My routine now, any good?

[TW]Sponge

[TW]Sponge

[TW]Sponge

Soldato
Joined
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Hereford
Hi guys, been going to the gym 3 times a week, Monday-Wednesday-Friday. Everything I do is 3 sets of 10.
I start off with some ab crunches on the big bouncy ball thing (sorry don't know what it's called!) Then I do some lower back stretches (lying face down and lifting only chest up, helps with my weak lower back),then some dead lifts@30k. That is my ab and lower back bit I do to strengthen my core.

Then I move onto the free-weights. I start off with some butterflys@15k each arm on a flat bench, then some bicep curls on the e-z bar@20k, then I do some tricep pull downs on the v-grip on the big machine thingy (sorry again) Then I do some more ab crunches on the ball to finish off.

I know this is a terrible routine, but it is all I know! I do this exact same routine every time I go and it takes me about half an hour. My starting pics are in the bodybuilding pics thread on here, and I basically want to gain muscle size and more definition.

If anybody has any suggestions then please let me know.

Cheers, Sponge.
 
Take a look at the sticky by gordy r. thats a good starting point.

Or take a look at riptoes starting strength or strong lifts routines.

All of the above will be miles better than what you are doing as a routine.


As you are looking to gain mass, what is your diet like?
 
Morba said:
Take a look at the sticky by gordy r. thats a good starting point.

Or take a look at riptoes starting strength or strong lifts routines.

All of the above will be miles better than what you are doing as a routine.


As you are looking to gain mass, what is your diet like?
Click to expand...

My diet is a little shoddy to be honest. I never eat consistent foods, just whatever I fancy eating. I agree this needs sorting but I don't know where to start with food. I have 2 whey protein shakes a day to keep up the protein that I don't really eat.
 
take a look at what i suggested then, they will all have the basics covered for you.
 
Morba said:
take a look at what i suggested then, they will all have the basics covered for you.
Click to expand...

The thing is though, I don't believe in what you eat really affects you that much. My mate eats crap all day every day and he is one of the cuttest people I know. Also I really can't cook so it is really difficult to get the right foods inside me without eating out. Also my gym has quite limited equipment. All it has is a load of free-weights, a couple of benches and a load of machines that I do not use. (should I use the machines?) And I don't know what half the exercises are, let alone how to do them!

Cheers, Sponge
 
then starting strength and stonglifts will be good for you, the websites have vids that show what to do, however it is always good to ask a PT at the gym to help with form and instruction.

some people are blessed with genetics that allow them to eat what they want. others are perceived to eat lots but burn off more than the others realise.
they are other people, you are you. if what you think is correct then surely as your diet is admittedly crap, you would be cut like your friend. the fact that you arent says you need to start with the basics and get them right, get a good base sorted then move on from there :)
 
Morba said:
then starting strength and stonglifts will be good for you, the websites have vids that show what to do, however it is always good to ask a PT at the gym to help with form and instruction.

some people are blessed with genetics that allow them to eat what they want. others are perceived to eat lots but burn off more than the others realise.
they are other people, you are you. if what you think is correct then surely as your diet is admittedly crap, you would be cut like your friend. the fact that you arent says you need to start with the basics and get them right, get a good base sorted then move on from there :)
Click to expand...

I have only just started training the past few weeks. Have you seen my pics in the pics thread? People say I have the perfect natural base to build on, what do you think?
 
its a good starting point, but as I said, you still need a solid base (by this i mean diet and routine) to build on.
 
Ok I've figured a routine out from the guys on youtube. Please tell me if this is any good.

Monday is all I have so far.

Chest
Flat bench dumbell press 12-10-8-6.
Flat bench dumbell flys 12-10-8-6.
Then same again but incline bench.

Biceps
E-Z bar curls 1x8 30k
1x8 20k
1x8 10k

Cheers, Sponge.
 
Sponge, honestly the best thing to do is commit to stronglifts or do the routine in the bodybuilding sticky. Trying to come up with your own routine (or finding a random one on the webs) at this stage will only damage your progress :). Also, in whatever routine you choose, make sure you do the exercises in the specified order (which should be approximately heaviest compound --> lightest compound --> isolation work, unless you are working multiple body parts which is a different matter). Looking at your pics you do have potential to move quite quickly, but only if you do it properly.

As a general tip, don't fall victim to exercise fads/marketing which tell you to do xyz movement to "really blast your pecks and add inches to your chest in weeks!!!!1eleven". Stick to the basics, the people advising those things are either after your money, advertising revenue or youtube hits (or they are very advanced bodybuilders whos bodies need to be stimulated slightly differently due to adaptation). You only have to look as far as Steedie's log for an example of a crazy pure bodybuilding routine, and even that is fairly simple (but probably brutal!).

