01-20-2009, 10:24 AM
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#1
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#1 Goaltender
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Calgary
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Tips for a weight workout regimen
I have a Bowflex blaze and have been using it for a couple months but I have really plateau'd on it and its because I only do the same 10 exercises over and over each time. Does anyone have tips on how to switch it up, what kinds of muscle groups to exercise each time, whether to alternate between 2 different routines or say 3 or 4 different ones, etc.? I currently do
bench press
shoulder press
row
lat bar exercise
biceps
triceps
sitting ab crunch
leg press (only seems to exercise the thighs not the calves)
pretty much in that order. I have a manual liusting the 70 or so differnet exercises I can do but it doesnt mention anything about how to put a plan together that will build muscle evenly aroudn the whole body and avoid plateaus. Suggestions/help putitng osmething together?
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01-20-2009, 10:40 AM
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#2
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Franchise Player
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Best thing to do if you can afford it is to get a personal trainer to help you build a schedule that fits your timeframe and your needs and that you will be able to stick with. If finances are an issue talk to the staff at the gym and generally they are more than willing to help with the basics (at least at the gym that I go to). From everyone I have talked to you need to keep changing your workout to achieve optimal results, but that could be a load of crap.
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01-20-2009, 11:15 AM
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#3
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n00b!
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Quote:
Originally Posted by arloiginla
I have a Bowflex blaze and have been using it for a couple months but I have really plateau'd on it and its because I only do the same 10 exercises over and over each time. Does anyone have tips on how to switch it up, what kinds of muscle groups to exercise each time, whether to alternate between 2 different routines or say 3 or 4 different ones, etc.? I currently do
bench press
shoulder press
row
lat bar exercise
biceps
triceps
sitting ab crunch
leg press (only seems to exercise the thighs not the calves)
pretty much in that order. I have a manual liusting the 70 or so differnet exercises I can do but it doesnt mention anything about how to put a plan together that will build muscle evenly aroudn the whole body and avoid plateaus. Suggestions/help putitng osmething together?
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What kind of bench press? Flat? Incline? Decline? Do you do flys? How many different exercises are you doing for each muscle?
Try switching exercises when you plateau to target a different area of the same body part.
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01-20-2009, 11:22 AM
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#4
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Franchise Player
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Chiefs Kingdom, Yankees Universe, C of Red.
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I don't have a BowFlex so I'm not sure what kind of exercises you can do. I used to find myself plateauing as well in the past. I went to a trainer and now I change my routine every 4-6 weeks.
One thing I notice that your missing from your current routine beside calves, is hamstrings. Also your deltoid muscles have three heads. By only doing shoulder presses you are only working the middle head (unsure of correct scientific term).
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01-20-2009, 12:27 PM
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#5
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Powerplay Quarterback
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Vancouver
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Sometimes its not the exercises you do but the methods you use.
Try supersetting exercises. For example, do a set of bench, followed immediatedly with flys, no rest. Then rest one minute before you repeat.
Sometimes cheat sets can help too. At the end of a set, when you're at failure, try sacrificing form slightly to push out those extra reps. Don't cheat so much that it could cause injury, just enough to limit the range of motion a little. Don't do these often, I add a cheat set maybe every other week.
And while I've never really got into them, I hear negative reps can be very effective
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01-20-2009, 12:46 PM
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#6
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Franchise Player
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: Not sure
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How are those Bowflexes? I have been tempted for some time but yet to pull the trigger. G/f wants one and want to make sure if we do buy one, it actually does the trick.
Apologies for any thread de-railment.
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01-20-2009, 12:47 PM
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#7
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Norm!
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I've broken down my workouts over three day cycles, then I change the excercise types in those workouts every 6 weeks.
So for example
Day 1
Chest and Legs
3 sets of 10 flat bench press
3 sets of 10 incline bench press
3 sets of 20 leg curls
3 sets of 10 flat flys
3 sets of 10 incline flys
3 sets of 10 decline flys
3 sets of 20 hamstring curls
3 sets of 10 squats
3 sets of 50 crunches
Day 2
Shoulders and back
3 sets of 10 upright rolls
3 sets of 10 bent over xtensions (reverse fly)
3 sets of 10 good mornings
3 sets of 10 flat overhead rolls
3 sets of 10 military bench
3 sets of 10 shoulder extensions (upright vertical flys)
3 sets of 10 3 sets of 10 standing rows
3 sets of 30 jack knife crunches
Day 4
Bicep tricep
3 sets of 10 hanging arm curls
3 sets of 10 hammer curls
3 sets of 10 barbell curls
3 sets of 20 leg curls
3 sets or 10 tricept curls
3 sets of 20 hamstring curls
3 sets of 10 weighted lunges
3 sets of 50 crunches
Every 6 weeks I'll change weights/number of reps or throw in different excercises. I also do 15 minutes on my treadmill before I start.
