Thread: Beginner - I'm sure I'm doing it wrong

First thing I'd do is cut back your work out time to about an hour.
Bring intensity up and split up your routine over the three days a week.
The stickies should help you with routines.
Stickies on the diet & nutrition forum should help you with your diet.

ditto

You should split that up. Plus youre probably just killing your central nervous system with that load, working your legs and back along with the other stuff on the same day! And you get lean at home, not in the gym. Keep that idea going. So you need to be working just as hard on your nutrition. What does your diet look like?

Okay, starting splitting it up today. I'd like to do some simple cardio to keep the heart in shape so was thinking about doing something like Monday (Chest and Delts/Traps and Abs), Wednesday (Legs and Back), Friday (Arms and Chest). Basically so I can do 20 minutes on teh treadmill on Monday and Friday. Or is cardio not so important. Also heard mention of doing it before weights and not after?

Surely there has to be a training schedule for nubs somewhere?

As for diet, have another thread going here.

Originally Posted by Logman

Surely there has to be a training schedule for nubs somewhere?

Push/Pull/Legs is a very common and effective routine split.
Push being movements like presses for example.
Pull: rows, chins....

Push/Pull/Legs on one session or Day 1: Push, Day 2: Pulls, Day 3: Legs?

Never mind, found this:

Training 101

Read it a few days and it was a bit much. Now I'm reading it again and it's starting to fall into place.

Question: Is it possible to gain weight and muscle but lose abdominal fat at the same time. The machine at the gym says I have 14.3% body fat and I read that to be completely slim on teh stomach you need to be 10% or under. I want to bulk up muscle but damn, I want to see my abs too! Do I bulk or do I cut or is there an in-between. This is one thing that is bugging me.

Originally Posted by Logman

Never mind, found this:

Training 101

Read it a few days and it was a bit much. Now I'm reading it again and it's starting to fall into place.

Question: Is it possible to gain weight and muscle but lose abdominal fat at the same time. The machine at the gym says I have 14.3% body fat and I read that to be completely slim on teh stomach you need to be 10% or under. I want to bulk up muscle but damn, I want to see my abs too! Do I bulk or do I cut or is there an in-between. This is one thing that is bugging me.

to lose anytissue you need to be in a caloric deficit, to gain tissue you need to be in a caloric surplus. So basically most people will tell you you can't do both at the same time, unless on the juice. You can keep a really close eye on your calories and macronutrients to give your body just enough of a surplus to make muscle gain optimal. You'd need to get an idea of what you maintenance is. Basically the calories you average per day in order to not lose or gain, then you add, I would say at least 500 calories. I'm sure others can give a more detailed analysis but you get the picture. Your diligence and how much you want to track your calories and weight as you go will determine how many calories you need to add.

Originally Posted by Logman

Never mind, found this:

Training 101

Read it a few days and it was a bit much. Now I'm reading it again and it's starting to fall into place.

Question: Is it possible to gain weight and muscle but lose abdominal fat at the same time. The machine at the gym says I have 14.3% body fat and I read that to be completely slim on teh stomach you need to be 10% or under. I want to bulk up muscle but damn, I want to see my abs too! Do I bulk or do I cut or is there an in-between. This is one thing that is bugging me.

It can be overwhelming.

I am thinking about putting together an eManual for people to get a better understanding of how to set things up....

Did you have specific questions?


patrick

Have a few questions, for sure.

So putting together a training schedule that is Mon/Wed/Fri with a Push/Leg/Pull rotation. If people aim for one hours training that that must be 5 or 6 exercise only (4 sets, 90 seconds break between each). So based on what I've been doing I've spilit it up as such:

Day 1: (PUSH) BB Bench Press, DB Incline or Flat Fly, Shoulder Press, DB Lat Raise, Abs – CHEST, SHOULDERS, LATS, ABS

Day 2: (LEGS) Squat, Leg Curl, Leg Extension, Calves (need more?)

Day 3: (PULL) One Arm DB Curl, DB Shrug, CG Pulldown, Trap Pull-ups, Abs - BACK, BICEPS, LATS, TRAPS, ABS

I'm sure I can do 6 exercises so if the above can be improved please let me know. I do have to be careful about my back though and my training is unassisted.

Second training pertains to cardio (20 mins treadmill run). I would like to run on the Push/Pull days. Should I run before or after weights?

