Thread: Help a rookie out

Read the stickies at the top of this forum. They should answer basically all of your questions. Once you've done that, try asking more specific questions.

Originally Posted by bigsahm21

I'm looking to go on a really good mass-gain program...what programs have you guys done that have been really effective and produced great results?

Also, I've seen a lot that are Mon-Wed-Fri and work each muscle group just once a week...is that necessary to have so many off days? Are there any more accelerated or rigorous regimens that you guys would recommend?

The thing I really need help with are getting a great leg workout and knowing how many sets and reps to do of each exercise in my program, upper and lower body. Thanks in advance!

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Is the MWF split really necessary though? What about if I did something along these lines:

Day A:
Arms and Shoulders
Forearm curls
Bicep Curls (3 different curl movements)
Triceps (the machine thing where you stand up, then the one where you lie down and extend, and the over the head extensions)
Shoulders (overhead presses, the one where you have the bar at your waist and raise it up to your chin, and then dumbbell raises)

Day B:
Chest and Back

Chest: Bench, Incline, Flies
Back: Lat pulldowns, dumbbell row, weighted pullups, shrugs, back extensions

Day C:
Legs and Abs

Abs: Weighted situps, reverse crunches, ???? (any really grueling suggestions? my abs are strong I need a tough exercise)

Legs:Leg presses, calf raises, hammy curls, leg extensions, squats, ??? (is that good? should I do dead lift or something like taht? I've never really had a good leg workout routine, any help is appreciated)


Would it be acceptable to have a split like this?

Day A, Day B, Day C, REST, Day A, Day B, Day C, REST...

or

Day A, Day B, REST, Day C, Day A, REST, Day B, Day C, REST...

Other questions:

1.) Is there a universal set-rep method I can use? Would something like this be okay?

Warm-up set
1 x 12
2 x 10
1 x 8

Any other set suggestions?

2.) Any key exercises I'm missing or any critiques of the routine you have, PLEASE let me know. I'm going to put a lot of effort into this, I'd rather maximize all of the work I'm going to be doing!

You could eventually work your way up to training that frequently, but it is certainly not recommended for a beginner. 3 days a week is a great place for you start for now. A lot of elite powerlifters and bodybuilders only perform 3-4 days of really strenuous lifting each week. A work capacity like you are suggesting is just not necessary, or even beneficial, under most circumstances.

In the meantime, just read the stickies at the top, put together a program based on that information, and post it here for some additional fine tuning.

I think what I'll do is start off with working out 3 days a week, and then bump it up to 4...so I'll go

Day A, Day B, REST, Day C, Day A, REST, REST.

Before the season I was lifting probably 4-5 days a week (I'm not a beginner, I had been lifting consistently for a year and a half before November, I stopped during basketball season), but hitting the same body part no more than twice...I was getting good results, and never felt too fatigued or broken down. I wasn't gaining much because I wasn't eating like I should have. Lack of recovery time didn't seem to be a problem...but you guys seem to know a lot more about this stuff than I do.

I'm set in the exercises I want to...I'll work my way up to 3-4 per muscle group, and rotate which 3-4 I do every 5 weeks or so, I hear this helps reduce chances of plateau.

The one SPECIFIC QUESTION I do have though is any set/rep recommendations I have. I hear 3 sets of 10 isn't the way to go...but I'm not sure exactly what to do that would be better. Any recommendation? And also, for bulking purposes, how much should I rest between sets?