New to training, routine advice?

[bishonen]

I just bought myself a membership to my local Olympus gym, and as of this past Monday I've started a regimen of my own creation. Male, 18, about 5'6" and hovering around 130 pounds... Short, slender, and looking to add some muscle mass. Here's my schedule thus far;

Sunday: Off

Monday:
Bench Press
Military Press
Seated High Row
Pull-Up

Tuesday:
Full Squat
Leg Extension
Lying Leg Curl
Standing Calf Raise
Weighted Incline Sit-Up
Weighted Incline Twisting Sit-Up

Wednesday: Off

Thursday:
Inclined / Declined Bench Press
Behind Neck Press
Seated High Row
Close-Grip Pull-Up

Friday:
Seated Leg Press
Seated Leg Curl
Standing Calf Raise
Weighted Incline Sit-Up
Weighted Incline Twisting Sit-Up

Saturday: Off

This is all in addition to working at UPS, which is a pretty complete arms/upper back/chest/legs workout, five days a week in the mornings.

Nutrition-wise, I eat about as much protein as I can afford. I'm trying to build up to 150 grams a day, but by that point it's moving out of my price range. Not to mention, with the demise of Bavarian Mint Met-RX bars, I'm struggling for an alternative!

Calories that don't come from protein supplements I have no idea about, since most of them aren't pre-packaged goods, like homemade chili, fruit, and vegetables. Other stuff, like the soy-protein fortified egg salad I make, I'd just rather not do the math on. Suffice it to say, I try to eat more than I do normally, in the vein of needing more calories to grow. That much at least I have down!

As of right now, I'm considering dropping the bench press on Thursday (I don't have a handy spotter Tuesdays and Thursdays) and replacing it with the tricep extension, or something similar, though I'd prefer something that works my chest, and I'll get into that a little later. Dead lift is at the top of my list to add in there, as I'd really like to work on my back more.

Also, I'd really like to firm up my glutes, and was considering doing seated hip abductors, but was told that it was pointless if I'm already squatting. Should I just rely on the squats for that?

I do have a couple of concerns, one more serious that the other:

My left pec is noticeably less developed than my right, and no matter how hard I concentrate on bench pressing the bar straight and with equal force on both sides, I haven't noticed this change at all, and I've been bench pressing for months at home. It's something I've only noticed recently, but looking at pictures from March of last year, well before I started lifting any weights, I can see this same was true then. Is there any way I can remedy this?

My big problem is that whenever I do squats, I very, very quickly develop a throbbing neck ache, usually before even finishing a set. By the time it's late afternoon, it's developed into a full blown raging head ache. I assume it's because of pressure on my upper vertebrae, and this is even with the big fluffy black pads provided on the Smith machines. I really don't want to give up doing squats, but it's really debilitating. Is there anything I can do to avoid the aches?

Thanks for reading this far, it's been a fun first post. I look forward to any advice or suggestions. Just try not to lambaste me to hard, thanks!

 

[lemur]

considering you work that much, I would try to cut down the overall volume or number of workout days if you're going to be trying to put on mass anytime soon. I say this because training 4 times a week with the work is a HELL of a lot of work for someone with a problem getting a lot of calories. I would suggest:

-taking friday off
-changing thursday around a bit, how about:
dumbbell bench press
bent over rows
stiff legged deadlifts
barbell curls
and farmers walks
- about the pecs, it's mainly genetic, if you want you can change to dumbbell bench press just incase your right pec is taking most of the stress in your pec work.
-seeing as you're doing the squatting, the extra glute
-work isnt necessary. It's just fat that makes the muscle soft, anyways.
- as for the squat problem, I don't know what to tell you other than STOP. Other people might tell you to suck it up or something, but if it hurts that bad it isnt worth it. Try letting the bar rest at different spots, worse comes to worse, try front squats instead.

