OK guys/gals I am getting tired of sitting on the couch everynignt and have decided to lose some fat and put on some mass. I haven't lifted for about 3 or 4 years and want your opinion on the best methods to do this. I realize I am going to have to change my diet, but what is the best approach to lifting? Should I do: Upper body one day, cardio the next, lower body the next.....etc.
Or should I do Upper body one day, lower the next, upper, lower..etc...
What do you think? I'm not looking for a quick fix, just a method that works.
What about supplements? I've used protein in the past anyone use anything else?

Thanks,

Longneck

 

I use a three day split.

Sunday: Chest, Shoulders, Tri's
Tuesday: Legs
Thursday: Back, Bi's

I lift for size. Use alot of compound movements (ie bench press, military, squats, deadlifts). Get alot of protein and good carbs and alot of rest.

 

i have friends who do the 3 day split and they are built like a brick outhouse. but... i cant go to the gym everyday just every other day, so when i get there i stretch, then bench 185 for 4 sets, do calf extensions with my weight + 230 pounds ( 4-5 sets of 12 ), then do hammer curls with 70 pound dumbells ( 5-6 sets of 10 ) i dont know what its called but its where you lean over the bench with a dumbell and with one arm lift it straight to your chest- i use 85# dumbells for that, 3-4 sets of 10. then i do situps on the decline bench with a 35# weight on my chest, then hit the tread mill for for 15 minutes. im in FAR better shape then i was 3 months ago. right now i am 6 foot 1, 170-172 pounds. a year ago when i was hitting the big weights i weighed 205 ! i feel so scrawney now, and no matter how much i eat or how much beer i drink i cant gain weight. i quit lifting last memorial day weekend cause i hurt my shoulder ( alcohol related ) and MAN! did i lose weight fast ( muscle mass ) not good....

protien shakes seem to be a great way to eliminate the soreness in your joints and muscles, they help your body heal faster.

for energy i eat noodles and fruits an hour or more before the gym, noodles, apples, bananas sem to work good. ive used Creatine, but i think im going to quit using that.

GOOD LUCK !!

 

I also haven't lifted for years, but you need to give your muscles groups 48 hours of rest, minimum. When you lift, as you probably know, you are tearing the muscles. They need 48 hours to heal. I always did the three day thing. Weight on upper/lower, cardio, weights on other, etc. Doing cardio between is a good break and gets you into the habit of going everyday. Then you go two days, skip a day, it is easy to skip 2 days, etc. Or you could split it like 78's and do alittle cardio each day, i.e. bikes or stair climbers before weights.

 

Thanks guys,
I am going to start hitting the weights tonight! Probably go with the weight/cardio combo.

Longneck

 

Yeah looking at my post....duh

I do a bit of high intensity cardio right after lifting. Maybe 10 mintues max but real high intensity. You are trying to burn max fat but still keep muscle mass. Alot of cardio will keep you lean but is bad for putting on size.

I try to keep my sets and reps like this:

Large muscle groups: 3 different exersices, 8-9 sets total for 10-4 reps each set.

Small muscle groups: 2 different exercises, 5-6 sets total for 10-4 reps each set.

Here is a example for both:

Chest:
Flat bench: 1x10, 1x8, 1x6, 1x4
Incline: 1x10, 1x8, 1X6, 1x4
Peck Deck: 1x8, 1x6

Bi's:
Standing barbell curl: 1x10, 1x8, 1x6
Preacher ez bar curl: 1x10, 1x8, 1x6

I try to go as heavy as I can without breaking good form and keep increasing weight a bit on every set. Also try to clean up your diet (ie no junk food etc..) and eat at least 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight (it's really hard to do without protien supplements but this will pack on the muscle as much as anything). Diet and rest is just as important as weight training.

Sorry it's long but this is just the start. Web has alot of info (good and bad).

 

Heres my schedule. I lift on Monday then go to aerobics in the afternoon. Tuesday I do 2 1/2 hours of cardio then aerobics in the afternoon.Wednesday I lift again followed by 50 laps in the pool and a aerobics class. Thursday it's another 2 1/2 hours in the cardio theater and aerobics. Friday I lift and go to aerobics followed by the steam room. Saturday it's 100 laps in the pool. Sunday I rest. If you want long lean muscle mass and top notch endurance this is the way to go. On my lift days I work every muscle in my body. Upper and lower. Keep a log of what you do, how much resistance, etc and step it up everytime you go.

