Work out Plans

[BEANZ]

As someone who is in a sports related industry and has always been heavily involved in sports I am a bit embarrased, but I have no clue about the gym. Please help!!

FTW I am in decent shape now but want to really push to be in the greatest shape of my life. Other than a few times for rehab/physio, gyms are a place I have avoided til now. Recently I have become a member of a fitness centre close to work and plan to work out 3-4 times per week. But I am left with alot of questions about how to get started.

Is 3-4 times a week enough to notice a difference?

Is it worth getting a personal trainer?

What type of weight and reps do you start with??

Are there certain movements that I should focus on? If so what?

Can anyone share a website or any other ideas of what a weeks worth of work outs should consist of?

Is 40-50 minutes enough time to do some cardio and strength training?


Thanks in advance and if additional info is required just let me know.

-b
.

[Peanut]

I would say a personal trainer is definitely worth it. I had one once a week for 6 months and she really helped me get confident and comfortable in the gym.

Also - I find the "Bodysculpting Bible" series of books to be pretty good.

[_Q_]

It all really depends on what you want to do. Do you want to gain or lose weight? Are you more interested in getting big, building strength for sports, or getting toned? Maybe a personal trainer would be good, but I got into awesome shape without ever talking to a trainer. The best advice I can give you is go to the gym with someone that is in similar shape as you and has the same goals as you. That way you can push each other just incase one of you gets lazy.

[BEANZ]

I will be going with a few different co-workers but am not prepared to rely on them for motivation as most of them will not provide me with what I need. I have a personal goal in mind and am pretty strong willed so should be ok here.

As for what I want... I am currently tall and thin so weight loss is not the objective. I just want to feel great and be in shape. So getting toned and adding a bit of bulk will be the keys. I have a smallish frame and am in my thirties so adding a bunch of mass is not ideal.

I appreciate the advice, hopefully it keep coming.

[blankall]

Originally Posted by BEANZ

Is 3-4 times a week enough to notice a difference?

Yes.

Originally Posted by BEANZ

Is it worth getting a personal trainer?

I have never used one, but I'm sure a good one will help. A lot of personal trainers I have seen at my gym are crap though. They have no real education and got hired for their smiles.

Originally Posted by BEANZ

What type of weight and reps do you start with??

Base every day of lifting around a compound exercise: dead lift, bench press, overhead press, squats, etc..

Youtube is a great resource for technique on these lifts, if you do not have a friend who can show you. Start with a low weight that you feel comfortable with so you can work on technique and get technique perfect. Once you have the technique do 3 sets of 10 reps for the first. When you can reach 10 reps on the second set increase the weight. As you get more comfortable you can drop the reps and increase weight.
Are there certain movements that I should focus on? If so what?

Originally Posted by BEANZ

Can anyone share a website or any other ideas of what a weeks worth of work outs should consist of?

If you can shift through all the obvious morons/steroid monkeys/guidos/etc.. bodybuilding.com has a lot of great info on lifting and nutrition.

Originally Posted by BEANZ

Is 40-50 minutes enough time to do some cardio and strength training?

Yes. Do 15-20 minutes of cardio. Then do the compound lift with little rest in between sets. Any other lifts you fit in are just gravy.

[Winsor_Pilates]

Good thread, I was thinking a similar one to see what others do as well. The more you read about this stuff, the better your own routine will be.
Like anything else, you can get double the results in half the time if you're actually doing it right.

Originally Posted by BEANZ

Is 3-4 times a week enough to notice a difference?

Yes

Is it worth getting a personal trainer?

Never have, but at the very least I would suggest doing some good online research or working out with someone experienced and generating a routine. IMO, the biggest thing a trainer can give you is a system that maximizes the results you'll get for the time you put in.

I was just king of winging it for a couple of years and getting minor results. This year I've put more effort into actually knowing what I'm doing and the results are much much better. I can get more results with less time, and now look back at my old workouts and feel like I wasted a lot of time.

