Workout

Steve

Steve

Member
Staff member
THIS IS A POST FROM MY JOURNAL. I THOUGHT MORE PEOPLE, THAN JUST THE READERS OF MY JOURNAL, COULD BENEFIT FROM IT.

OK, let's construct a routine.

I always spout off about how low rep, high weight (relative to your strength) is the way to go when it comes to muscle maintenance. However, I think you should gradually work your way into going heavy. Let's focus on higher rep, lighter weight training for starters until you learn the movements and gain some biomechanical coordination and balance.

You have never "really" lifted before, correct?

I would like to see you doing something like this:

Day 1:

Squats - 3 sets of 12 reps (week 6 increase to 4 sets, weeks 7+ increase to 5 sets)

Bench Press (BB of DB) - 3 sets of 12 reps (week 6 increase to 4 sets, weeks 7+ increase to 5 sets)

Cable Rows - 3 sets of 12 reps (week 6 increase to 4 sets, weeks 7+ increase to 5 sets)


SQUAT



The Squat is a tough exercise to get the form down right. If there is someone "in the know" at your gym, I would have them give you a rundown of how to execute the exercise. I will give an explanation here, but at the same time, many learn better from watching.

With the squat, a lot of trainers don't know how to execute a squat correctly! There are a lot of myths out there like, "Don't squat so deep in that your thighs go below parallel with the floor." And, "Don't let your knees drift in front of your toes while going down in the squat."

A lot of trainers, even those "in the know," tell their clients to start out without weight until you get the form down. You can try this if you'd like. However, I have found personally, and with quite a bit of clients, that squatting without weight is difficult. The weight is what helps keep your center of gravity. So, if you are comfortable, start out with a very conservative weight.

How to squat. I posted the video above which allows you to see a perfect squat execution. Let's talk about the mechanics. Most people think you initiate the movement with your knees. "In order to squat down, I have to bend my knees." Right? Wrong. The initiating movement for the squat, in order to get the proper depth, starts in the hips.

How do you move your hips? The first sign of movement should be your butt moving back, so that your hips are moving posteriorly. Think, "start the movement by sticking my butt out."

So, with a bar on your shoulders, here are the cues:

1. Chest up (don't cave in)
2. Shoulder blades pulled back together, which reinforces number 1
3. Hands gripping the bar are not wide, but closer. Not so close that it becomes uncomfortable for your shoulders though.
4. Pull your elbows under the bar. Make them point to the floor. This will keep you more upright.
5. Initiate at the hips (think about sitting down) and stick your butt out.
6. Keep a nice, tight arch in your lower back.
7. Keep your abs tight.
8. Stance should be feet slightly wider than shoulder width.
9. You should point your toes slightly outward, maybe 30 degrees.
10. As you start to flex at the knees, your knees should follow the path (line) of your toes.
11. If you leaning excessively forward, you are using too much weight or you have flexibility issues. This is not an exercise for the lower back, do not make it one.
12. Your heels should stay planted on the floor at all times. Many people have flexibility issues and the squat is the exercise that uncovers the issues. Many people, in order to get deep in the squat, feel the need to elevate their heels from the ground. In this case, at the bottom of the movement, their weight is on the balls of their feet. Instead, the entire movement, you should keep your feet flat on the floor and drive the weight pushing through your heels.
13. Remember the hips!

At the bottom of the movement, your hips should be deeper than your knees. This is a full squat.

BENCH





Here, you will see 2 videos. One for BB benching and another for DB benching. It is your choice which you choose. I would opt to start with BB, but again, it really is your call.

What can I teach you about the bench?

I am going to talk as if you are doing the BB bench. If, in reality, you are using DBs, there really isn't much difference.

Lie supinated on a bench with the bar directly overhead. You want to keep your upper back tight by retracting your shoulder blades. Think: Pinch my shoulder blades together. On top of pinching them together, also depress them toward your feet. Basically, you are pushing the shoulder blades back and down.

Your chest (rib cage) should be pushed out, which will happen automatically when you do the above with your shoulder blades.

Your feet should be set flat on the floor. They don't move from this position. I see many people benching with their feet up on the bench. Some people even keep their feet up in the air. Don't do this. Put them on the floor, gain your stability, and keep them locked there.

For general benching, you want to maintain the natural curvature of your lumbar spine. There are three points touching the bench and four points you should worry about. One is your head. Two is your upper back (shoulder blades and traps). Three is your butt. And four is your feet on the floor.

Once you lift the BB off of the supports, the bar will naturally be over your upper chest/neck area with your arms full extended. As you bring the bar down, it should be brought to around your nipple area. Many people make the mistake of flaring their elbows out. This is very stressful on the shoulder girdle. Instead, keep your shoulders at a 45 degree angle with your torso.

CABLE ROWS

Cable Straight Back Seated Row (Wide Grip)



This is a fairly simple exercise for your back. There are certainly better exercises, but I think it is a good starting place for rowing.

