Thread: Training body parts ?

Originally Posted by 72Monte

After a few years and a lot of pounds im back in the gym with my Son who is 15 yrs old.

I started off doing

Chest and Triceps Monday
Tuesday was cardio
Wednesday was shoulders and biceps
Thursday will be cardio
Friday will be Back and legs

Does this sound like a good sytem or should I combine more body parts into each work out ?


Thanks in advance, Phil

Just getting into the gym and doing stuff is a good start to begin with. Is your kid interested in bodybuilding? In other words, does he have any physique heroes? If he doesn't, take it easy at first or he might grow to hate his workouts if he doesn't see the point.

When I was a kid, everyone was into Arnold, Stallone, Hulk Hogan, etc. so alot of kids wanted to do whatever it took to get bigger and stronger. Nowadays we have people like Jason Statham and Justin Timberlake as physique role models and while they are excellent specimens in some ways, they don't really prompt young men and boys to hit the weights.

btw, anyone seen Mason Ryan recently in the WWE? that is some old school monster body brahs! I love watchin' him toss guys around like rag dolls.

I don't like back/legs on the same day. If you're a beginner, you should be doing heavy compounds meaning deads + squats is suicide.

Push/pull/legs is probably your best bet for a starting routine. Or a really simple program like a 5x5 or 5/3/1. Something with progression built in since your strength base hasn't been established.

Originally Posted by pieguy

I don't like back/legs on the same day. If you're a beginner, you should be doing heavy compounds meaning deads + squats is suicide.

Push/pull/legs is probably your best bet for a starting routine. Or a really simple program like a 5x5 or 5/3/1. Something with progression built in since your strength base hasn't been established.

I agree with everything you say here. 5x5 is my bread and butter but it may be helpful to know what their expectations and goals are.

Im sorry guys I have no idea what 5x5 is. My goals are to cut off a lot of weight and slowly ad muscle and basically get in better shape. Im 38 now and feel 50 , I just want to feel better and not be sore and tired after a hard days work.

Tired and sore after a hard days work is just as diet dependent as exercise dependent so don't expect miracles. When you're starting out, building a strength foundation and adding mass are essentially one and the same. Dropping body fat is diet and cardio dependent.

5x5 is this: Bill Starr 5x5 - Starting Strength Wiki

use the beginner 5x5 routines or you'll get crushed.

Originally Posted by 72Monte

Im sorry guys I have no idea what 5x5 is. My goals are to cut off a lot of weight and slowly ad muscle and basically get in better shape. Im 38 now and feel 50 , I just want to feel better and not be sore and tired after a hard days work.

If you want to cut alot of weight you need some cardio (before eating breakfast in the morning is best). Personally, I think swimming is the best cardio you can do but if you don't like to swim maybe a cross country jog with hills or cardio equipment as a last resort.

find out what your maintenance level is for calories and shoot for about 500 calories short of that. If you want to get serious about adding muscle, the 5x5 is a simple program that anyone could follow (you'll have to eat above maintenance for that though). Just google 5x5 or click on the link that pieguy gave you above.

Increasing your lean body mass will increase the calories you burn when at rest so you will feel better...it shouldn't be too late for you to turn things around and get into the best shape of your life but you gotta get committed to not missing workouts (even if it's only 3-4 days a week) and eating as clean as possible. Give yourself a day that you can eat junk food once a week so you don't go on a guilt trip and give up on yourself.

What do you do for a living that is leaving you sore and tired?

Same routine I started with at about the same age

Originally Posted by pieguy

Tired and sore after a hard days work is just as diet dependent as exercise dependent so don't expect miracles. When you're starting out, building a strength foundation and adding mass are essentially one and the same. Dropping body fat is diet and cardio dependent.

5x5 is this: Bill Starr 5x5 - Starting Strength Wiki

use the beginner 5x5 routines or you'll get crushed.

Thanks for posting that link. That was helpful and now I have an idea what to do.

I definitly dont expect miracles and I am fully aware that any gains I make in journey will be hard earned but I feel I am ready to do it. As early as May of this year I was working my regular full time job 3am -10:30am and after that I would go landscape or install fence till 4-5pm and never be sore or tired. Then I got a foot injury and then laid off after 20 yrs and became very lazy until now. Recently I would go do a days work and after 3 hours I was beat to the bone. I have always been heavy and overweight but NEVER lazy and tired of working. At 325-340 I would out work guys 175-200 and they wuld always say at the end of the day " I dont know how You do it ".....Now I feel like I look tired and out of shape.

Originally Posted by banker23

If you want to cut alot of weight you need some cardio (before eating breakfast in the morning is best). Personally, I think swimming is the best cardio you can do but if you don't like to swim maybe a cross country jog with hills or cardio equipment as a last resort.

find out what your maintenance level is for calories and shoot for about 500 calories short of that. If you want to get serious about adding muscle, the 5x5 is a simple program that anyone could follow (you'll have to eat above maintenance for that though). Just google 5x5 or click on the link that pieguy gave you above.

