I just joined a gym, need help

[alexanne]

I have been doing 200 pushups daily for about a year, 3 sets of crunches and 3 sets of full situps, 5 times a week. About a month ago I started noticing my chest and triceps getting bigger, and from a flat chest, ive gained mass and started getting defined both in triceps and chest, this motivated me to start weight training which I have. I joined the gym last week, and in just one week of training i have noticed a lil bit of better results with all the different kind of exercises for each muscle. I dont want to get that big, I just want to have a nice defined body, but nothing like an Arnold, lol. I go to the gym 4 times a week from monday to thursday: On mondays i do chest, back, and triceps, along with 1 hour of cardio and 6 sets of situps, tuesdays I do shoulders, that muscle between my neck and shoulders ( traps?) i forgot what is called, and biceps following the cardio and situps, weds i go back to what i do on monday and thursdays to what i do on tuesdays, then fridays and saturdays i work on my legs and do regular pushups.
Am i following a good training workout routine? or should i change something around? I need help from the experts. Thanks in advance.

Mike from miami

 

[Vieope]

Mike from miami

Who is alexanne then?

 

[Stu]

On mondays i do chest, back, and triceps
Mike from miami

I probably wouldnt do back and chest on the same day IMO thats overkill

Also you should have a few rest days in your routine. muscles need to be properly rested in order to grow

 

[alexanne]

Alexanne..lol, Alex is my daughter and Anne my wife

 

[LAM]

I would lay off all of those push-ups since you have incorporated resistance training...you could do them like the day after you train chest and maybe 2 days after that...

 

[Cold Iron]

Who is alexanne then?

Whats going on vieope, I've never seen you post so much in the training section before. I'm starting to think you actually workout..

 

[Stu]

Whats going on vieope, I've never seen you post so much in the training section before. I'm starting to think you actually workout..

 

[Vieope]

Whats going on vieope, I've never seen you post so much in the training section before. I'm starting to think you actually workout..

I have about 30 threads on training.
Doing great. How about you?

 

[soxmuscle]

Forget pushups. If your hitting your chest hard enough, you shouldn't need to hit your chest again until a week after.

Also, by the way. Don't have that attitude that "I don't want to look like Arnold." That's just complete BS. I have been working my ass off for two years and sure I have some size and mass, but don't look anything like Arnold or even a bodybuilder for that matter. In other words, your not going to look like Arnold, so you can throw that mindset out the door.

Lift hard, eat well, and you'll be looking good sooner rather than later.

 

[Cold Iron]

I have about 30 threads on training.
Doing great. How about you?

just playin'. Could be better though, thx for asking

 

[alexanne]

So your saying that I should only work my chest once a week? I really need a work out routine.

 

[soxmuscle]

So your saying that I should only work my chest once a week? I really need a work out routine.

Monday - chest, triceps
Wednesday - legs
Friday - back, biceps, shoulders

The most common routine is something similar to what is written above. What excercises do you currently do when you go to the gym?

 

[alexanne]

mondays: *chest*bench press decline, bench press incline, bench press, Lever Pec Deck fly ,Lever Seated Fly, Dumbbell Pullover, Lever Decline Chest Press. *TRICEPS*:Dumbbell Kickback, Dumbbell One Arm Triceps Extension, Barbell Lying Triceps Extension, Barbell Triceps Extension, Cable Pushdown, Lever Triceps Extension
Tuesdays: *Back*:Cambered Bar Lying Row, Barbell Bent-over Row, Dumbbell Bent-over Row, Lever Bent-over Row, , Lever Bent-over Row (Close Grip), Lever Incline Row, Cable Seated Row. *BICEPS*:Barbell Curl, Dumbbell Curl, Dumbbell Incline Curl, Barbell Preacher Curl, Dumbbell Concentration Curl,Lever Preacher Curl
WEdnesdays:: Shoulders:Barbell Behind Neck Press, Barbell Shoulder Press, Dumbbell Front Raise, and traps. what do you guys think?

 

[DimebagDarrell]

holy overkill batman! you should only need about 8-10 sets per muscle each workout. any more and that's severe overtraining. i do 9 sets of chest excercises a week, and only 8 of tris and 8 of bis, and theyre exploding. more is NOT better in the BB world

 

[X-Cop]

Holy crap... I have to agree with DimebagDarrell. That does seems like a lot sets. Your bicep routine alone makes mine ache.

 

[alexanne]

well, i do 3 sets per exercise, (barbells are my main ones, but the cables and levers i combine them every other week), thats what i used to do back when i was 18 and i was starting to get in shape but, i stopped going to the gym for about 9 years even though i kept doing pushups everyday and joggin , i wanna get back to the old me..this is my first week of getting back into working out, and IM IN PAIN< LOL.

 

[QuestionGuy]

holly molly

I have been doing 200 pushups daily for about a year, 3 sets of crunches and 3 sets of full situps, 5 times a week. About a month ago I started noticing my chest and triceps getting bigger, and from a flat chest, ive gained mass and started getting defined both in triceps and chest, this motivated me to start weight training which I have. I joined the gym last week, and in just one week of training i have noticed a lil bit of better results with all the different kind of exercises for each muscle. I dont want to get that big, I just want to have a nice defined body, but nothing like an Arnold, lol. I go to the gym 4 times a week from monday to thursday: On mondays i do chest, back, and triceps, along with 1 hour of cardio and 6 sets of situps, tuesdays I do shoulders, that muscle between my neck and shoulders ( traps?) i forgot what is called, and biceps following the cardio and situps, weds i go back to what i do on monday and thursdays to what i do on tuesdays, then fridays and saturdays i work on my legs and do regular pushups.
Am i following a good training workout routine? or should i change something around? I need help from the experts. Thanks in advance.

Mike from miami

well first of all, welcome here and you made the right choice to start lifting, you are lucky because we have some of the best people here to answer all your questions here......

But i cant even start to explain all that is wrong with this message you wrote, why?? because i used to have the same mindset when i started long ago.....second you are probobly overtraining because you probobly think that the more you workout the more you gain ( in other words "You build muscles in the gym" ) which is A BIG NO, you dont grow in the gym, you break down your muscles in the gym and ther repair at home.
Diet is about 70 percent of your battle, so if you dont have a proper diet you can forget muscle (look up threads on diets)
You can forget about being "arnold" when i first started i said " i dont wana be to big" but now i just laugh at my stupidity back then ( like 4 yrs ago) no i wish to dear god oh i wish so much that i looked like arnold, and you probobly will too if you get into this sport as us in here.......... you gota lot of research to do but it is fun and it will change your life i promise....

 

[alexanne]

thanks, and yeah i have started to change my mind already, i do wanna get big, and ive read the other posts about diets, and im following one where u dont eat that many carbs, and u eat a lot of protein 6 times a day, also doing more weight and less reps to gain mass. Now, one question: How many times a week should i workout? and, Should I do the same muscle twice a week, or once a week?

 

[QuestionGuy]

one a week dude, and go do some more research, also, no carbs = no energy = no muscle gains if not lifting heavy enough.... you need carbs

 

[alexanne]

The thing about the carbs is: which carbs should i be eating? i have a nice upper body, arms, and big shoulders, but i do have a belly which i wanna get rid off. Im 5'10 220 lbs and the Atkins Diet has always worked for me. Yes it sucks, because while on this diet im always tired so I have to eat a lot of protein to feel full and gain some energies back. I have tried most of the diets out there, but none have worked so fast and good as Atkins has. As of right now i dont eat no more than 30 carbs a day, 2200 calories, and a lot of proteins. Any suggestions?