GordyR's Beginners Guide to Bodybuilding

I've been doing this routine in a 3x8 scheme for several months. I wanna try 5x5 now though, so is this routine still okay or should I think about changing some of the exercises?

Day 1 - Chest, Shoulders and Triceps
Flat Bench Press
Incline Dumbell Press
Dips
Close Grip Bench Press
Standing Overhead Press

Day 2 - Back and Biceps
Deadlifts
Bent Over Barbell Rows
Pull Ups
Standing Barbell Curls

Day 3 - Legs and Abs
Squats
Stiff Leg Deadlifts
Calf Raises
Ab work.
 
routine looks fine, you could mix things up a bit, like doing flat DB and incline BB, or DB for the shoulder press, bi curls, front squats instead of back, skullcrushers instead of CG bench etc etc
 
Whats the best way to combat tight muscles?

After a 5 month break I started back at the gym. I warmed up and stretched sufficiently and then went and hit it heavy and hard with the squats and calf raises. I stretched and did some light running after the session to warm down. This was on friday, its now monday evening and I still can't walk properly lol. I'm ok for a while after a little stretch and I warm the legs up, but getting out of a chair is a slow and careful process. I even cut the grass and did some gardening over the weekend with no problem but they've gotten tight again.

I guess this is so bad because I've spent the last 5 months sat in front of a desk with no exercise at all, is this likely to get better or shouldn't I be so intensive on my whole body for a while?
 
You haven't trained for 5 months and then went and did some heavy squats? and you're wondering why you're a bit stiff and sore lol? :D

Ease yourself back into it mate. High reps with a weight you can manage easily, you shouldn't be straining or struggling for the first week or two at all. Work your way up the weights and gradually lower the reps as you need to. Once you've been back a month then push on and start going heavy. You're just asking for an injury jumping straight in and going heavy.
 
What's the quickest way to lose a bit of fat off of your tummy, literally a few mm? I've been concentrating on weights over cardio for 2 months now hence why i'm not whippet-like at the moment and i'm now at the stage where losing a bit off my stomach will result in seeing some nice chunky abs. I want them out for summer! :D

Shall I just concentrate on cardio 3-4 times a week and ensure I eat barely any fat for a couple weeks?
 
Well you can keep up with the weights and eating to keep yourself in a calorific excess for now, as you still have a couple of months left to bulk. After this then you can start cutting. Drop the carb intake down, eat only good fats (EFA's etc) , cardio in the morning & evening if you wish. Keep with the weight training, although you'll likely see your weights drop a little. Dropping the fat off your stomach means dropping your whole body fat, which is done by watching your diet, plain and simple.

As I said, I wouldn't bother doing it yet.
 
I think the best way to lose bodyfat is to wind up your metabolism and limit calories. The more muscle you have the easier this will be but the trick to hanging onto the muscle when in a calorie deficit is eating small high protein meals every few hours and....

Training with heavy weights and keep rest periods short is a great way of getting your metabolism racing.

HIIT is also a great way to train to keep muslce and lose fat, google it.

I'm currently combining the two in a bid to lose bodyfat. I've lost 10lb in the last 5 weeks :D
 
S7yl3s said:
And feeling good for it?
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Yes :)

I was too heavy at 230lbs. Just doing normal things felt like hard work sometimes. Maybe when I'm older I'll try and get big like that again but for now I'd like to play sports like football and squash, just isn't realistic for me at that weight, too much stress on the knees, etc.

I already feel much better but still a little cumbersome. 15st and I'll be happy, still strong but quick too :)
 
S7yl3s said:
Well you can keep up with the weights and eating to keep yourself in a calorific excess for now, as you still have a couple of months left to bulk. After this then you can start cutting. Drop the carb intake down, eat only good fats (EFA's etc) , cardio in the morning & evening if you wish. Keep with the weight training, although you'll likely see your weights drop a little. Dropping the fat off your stomach means dropping your whole body fat, which is done by watching your diet, plain and simple.

As I said, I wouldn't bother doing it yet.
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Actually that's a good point... there's no sense in limiting growth just so I can display myself (lol) a bit earlier than necessary. I'll heed that advice (except cardio in the morning, you must be kidding me). :)
 
Actually there's something else I wanted to ask... despite me complaining of a bit of weight over my stomach (still very thin though) i'm having real trouble putting on any weight... i'm 5' 10" and always hover around 10.25 stone (sounds tiny doesn't it, but I look wiry and quite defined, not bony)... i'd love to get to around a stable 11st but am finding it very, very difficult and I do eat quite a bit at the moment, including a lot of meat etc. Is it just a case of just concentrating on bulking up the heavy muscle mass and in the next couple of months I should rise a bit?
 
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Richdog said:
Actually there's something else I wanted to ask... despite me complaining of a bit of weight over my stomach (still very thin though) i'm having real trouble putting on any weight... i'm 5' 10" and always hover around 10.25 stone (sounds tiny doesn't it, but I look wiry and quite defined, not bony)... i'd love to get to around a stable 11st but am finding it very, very difficult and I do eat quite a bit at the moment, including a lot of meat etc. Is it just a case of just concentrating on bulking up the heavy muscle mass and in the next couple of months I should rise a bit?
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As long as your routine is in order then it's simply your diet. I'd be interested to see your routine posted.