 

[hesselite]

Agreed... take it easy on the workouts. I'm 6'2" 200 lbs right now and i'm bulking. my workout consist of the following:

Bulking Routine

Monday:

Deadlifts
Overhead Press
Squats
Standing calves

Wednesday:

Barbell Rows
Bench Press
Deadlifts

Friday:

Squats
Dips
Shrugs
Barbell Curls


Tried to add 5-10 pounds every Monday on Squats, deads.

5 pounds to everything else.


I'm working AM shift at a warehouse right now and I feel your pain. These types of jobs take a LOT of calories... meaning less calories for your body to use to workout and rebuild muscle. Cut the workouts down... don't concentrate very much on specific muscles, but stick to the lifts that work entire muscle groups, like the big 3 - (bench, deads, squats). Deads & squats 2x a week might not be right for you... it works for me though.

Neck pain related to squats is either a result of an underdeveloped back/trap region, or you're placing the bar too far up, closer to the neck. Check some sites and make sure you've got proper form. Form is ESSENTIAL. I know when I started doing exercises like bench and squats the right way, my pride was shot to shit because I realized I wasn't strong at all. Work through it, swallow your pride.

With regard to calories... there's a great website out there, www.fitday.com which has nutritional information on almost EVERY FOOD (prepared and unprepared).

This is what works for me... every person is different, but I think that what I've given you is universally applied.

Good luck,

--Hess

 

[louden_swain]

Just stick to basic compound exercises and train heavy.

 

[bishonen]

Well, I've been mucking around at FitDay.com (great resource, thanks) and it looks like on any given weekday, I'm hitting 2,000 calories at a 40/30/30 fat/protein/carbs breakdown, with about 130 grams of protein. That's all a rough estimate, anyway. I'm guessing that with all the activity, that's a little low. The largest problem is that my parents don't eat very healthy, so my choices of food around the house are somewhat limited, but I make do. I'll stop by the grocery store and poke around sometime soon for things that aren't too fat-heavy.

To be clear, UPS is 15-20 hours a week, and union rules (meh) keep the heaviest we have to lift at 70 pounds. It's mostly biceps, with some chest and upper back, and a little lower body depending on what they have me doing.

It can get pretty intense, and I'm sweat-soaked by the time I leave, but I'm trying to phase oats into my breakfast to offset that. At this point, I'm switching from GROW! (110 calories / per) twice a day to Muscle Milk (348 / per) once a day. I'm also trying a smattering of mixes from proteinfactory.com which are a bit less expensive.

Regarding my neck, I've been pretty careful about proper form, and I position the bar as far back and down as my arms allow, to no avail. This week I'm going to try free weights, rather than the Smith machine, and see if that's any help at all.

Anyway, I've been less than thrilled to try dead lifts and bent over rows, since it looks just so easy to seriously injure oneself doing them. Nevertheless, I'm willing to give them a shot, and taking into account what you guys have said, here's how I've revised my schedule so far;

Sunday: Off

Monday:
Bench Press
Bent Over Row
Military Press
Pull-Up

Tuesday:
Full Squat
Lying Leg Curl
Weighted Incline Sit-Up
Weighted Incline Twisting Sit-Up

Wednesday: Off

Thursday:
Dumbbell Bench Press
Incline Dumbbell Bench Press
Deadlift
Close-Grip Pull-Up

Friday:
Seated Leg Press
Standing Calf Raise
Weighted Incline Sit-Up
Weighted Incline Twisting Sit-Up

Saturday: Off

I try and do two sets of about six reps for every lift, which is a pretty solid 8 sets a day.

Dumbbells on Thursday takes cares of not having a spotter for the bench press.

The two to three days of rest I have now seems like more than enough recovering time for me. For example, on Friday afternoon walking up and down stairs hurt, yesterday I was sore, and this morning my legs feel fine. I hope (at least with this 'revised schedule') that the issue is more caloric intake rather than the volume of the training, since it doesn't seem like much at all when I'm at the gym.

