforward, all you need to do is eat enough to support heavy weight training, rest, and train hard.</p>