When you say you eat quite a bit, that could mean anything :( I remember a mate of mine saying he eats loads and I worked it out and he was just touching 1500 calories a day. If I was in your position I would start a diet journal up, recording values for calories, protein, carbs, fats for everything you eat and then totalling it at the end of the day. I always used to use Excel and just made a simple spreadsheet with some =total formulas in to add the values together.

You're 5'10 and 10st 3lbs. So remember, protein intake should be 1 to 1.5grams per 1lbs of bodyweight, and your bodyweight is 143lbs. Carbs should be high at the moment if you're looking at bulking, but this depends on your level of activity during the day. This is really trial and error, you'll either find you're loosing a little more weight, staying exactly the same, or putting on the lbs. Start at a round figure of say 300g a day carbs, and if that's not doing anything up it by 50g the next week and vice versa, so if you're finding that you're putting on more fat than you should be, take 50g away the next week. Do this until you reach a decent figure that gives you results.

Try and only eat decent food, no rubbish - chocolate bars,crisps, just eat clean, decent food. If you haven't already, pick yourself up some Whey (I hope you already have some!), some oats from a supermarket, I buy 2KGs for just over £1 a time and that suits me just fine, stick them in the blender and add them into the shakes with water and whey. The oats are about 60% low G.I slow releasing DECENT carbs so I'd recommend these.

This will all take time at first but it's worth it. Diet really is 80% of your results. As said before, post your routine.:)
 
Umm well this is going to sound awfully lame but I don't really have much of a set routine... I simply go to the gym 2-3 times a week for 2 hours and tend to work on arms/legs... I probably need to get my arse in gear and create a proper weekly routine but i've made a fair bit of gain just doing what i'm doing. I guess if I want to progress further i'm going to have to get my shizz together and start learning all the different exercises...

At the moment its:

*10 mins stretching.

*10 mins cardio to warm up and loosen muscles.

*3x15 reps on calf machine.

*4x15 reps on abs machine.

*3x8 55kg reps on the machine where you sit down and pull it backwards towards your chest, kind of in the rowing position.

*3x8 35kg barbell lying down.

*4x8 working on pecs with dumbells, can't remember weight.

*3x8 100kg reps on the machine that you sort of lie back on and brace your shoulders and push out with your legs.

Wow looking at that i'm REALLY disorganised... :eek:

But yes, I use whey. Guess I should really be concentrating on diet too... just haven't got to the stage where i'm counting everything I eat yet. *hangs head*
 
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You call that a routine? :p :D

DON'T STRETCH when you're cold, it offers no real benefit and will increase risk of injury. Stretch when you're warmed up or at the end of your workout.
 
That isn't a routine, that's a mess :eek:

You need to get yourself a solid routine nailed down, I'm not surprised you're not growing!

We can help here, tell us what you want to achieve, how often you want to go to the gym, whether or not you'll be serious about it or give up after 2 weeks all the information we need and we'll draw you up a decent plan.
 
I see the word 'machine' quite a lot in that routine. I think that should be addressed as well as the overall quality and quantity of the routine.
 
abruzz1 said:
I see the word 'machine' quite a lot in that routine. I think that should be addressed as well as the overall quality and quantity of the routine.
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Nice spot, I missed that. The whole routine needs a complete overhaul, but you are completely right, with more free weights and MUCH less machine work.
 
S7yl3s said:
That isn't a routine, that's a mess :eek:

You need to get yourself a solid routine nailed down, I'm not surprised you're not growing!

We can help here, tell us what you want to achieve, how often you want to go to the gym, whether or not you'll be serious about it or give up after 2 weeks all the information we need and we'll draw you up a decent plan.
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Well i've been going for 2 months 2-3 days a week (usually 3) so yes, I am serious about it. Reason why i've been satisfied so far is that I have made some really significant gains... so I guess I got into a routine of sloppinesss as I hadn'tt yet hit the point where I wasn't seeing any effects.

As for what I want to do, I want to build myself up and get a good body on me... by that I mean an overall muscular and defined physique. I think i'm limited by the fact I haven't yet got my rear in gear and learned all the different types of exercise available. And I know "machines" is a bit of a swear word but I have seen huge gains fomr the abs one, and the only other I use is the ne that works my shoulders/back muscles and that has also given me some good gains.

As for diet i'm not really limited by cash, though naturally I don't want to spend a fortune by any means. I'm a bit of a fussy eater but like the following:

*Cereals (weetabix mainly).

*Beef/lamb/chicken/pork.

*Most veg.

*Pasta!

*Most fruit (apples oranges, melons, bananas, strawberries, grapes etc).

Due to my job i'm only really going to be able to eat cereal in the morning, for lunch i'd either have to make it before I left, or do what I usually do and buy a sandwich/salad at ze shops. Evening would be my main meal, but then again if i'm going to the gym i'd only really be able to do it afterwards when I ifnish, say 8pm or so.

Any advice would be appreciated...

S7yl3s said:
Nice spot, I missed that. The whole routine needs a complete overhaul, but you are completely right, with more free weights and MUCH less machine work.
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I barely use the machines, it's nearly all free-weights! :)
 
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