Increasing your lean body mass will increase the calories you burn when at rest so you will feel better...it shouldn't be too late for you to turn things around and get into the best shape of your life but you gotta get committed to not missing workouts (even if it's only 3-4 days a week) and eating as clean as possible. Give yourself a day that you can eat junk food once a week so you don't go on a guilt trip and give up on yourself.

What do you do for a living that is leaving you sore and tired?

So basically try to burn 500 calories to start the day doing cardio ?

I have tried given myself the day to eat junk it just always snow balls and turns into a week or two weeks.....I dont have the disipline to eat bad one day and then start over.

I was laid off from my fulltime job after 20 yrs it was in the newspaper industry and a very physical job.

Now im doing landscaping here and there and fence instalation.

If you're getting old, maybe look into some peptide support for declining gh levels. May also look into TRT.

A very informative post!

I noticed when reading about 5x5 it's Monday Wednesday and Friday


Do You guys and girls doing this sytem do anything Tuesday and Thursday ?


Is there off days to give muscle a time to recover ?


Im the type of person that having a day off hurts me because it always escalates into more then one day off. It's easier for me to go everyday then to skip here ans there. Like on Diets , I can not have a cheat day.

Originally Posted by 72Monte

So basically try to burn 500 calories to start the day doing cardio ?

Sorry for the misunderstanding monte...this is actually two different things.

-start the day with some cardio before breakfast (fasted cardio) maybe a half hour of brisk walking or jogging and jumping rope, anything you feel you can handle.

-find out what your maintenance calories are (the number of calories you need to MAINTAIN your current weight). There are scales that can help you calculate this in most gyms if you don't have one at home.

-subtract 500 from that number and that is what you should aim to consume every day. If you can do that without feeling weak throughout the day try to drop it to 750 under maintenance. Don't drop the calories too far below 500-750 under maintenance or you will risk losing lean body mass along with the fat.

This is an example of how I would do it. I weigh 245. My maintenance calories are 3900 daily. If I want to burn fat, I just consume 3400 calories daily and probably drop on average 3-5 lbs a week (until I reach about 15% bf and then it gets a bit harder). 15% is about as low as I like to go though as it's where I feel my best.

Originally Posted by 72Monte

Im the type of person that having a day off hurts me because it always escalates into more then one day off. It's easier for me to go everyday then to skip here ans there. Like on Diets , I can not have a cheat day.

I can tell you from experience that this will never work for you. Eventually, you will break down and cheat and just like you say it will snowball and cause damage to your plan.

You've got to be able to commit to a schedule that you know you can follow. Hitting the gym every day won't work because you will eventually need a day off which you already admitted to yourself turns into more than one day.

You've got a tough physical job also (it sounds like) so you need a measured approach or this will never stick. You'll be like the guy that goes to the gym for two weeks straight, disappears, then starts over every couple months.

Originally Posted by pieguy

If you're getting old, maybe look into some peptide support for declining gh levels. May also look into TRT.

this. you might be able to get a prescription bro. Though I would try the weight training first. It has been known to kick start hormone production on its own at least to normal levels.

Can someone assist with a 2 day split for upper body. I lift four day a week and next week want to split the upper body into two days instead of trying to do all of it in one day. Thank you so much.

I would order the exercise largest to smallest
So legs, back, chest, shoulder, arms and core

You want a 2 day split for upper body but lift four days a week? Wtf?

Just do push/pull/legs (back+bi/chest+shoulder+tri/legs)

Originally Posted by 72Monte

I noticed when reading about 5x5 it's Monday Wednesday and Friday


Do You guys and girls doing this sytem do anything Tuesday and Thursday ?


Is there off days to give muscle a time to recover ?


Im the type of person that having a day off hurts me because it always escalates into more then one day off. It's easier for me to go everyday then to skip here ans there. Like on Diets , I can not have a cheat day.

5X5 is going to stress your body and you'll get the best gains of your life. No need to train Tues, Thurs, or just do cardio. I do squats every other workout and alternate deads in between. Every other week, I train Tues, Thurs only.

A lot of guys here are going to tell you less is more, it took me 20 years of training to figure this out.

I do legs twice a week and upper body twice a week. I was just having an issue with doing so much upperbody all in one day. WTF!!

By training mon, wed, fri. I hit my legs 2X week one and 1X week 2. I cant train legs 2X every week, especially when deads are thrown in; legs are really hit 3X. There's just not enough recovery time.

I train an upper body part on leg day so I never feel like I'm over training.

Day 1. Squats and overhead press (sometimes bi's, tri's)
Day 2. Deads and bench (sometimes BB or cable rows)
Day 3. Repeat day 1

5X5 and heavy, when I can't add more weight, I do 4X8 for a few weeks and then go back to 5X5 with a deload.