 

FIRST THINGS FIRST,BEFORE YOU START A WORKOUT SCHEDULE
AND (I DONT KNOW YOUR AGE) YOU ARE OVER THE AGE OF 40
GET A CHECKUP FROM THE 'OL FAMILY DOC. 12 LEAD EKG,YADA
YADA. JUST A ONCE OVER. BEING INACTIVE OTHER THAN YOUR
REGULAR WORK AND THEN GOING TO A WORK OUT SCHEDULE
SHOULD BE DONE IN STAGES. OVER THE YEARS PLAQUE BUILDS
IN DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE BODY, AND A SUDDEN INCREASE
IN CARDIAC OUTPUT,COUPLED WITH THE INCREASE IN BLOOD PRESSURE CAN LEAD TO ALL SORTS OF FUN STUFF.
NO I'M NOT SAYING DONT WORK OUT JUST DO IT SMARTLY IF YOU HAVENT DONE SO IN A FEW YEARS. PAY ATTENTION TO YOURSELF,
IF YOU GET SHORT OF BREATH SLOW DOWN,IF YOU HAVE PAIN IN
AN EXTREMTY STOP AND SEE HOW YOU DO.ALWAYS REMEMBER
YOUR HEART DEPENDS ON SODIUM AND POTASSIUM TO MAKE
ENERGY,IT DOES GET USED TO A CERTAIN LEVEL OF OUTPUT,AND SO WHEN YOU WORK OUT FOR THE FIRST FEW TIMES,PUSH THE
SPORT DRINKS,MAKE SURE YOUR YOU DIET INCLUDES PLENTY
OF CARBS AND POTASSIUM RICH FOODS AND ENJOY THE NEW YOU.
GOOD LUCK!!!!! DAVE.

 

my routine... which i have been out of for 8 weeks because i was pledging a fraternity....

3 day cycle

chest and tris on day one
back and bis on day two
legs and shoulders on day 3
abs and forearms every day
cardio every day (30 min - 2 hours)(swimming, biking, running)
once you get going for a few weeks or months, you can hit your weak areas every day at the beginning or end of your workout with a set or two

keep repeating the 3 day cycle over and over. if you get to a day where your supposed to work a specific muscle group and it's still sore or not feeling 100% for lifting, take a day off. this way you can lift as often as your body is ready for, and take a day off whenever your body needs it. some guys recover quicker than others and can lift more often. the most important things to remember when lifting... safety, form, and intensity. make sure whatever you are doing, you aren't going to harm yourself by doing something stupid, whether it be overloading the bar to try and be cool, or not using a spotter when you should have one. make sure for every excercise you do, you keep the right form. if you don't know the proper form for an exercise, ask somebody who does, or learn on the internet. be intense with whatever you do. you won't see any progress in your strenght or size if you lift half assed. give every rep 100% attention and effort. every day when your done, your muscles should be smoked - if your after big gains.

lift with a partner if you can, for safety and motivation

listen to loud and hardcore music. it has been scientifically proven that listening to bands like metallica and ac/dc while lifting promotes bigger gains in your performance- by increasing mental intensity and grip strength on the bar

instead of buying books or magazines.... do some searching around the web for other routines, other advice, or proper nutrition for your needs. its free and its in abundance.

remember to start out slow, 3 days a week and not too intense, or you will hurt yourself for sure.

remember to stretch before during and after you lift, or you will loose your mobility and agility in a hurry, especailly when you get to heavier weights.

just remember, everyone has a different routine, and different things they swear by. some people know what they are talking about, and some don't. take whatever information and advice you get, put it all together and see what works for you. what works for some people doesn't necessarily work for everyone. you have to experiment to see what suits your needs. best of luck to ya!

 

Thanks for the advice.
I took it pretty easy last night, just to make sure I had my form down right. I plan on starting up pretty slow until I get back into the groove.

Longneck

 

Take it easy at first. The suggestion to find some sites with info is right on. If you jump back into it all gung-ho you'll injure yourself for sure.

