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I've been working out about 3-4 months and I am seeing very low and slow results.
I am not looking to build up big, just looking for a healthy toned cut body.
Here is what I normally do at least 3 times a week:
1. Elliptical machine for 20 minutes. (not always though)
2. Bench Press 3 sets of 12 reps.
3. Cable Row pulls 3 sets of 12 reps.
4. Bicep curls 3 sets of 12 reps.
5. Tricep pulls 3 sets of 12 reps.
6. Shoulder Press 2 sets of 12 reps.
7. Squats 3 sets of 12 reps.
I don't have a special diet, I don't eat junk normally. I take 1 protein shake during the resting days and 2 pre/post during my workout days.
My weight has remained the same 170 lbs and im 5'6". I do have a little bit of beer belly and doesn't seem to be getting any smaller (feels bigger if anything lol)
Split your iso stuff up and do higher reps. It seems to me that working the same muscle groups three times a week would stifle your gains.
Ex.
Monday: Back and Bicep
Biceps (To get tone you don't really need to go super heavy... just get a really good burn by the last 3 reps)
-> Concentration Curls 15x3sets
-> Spider Curls 15x3sets
-> Reverse Preacher Curls 15x3sets
Back
-> Wide Pull-Ups 3 sets to failure
-> Rows 10-15x 3 sets
-> Up-right Rows 15 x 3 sets
Wednesday: Tri's, Shoulders, Chest
Friday: Legs / Light-Back
That's just an example. You could probably even use something like Phreak's routine but tweak the weight and reps to be more cardio and burn focused rather than weight/mass focused. One common thing you will see with ANY routine is that you never work the same muscle groups consecutive days, for the most part.
Also, for kicks, warmup with 5 mins of cardio (Eliptical, Jumprope, Whatev) and then finish with 10-15 minutes of cardio. No more is really needed.
I'm by no means an expert, but this is just based on my limited personal experience.
It was just an example split, but yeah you could switch days up however you want.
Not being able to consistently put in 3 days may hurt your progress though. My results were pretty nice with P90x and even that was 5 days a week with ~1 hour per day.
I would split like Captain said but do reps of 10-12 instead of failure. It will tune you up plus give you a little bit more size.
Also how much time do you have to spend in the gym? That will affect how much you can do. I can write you out a work out plan for 3 days but I need to know how long you can work out for, how comfortable are you with free weights and how often/long you want to do cardio.
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Si vis pacem, para bellum - If you want peace, prepare for war.
I would say you aren't doing enough set of each muscle group to begin with.
6-9 sets on each muscle group: your reps should be between 8-12 reps before your muscle fatigues (heavy weight). This goes for every exercise you are doing.
this is me in 3 months difference, this is an old pic know i have grown even more.
just came back from the gym..i did only my chest and triceps.
I did 3 type of exercise for each muscle and boy do i have that ripped feeling again, they are sore like mofo.
I usually spend 45 min at gym. A day from now i will do my biceps and back.
I can barely squeeze my workout in that time and I have a split routine. Can you spare more time I can get a good routine for you going if you can spare about a hour/hour and a half
__________________
Si vis pacem, para bellum - If you want peace, prepare for war.
I can barely squeeze my workout in that time and I have a split routine. Can you spare more time I can get a good routine for you going if you can spare about a hour/hour and a half
I could spare up to an hour and hour and half on weekends...can you help me out?
i would have to disagree with more reps and less weight. if he can do more than 12 reps then the weight is too light and he's not really pushing himself to get his heart rate up.
I would cut out all isolation exercises. Doing 9+ sets of curls and tricep extensions are just wasting your time. Do more compound movements with varying reps between 8-12.
While trying to burn fat, efficiency and adaptation are your worse enemies. Total-body workouts are best because you will burn more calories if you put all of your muscles to work, every workout.
Alternating sets are not new and can be efficient, such as pairing bench press with rows. But the worst type of efficiency can be pairing up exercise that have no relation to each other- squats followed by rows, or deadlifts followed by chest presses. But this type of inefficiency is perfect for fat loss.
Progressivly harder work and progressivly shorter rest periods are what you should be working towards. This combo means less efficiency and thus, more energy expended during and post the workout.
Run last ... If you lift for about 30-45 before you do cardio the calorie burn will last longer. with cardio it takes 20 minutes just to get into the fat burn mode so your first 20 minutes are technically wasted unless you do your weight lifting before hand. Lifting naturally burns calories, muscle burns fat.
Also don't do the same routine when you are working out. switch it up your routine, Your muscles will get " Muscle Memory" and that will impede with your gains as well.
Staying healthy and getting in shape is a long hard road just stay with it.
My workout routine...need advise
I can barely squeeze my workout in that time and I have a split routine. Can you spare more time I can get a good routine for you going if you can spare about a hour/hour and a half