Many people like to use a lot of lower back in this exercise. When doing so, you will see a lot of torso swing as they lean forward and backward. I am not a fan of this.

Your lumbar spine should be locked into place. The movement is isolated to the arms, shoulders, and upper back.

I like to keep my chin tucked and fully extend my arms at the start of the movement. As you bring the cable/handle to your torso, you want to concentrate of flexing your back. Don't just curl the weight toward you with your arms. Remember, this is mostly a back exercise. Really squeeze your upper back.
 
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Part Ii

Day 2:

Stiff Leg Deadlift - 3 sets of 12 reps (week 6 increase to 4 sets, weeks 7+ increase to 5 sets)

Step-ups - 2 sets of 12 reps (week 6+ increase to 3 sets)

Overhead Press - 3 sets of 12 reps (sets stay constant throughout)

Cable Pulldowns - 3 sets of 12 reps (sets stay constant throughout)

STIFF LEG DEADLIFT



In the video, the guy drops the BB once he is done with the set. You don't do this.

I like to use an alternated grip, which means one hand is pronated while the other is supinated. This simply firms of the grip you have on the bar, less likely for the bar to slip out.

Although it is called "stiff leg," you don't want to keep the knees locked. You want a slight bend in the knees, which is maintained throughout the movement. This takes the stress off of the knees.

You want to keep the natural curvature of the lumber (lower) back. If you find that you are rounding your lower back, drop the weight until you can perfect the movement. You will be able to get "deeper" in the movement as your flexibility improves. For now, the bottom of the movement is just above the point where your lower back wants to round. Full range of motion for the average person usually allows the bar to travel just below their knees.

You want to keep the bar close to your body (hips, thighs, knees, shins).

A huge misconception people have is, you simply bend forward at the hips. They are missing out hugely. As with the squat, you want to initiate this movement with your hips, by sticking your butt back. Pretend there is an imaginary wall behind you that you are trying to push your butt against. You don't want to go so far back with your butt/hips that you lose balance. Just before that point, you can start flexing at the hips, which brings your torso down toward the ground. Descend until you feel a stretch in the hamstrings and glutes OR to the point where your lumber wants to round (as noted above).

To reverse the movement, simple extend your hips and bring your torso back up. I like to overly extend my hips, basically thrusting my pelvis outward and squeezing my glutes at the top of the movement. Follow me?

It is very important to keep your back fixed, as the torso leans forward.

This exercise can be performed with a BB or DBs.

STEP UPS



In the video, the guy is using a box. Many gyms do not have boxes. You can use a bench instead. You can start with a low bench and work your way up to a higher platform as your strength increases. You can also use a BB as in the video, or hold DBs down to your side. I prefer a BB.

You want to keep the shoulders pulled back and the chest up during this exercise.

OVERHEAD PRESS





As you can see from the vids, you can use a BB or DBs with this exercise. You can also do them standing or seated. My personal preference is standing, and I use both BB and DBs. Pick which is most comfortable for you!

If you do these standing, don't lock your knees. Keep a slight bend in the knees throughout the movement.

Don't excessively arch your lower back. If you feel the need to do this, that means you are most likely using too much weight. Push the weight straight overhead.

CABLE PULLDOWNS



As you can see in the vid, there is no excessive swinging of the torso that you so commonly see in the gym. You want to lean back slightly, just enough to let the bar pass in front of your face. Pull the bar down to your upper chest/neck. Don't just pull with your arms, remember, you should be pulling with your lats and upper back as well. I like to pinch my shoulder blades together and bring them down toward the floor while I pull the weight down. I find this hits my back best when I focus on that.


Day 3:

SAME AS DAY 1
__________________________________________________ _______________

OK, so this should be a good start. I probably could have gone into more explanation and description, but there are only so many hours in a day. If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to post!

As for movement of the exercises, I like a controlled 2-3 second eccentric movement and a controlled, but explosive concentric movement. This means, in the portion of the exercise where you are flexing, shortening, or tightening the muscle.... you should move the bar as quickly as possible while maintaining form and control. Eventually, you will be using a heavy enough weight which will dictate how fast you move the bar during the concentric portion of the exercise. For instance, when I bench press, it may not look as though I am pushing the bar up fast. However, the weight dictates the speed I can use, and it is as fast as my body will allow.

During the eccentric portion, or the portion of the exercise where you are stretching the muscle, you want to really slow down the decent of the weight and control it. 2-3 seconds will do for now. I see so many people, again, I will use the bench press as an example.

They explode up with the weight. Then, they simply let the bar fall back down to their chest, let the weight bounce off their chest, and they explode back up. This is incorrect. Control the weight. These people who don't control the weight are missing out on a majority of the exercise (the eccentric contraction).

This routine will be fine for any "newbs" just starting out in the gym with the goal of fat loss. I left out a lot though. This is strictly the weight training portion of the program. Remember, there is nutrition, which is most important. Plus aerobic exercise and flexibility work.

