Routine advice - too many exercises per muscle group!

Anonymous · 19-09-2004, 07:01 PM

Hi there all, a new member here - and i've been lurking a short while picking up tips ^_^. Gained some confidence in teh gym now thanks to the internet!

A very rough overview ... I am a 30 year old guy in London, 6 foot tall and 12.5 stones in weight (80kgs). I have worked in an office for 10 years and although I am pretty lithe at the moment, I feel that prevention is better that cure and I should make an effort to remain in good condition.
Yes, my aim it to build, but not much to be honest. Fudamentally, I want to remain lithe (and under 13 stones) - but a bit of building and toning would not go amiss.

Time-wise, I can manage around an hour 15 minutes, 3 times a week which i can allocate soley to my torso / waist upwards.

My confusion it that there are so so many exercises out there per muscle group, and I am having trouble working out which ones would make better use of my time.

Could anyone save my life and recommend a, or some, of the best gain torso exercises for (1) Biceps (2) Triceps (3) chest (4) back (5) shoulders (6) abs/sides (7) ears .... (joke)

I want to get some general (basic) gains which i hope will then motivate me to investigate a more complex routine afterwards. Chest biceps and triceps are my main interest. I am not koping out and letting you guys do the work, i have attempted to select some exercies and this is what i came up with. If you think i should remove, add or swap anything with anything else im all ears heh :-

Biceps
Standing bicep curls for my overall biceps
Cable curls for bicep peaks.
Concentrated barbell curl for bicep peaks (yeha i want peaks!

Preacher curls for my lower biceps
Standing Inner Biceps Curl for inner biceps
Hammer curls for biceps and a little forearms

Triceps
French press for my overall triceps
Close Grip Triceps Bench for my overall triceps
Overall tricep Cable pulldown for my overall tricep (triceps important!)
Elbows Out Extensions for lower triceps
Dumbell kickbacks for upper triceps

Chest
Dumbell fly / incline fly / decline fly for chest
Bench press flat/decline/incline for overall pecs
Push ups flat/decline/incline for overall pecs
Bent Forward Cable Crossovers for mid and lower pecs

One last question - ive been doing some muscle groups two times a week .... should i only be doing them once a week? i always feel that doing say biceps just once a week would not be enough?

Thanks guys/gals, now off to read the forum a bit more!

gymlad1234 · 19-09-2004, 07:47 PM

hi mate by lookin gat your post its looks like you need gentle push in the right direction , this routine was designed by stuet mcrobert of hardgainer and even though it doesnt look like much i have gained a stone of muscle in 2 months on this exact program

monday squats 2 warm ups 2 sets 2 failure
barbell row 2 warm ups 2 sets to failure
dips 2 warm ups 2 sets 2 failure
calf raise 2 war ups 2 sets 2 failure

thursday same as above but do deadlifts in stead of squats
2 war up sets then find the weight you can do for 10 reps and do 20 instead by taking 3 deep breaths in between each rep

now i know the other members on this board will disagree with this program but beileve me mate i have seen people gain on this routine like you wouldnt beileve

ohh i can almost hear it now " where are the bicep and tricep exercises"
those movments apart from the calf raise train every body part in your body the squats will work ur legs abs lower back and chest the babell row will work your upper back and biceps the dips will work your triceps chest upper back to the limit .
keep in mind that you have to keep your protein intake high about 1 gram per pound of body weight and train hard and progressivly and belive me mate the gains will come

mutley · 20-09-2004, 09:48 AM

my advice to you Guest, is to give Gymlad's workout a try. There are other decent workout's that you could try, but I think his suggestions are a good place to start.

Decent compound exercises - deadlift's and squats are great, and you'll avoid overtraining - this is THE biggest trap that people fall in to IMO.

Workout hard, to momentary muscular failure on 2 of the 4 sets, but keep the number of exercises to a minimum for say 6 weeks or so. If that does not work, then maybe increase the number of exercises you do for a particular body part.

I wouldn't miss legs, you'll be hitting those with the squats and deadlift's anyway.

If you are going to hit your arms with isolation exercises, then just start exercising the biceps and triceps with one exercise, and do this once a week. Don't forget they are small muscle's. Very easy to overtrain. Read the articles on sleep, diet and training intesnsity that are littered throughout the forum and you should be ok.

