Help needed for a routine!

[rmb]

Hi guys,

ive been a member of a gym for a few months now, im quite fit, but looking to bulk up a bit, i havnt stuck to any routines, ive just been doing weights as and when i feel like it.

Now im more determined and willing, i would like to have a routine, mainly upper body, my legs are quite strong from all the cycling ive been doing, but would like some leg work out too, i plan on going to the gym 5 times a week, and changing to a high protien diet, I have some CEE here too so was planning on using that.

Thanks

Russ

[rmb]

What do you guys think of the 5 day a week routine here--

http://www.maximuscle.com/toolsanddo...outines.html#5

I was going to give that a go, unless im advised otherwise!?

[Roach-Rampino]

It's a great feature on their site having those gifs to demonstrate how the exercises are performed.

Yes looks a good all over routine to me.

The way I am training currently(for the past 6 months) over the course of the week, I do a different body part each session.

Day1: Shoulders - military press, seated shoulder press, side lat raises, front lat raises, shrugs, seated (upright) overhead dumbell press.

Day 2: Arms - concentration curls, hammer curls, kick backs, overhead tricep extensions(seated and standing), ez bar curls, reverse dips.

Day 3:Legs - squats, frog squats(with swiss ball), leg raises, legs curls, calf raises, stiff legged dead lift, weighted lunges.

Day 4: Chest - Bench press (flat, inclined and declined..all 3), flies, cable crossovers, inclined press-ups, flat dumbell press.

Day5: Back - Deadlifting, dorsal raises, rear delts, cable pull(with resistance tubes), pull-ups.

This way I cover everything over the week and I give each muscle group a good rest session between specific training.

That site has some good advice and that routine is a good varied one so go for it. Following a routine is much better than just randomly picking excercises as that way you can find yourself doing the exercises you like more than the stuff you don't (Legs eh Toto? )

How many weeks do you intend doing it for? To get serious bulk it can take anything up to a year or more and invloves a strict training programme and diet regime. I find that by steadily increasing your warm up set weight (over the course of weeks not days!) you can push your maximum weight levels further, quicker.

Also having someone to train with is essential for pushing bigger weights as training without a spotter can be both dangerous, unmotivating and limiting in terms of lifting heavy weights.

[rmb]

thanks very much for the advice, I plan on training 5 days a week for about a year to bulk up, then maybe cut down to 2/3 days a week to keep in shape. I dont have anyone to train with unfortunately, but the only excercise on that routine that i can see being dangerous is the bench press, which i use the equipment in my gym which has safety stops and stuff so it can only go down so far. one question i do have is, there isnt the equipment at my gym to do the 'seated calf rise' excercise on that routine, can you reccomend somthing else for me?

also my diet, i have changed alot healthier, like cut out the chips/pizza's/burgers etc.... i have tuna salad every lunch time, and porridge in the morning, do you think i should be having anything in between breakfast and lunch? and my evening meal is pretty much anything, has always got meat/fish, and usually with veg and potato's or, rice, cous cous etc...

any supplements you reccomend too? i have got some creatine ethyl ether i think its called, im having the dose as stated on the jar, and a protein shake immediatly after training, should i be taking anything else, or is there anything worth taking? would i see quicker gains/recovery time if i do?

thanks, and sorry for all the questions, im a bit of a newb at this!

[Roach-Rampino]

I'm no fan of creatine as any bulk seems to come off as soon as you stop taking it.

You can do the seated calf raise by sitting on a bench at the end of the leg curl/leg raise attachment, facing the machine. Put a block on the floor to rest your toes on, and lift the pads that would normally be behind you knees(leg raise) or behind your ankles(leg curls) with your knees underneath the pads. Hope this makes sense? If not you could stand on a block with your toes and a barbell across your shoulders and do calf raises that way.

Meal wise I try to be eating every 3 hours but I'm not really an expert on bulking diets.

[rmb]

thanks very much for the info!

[beefeater]

@rmb I personally wouldn't do shoulders and then chest, but rather the other way round. I find that when I press a higher weight triceps and shoulders are helping on the heavier weights. I tried doing shoulders first once too and found that the shoulder joints started hurting after a while.

[maverick_15]

A lot of gym work is dependant on the person. A routine that works well for one person will not necessarily work for someone else. If something does hurt then try a different way round as suggested. Having said that, it shouldn't hurt as such but ache and be tired. What sort of pain did you have? If it was when you were first starting in the gym, or starting a new routine the muscles may not have been developed enough to take it whereas now they may be.

[beefeater]

It was a burning pain in my left shoulder. very painful. since I've been doing chest and then shoulders it's fine. weird! had been in the gym since 5 years or so, so not new. muscles were well up to it by that time. 180cm, 110 kilo and appr 12-15% body fat.

aaaaaah, those were the days. weighing in at 107 now and BF is probably around 18% at the moment *sniff* oh to be young again

[Mashburn]

thanks very much for the advice, I plan on training 5 days a week for about a year to bulk up, then maybe cut down to 2/3 days a week to keep in shape. I dont have anyone to train with unfortunately, but the only excercise on that routine that i can see being dangerous is the bench press, which i use the equipment in my gym which has safety stops and stuff so it can only go down so far. one question i do have is, there isnt the equipment at my gym to do the 'seated calf rise' excercise on that routine, can you reccomend somthing else for me?

also my diet, i have changed alot healthier, like cut out the chips/pizza's/burgers etc.... i have tuna salad every lunch time, and porridge in the morning, do you think i should be having anything in between breakfast and lunch? and my evening meal is pretty much anything, has always got meat/fish, and usually with veg and potato's or, rice, cous cous etc...

any supplements you reccomend too? i have got some creatine ethyl ether i think its called, im having the dose as stated on the jar, and a protein shake immediatly after training, should i be taking anything else, or is there anything worth taking? would i see quicker gains/recovery time if i do?

thanks, and sorry for all the questions, im a bit of a newb at this!

Dont forget that muscles grow while your resting, not while your in the gym. A good bulking routine can easily be fitted into 3 sessions. Whatever routine you choose, just make sure you base it around the big compound movements (bench, deads, squats, mil press).

And for bulking the main focus should be on your diet. Eat big to get big. Lots of protein and complex carbs with every meal. Not forgetting healthy fats too. And try to eat around every 2-3 hours (6/7 meals a day) if you can.