What type of weight and reps do you start with??

3-4 sets of 8-10 reps is a decent starting point for most exercises, but varying things up every once in a while is very important.
Also Free weights >>> machines. If you're choosing one, don't substitute things like bench presses, shoulder presses and squats with machines that do those things.

Can anyone share a website or any other ideas of what a weeks worth of work outs should consist of?

I find Mens Health to be fairly helpful.
Body building forums are pretty good too, except filled with somewhat annoying meat heads.

I would recommend breaking up muscle groups into different days so each group gets proper focus and recovery days.
Doing the same full body routine every time is a common beginner mistake.

My current routine consists of grouping muscle groups into 3 separate days and then on day 4 going back to group 1 but doing different exercises and/or reps.
If I workout 6 days a week, I'll target each muscle twice but not repeat any exact exercises. This has been really good for me in the last 3-4 months since I've started doing it.
It's keeps my muscles memory short, and with variety so I still get a good pump in my muscles even after working out straight for weeks or months.

If you're doing the same thing all the time, you'll notice that good soreness of your first few workouts disappears.

Is 40-50 minutes enough time to do some cardio and strength training?

Not in my opinion. That's enough for a good weight session, but you'll likely need to add 20-40 minutes for cardio if you're wanting to do both.

[hkstylez]

For me, I set up my own workout schedule.

Mondays - Chest/Back
Tuesdays - legs
Wednesdays - Shoulders
Thursdays - Hamstrings/Abs
Fridays - Triceps/Biceps

Do at least 3-4 sets of 8-12 reps.

[LGA]

Depending on where you live you are welcome to come work out with me and my buddy...if you don't mind waking up at 5:30.

Personally, I'd say use the machines if you're not comfortable with free weights to start with.

Like HK, I've broken my workouts into seperate groups, but again, if you're just getting into using the gym I'd go with bigger groups - so upper body, lower body, cardio days. As you get more comfortable, reduce the groups.

Personally I like to do:

Day 1: Back/Core
Day 2: Triceps/Shoulders
Day 3: Legs
Day 4: Biceps/Chest
Day 5: Conditioning
Day 6: Legs

I'm serious though, if you want to come work out, just let me know (I can figure out another time if 5:30 is too early.

[scotty2hotty]

Good site for muscle building info:

www.hypertrophy-specific.com

Good site if your focus is more strength training:

www.bodybyscience.net

Good site for some free all in one info:

www.musclehack.com

[BEANZ]

Originally Posted by LGA

Depending on where you live you are welcome to come work out with me and my buddy...if you don't mind waking up at 5:30.

I'm serious though, if you want to come work out, just let me know (I can figure out another time if 5:30 is too early.

I appreciate the offer and may very well take you up on it. I live in the north but work just off Blackfoot at 42nd ave. I will be working out primarily at Talisman and am good with either an early morning or lunch time work out. I have a fairly flexible schedule as I am in sports contracting so we are allowed a certain amount of time off to be active. In the past I have used that time to play squash or hockey at lunch, but am looking to do something different, hence the gym

[LGA]

Originally Posted by BEANZ

I appreciate the offer and may very well take you up on it. I live in the north but work just off Blackfoot at 42nd ave. I will be working out primarily at Talisman and am good with either an early morning or lunch time work out. I have a fairly flexible schedule as I am in sports contracting so we are allowed a certain amount of time off to be active. In the past I have used that time to play squash or hockey at lunch, but am looking to do something different, hence the gym

Hmmm, I work out, out of Southland Leisure, not sure if you'd be interested in going that far south (it's only about 10-15 away from where Talisman centre is).

[Ramsayfarian]

If you have an iphone or a touch, there's an app called iFitness that's pretty good for a gym newbie.

http://medicalprod.com/ifitness.html

[Nage Waza]

You can follow that advice ^. I would add that you can do three squat workouts among your unique daily workouts. Do a heavy squat day (maybe 3 sets of about 5 rep max), medium squat day (3 sets of 10 rep max) and a light squat day (3 sets of 15-20 reps or even 'failure'). This will pay massive dividends over time.

