exercise study, me and my friend...

[kylewilson]

Well,

I have been off of lifting weights since February for many different reasons. One month was a wicked month filled with poison ivy, and the others were filled with work.

Me and my friend have decided to create a 'study' where we both create workout schedules and diets and see who can shed off the unwanted pounds and gain back on the muscle we both enjoy. We both have worked out before but nothing too serious, so we made our own plans and just kind of guessed what to do and when.

If any of you want (and I would really appreciate it), help us out with this study. I have read a lot of views on which way is best to work out or how many sets is suitable, well heres a chance to find out.

So far, this is what I have constructed:

Monday - chest/triceps
flat bench: 1 warmup set, 4 main sets, range between 5-8x.
incline bench: 4 main sets, 5-8x.
flat dumbell flys: 4 main sets, 5-8x.
skull crushers: 4 main sets, 5-8x
dips: 3 sets (bodyweight to start, and weight added if needed), to failure.

Tuesday - Cardio
minimum of 5 miles, range of hills to flats.

Wednesday - Legs
Squats: 1 warmup set, 4 sets, 5-8x
Lunges: 4 sets, 5-8x
leg curls: 4 sets, 5-8x
leg extensions, 5-8x
calf raises, 5-8x
-cooldown? spin bike 10 minutes, then 5 minutes higher intensity, 5 min cool.

Thursday - Off/Cardio
A day after legs could be hard to go running or biking, but I am a good swimmer, and wouldnt mind giving that a go.

Friday - Shoulders
shoulder press: 1 warmup, 4 sets, 5-8x
shrugs: 4 sets, 5-8x
front raise: 4 sets, 5-8x
upright rows: 4 sets, 5-8x

Saturday - Back/Biceps
Deadlift: 1 warmup, 4 sets, 5-8x
bent over rows: 4 sets, 5-8x
pulldown: 4 sets, 5-8x
barbell curls: 4 sets, 5-8x
chin ups: 3 sets, to failure

Sunday - Cardio

I do not know if this is all adequate for training all muscles fully and to expect size growth. I have also decided to do maximal testings every 7th week, and the 8th week is active rest.

So thats what I have, I have not created much of a healthy eating plan just yet, but I know my way around that quite well. So, do you think this will work well, or does anyone else have a better plan so I can show my buddy how its really done. Thanks for the info, Ill check up later.

Oh yeah, later on for the people who like to debate over different exercises and what not I can post our results, from start to finish, at least bi weekly for anyone to see.

thanks again

 

[cash50]

I would add one each of the chest/ tricep, legs, and back/bicep days.

 

[Lee]

If i were you i would treat dips as a regular lift and not do them til failure. also, shrugs are not a shoulder excersize like most poeple think, the traps are a back muscle. try doing shoulders and legs on the same day, and get something for your rear delts. good luck.

 

[tay1506]

I really don't think that setup is that great of an idea. First off i never see how muscle splits work well in the first place because you can't isolate a muscle group. I figure thats why it works for some and not for others because you get lucky or just really know what your doing with years of experience. In your case I am pretty sure you don't. You are working out the same muscles in your upper body 3x a week and your lower body 1 besides deads on sat. I would take out the shoulders day and make it legs and switch Fri and Sat. You could also take out something from sat and put in shoulder press. However all in all it could be alot worse your not on that bad of a track. I would just maybe rethink some of it.

I would not mind helping you with this though if your actually serious about it and could create a log. Also could you tell us your stats. Ive always wanted too and I would also workout more than i do now. If not good luck too u anyways, but im up too it!!

 

[JimBoy]

I would add another tricep and bicep exercise to start. Skull crushers and dips work great for me, but depending on how you do dips you might be working mostly chest. I also understand that chets exercise also work the tri's, but I personally like to get 2 to 3 exercises for each muscle group.
I see you only have 1 bicep exercise unless you are using chins as one, but I would throw another in for sure.
I also agree w/ the other replies as far as the schedule. Good luck and remember to eat eat eat, and eat well!

 

[kylewilson]

thanks for the replies. As for stats, I will post my first week of lifting after I re-vamp the upper post. I will add together legs and shoulders, find an exercise for rear delts(any advice there would be nice), add another for both bicep and tricep. I understand that the traps are part of the back, but for the upper trapezius, I thought the only/ main exercise was shrugs, and I didnt want to overload my back day.

We start monday I believe. We cancel out alcohol that is for sure, unless there is a special occasion here and there. We both are treating this serious as well. He is going into a 2 year personal fitness course type thing where he will learn more along the way to help out me if I do have any questions.

So, I will try to update once a week, and please keep the suggestions flowing so this can be modified to become a great schedule and can set me off in the best of ways.

thanks again,

kyle wilson

 

[tay1506]

What is your weight, age, and height. Then post your lifts. I would not add legs and shoulders day together because that would probly be too much or make one suffer. I mean you could do it just focus on legs. Make sure you switch your fri. and Sat. workouts.

 

[kylewilson]

I am 20 years old, weighing 190 lbs and I am 6'3. I have (or used to have) 12% body fat I believe.

 

[Bonkme2]

I'll be the minority and say you're doing too much.

For someone who hasn't lifted much, I think you'd see better results on some INTENSE workouts with some basic movements rather than endless set after set.

Squat, deadlift, some form of rowing, overhead presses, dips, some power movements like a clean or snatch (if you can get the form down), and an ocassional bicep and calf exercise...eat like a pig...you'll grow like a weed.

Speaking of which, it will be ESPECIALLY hard for you to pack on some muscle AND lose some bodyfat so don't expect big things from both at the same time. Try to focus on one or the other, at least one at a time. 16 weeks of getting big, 8 weeks of leaning down, repeat. Something like that.

I also think 7 days a week at the gym is going to be quite a bit, even if some of those days are just cardio. Your enthusiam is going to stay high for a while I'm sure, but eventually it's going to be a pain in the ass being there everyday. And once you start skipping workouts, it will get easier and easier until you stop going all together.

 

[tay1506]

It is possible to loose .5 - 1lb. a week depending on bf% and gain .25lbs. of muscle, but I don't really consider trying it. Put up a training log so I will have someone to compare myself to. You might also want to look at the training stickies which i forgot to mention before.