Since I'm mostly shooting for muscle definition, I'll definitely make sure I'm getting the form down. But no worries, at 9:30 in the morning, it's usually me, whoever I'm working with, and about 15 cardio bunnies. And they're all facing the other direction.

Thanks again guys, I appreciate the words. A little encouragement and criticism are always in order.

 

[bishonen]

1-week followup

Well, I ended up playing with the schedule a bit more, here's how it stands after this week:

Sunday: Off

Monday:
Bench Press
Bent-Over Row
Military Press
Pull-Up

Tuesday:
Full Squat
Lying Leg Curl
Weighted Incline Sit-up
Weighted Incline Twisting Sit-Up

Wednesday: Off

Thursday:
Flat Dumbbell Bench Press
Incline Dumbbell Bench Press
Bent-Over Row
Close-Grip Pull-Up

Friday:
Deadlift
Standing Calf Raise
Weighted Incline Sit-Up
Weighted Incline Twisting Sit-Up

Saturday: Off

I dropped my squat 30 pounds and moved into free-weights. It's definitely much more intense having to stabilize. The neck-aches aren't as bad, and I have the bar as far down my back as I can and still support it safely. on that note, I've also been paying attention to form, using a mat to place my heels against. Great reminder for me that THEY SHOULDN'T MOVE!

The bent-over row is awesome, glad I tried it. I wasn't expecting it to work out everything from the waist to the neck, but lo-and-behold.. I've dropped the sitting rows completely. They just weren't doing it for me.

I'm glad I moved the deadlift to Fridays, because I was not prepared for it. I did 3 sets of 10 reps at 85(!) pounds, and I am dead on my feet. Actually, it's 'dead on my back,' since I'm too tired to be standing much. I am completely devoid of any energy. I used the same mat-technique to keep my heels on the floor, and checked my form in mirrors to front and side of me.

Anyway, now the big problem is my biceps being morbidly sore from work, which severely limits my range of motion in a couple of upper body lifts. Once the lactic acid starts pumping, they get so stiff that, for example, I'm unable to lift the bar to my waist in the bent-over row. I just suck it up and do my best, which is only one or two inches short. Same goes for pull-ups.

Lastly, I'm probably going to just drop the sit-ups completely. I don't know if it's from doing the free weights so much now, but my abs are perpetually sore, so much so that I can't even do more than three regularly sit-ups at a time. And that was only today, a week and a half since I last did sit-ups. The last two times I couldn't pull myself up for one!

I don't know if there are any other decent leg machines or free weight lifts I could replace them with, that part is kind of up in the air.

Anyway, thanks again guys. The advice has been a *great* help. This routine should last me through the summer.

P.S. ~ I added oatmeal to my breakfast, found a protein shake (Muscle Milk) that's twice the calories of the ones I was drinking, and I've about doubled what I eat at dinner. Still waiting on the proteinfactory order, but I figure I'm hitting 150 grams of protein at 2400-2500 (or so, maybe less) calories. Hopefully this will be enough for me!

 

[nikkita]

You have received good input for your workout...

As for your diet, try different sources of protein... in my case I'm 125lbs and consume 200 grams per day... at first it was difficult to find how to cover my intake, but now I rely most of my protein intake on food such as tuna, fish, chicken, meat, eggs, milk... I found that bars are too expensive so I've tried different brands of protein shakes such as prolabs, eas, designer whey or even gnc... with the discount days a big jar is more affordable and its really worthwhile because it lasts a month considering 3 portions of 22g per day (depending on the one you choose)... you can also try aminoacids, some (specially amino fuel) contain 15g per portion of two tsp.

Calories also come from carbs... oats, rice, potatos, sweet potatos, fruit like banana, apples, etc. Consider also natural fats from seeds, nuts, avocados, peanuts.

About what you say about glutes look forward to squatting, lunges (stationary and smith machine), kickbacks (standing and cable), bent kick crosses, single leg pelvic lift, raised leg curls... among others.