I would for sure have a chest day, back day and a shoulder day. You can also mix in legs on those days, but if you are planning on a fourth workout day, save that for legs. But the non legs days do the three squat workouts I mentioned. You can do triceps with your chest workout and biceps on your shoulder or back workout.

You should figure out as soon as possible if you are a muscle builder (fast gainer) or a slow builder. Are you built like a pencil or a thick boned tree trunk. Your build will be a major indicator of how your muscles will develop. Some people simply get bigger faster. Some seem to never get big. Have realistic expectations as to what your workout schedule will provide you. Either way, you will be getting stronger.

Once you are at a gym long enough, someone will offer steroids or other strange drugs. Avoid them all.

Which weights you start with is dependent on how you are going to learn to use the gym. I learned by hanging with a guy that was a gym rat, but I do have a copy of Getting Stronger by Bill Pearl. It is a very good book and shows what weights to use.

Modern gyms kind of suck, since everyone has headphones on. Back in the day, it was a pretty good place to hang out since there were lots of people to work out with and spot each other. Now you have to annoy someone to ask them for help.

I would spend three months learning how to lift weights, either off another gym user or a trainer. Don't worry about anything but learning technique; in three months you will be lifting your current max weights and have built a tolerance to the pain from DOMS (what we used to think was lactic acid).

The only 'extra' help I used was protein, creatine and glutamine. I used to take 2 grams of protein for every pound I weighed, which is a very large amount and should only be used for serious lifters. For starters, try one of the protein shakes daily, you can decide if you want it before or after your workout. I personally think it matters little when you take it. Make sure to eat lots of protein as well. I also take glutamine post workout.

Creatine is a different beast altogether. It could be as close to a steroid as one can take without taking steroids. Those that take a little bit daily are in my opinion getting ripped off. When I used creatine I went through a full creatin loading phase and the following cycles. It added over ten pounds to my weight within a couple of weeks, much of that weight was water. Anyway, don't go near creatine until you start plateauing your max weights, which should not happen for a while. Don't spend more on anything because they added creatine.

As for cardio, you can get a cardio workout just by lifting. This is always a major debate. Why do you want cardio? I think proper diet with weight lifting can get you to lose weight faster than just cardio. There is nothing wrong with a bit of a run before you workout, go for five or if you feel like it fifteen minutes of running. Keep in mind you will be running several times a week. Those sessions add up. Like I said earlier, I don't think the body cares too much. Working out 4 times a week with 7.5 minute runs is like going for a 30 minute run. Who cares in the end? There are many circuit training lifting workouts that leave your heart pounding.

People love arguing about weight lifting. There are those that are book smart about it because they took courses and then there are those that learned through their time in the gym. Often I do something the books say to never do, but I got bigger from it. I learned in the gym and my techniques work for me, but everyone is different.

Good luck!

[TylerSVT]

Depends on your body type and your goals.

I am(or was) skinny and tall out of highschool. Never had a trainer and ended up putting on about 45-50 pounds of muscle in 2-3 years time. Ive stopped recently and probably lost about 20 pounds of that but here is some advice:

Dont overwork yourself, i used to go for 2 hours 5 days a week and i realized i can go for an hour or 45 minutes and get the same results.

Dont go with friends, its nice if you need a spotter but you end up spending most of your time chatting instead of working out.

If you need to gain weight, DIET is the main thing, Getting enough protein and carbs is essential to gaining weight, i would literally eat 6 times a day and take in about 80 grams of protein from shakes alone.

Workout only 4 days a week, you need rest. Hitting the gym every day is useless if your body is always in recovery mode.

I like to do:

Chest/abs one day
Legs
Shoulders/Back
Biceps/Triceps

45 mins-an hour each time.

Remember, FORM is more important than WEIGHT. Less weight sometimes gives you a better burn. I remember going all over the place with my workouts because my form changed. Some times i would do 45pound arm curls, others i could only do 35 pounds simply because of my form. Work on that and you will be golden.