The basics are: start with compounds and hit you legs, back and chest HARD, and then do one or two isolation movements to finish off.

"The thing is though, I don't believe in what you eat really affects you that much."

Don't make me come down there sponge! :D

It does affect you, it really really does. There could be multitudinous factors at work preventing your friend from getting fat. Including you falsely identifying his diet as bad (no offence intended, I know pleanty of people who would thing my diet was terrible).

If you have any questions about how to do different exercises just ask. People on here will be able to recommend some good videos and/or explain things.
 
I really dont believe stronglifts is a viable beginners program. Most people have crazily tight or weak posterior chains and simply cannot squat to any adequate depth.

Dude, get a program from a professional, yours is pap. As a starting point try:

Bodyweight squats
Bodyweight Lunges
Pressups
Assisted Chins
Dumbell Bench
Dumbell Single Arm Row
Leg Press

Rep range 10 to 15. Dropping to 6-10 after 6 or so weeks, increasing weight.

Research.

Oh and diet plays a massive, massive role.
 
Thanks for the advice guys, I think I'm going to work something out just by trial and error. I would like to do a 3-day split instead of the same old routine every time I go that's not really doing anything for me. As you can tell I am a complete noob at weights and have no idea where to start! I watched Scott Herman on Youtube and he has some pretty good routines and that was what I was going to follow until you told me not to!

I go to the gym on my own so it is difficult most of the time. Like I was going to go this morning and I talked myself out of it! I basically need a base routine that I could stick to and work around.
 
You've asked for advice then you're pretty much ignoring everyone..... read the sticky, i'm not going to waste any more time than that as it's clearly not going to get through
 
WantoN said:
I really dont believe stronglifts is a viable beginners program. Most people have crazily tight or weak posterior chains and simply cannot squat to any adequate depth.

Dude, get a program from a professional, yours is pap. As a starting point try:

Bodyweight squats
Bodyweight Lunges
Pressups
Assisted Chins
Dumbell Bench
Dumbell Single Arm Row
Leg Press

Rep range 10 to 15. Dropping to 6-10 after 6 or so weeks, increasing weight.

Research.

Oh and diet plays a massive, massive role.
Click to expand...

What's your opinion of using box squats in this situation?
 
sponge999 said:
Thanks for the advice guys, I think I'm going to work something out just by trial and error. I would like to do a 3-day split instead of the same old routine every time I go that's not really doing anything for me. As you can tell I am a complete noob at weights and have no idea where to start! I watched Scott Herman on Youtube and he has some pretty good routines and that was what I was going to follow until you told me not to!

I go to the gym on my own so it is difficult most of the time. Like I was going to go this morning and I talked myself out of it! I basically need a base routine that I could stick to and work around.
Click to expand...

One more time for luck :D

If you make your own routine up at your level of knowledge you will really hinder your progress. Trial and error is one way of doing things, provided you have a few years to isolate the variables that you probably aren't even aware of. I'm a gym geek and have been reading around this subject for probably 5 years and I still wouldn't consider myself to be anywhere near an expert.

Funnily enough, that Scott Herman chap is EXACTLY who I had in mind when I read that you found a routine on youtube. That guy is a tool. Just to make a brief point, on what basis did you decide his routines were good?

There is no "cheat" way of growing muscle/whatever your goal is, the only answer is a lot of time and a lot of hard work and dedication.

As a noob training on your own, the best thing to do is do a routine based on some simple exercises. Then look on youtube or ask on here about the best way to perform those exercises and spend a week or so with light weights doing the reps slowly so you can learn the movement properly.
 
Diet plays a larger role than you think. I'd stop making excuses as to why you can't achieve a decent balanced diet and use this as an oppurtunity to get into cooking. You'll know exactly what your putting into your body this way.

Personally a push/pull split sounds more suited to you. I'm on my phone atm so will reply properly this evening.
 
sponge999 said:
The thing is though, I don't believe in what you eat really affects you that much. My mate eats crap all day every day and he is one of the cuttest people I know.
Click to expand...

Doesn't mean he's healthy though TBH, but even if he is, we all process food differently so that probably won't be the case for you.

Nutrition should be the base any good routine is built upon. Eating right (small portions and often) will increase your metabolism and fuel your body/help to repair muscle tissue damage etc (does much more than that but you get the idea!)

Also, eating right should be something we all strive to do, there is ABSOLUETELY no excuse that you can't cook - learn, it isn't hard. I use websites like BBC Good Food and it's great for the basics. It also makes you aware of the cr@p that is contained in some food/ingredients as well!

My missus works at a GP's and it's amazing the issues people have due to lack of basic vitamins/nutrients from their diet.
 
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