Muscle Groups and Exercise Schedule

R

rioch

0
Is it better to train certain groups together at the same time (such as back and arms) over other groups (such as back and chest)? I want to maximise as much as I can from my workouts and wondered if this was at all important?
 
Yes, program design is important.

Maybe you would benefit from a premade routine, written by an expert who understands those things instead of trying to write your own?
 
Oh yes, to echo Bip's response.

There are many pre-mades to choose from: Anti-bodybuilding Hypertrophy I and II, Total Body Training, Homegrown Muscle, etc.

HGM is a year long, but you can start back at the beginning and do the advanced once you've completed the beginner, to make it two years of lifting.

I also like to pimp "New Rules of Lifting" because it's more than just a lifting program, it's a fat loss, hypertrophy and strength plan, but it also gives you the why's and what's to inform you.
 
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Wow, I didn't realise there were "plans" already out there with names. I certainly don't need to lose weight as I'm already quite slender (6'1" and 70kg).

I have made my own plan that I was going to start this week. Here it is:

Arms (Monday)
Upper Arms
Barbell Curl
Dumbell Curl
Concentration Curl
Kickback Tricep
Cable Pushdown
Forearm
Barbell Reverse Curl
Dumbell Hammer Curl
Barbell Wrist Curl
Barbell Reverse Wrist Curl

Chest (Tuesday)
Barbell Bench Press
Dumbell Fly
Dumbell Pullover

Back (Wednesday)
Barbell Bent Over Row
Bent Over Row

Shoulders (Thursday)
Barbell Behind Neck Press
Front Raise
Barbell Upright Row
Lateral Raise
Dumbell Rear Lateral Raise

Legs (Friday)
Thighs
Barbell Front Squat
Dumbell Lunge
Dumbell Straight Leg Deadlift
Barbell Good-Morning
Calves
Dumbell Single Leg Calf Raise

Perhaps I could do more than one on a single day or juggle it around a bit to give myself gaps in the middle. To be honest, I'm not sure.

What do you think of it? Bear in mind I'm limited as I only have a home gym at the moment :)
 
rioch said:
Is that the only thing you would change?
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Rioch, read this: . It's something I and a couple other guys put together.

It's info on diet, exercise and some really good information on tweaking workouts.

You can find HGM on the first post, in the beginner section and in the second post you'll find it's all workouts.

Take the guess work out of it and let the experts guide you.
 
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I'm not sure if I understand HGM correctly. I assume I can rest between reps, but will find it almost impossible not the rest between exercises since it is a home gym and I have limited weights. I will need to swap and change between exercise.

Also, when it says to do "this total-body workout twice a week," does this mean that I should do every triad in one session?

Finally, what is the "tempo" column for?

Sorry for my (possibly) obvious questions. Thanks for all your help.
 
rioch said:
I'm not sure if I understand HGM correctly. I assume I can rest between reps, but will find it almost impossible not the rest between exercises since it is a home gym and I have limited weights. I will need to swap and change between exercise.

Also, when it says to do "this total-body workout twice a week," does this mean that I should do every triad in one session?

Finally, what is the "tempo" column for?

Sorry for my (possibly) obvious questions. Thanks for all your help.
Click to expand...

You do three exercises in a row, then rest 90 seconds. The training density will increase your work capacity as odds are, you're out of shape.

That's three triads, ninety seconds between triads, three sets, one workout, recommended twice a week. Naturally the ambitious among us will try it a little more frequently than that. But watch it, this will drain you.

I have no idea what the tempo column is for. : D
 
First Attempt

I know you are malkore, but my each routine on a day works the muscles hard and it doesn't involve much messing around with the equipment. I'd much prefer to have it split over 2-3 days instead of 5 though.

To help you understand, here is the gym set I have. It's not top of the range by a mile!

Weights:
Gym:

The gym also has a leg curl and lat attachment. I keep the lat attachment on. The fly attachments are off because its better free-style.

I tried to do the "Home Grown Muscle" workout but it just doesn't work for me. My gym just doesn't have enough weight to be able to easily switch between exercise like that. I found I was spending more time moving weights around than actually working out. It would probably be better if I could simply do all sets on each exercise in one go. Is that allowed? Trouble is I find it more difficult to complete the final sets like this.
 
tempo is for how much time to use up and down, if you take breaks and stuff. i dont know quite how to read it yet, dont know what order the numbers come in, if lowering comes first or wtf :S :p
 
Work your larger muscle groups first followed by the smaller ones. If you have two days off in a row, then I would always do legs first. Biggest muscle group requires the most energy.

Also, I would not have a dedicated arms day. It's just not worth the energy you are putting into it. A lot of people do legs, chest/tri, back/bi, and then shoulders.
 
Once you start reading all this it becomes so much more complicated. So, I'm going to do the following:

1. Use the 'home grown muscle' plan. It's made by people who know what they are doing!
2. To accommodate my limited equipment, I will just run through and do all sets before changing exercise, otherwise I will spend my time just moving weights from one place to another.

Is it OK to change the plan as in number 2? It would be perfect if I could.
 
rioch said:
Finally, what is the "tempo" column for?
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Tempo is count measure of the eccentric, pause at the end of the eccentric and the concentric. In layman terms, a tempo:

2-0-1 is a 2 count lowering, no pause and a 1 count lift.
 
rioch said:
2. To accommodate my limited equipment, I will just run through and do all sets before changing exercise, otherwise I will spend my time just moving weights from one place to another.
Click to expand...

No. If you have to, change the weights, but then hop right on moving the weights with no rest.

One other option you might consider, break it up into pairs of exercises, called supersets.
 
HGM Phase One

Wow. I have just completed (just about) the first workout in home grown muscle. For anyone who think it looks easy, for a newbie like myself it was agony. Things were ok until after the leg squats! After that my legs were so weak doing anything else was really, really hard...my legs kept wobbling!

I'm going to try and do phase one on mon, weds and thurs. I am in shock at how hard it is though, it doesn't look like much.

Also, the b.b seated row is really awkward, is there another alternative?
 
I felt the same way after doing Squats and static lunges, deadlifts and step-ups.

You get accustomed to it in a couple weeks.

There is no barbell seated row. It's either a cable seated row, barbell bent over row or a dumbbell laying (bent over) row.

Supersets are pairs of exercises. In the case of beginner first phase:

Bench Press
Deadlift

BB pullover
Squat

Bent over row
Lunge

Cuban Press
Calf Raise

Crunch

And since it's broken up into supersets, I'd probablower the rest to 75s.
 
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