Staying motivated is the hardest thing, for a long time i tried to workout on and off again for about 2 years in HS, didnt really see much gains (being a dork i thought i had) then i started to go hard, First i didnt use Protein or anything, tried to push huge weight and ended up really hurting my wrist. Slowly you learn things. If you want it enough make it part of your schedule and take time out of your day to do it.

Im starting to get back into it now at my own home "gym" which is basically free weights and a bench... Its hard though with school/girlfriend etc.

[Calgary Highlander]

The number of repetitions you do are based entirely on what you're trying to achieve. Are you trying to get bigger (hypertrophy - 8-12 reps)? Just trying to stay in shape (endurance 12+ reps)? Are you trying to get stronger (strength - 4-6 reps) or build explosive power (power - 1-3 reps)?

If you are new to working out than you should start by doing either endurance training or hypertrophy. Really, just make sure you're using proper technique and tempo (ie. holding the eccentric contraction instead of just pumping it and finishing your set in 10 seconds).

Working out is different for everyone. I use periodization in the off-season for my sports. I start out with a hypertrophy phase, follow it up with a strength phase, a power phase, back to strength, and again back down to hypertrophy. The idea is to build muscle that can help support the heavier weight. Each time i get back to a phase, I am doing heavier weights. This way, you don't plateau. When I'm inseason, I just do endurance for general maintainence of my muscles.

Personal trainers? If it helps you with confidence and technique and all that than great. Just make sure you do your own research as well. Everyone is going to have a different idea about what's best for you so it's best for you yourself to actually figure it out.

3-4 times a week is plenty by the way. And it shouldn't take you more than 50 minutes to get in cardio and weight training (unless you're training for explosive power). Just make sure when you're doing cardio, you're really gunning it. Interval training is great if you're looking to do intense cardio.

Biggest thing I can say is to have a high intensity for everything you do. The whole point of working out is to overload your muscles and your body. Push yourself to keep working harder and harder. Too often I would workout but I wasn't really pushing myself, my body or muscles and I wasn't reaping any sort of benfits.

Also, motivation is key. You may find out after a few weeks that the gym and regularly working out isn't for you, which is fine, nothing wrong with that. First time I started working out I really didn't think it was for me and I stopped for a good year and a half. Halve fun, switch things up from time to time and make sure you're exhausted at the end of a workout.

Good luck, man.

Also like TSVT said above, form is huge. Don't create poor muscle memory. If you're doing bicep curls and you find that you're using momentum from your body to get the dumbell up, then you're not isolating that muscle. Do it properly or use a lighter weight.

[GreenTeaFrapp]

Just buy Starting Strength by Mark Rippetoe. It's a phenomenal book that will describe in great detail how and why to do the exercises you need. A MUCH better investment than a personal trainer who most of the time are more genetically gifted salesmen then people who know what they're doing.

The program is pretty simple. Work out 3 times a week alternating between two different routines.

Workout A
Squat 3x5
Bench Press 3x5
Deadlift 1x5

Workout B
Squat 3x5
Overhead Press 3x5
Power Clean 5x3

[Sly]

Yeah, the biggest thing is staying motivated and consistent. Also, be realistic about your diet (Eat one cheat meal a week to keep your cravings in check).

[GreenLantern]

[QUOTE=BEANZ;2759574]As someone who is in a sports related industry and has always been heavily involved in sports I am a bit embarrased, but I have no clue about the gym. Please help!!

FTW I am in decent shape now but want to really push to be in the greatest shape of my life. Other than a few times for rehab/physio, gyms are a place I have avoided til now. Recently I have become a member of a fitness centre close to work and plan to work out 3-4 times per week. But I am left with alot of questions about how to get started.

Is 3-4 times a week enough to notice a difference?

