What's your routine in the gym?

Hey monkeys, Wanted to know what your workout routine is and where you have seen the most strength gains.

Me personally, I'm at a plateau now. I saw some gains using the all-pro beginners routine: but looking to switch it out and try something new.

I've dabbled with SS 5x5 before I moved on to all-pro...

What are you doing now in the gym?

Make all kinds of gains monkeys!

I bet 20 silver bananas that this thread is going to turn into a debate of people calling each other losers for following certain routines. So many polarized opinions on these casual threads...

Anyways I do a 3-day split and work out 6 times a week.

**How is my grammar? Drop me a note with any errors you see!**

way to be diligent about going to the gym is going in the morning. as for gaining muscle, just make sure that you eat a lot. protein especially. chicken, fish, shakes, whatever it takes.

as for not looking like a pussy at the gym, dont really worry about it. everyone has to start somewhere. although you need to lift heavy weight, fewer reps to put on mass (or try supersets), make sure you have your form straight beforehand. also make sure you lift legs. doing squats and lunges will help you put on muscle a lot

goodluck

First off, its never impossible for someone to gain weight through food intake only. I guarantee you that if you moderate your calorie intake for a week and then start eating 1-2k calories above that, you will gain weight. Second, its a gym, people are there to work out and get in shape so you shouldn't be embarrassed, even if you're not in shape.

Find a beginner split routine on the web, make sure you're getting the right types of carbs and before and after you work out (and eating consistently throughout the day), and stick with your routine. You can keep the cardio, but don't overdo it.

Bill

Too much cardio could impact muscle gains, if you are a hard gainer. That being said, at least some cardio is good for overall health, so you' be wise to do something.

And just go out and find a beginner's lifting routine. Stick to it for a few months, then evaluate what is working and what isn't. Don't worry about being embarassed; everyone starts out somewhere.

Diet: -up your calorie and protein intake, but spread the protein intake out; your body can only process so much protein per hour and the rest is crapped out. -Stop/limit your crap food and alcohol intake, increase your water intake, and cut back on the sugar beverage intake. -take a good multivitamin and a high quality protein shake as a supplement.

Workout: -work out two muscle groups per day (ex. chest & abs on Monday, back & traps on tues, etc). -perform three intense exercises per muscle group with three sets and pyramid reps (10 reps 1st set, then 8 reps, 2nd set, then 6 reps, 3rd set). -concentrate on proper technique, powerful controlled movements. -make sure you have someone to spot you and motivate. -don't rest longer than 1 minute between sets. -don't lift too hard when you begin, work on proper technique and routine at first, and then work out like a maniac.

-more specifically try not take in more than 70 grams of protein every 90 min. In real terms that will be hard to do but pretty much become aware of protein values of different servings.

-you HAVE to start pumping in the whey. 2 scoops (~40 grams) about 60-90 min. before lifting and 2 scoops 30-60 min. after. You also need to add in some carbs post-workout b/c otherwise your insulin level goes crazy.

-drink a shitload of water. This is important for several reasons related to lifting which I won't get into. I drink about a gallon a day when I'm lifting; pretty much if you're not peeing clear, drink more water.

-start creatine. People think it just puts more water into your muscles but it also gives you significantly more energy as well through ATP synthesis. Don't follow the standard loading phase bullshit that they write on the bottle; just take 5g a day, every day, even when you don't lift and cycle off about 10-1.5 (10 weeks on, 1.5 weeks off).

-start keeping track of what you eat; I am about 210 and I track to about 280-300 grams of protein a day (again when I'm lifting). Since my work schedule is so erratic I do the best I can but it simply is not possible sometimes to sneak off and eat a quick chicken breast. The best non-whey source of protein is tuna; 1 2 oz can is about 20 grams and it's small and portable, just have some mints.

-as far as lifting, there are enough websites out there to show you proper form, lifts etc. In general go heavy (6-8 reps) and absolutely make sure your form is 100% right. Whoever above said to do squats is absolutely correct; if you can't do squats, do leg press. Just move big weights around, that will show you big gains in other areas. Also stick with the basics for the first 3-4 months before you move into the fancy stuff. Do coordinated muscle groups together and if you work hard enough, you shouldn't need to work more than once a week.

