Not really a beginner, but do need some help (Full Version)

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Brahmabull891 -> Not really a beginner, but do need some help (5/6/2007 9:21:44 AM)

Hello everybody. My name is Matt, I'm 21 years old and am in the United States Navy. I would say I'm fairly in shape for my age, I'm not overweight, and I'm fairly toned out. My end goal is to be fit and cut. I don't really want to be big. I'm 170 pounds right now, and I'm fine with 170-180, I don't really want to be a 200+ pound dude. This may be a fairly long post, so my apologies.

I've been weight lifting now since about October. Since October I've switched up my routine quite frequently. I don't know a whole lot about weight lifting, and I kind of just form my routines on my own or watch other fit and cut people in the gym and kind of mimic what they do. But now I'm kind of lost, and a little bit aggravated.

When I first started I did a round robin type tying. For example I would do 3 sets of 10 curls, then go to the bench and do 3 sets of 10 on the bench, then do 3 sets of should press, and I would do that with several other exercises (It's just I don't know the official names for a lot of the work outs i do [:D]) Then I would go back and do them all over again, same reps same sets until I got up till about 90 on each exercise. I would do this anywhere from 5-7 times a week, just doing different exercises every other day, but essentially in the end I was working the same muscle groups every day, just doing different exercises for each muscle.

After about 2-3 months of doing this I was talking to a buddy of mine back home, and told him my routine and he asked me "Why do you do so many reps?" Well since I lack a lot of knowledge on lifting and working out I said "Well the more reps the better right?" He laughed and said "Man, you only need to do about 30-40, you are over doing it!" He also mentioned that I need to give my body time to rest, and that I shouldn't be working the same muscle groups every day or close to every day because I'm not giving my muscles time to heal.

So I slept on it and decided the next day I was going to change up my work out. So the next day I went to the gym and decided I would lower the reps on all of my work outs, but increase the weight, and I did so. This was working out fine, and I would give myself a days rest in between workouts.

The workout was working out fine, but I wasn't really noticing any results, I wasn't downgrading... but I wasn't upgrading either. I just kind of kept the same toned look I had 2 months before. So again I started to get frustrated. So I ended up going out to GMC and buying this protein powder called Nitro-Tech Hardcore. I made the mistake of getting strawberry, which is nasty as hell. But anyway... I started taking this, and read on the back that I should take 2 scoops 2 times a day. Well that just wasn't going to happen. For (1) it tasted nasty, with water or milk (2) it filled me up way too much. So I figured since I'm not really trying to get big I would just take it once a day on the days that I worked out. Which I have been doing.

I tried that for about a month with the workout I was doing, but still wasn't really noticing any change in my body. So I talked with one of the guys I worked with who used to weight lift and train and he told me that my problem is I'm not changing up my workout, I'm just doing the same exercises every time. He said I need to keep my body guessing and to change my workout routine up every week. This was about a month ago when he told me this. He also said if I'm not looking to get big I need to lower my weight and increase my reps.

I took all of his tips to heart and since then have been changing up my workout every week. For example 1 week I'll do regular bench press, the next week I'll do incline bench, etc. etc. It's been about 4 weeks now since I've started this routine. I've lowered the weight on most of my exercises (all except bench press) and increased my reps from about 40 to 70-80 depending on the exercise.

Ever since I started this I've noticed a big downgrade in the way my body looks. I was tone, but now I'm starting to look a little flabby, and I'm starting to lose the 6 pack that was developing. I don't know what to do anymore.

Someone told me it's my diet, and my diet does suck. I don't eat horrible, but I don't eat good either. I drink a lot of high sugar energy drinks, and eat out a lot, and drink a lot of beer. But it seems like I don't have much of a choice. I live in a barracks where we are only provided with a microwave and are not allowed to have any other heating utilities such as a toaster, or oven. So I'm kind of retorted to eating out, or eating something that I can throw in a microwave.

Where am I going wrong mostly? Is it my diet, or is it my work out routine? Are there any books at Borders that I could pick up to give me tips on getting cut? Any help is much appreciated, and I thank you all in advance for your help!



