BeeUnique said:
That's what I thought. I told them I need to increase my weights.
There are some compounds in there.
Anyway, here is a sample of excercises I have been doing over the 5 weeks:
Leg day: lunges, leg extensions, hack squats, ball squats, standing leg curls
Back: lat pull down, hammer strength wide rows, close grip pull downs, close grip cable curls
Bi's: barbell curls, hammer seated curls
Tris: Tricep bar press down
dumbell kick back
Abs: ball crunches, leg raise bench
Chest: delt fly, flex pec dec, bench press, dips
Shoulders: side lat raises, fromt raises, flex press
2-4 excercises per group, 3-4 sets of 12-15+ reps.
So I should maybe do 30 min cardio as opposed to 45min? I do between 3.5 - 3.8 mph on a slight incline.
My current stats are 5'3, 140lbs. and bf of 29% (should be lower since I lost 8inches though)
Thanks for the reply Slinky, this is valuable info cause I do not want to wast $$ or time going in circles!
My .02......
DUMP YOUR TRAINER!
Build muscle with proper weight training and loose fat via diet and cardio. The more muscle you build the more calories you will burn at rest as well.
WAY too much volume for a natural trainee and way too much isolation work. That much volume will reduce intensity of effort. You CANNOT train high volume and be training really hard, especially in the upper leg and dealift department.
You will grow to some extent and then NOTHING will happen and you will be using the same weights in each exercise for YEARS to come.....speaking of weights>> progressive poundage increases in small and then tiny increments IS VITAL and the "golden Fleece" of lifting for muscle especially as a natural.
Read my Sticky post above and give it a real good try. If you add steroids at some time then you could do slightly more volume and train every other day on a three way split at most.
TRY THIS.... MONDAYS
Walk on the tread mill at incline for 5 minutes.
1.SQUATS.....2-3 progressively heavier warm ups of 5-6 reps and then 3 all out sets of deep barbell squats for 10-15 reps. DO NOT push yourself on the warm ups...they should be easy to do. The first working sets uses your TOP weight and that is a fair bit more than you last warm up. ie: warm ups...95 X 6, 125 X 5-6 then maybe 145 X 5 and then go all out on 165 X 10-15. I can get away with only two warm ups.
Rest 4 minutes between sets. You should break parallel so that your sacrum dips down and engages the powerful glutes, hips and hams. Believe it or not you will squat more weight going low. Try a shoulder width stance or slightly more. If you have long legs relative to torso the you might want a wide stance. Angle feet out at 20-30 degrees. Use a belt only on the working sets.
Do them in a rack and set the pins so that if you fail in a rep you can just let the weight down on the pins.
Work VERY hard...the working sets, properly done, take a long time to do as you huff and heave between reps.
Place the bar on your traps and not the neck. Pinch your scapula together. Take a DEEP beath and HOLD IT . Head up. Back solightly arched. The first movement is a sitting type movement...pretend you are going to sit on a chair behind you but don't lean forward too much. There is some forward lean in the squat but not excessive. The lower legs will move forward a bit but never let them go way forward over the toes. Some can squat with an almost verticle lower leg ..some cannot.
Many power lifters will place the bar on top of the rear delts and bend forward more but they are trying to lift as much weight as possible and the leverages of this style make for a bigger total. For general training don't do this as the more typical high bar squat is better for quad developement IMHO. HOWEVER, if you want to do power squats then get instruction from a power lifter...you can get plenty all round developement form power squats.
Descend to slightly below parallel although some can safely go lower. Keep you back straight and don't lean forward as you come up. Drive HARD out of the bottom "pocket". EXHALE in a hiss or grunt as you feel yourself getting through the sticking point. Try to keep your knees form buckling inward. Don't use knee wraps as this will weaken your knees and take the stress off the quads.
WHY SO MUCH SAID ABOUT THE SQUAT?? Because it is BY FAR the best over all upper leg exercise you can possibly do. The squat and the deadlift also stimulate growth in the entire body. You will NEVER see optimal upper body growth unless you squat and deadlift in some form.
The squat works every muscle in the upper leg very hard. SHAPE and DEFINITION is body fat related and genetic.
Thats it for quads.....WHAT no lunges , leg extensions, hacks etc etc ...YUP ...3 very hard sets of squats will work the entire upper leg. The isolation work will do nothing for you trust me.
Next hams......OH...deep squats work the hams very well too.