Yes. There are a few "normal" rotations you can work. Some people do the one muscle group a day, 4-5 times a week. (e.g. Mon = Chest, Tues = Shoulders, Wed = Back, Thurs = Arms, Fri = Legs) OR you can double up your exercises, which some people choose to do (e.g. Mon = Chest/Tris, Wed - Back/Biceps, Fri = Shoulders/Legs)

I switch it up.. I don't really like either better both are great. One thing that is very, very important though is that you must regularly switch the exercises in your routine. I suggest every 4-5 weeks. If you do not do this you will plateua and see your gains go from awesome noob gains to jack crap. The point of it is once your body starts getting used to an exercise, you shock it with a completely new one. Try a bunch of stuff out, keep in mind you will be doing this for the rest of your life so you have time to experiment


Is it worth getting a personal trainer?

Yes, to start. It never hurts to do a week to learn proper form on exercises. But overall you want to educate yourself. Grab magazines like Mens Health, read up on the internet, watch youtube videos to see proper form on certain exercises. The resources are endless.


What type of weight and reps do you start with??

Totally depends what you want.. I suggest starting a bit lighter than the max you can lift. You want to work your balancers and get them used to the actions, injuries will often happen due to poor form. So lock that form down, then start hitting heavy if you want size gains, or light with more reps if you are going for definition. But again, google that, you will find a lot more detailed reasons with proof than I can offer.



Are there certain movements that I should focus on? If so what?

Squats, deadlifts and bench press. These are the back bone of your work out routine, master these and you will see gains in every single area. Perfect form is incredibly crucial here fyi.



Can anyone share a website or any other ideas of what a weeks worth of work outs should consist of?

http://www.menshealth.com/

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/ ( i would say this one is NSFW.. but you will get a lot of different opinions here which is nice)


Is 40-50 minutes enough time to do some cardio and strength training?

Ideally you want 30-45 minutes worth of weights (anymore time and you are wasting your time, except possibly on arms day) Cardio can range, I typically do 15-20 minutes if I am bulking, 30-45 minutes if I am cutting. Again though, you have to find what works best for you.

My buddy gets shredded walking on an incline, with his hands clinging to the front like an old lady. This doesn't work for me, so I have to do interval sprints.. I have found that the eliptical just doesn't cut it for me, but the bike really burns me up. Experiment, again, you got time.



Again, there is no one answer that is uniform across the board. Everyone gains differently. This is of my opinion, I am sure others will vary.

One thing you should be looking at is your diet though. Most people can exercise all they want, but if their diet sucks they will not get results. General rule of thumb is 6 smaller meals a day, 1.5 grams of protein per pound of body weight for the entire day.

Eggs, chicken breasts and an isolate whey protein are three of the best sources for protein, and easiest to make.

[blankall]

Originally Posted by GreenTeaFrapp

Just buy Starting Strength by Mark Rippetoe. It's a phenomenal book that will describe in great detail how and why to do the exercises you need. A MUCH better investment than a personal trainer who most of the time are more genetically gifted salesmen then people who know what they're doing.

The program is pretty simple. Work out 3 times a week alternating between two different routines.

Workout A
Squat 3x5
Bench Press 3x5
Deadlift 1x5

Workout B
Squat 3x5
Overhead Press 3x5
Power Clean 5x3

Oooohhh That is intense. Not a chance I could do that. It takes me at least 4-5 days to recover from squats. Squats every other day?

Here is the split I do:

Day 1: Legs/Back
Day 2: Bicep/Chest
Day 3: Tricep/Shoulders

I find this is the only split that allows me to workout continuously several days in a row without recovery time. It's also good, because in busy weeks, where I cannot make it to the gym more often, it allows me to hit every part of the body in 3 days.

I have heard amazing things about Rippetoe though. I have always meant to check out his stuff. Perhaps it will teach me something about recovery I don't know.

[tjinaz]

Already just started a new 8 week cycle but doing this next. Starts slow but weight builds quickly. Extremely simply but form is VERY important.

http://stronglifts.com/stronglifts-5...ining-program/