Mudd_me -> RE: Not really a beginner, but do need some help (6/23/2007 1:43:15 PM)

I too don't know too much but I will tell you what I do

All the information I know is from other people in the gym, I'm pretty sceptacle about most information people tell me because everyone wants to pretend they know lots about working out. But what has worked for me is picking one muscle every day and killing that muscle. Instead of doing four sets of curls then four sets bench etc... I do four sets curls, four sets hammerheads, preacher, hammerhead preacher. The next day you choose a new muscle so your body has tons of time to repair. About every 5 or six weeks I change up the routine. - Of the people that I have talked to nearly all tell me to workout this way instead of doing your entire body every workout.

Also you said you're getting flabby and I think theres a good chance that you're just doing too few reps. If you are only getting six or seven reps on your first set you are doing bulk training. Ten to twelve reps each set is getting yourself toned. And for the six pack the same thing. I made the mistake of putting huge weights on and only getting about six reps. If you do that you will get a protruding stomach that will look like a beer belly. It'll be really muscular but it won't be the cut six pack you want. For abs (again from what I know) your reps should be from 12 -20 and you can work your abs everyday(this I am sure about) because they heal up faster.

I hope this helps. :)



stuma32 -> RE: Not really a beginner, but do need some help (9/18/2007 12:59:58 PM)

mudd-me has it just about right mate,give your body time to rest by only training one body part each day.i personally do this myself apart from my biceps and triceps which i train on the same day,a lot of people will say don't do them together but i've allways trained them together and have 17ins arms which im very happy with.if you have had gains from doing what mudd-me says then keep it up mate its doing you good,if your looking for something different you could try drop sets,ideal for cutting up.ok hear goes,get a weight that you can push 12 reps out with and just about struggle on the last one,then say the weight was 200lbs you were pressing,take off 70lbs then with no rest get straight back on the bench and try do another 12 reps.then at 130lbs take the weight down to 70lbs and do as many as you can with no rest again when dropping the weight.all this just counts as one set mate,you need to do 3 sets like this and its the same for all your other body parts as well mate.normally when you get to your last set eg 70lbs all the fit women walk in and think your a wimp ha ha,but try this for 5-6 weeks and you will see the difference.as for you abs,train them twice a week.a lot of people over train abs thinking they need to build them up but its all about body fat mate.cut out the energy drinks if your having too much of them,one while training is fine but you don't need them all the time.also try eating every 2-3 hours,snack then an average meal,snack then an average size meal again rather than one big massive plate of staek and chips that you can hardly get down,but your gonna eat it all cos you bloody well paid for it so im gonna eat it.that will leave you stuffed and unable to move and sleepy,space it out and your body will get better gains and feel more energetic.hope this helps mate,i nearly fell to sleep writing this its that long.please get back intouch if you decide to try this routine,i'd love to know the results if you do.



nismo80 -> RE: Not really a beginner, but do need some help (9/23/2007 12:37:11 PM)

you should do the same routine 2-4 weeks then switch. there are so many ways to do it, everyone is right and wrong. i used to workout like you seem to want to.

I would focus on full body 3 times a week. Start with larger muscles and work to smaller ones. Legs first, then chest/back, then shoulders, then arms (tricepts/bicepts). you seem to need 2-4 sets of 8-12 reps. rest 30-60 seconds between lifts. if you do the same exercises for a month, vary with the rep/set range I listed. heavier one day, lighter the next. But foucs on your form and muscle contraction always.

For another month I would go into the gym to lift the order I listed and just pic exercises I haven't done recently for those muscles. another day do supersets (opposites back to back). a set of chest followed by back and rest, then repeat. you can move quickly through a workout with this and less rest to acheive a muscle strengthening/cardio workout.

nutrition and rest are possibly more important. good sleep and days off are key. Quality food is key. take a simple protein shake with simple carbs (grape juice) immediately after workout. add more calories to gain, less to lose. inbetween to stay close to the same.



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