Third question is about how much should I eat? Earlier in the thread I mentioned where I want to be in terms of physique but I really do want to lose that stubborn stomach fat. Should I cut, maintain or bulk?

Cheers.

I'll give my opinion although don't consider it expert:

Routine looks good except be careful doing ab stuff twice a week as it is not really needed.
Might want to throw some dead lifts in there in day 2 (my preference) or day 3

I would have some sort of other lower extremity exercise that engages the hips rather than leg extensions.

the workout routine isn't that bad.

I would do more pulling on pull day! Don't start with biceps curls...end with them. Think some sort of vertical pull (pull up, chin up, pull down) and some sort of horizontal pull (1-arm DB row, seated cable row, etc).

performing core work on each lifting day isn't going to kill you either. I would just make the distiction that you need to train core function and NOT abdominals (usually means endless crunches and nonsense). Core function is more than abdominal training.

patrick

Thanks for the responses. Do you know of a site that has a video of the 1-arm DB row or seated cable row? I looked here:

Video Index

Any idea on an exercise that engases the hips? Maybe a deadlift like rahaas suggested? I see many types of deadlift....

Could you clarify what you meant by "core work". Do you mean core as abdominal?

Also, if you have any input about cardio.

Romanian Deadlift (RDL) is a good one for hip extensor muscle groups. I do mine right after deadlifts. IMO you do get allot of core work in with squats & deads.

Originally Posted by Logman

Thanks for the responses. Do you know of a site that has a video of the 1-arm DB row or seated cable row? I looked here:

Video Index

Any idea on an exercise that engases the hips? Maybe a deadlift like rahaas suggested? I see many types of deadlift....

Could you clarify what you meant by "core work". Do you mean core as abdominal?

Also, if you have any input about cardio.

Male Exercise Map is a good site for exercise examples

Nice site. Shows which exercise are targetting which muscles.

Is this the one arm DB row P-funk was talking about:

Dumbbell Bent-over Row

Can't do the seated cable row at the gym I think as there's nowhere to brace feet.

So based on that and other info in this thread I now have:

Day 1: (PUSH) BB Bench Press, Shoulder Press, DB Decline or Fly, DB Lat Raise, Abs

Day 2: (LEGS) Squat, Romainan Deadlifts, Leg Curl, Calves.

Day 3: (PULL) Chin-ups, DB Shrug, CG Pulldown, Upright Row, 1-Arm DB Row, One Arm DB Curl.

If it can be refined further I'm all ears.

So how about that cardio?

Sorry to be a pain but I really would like to know what lifters do for cardio. I heard that running after a workout is bad due to cortisol production or something. So would a 20 minute run on treadmill before a Push and Pull workout be okay?

Originally Posted by Logman

Sorry to be a pain but I really would like to know what lifters do for cardio. I heard that running after a workout is bad due to cortisol production or something. So would a 20 minute run on treadmill before a Push and Pull workout be okay?

I would run after lifting or on non-work out days.

Cardio? I walk allot at my job that's it. IMO if the intensity is up enough during workout and your diet is right why do cardio?

Well I sit on my ass all day so could use a bit more cardio I think. I'm going to run on my off days I think.

By the way did the first day of new routine yesterday (doing Tues/Thurs/Sat this week). I did 4 sets BB Bench, 4 sets Shoulder Press (I upped the weight and did 4x8) then 3 sets of 8 Flat Fly and then 3 sets Incline DB Shoulder Press. I started DB Lat Raises but my shoulders were just fried. Finished off with 60 sit-ups (mix of standard, oblique, crunch - 20 of each in 2 sets of 30).

I didn't feel as knackered at the end compared to my previous workout as I was doing less overall. Had a busy day before and after where I really had to use my brain cells pretty much right up to bed around 11pm. Usually I'm out like a light but I just couldn't get to sleep. Not sure if it was the day's strain on the brain or the body - I was definitely feeling some sharp aches lying there in bed. Ended up taking half a sleeping pill as I'm up at 6am and was worried I wouldn't get at least 6 hours sleep and my body really needed that rest, heh.

Anyhow, today I can feel just how good that workout was and just how much I've been missing out until now. I've never really felt any ache or pain the next day but today I can really feel it in my shoulders and pecs. It's just the right amount of sore. Not enough to be considered painful but enough to know my body went through some damn good paces yesterday. So I think I'm definitely on the right track so thank you all!