19-09-2004, 07:01 PM	#1 (permalink)
Anonymous Join Date: Dec 2003 Posts: 0 Rep Power:	Routine advice - too many exercises per muscle group! Hi there all, a new member here - and i've been lurking a short while picking up tips ^_^. Gained some confidence in teh gym now thanks to the internet! A very rough overview ... I am a 30 year old guy in London, 6 foot tall and 12.5 stones in weight (80kgs). I have worked in an office for 10 years and although I am pretty lithe at the moment, I feel that prevention is better that cure and I should make an effort to remain in good condition. Yes, my aim it to build, but not much to be honest. Fudamentally, I want to remain lithe (and under 13 stones) - but a bit of building and toning would not go amiss. Time-wise, I can manage around an hour 15 minutes, 3 times a week which i can allocate soley to my torso / waist upwards. My confusion it that there are so so many exercises out there per muscle group, and I am having trouble working out which ones would make better use of my time. Could anyone save my life and recommend a, or some, of the best gain torso exercises for (1) Biceps (2) Triceps (3) chest (4) back (5) shoulders (6) abs/sides (7) ears .... (joke) I want to get some general (basic) gains which i hope will then motivate me to investigate a more complex routine afterwards. Chest biceps and triceps are my main interest. I am not koping out and letting you guys do the work, i have attempted to select some exercies and this is what i came up with. If you think i should remove, add or swap anything with anything else im all ears heh :- Biceps Standing bicep curls for my overall biceps Cable curls for bicep peaks. Concentrated barbell curl for bicep peaks (yeha i want peaks! Preacher curls for my lower biceps Standing Inner Biceps Curl for inner biceps Hammer curls for biceps and a little forearms Triceps French press for my overall triceps Close Grip Triceps Bench for my overall triceps Overall tricep Cable pulldown for my overall tricep (triceps important!) Elbows Out Extensions for lower triceps Dumbell kickbacks for upper triceps Chest Dumbell fly / incline fly / decline fly for chest Bench press flat/decline/incline for overall pecs Push ups flat/decline/incline for overall pecs Bent Forward Cable Crossovers for mid and lower pecs One last question - ive been doing some muscle groups two times a week .... should i only be doing them once a week? i always feel that doing say biceps just once a week would not be enough? Thanks guys/gals, now off to read the forum a bit more!

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19-09-2004, 07:47 PM	#2 (permalink)
gymlad1234 Under Construction Join Date: Aug 2004 Posts: 22 Rep Power:	hi mate by lookin gat your post its looks like you need gentle push in the right direction , this routine was designed by stuet mcrobert of hardgainer and even though it doesnt look like much i have gained a stone of muscle in 2 months on this exact program monday squats 2 warm ups 2 sets 2 failure barbell row 2 warm ups 2 sets to failure dips 2 warm ups 2 sets 2 failure calf raise 2 war ups 2 sets 2 failure thursday same as above but do deadlifts in stead of squats 2 war up sets then find the weight you can do for 10 reps and do 20 instead by taking 3 deep breaths in between each rep now i know the other members on this board will disagree with this program but beileve me mate i have seen people gain on this routine like you wouldnt beileve ohh i can almost hear it now " where are the bicep and tricep exercises" those movments apart from the calf raise train every body part in your body the squats will work ur legs abs lower back and chest the babell row will work your upper back and biceps the dips will work your triceps chest upper back to the limit . keep in mind that you have to keep your protein intake high about 1 gram per pound of body weight and train hard and progressivly and belive me mate the gains will come

20-09-2004, 09:48 AM	#3 (permalink)
mutley Making Progress Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 164 Rep Power:	my advice to you Guest, is to give Gymlad's workout a try. There are other decent workout's that you could try, but I think his suggestions are a good place to start. Decent compound exercises - deadlift's and squats are great, and you'll avoid overtraining - this is THE biggest trap that people fall in to IMO. Workout hard, to momentary muscular failure on 2 of the 4 sets, but keep the number of exercises to a minimum for say 6 weeks or so. If that does not work, then maybe increase the number of exercises you do for a particular body part. I wouldn't miss legs, you'll be hitting those with the squats and deadlift's anyway. If you are going to hit your arms with isolation exercises, then just start exercising the biceps and triceps with one exercise, and do this once a week. Don't forget they are small muscle's. Very easy to overtrain. Read the articles on sleep, diet and training intesnsity that are littered throughout the forum and you should be ok.