Advice for my gym routine.

[hydatiform]

Hi, I'm new to this forum and just wanted to ask for some advice on my typical gym routine..

I'm a 20-year old male and have never really consistently worked before out until now. For the past month my basic routine is: walk x3 minutes, run x20 minutes, and then I do about 5 sets of weight lifting (20 reps each) and 5 sets on the ab-strengthening machine (30 reps each). I alternate the aforementioned machines between each set. I do the walk/run routine at least 6 days a week, and the weightlifting at least 5 days. & I have a relatively healthy diet. My main goal is to flatten my stomach and chest, and I have no idea how effective this routine really is. (Although I've definitely gotten toned in my arms and lost a bit of my stomach thus far). I'm not overweight at all (6'0" 160lbs), just have a little leftover cellulite from adolescence etc.

Please advise, & thanks in advance!

 

[Avelan]

Hey, I am also new to the forums. Just a few things to keep in mind with your work out:

Aerobic Workout:

Basically your entire workout should start here, if you want to flatten your stomach up, you need to lose weight. If you want to lose weight, you need to burn more calories then you consume. So, in order to do this most effectively you increase aerobic activity. Walking, jogging, cycling.. it all counts.
Your aerobic workout should be a minimum of 30 minutes a day if your trying to lose weight.
Your diet should leave you slightly deprived each day.

Weights Workout:
Even though weights are not going to be as useful in your goals, they are still beneficial none the less.. The more muscle size you have, the more energy you burn. It is important to give your muscles appropriate rest to grow (which happens while you sleep)

Sets/reps
I will quickly run through the sets/reps you would do for each target:

Strength (3 days rest)

If you are wanting to focus on strength, then you should do:

3-5 Sets
2-4 Reps
2-3 minutes rest (between sets)

Growth (hypertophy) (3 days rest)
If you are wanting to focus on muscle growth then you should do:
3-5 sets
8-12 reps
45 seconds to a minute and a half rest (between sets)

Endurance (Toning myth)

There is a myth floating around the fitness world that high reps and sets will tone your muscles spot reducing fat and creating a lean and healthy looking muscle. Unfortunately there is very little evidence to suggest that high reps do anything apart from give muscle endurance (which is most beneficial in postural muscles). Losing weight is the only method of 'toning' your body.


Abdominals:
Abdominals attract the most attention from the fitness industry, yet they are probably trained the worst out of any muscle. They are generally trained as an endurance muscle- for abs definately stick to a 3-5 set / 8-12 rep routine.

I would recomend before doing sit ups, or any crunch that you get it looked at properly by a trainer. They can also show you techniques so you can achieve a more intense workout making 8-12 reps more possible.


Hope this all helps

 

[jarrick]

he's right about that - the abs are always badly done unless you're shown how to do it properly and unfortunately not all trainers who work in the gym know how to do it propperly.
if you want a flat stomache, it's the Transvers Abdominus muscles you have to be training. you can use ab crunches to strengthen them but ultimately they're postural muscles which should be engaged whenever your using your back. so unless you're lying down or sitting on your sofa, they should be working to various degrees. if they're not, then you'll end up with a bloated looking pot belly and an over exagerated curve in the lower spine. So if your trainer doesn't tell you to pull your belly button towards your spine and to breath out as you come up whilst doing a crunch, ditch them.
I'd go for the hypertrophy (8-12 reps) for your resistance work as the endurance stuff (15-25 reps) just takes forever. I'd also considder doing the resistance workout seperately to the CV. and then try and work up to doing an hour of CV in one session (join a running or cycling club -it's more interesting) because it's believed that after 20-30mins of CV you start to burn fat at a higher rate whereas before that, you're mainly burning glucose.