Then I take a day off and start over.
Don't know if this helps or if it works, but I've had some significant results (lost about 50 pounds)
__________________
My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;
Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!
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01-20-2009, 01:38 PM
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#8
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Franchise Player
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Calgary, Alberta
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^ What is a hanging arm curl?
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01-20-2009, 01:40 PM
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#9
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Norm!
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Slava
^ What is a hanging arm curl?
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I ratchet my bench into a near upright position think the leaning back position in an airplane seat., sit on it and let my arms hang down naturally and do single arm curls. Its tougher then standing curls because you can't cheat with your body.
__________________
My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;
Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!
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The Following User Says Thank You to CaptainCrunch For This Useful Post:
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01-20-2009, 02:07 PM
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#10
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Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Crowsnest Pass
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Ron Burgundy: Ohh, it's the deep burn. Oh, it's so deep. Oh, I can barely lift my right arm 'cause I did so many. I don't know if you heard me counting. I did over a thousand.
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01-20-2009, 02:08 PM
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#11
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Lifetime Suspension
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: , location, location....
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tri setting yourself a circiut, mix it up, resistance work them 5 minutes of cardio, or explosive movement.
training is all about varieity
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01-20-2009, 03:06 PM
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#12
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Franchise Player
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Chiefs Kingdom, Yankees Universe, C of Red.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch
3 sets of 50 crunches
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I'm not a personal trainer or a fitness expert. But if you are doing that many crunches (150). Your doing something wrong.
__________________
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01-20-2009, 03:07 PM
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#13
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Norm!
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Quote:
Originally Posted by burn_baby_burn
I'm not a personal trainer or a fitness expert. But if you are doing that many crunches (150). Your doing something wrong.
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Tell that to the pain.
I love the pain and crying and laying in a prone position.
__________________
My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;
Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!
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01-20-2009, 03:10 PM
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#14
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Franchise Player
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Chiefs Kingdom, Yankees Universe, C of Red.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch
Tell that to the pain.
I love the pain and crying and laying in a prone position.
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You should be in pain at 12 reps.
__________________
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01-20-2009, 03:15 PM
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#15
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In Your MCP
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: Watching Hot Dog Hans
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I like to spice it up every once in a while with reverse weights. Instead of doing 4 sets od 8 reps, and starting with a low weight and going up, I start high and go down.
eg: for a bench workout it would be
4-6 reps of max weight
6-8 reps of max weight
8-10 reps of max weight
10-12 reps of max weight
"max weight" being whatever I can lift for that many reps. I toss this set up in every once in a while, and you get a pretty serious burn. It's a good change up, and I've seen some pretty good gains on strength.
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01-20-2009, 04:10 PM
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#16
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Franchise Player
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Chiefs Kingdom, Yankees Universe, C of Red.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Tron_fdc
I like to spice it up every once in a while with reverse weights. Instead of doing 4 sets od 8 reps, and starting with a low weight and going up, I start high and go down.
eg: for a bench workout it would be
4-6 reps of max weight
6-8 reps of max weight
8-10 reps of max weight
10-12 reps of max weight
"max weight" being whatever I can lift for that many reps. I toss this set up in every once in a while, and you get a pretty serious burn. It's a good change up, and I've seen some pretty good gains on strength.
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I do similiar things. For instance this morning I did 4 sets of T-bar rows.
12 reps to failure
6 reps to failure
6 reps to failure
8 reps to failure
__________________
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01-20-2009, 04:21 PM
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#17
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#1 Goaltender
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Calgary
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bench press is seated, as is shoulder press, lat bar is a pulldown, biceps and triceps are both standing curls, the ab crunch is resisted - think the airplane position whle holding the handgrips and then crunching.
I'm looking for something I can do every other day and takes me about an hour. Not sure if that's enough time apparently - bowflex says you can train 3 times a week for 20 minutes each time but it always takes me about an hour to get thru my routine.
Help appreciated.
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01-20-2009, 04:28 PM
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#18
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I believe in the Pony Power
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For me its been more effective to focus on one or two major muscles similar to what Captain describes.
When you are starting off working out - or getting back into it - its good to start with a daily routine that covers all muscle groups. But once you've hit a plateau - starting focusing your workout onto specific muscle groups.
In fact how Captain breaks it down is almost identical to what I do.
I do 12-15 sets per muscle group. The key for each set is to do it to exhaustion. If you are doing 15 reps and finding your muscle isn't tired -up the weight.
I might also suggest that by investing in some free weights you could really add some more variety to your routine. You wouldn't need a ton of them a couple 15s, 25s, 35s, maybe 40s...and you could do a ton of different things with them. A good set of free weights gives you an endless supply of possible exercises.
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01-20-2009, 04:37 PM
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#19
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Norm!
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I'd like to buy a set of those kettles and try them out.
__________________
My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;
Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!
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