2. do 1 set of leg curls to failure at 8-10 reps.(optional)
3. Next come the mass builder. Stiff leg deadlifts. 1 warm up of 8 and then 2 all out sets of 10. Rest 3 minutes between sets.
Head up. Bar close to the legs all the time. Knees slightly unlocked. Wrist straps for sure. Keep back straight all the time. Descend by PIVITING the hips and sticking your butt back. Do not reach forward with the arms. Go down to mid shin MAX and most get a full ham stretch going to the knee. Do the movement slowly and smoothly. Work very hard but don't go to complete failure as it is too risky.
You can stiff leg deadlift A LOT of weight once you know how to do them well. In time you should be able to use 75- 80% of your squat weight for reps. My wife stiff leg deads MORE than she squats.
4. Next 1 set of back extensions with weight for 10-12 reps.
5. After a few months start doing 2 sets of any type of shrugs. The deadlifts work the traps too.
DONE! now crawl home and eat and rest.
The above workout will exhaust you and do FAR more than the BS routine your trainer gave you in stimulating gains. Do not add exercises and sets....work harder.
If you trained with me you wouldn't want to do ANYTHING after the squats let alone more leg work.
WEDNESDAY
Work sets mentioned only. Work them VERY HARD!
Don't forget to warm up but keep it simple and don't get carried away with warm ups sets as they will drain you. I only do one warm up for each compound movement except heavy benches and then I will do 2-3 sets of 5.
1. Pulldowns with wrist straps and with a barbell curl grip. Pull smoothly arch the low back a bit. 2 sets of 8-10 Push very hard.
2. Some type of strict rowing for 2 sets. Hold the weight in the fully contracted position for a second.
3. Okay you get to do an isolation exercise...but only to pre fatigue the deltoids so fresh triceps can push the compound exercise hard. 2 sets of 10 of laterals
4. Some type of over head press. machine are fine. I like hammer. If you use free weights then use a bench set at about 80 degrees and press to THE FRONT. This movement works ALL the heads of the deltoid. 2 sets of 8
What no rear delt work?...HA! the press works them and rows work the hell out of them.
5. Barbell curls. 3 all out sets of 8-10. Work verry very hard. Do them very strictly. I like to do rest pause reps after going to failure...that is after going to failure I put the weight down for 10 seconds and then do another reps. I do this 1-3 times. I like to do them on calves to and other exercises as well.
6. wrist curl 2 sets.
DONE!
FRIDAY
1. Some type of shallow incline press. I like hammer. 2 sets of 8-10
2. Some type of decline press. I like hammer. OR you could do dips in a amchine with elbows flaired outwards.
WHAT no peck deck and cross overs...HA! they will do SHIT except drain you of recuperative energy.
3. Toe presses in leg press machine. 4 sets. rest only 90 seconds between sets. Reduce the weight a bit for each working set. Do rest pause reps. ALL the way up and ALL the way down...DON'T RUSH THE REPS. THE PAIN!!!!!!!!
What no seated calf raise. HA! the toe press works the hell out of the soleus too....but if you insist you can do one set.
4. Choose ONE of these and alternate them from workout to workout. Dips in a machine with elbows close to sides. Lying tricep extensions with an EZ bar. 3 sets HARD!
What about ABBS...do them once or AT MOST twice per week. I think the best moevements are cruches with a rolled towel under the low back for more pre stretch or crunches on the swiss ball. Also hanging knee ups..curling the torso up high.
do 4 sets of 10-20 and use weight if you can do more than 20. I get the best abb SIZE with sets of 10-12.
Don't forget to MICRO LOAD...using progressively heavier weights each week. Do this in small jumps first and then TINY jumps as the going gets really tough.
SEE MY STICKY POST ABOVE.
Try to get down to 20% body fat and even 15 if you can. You will have to do cardio and sometimes a lot. I recommend 45 minutes on the tread mill 5 days per week. Set the incline at 13% and walk at 3.5-4 miles per hour.
After you loose weight you can drop the cardio to 3 times per week and do 30 minutes per session...this will allow for better recuperation from the weights and you will grow more muscle as a result.
GOOD LUCK!
Oh and stop reading the BS Weider magazines as the advice there is ONLY for the HEAVY steroid using genetic freak(mostly). Look at the pictures but that is it.
It is a shame that the best advice in the typical gyms comes from power lifters. Most bodybuilders just do not know how to train for muscle growth without using a shit load of steroids. Use enough gear and you can do anything and grow...not so for the natural or even those using modests amounts of steroids.
RG