A quick note on flexibility work. I highly suggest doing dynamic flexibility work before each weight training session and static flexibility after each weight training session. If you don't know what these are, maybe we can have another informational post regarding the subject. I could not include them here as this post is already way too long!

Another quick note on weight training. The goal of any program should be to get stronger. In order to do this, you need progressive overload. Progressive simply means you increase the intensity by altering some variable as time goes on. In its simplest form, you merely increase the weight on the bar as you get stronger. You could also do more work in less time, increase the number of difficult exercises, reduce rest between sets, increase frequency of training, and so on and so forth. Overload simply means pushing your body to do something that it is not used to doing. Put simply, if 100 lbs is heavy for you while bench pressing, you might be able to get 8 reps. As you progress in the routine, you will get stronger. Soon 8 reps of bench using 100 lbs will no longer "overload" your body. Your body has adapted to that weight. So you would have to increase the intensity in order to continue overloading the body. As you can see progression and overload go hand in hand.

Lastly, the beginning of this should be ALL ABOUT learning the movement/exercise. Don't worry about how much weight you are lifting. Simply pick very conservative weights. In most cases, you can use just body weight, or just the bar, or very light DBs. As you get better at the execution, you can start adding weight. But always be conservative. Jumping up too quickly in weight lifted can lead to plateaus long before you should. Gradual progression is the name of the game.

We are starting out with 12 reps per set. This can be customized to your learning curve, but I suggest something "like" the following progression:

Week 1 - 12 reps per set
Week 2 - 12 reps per set
Week 3 - 8-10 reps per set
Week 4 - 8-10 reps per set
Week 5 - 6-8 reps per set
Week 6 - 6-8 reps per set
Week 7 - 4-6 reps per set
Week 8 - 4-6 reps per set

The sets change as the reps change on some of the exercises as you progress from week to week. On others, the sets remain constant. You will see the set progression in paranthesis next to each exercise in the program outline found way up top.

I should also add, this is by no means, set in stone. Varying things to suit you will not destroy the efficacy of the routine! If you want to follow it to a "T", fine. If you are uncomfortable making changes to it, but want to, feel free to ask me before you make the change.

This is just one example of a starting place. There are many.

I think far too many people take my word as the gospel around here. I would much rather you question ANYONE'S words before accepting them as the truth.

I am sure I am leaving out a lot of stuff. Future discussion on the subject may lead to edits of the post, but this is a fine starting point.
 
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I was just coming to make sure this was stuck!


Thank you Steve, for being patient and thorough with your explanations for us beginners.
 
Steve, can you please give me an alternate exercise for the cable rows? I'm not sure what it looks like (as the link isn't working for me), but I don't think we have that at our gym. I can do the cable pull down one, but not the rowing. As I said, it's a very tiny, thrown together gym. LOL!
 
My apologies. I don't think any of the links copied over correctly into this thread. I believe I fixed them now. Let me know if you are having a problem still.

DQ, now can you see the cable row? If so, do you still need an alternative?
 
Thanks so much for taking the time to put this together, Steve...I saw it in your journal this morning. This is great info--exactly what I need right now!
 
Hey Steve,

It's cool of you to share your knowledge; however I'm curious to know if the routines are geared towards men. Of course, I'm assuming that weight training is different for men and women (as nice and muscular as you look I wouldn't exactly want to be like you as I'm female).

Also, what's the training geared towards? Building visible muscle? Or core strength?
 
RhoRho said:
Hey Steve,

It's cool of you to share your knowledge; however I'm curious to know if the routines are geared towards men. Of course, I'm assuming that weight training is different for men and women (as nice and muscular as you look I wouldn't exactly want to be like you as I'm female).

Also, what's the training geared towards? Building visible muscle? Or core strength?
Click to expand...

No. Weight training for men is no different than weight training for women. How does your body differ from mine, physiologically speaking?

Hint: It doesn't, besides the obvious differences that exist from man to woman.

The adaptations brought on from weight training are identical for man and woman.

This is a workout for the dieting individual that is geared towards muscle maintenance. It is a basic strength routine.
 
I see. I just didn't want to 'sprout' too many muscles as I see a lot of ardent female gym-goers who have such, and I don't necessarily want that look. Thanks for clearing things up.
 
RhoRho said:
I see. I just didn't want to 'sprout' too many muscles as I see a lot of ardent female gym-goers who have such, and I don't necessarily want that look. Thanks for clearing things up.
Click to expand...

No, the ONLY way to add muscle is if you are in a caloric surplus. If you are dieting, forget about it!

And even if you were in a caloric surplus, women are not hormonally dispositioned to pack on loads of muscle. It is hard enough for a man, let alone a woman.
 
Hmmnn, you certainly give me food for thought Steve... I'm learning so much about diets and muscles and training - really exciting. Thanks for your thoughts.
 
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