Sample workout would be:

Mon- Bench 3x8 Flys 3x8 Military press 3x8 Skull crushers 3x7 Abs

Wed- Leg press 4x8 Donkey kicks 10x10 (calves are a weird muscle, you need to do the 10 sets within about 30 sec - 1 min. of each other) Ham curls- 3x8 Leg extns 3x8 Abs

Fri- Lat pulldowns 3x8 cable rows 3x8 barbell curls 3x6 preacher curls 3x8 barbell forearm pulls 3x6 Abs

Just try to hit everything hard; oh and absolutely no cardio if you are a hardgainer. If you are young, lifting weights is enough for cholesterol/fat/etc. Yes it's true for general health cardio is good, but cut out the cardio for 6 months and see what happens.

Hope this helps.

Alright... same question but for a woman. I'm pretty lean, but I'm trying to add definition in the arms/abs etc. How do I do that without doing sit-ups? I hate situps :-) Is there a way to cheat?

aadpepsi:
Alright... same question but for a woman. I'm pretty lean, but I'm trying to add definition in the arms/abs etc. How do I do that without doing sit-ups? I hate situps :-) Is there a way to cheat?

You should probably do circut training with low weight/high reps; focus on a full range of movement. Unfortunately it's very difficult to target fat in one specific area of the body, so to combat the fat problem really requires a full body exercise.

As for your abs, use the tricept push-down rope at the gym; ask someone to show you how to do this. Another excellent exercise is laying on your back on a flat bench (butt partially hanging over), extend your legs out (parallel to the floor), then bring your knees to your chest...repeat.

just make sure to run or swim a lot. having abs is just about having very low body fat %. although nice long runs are great, try interval training (hard sprints followed by easy recovery). that should really get your metabolism up. for arms, just do a bunch of curls (lots of reps) with lightweight to tone up.

gusthebus:
try interval training (hard sprints followed by easy recovery

Simple english please, I'm workout challenged... Ok, what are hard sprints? What do you mean by easy recovery?

I'm naturally pretty slender, I just need toning. My exercise routine is pretty much speed walking to/from work each day, racing to get lunch during crunch time, using 8 lb. weights at home and the occasional swim at the club on the weekends. Sad :-(

Summer is coming and I have 2 months to tone up... he he

A-

Interval training is key.

Unless you start eating healthy you won't see much change in body fat. In fact, eating healthy would be an easier way to lose weight than training. 5-6 meals per day versus the normal 3. Oh and scrap the Starbucks.

155lbs for a 6'2" guy is skinny. What you have to do is increase your calorie intake. To figure your intake, take your weight x 15. So for you it would be 155 x 15 = 2325. I would suggest eating around 2500-2600 calories a day. Good foods are fruits, vegetables, nuts & avocado (don't worry about the fats in these), peanut butter, wheat bread, brown rice, skim milk, protein supplement, egg whites, beef jerky, cottage cheese etc

Stay away from juice, fried foods, fast food, anything high in saturated fat.

also make a habit out of going to the gym and coming back instead of doing it at the beginning or end of your day. (some might disagree for work purposes) but this seems to be the best way to make sure you get the workout in.

if you plan on going every night at say 9pm and be back at the desk by 10 or 10:15 you will be at the office an extra hour or so over what you would have been but you got your workout in. if you tried to do it at the end of the night you would probably be like fuck it im out of here and just leave for sleep. obviously this wont work if you have enough work to keep you busy until next week without sleep.

nice troll.

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I started going hard about 4 months ago with Wendlers 5 3 1 program. Noticeable strength gain and I put on about 25 pounds during this period. I have to say the change in diet had a significant impact on this as I went to high calories high protein diet. Now I'm hitting a wall I think partly due to the fact that I'm not going as hard as before. Time to get back on the track.

I love how unrelated the tags are to the question being asked.

- Bulls make money. Bears make money. Pigs get slaughtered. - The harder you work, the luckier you become. - I believe in the "Golden Rule": the man with the gold rules.

Muscle Milk LOL. I would just work out in my suit. Has 2 advantages, one you save time at the gym by not changing, and two it allows you to burn more callories by increasing body temp.

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southernstunna:
It is way more frat to just work out in ur suit. Bonus points if you can keep your hair still slicked back like Gekko's while cranking out 315 pound squats.

Thanks - I've tried the whole "work out in a suit" thing but the issue is that I'm so huge that when I'm benching, my pecs literally rip through my custom-made, custom-paid dress shirts.

However, I have seen others successfully pull off the suit-workout routine, so I don't know maybe I need to switch back to oversized Men's Wearhouse shirts...