FWIW here is my "routine"

M&Th-
Chest (bench, dec or inc bench, fly's, and over head)
Shoulders (a press, bumbell raise front or side, and heavey shrugs)
Bi's (barbell curl and seated dumbell hammers)

T&F-
Back (a type of lat pull, a type of row, and another exercize)
Tri's (a push down, heavey dips, dumbell or bar extensions)
Forearms (curl and reverse curl)

Wed-
Legs (curls, press, calves, extensions)

I do abs every day, I do lower back extensions MWF and I do calves MWF. I ride the bike 35 minutes a day and do martial arts 4 hours a day. I go heavy in my sets- 3 to 4 sets, low reps and heavy weight.

I vary my workout every week. I do "some type" or row, or press, or curl for the muscle being worked- don't let your body get used to an exercize, don't over work yourself, eat small 6 times a day, and get a lot of rest!!!

I have seen the best results recently when I started to eat better and cut out some sets for each body part.

Easy, right?

 

FXSTC,
what kind of martial arts are you in? i was looking to get into some type..... i don't know about cost though, or about all the different kinds there are. any advice about starting that? thanks. and sorry for hijacking the thread

 

I do Hung Fa Yi Wing Chun.

Wing Chun is the same style that Bruce Lee did, although Hung Fa Yi (the original Temple version of the art) was unknown until about a year ago. It is currently taught only in three places- Phoenix by Master Richard Loewenhaghen, Dayton by Master Benny Meng and San Fran by Grand Master Garret Gee.

You have to ask yourself what your goal is in starting martial arts. Self defense? Inner peace? Physical fitness? Glory? Whatever your goal is you can find the "art" to fit your needs.

Hung Fa Yi is a "soft external" style. That is, unlike Karate or Tae Kwon Do it is based on using the opponents own enery against him. You do not rely on being bigger, stronger, or faster than him. You rely on being smarter and more aware of energy. A Wing Chun or Hung Fa Yi player can be deadly up to the day he dies. A martial artist who based his style on strength or speed is finished at 50 or earlier!

Hung Fa Yi originated in the Southern Shaolin Temple in the mid to late 1600's as a response to the invading Ching. The Shaolin monks (who were well supported by the ousted Ming) and the on-the-run Ming military Generals devised a martial system that is based solely on human physiology- not animals like other Kung Fu styles. They developed a scientific system, based on Ch'an Buddhist philosophy, that could be tailored to specific threats and trained quickly to average people. The trained rebel fighter could address and defeat the BEST of the other practitioners.

In the end (and through the Rule of Nines where when a rebel was discovered his family was excecuted nine generations out by the Ching) the Ming failed and the Hung Fa Yi dispersed. Only a very few, the Red Bandanas (or Turbans) had the complete and original system. They kept it sectret for about 330 years passing it in it's original un-adulterated form from Red Bandana Disciple to Red Bandana Disciple. Garret Gee (originally from China) is one of the last Red Bandanas to know the whole system. His Sifu asked him 30 years ago (in 1970) to keep the system secret until about 2000 at which time he could either let the system die or train it to the public. He decided to train it to the public and has taken on several modern Red Bandana Disciples to train the entire sytem to. We are three years into the training (I am the first disciple of the 11th generation of the Hung Fa Yi) and have just scratched the surface......

So what is your goal?

Tell me what you want and I might be able to help.

 

wow that just blew me away.... were you guys on tv last year on a special about that form of martial arts? it all sounds very familiar for some reason.

as far as what im looking to get out of it.... self defense is always good, definitely physical fitness and agility, and to learn patience and gain mental strength. it would definitely be something different to try.

i am kicking around the idea of starting some form- but i don't want to pay alot of money either ( its better invested in my truck! ). i guess what i need to do is see which kinds of martial arts are available as a club activity here at school, then i could try some different ones out and it wouldn't cost much. it is definitely something i am going to look into next fall.

thanks!

 

Ya'll are making me feel very out of shape I'm not fat persay, but I've always had this little flab over my stomach (even when i was wrestling, and I lost 13 pounds then, only weighed 129 at my smallest size) I'm 5'6 and about 140-143 now. But I don't eat too well and I'll get gung ho about lifting, and then I get a project I wanna work on and I skip it, plus going to school from 7-11:30 everyday and then going to work from 4-9:30 means I'll either try to run my errands in the time between (or do whatever project/fun thing I wanna do) or take a little nap 'cus I'm usually always tired, I sit up on here too late at night usually lol.

Maybe when I move back to Fla. my brother will work with me, or whatever laborious job I'm sure I'll have will keep me in shape. I eat out too much, but today I stayed home and what did my uncle make? BLT's..........real healthy lol.