Help sort my gym routine

Big Chris

Big Chris

Big Chris

Soldato
Joined
5 Apr 2004
Posts
5,461
Location
Bloxham
Currently doing a 5 day split:

Mon – chest
Tue – back
Wed – legs
Thur – shoulders
Fri – arms

I mix up the exercises and reps every so often, and all the main lifts are in there (bench press, shoulder press, squats, deads, chins/pull-ups etc) with a few smaller ones thrown in here and there for larks.

Now, I’ve finally given up smoking (15 of my 30 years :o) and I’m going to take up cycling again next year but my fitness is currently rubbish. I get tired walking up stairs, which at 30 isn't really ideal. So my plan is to get some decent cardio into my 5 day split. I don’t want to do it in addition to what I already do as I’ll basically move into the gym full time, so want to mix things up a bit. Plus, going for a bit of a leaner approach instead of just bulk will help when it comes to riding uphill.

How does this sound:

Mon – chest & back
Tue – cardio (most likely spinning as we’ve got some cool new bikes in my gym)
Wed – legs
Thur – cardio (probably spinning again)
Fri – shoulders & arms

Any issues sticking cardio in the middle there? Chest & back on the same day ok? I figured one week I'd do chest first, the next week back first and so on. Gonna just concentrate on the main lifts for each muscle group on weights days.

Any thoughts welcome :)
 
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I've been weight training for a 3/4 years but I've had a few injuries during that time, girlfriends and other extra-curricular activities which has made it a bit stop/start. I'm in fairly decent shape (6'4 - 92kg) and my diet is pretty decent for the most part (lots of tuna, chicken, spuds, veg etc), but I don't strictly deny myself the odd choccy bar/pizza/drink....ing binge.

I'd class myself as intermediate on the above scale, the figures look about right looking at the tables.
 
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Well in that case I guess you need to tell us your goals form the resistance portion of your training, strength or aesthetics etc.?
 
More aesthetics really I guess, that's why I started training to begin with as I was kinda lanky.

I think the lifting side of things is pretty much sorted, just looking for advice on the layout of the routine now I've stuck two muscle groups on the same days and stuck cardio in between.
 
Well a typical 3 day split would be...

Chest & Tris
Back & Bis
Legs & Shoulders

Although I prefer Chest & Bis/Back & Tris else arms are too fried to really do much!
 
hehe yeah I've tried chest & tri's before and it was pointless, could barely lift a thing! :p

Legs pretty much wipes me out energy wise and takes a while too, not sure I'd have the time or energy to then start doing shoulder press, shrugs and all that after. This quite a common approach then?
 
Any other thoughts guys? I thought about maybe swapping Thur & Fri, as doing 45/60mins spinning after legs might be a bit of a struggle.

So...

Mon – chest & back
Tue – cardio
Wed – legs
Thur – shoulders & arms
Fri – cardio
 
Why have a set cardio day? Why not jump on the treadmill or x-trainer for 30-45 mins each gym sesh before or after lifting? Mix up the cardio machine/intensity etc so you dont get bored of it. Works as a decent warm up too lol
 
I don't want to spend that long in the gym really. My current weights routine is approx 1hr, so if I'm doing 30-60min cardio as well as that then I'm gonna be knackered, and there all night too.
 
I tried doing intervals after weights previously but I'm always too knackered to give it a proper go.

I'm going to give the routine outlined above a try for a while and see how I get on, just wanted to know if anyone could see a major issue with what I'd come up with.
 
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