ArcBound's Journal

[ArcBound]

Sup I've been reading entries in the VAULT and especially this post:
http://www.sosuave.net/forum/showthread.php?t=98203

So I'm just making a starting workout plan:
M
Squats (with dumbells)

T
Basketball (usually I play around three games or 45min to 90min)

W
Benchpress

Th
Nothing

Friday
Deadlifts

Saturday
Swim for a hour

Sunday
Nothing

I'm just about 6' but weighing in at around 150 pounds and I have no real workout experience so any help is appreciated, I'll keep a weekly log but for now I just need help setting up and anyone who can is free to do so. (especially if you see things to change in my schedule)

 

[ATP]

At the very least you should get movements in for all the major body parts in your body. This means:

Military presses
Bench presses
Bent over rows
Deadlifts
Squats

(add some ab work and rotator cuff work as well)

I realize these are dangerous exercises and you should put down time to learn the correct form. Have a PT instruct you on how to perform these exercises.

In general though (a few points on the exercises)

Squats:

Preparing for the lift

* Place your feet about shoulder width with feet pointing outward slightly
* Place the bar just below your shoulder and press your shoulder blades together as much as you can and grip the bar with as narrow grip as you can having your elbows pointing slightly backwards
* If you have shoes with soft heels then remove them and squat in socks. Having a solid foot placement is VERY important for safety and strength reasons.

Lifting
* Inhale and flex your core (abdominals, glutes and lower back)
* Make sure your arc your back during the entire movement
* Look slightly downward while you perform the lift to keep your back straight.
* Keep the weight around the middle or the back of the foot, NEVER on the toes. I repeat, keep the weight on the back of the foot, never on the toes.
* Knees should NEVER be in front of toes, do not go deeper than you can handle. Your back should be arced and knees pointing slightly outwards the whole time.

Lifting back up
* Make sure you drive with your leg and do not lift with your back. Keep the arch of the back. It is not a squat if you good morning the weight up.
* Keep the pressure in the core at all times.
* When you get up you can exhale

I wish I could video tape me squatting so you could see a proper squat but keep this in mind and you should save yourself some trouble. Nvm, found a good article about it. http://stronglifts.com/how-to-squat-with-proper-technique-fix-common-problems/

Deadlift
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8u899wRnwqs

Must watch!!


Bench presses

Some general tips:

*Squeeze your shoulder blades together so your delts are pushed backwards. Whenever you lift you should NEVER let your deltoids move upwards. This put a lot of pressure on the rotator cuffs and that is bad. By pushing the deltoids back you involve the correct muscles more.
* Do not have a too wide grip. Elbows flared out is bad form for bench presses, you should have your elbows turned slightly inwards when you bench press to save pressure on the rotator cuffs. A good width might be to hold the bar one fist length wider than shoulder width.
* Place your feet firmly on the floor, it helps stabilize and move more weight
* Inhale and flex your core as you perform the lift.
* Do not lock your elbows at the top. It put a lot of strain on your joints.

Military presses

* Squeeze, glutes and core while you lift the weight. Chest should be pointing forward
* Push your shoulder blades together and keep them tight. THis locks the delts and makes it safer to push the weight.
* Inhale and push the weight upwards. Grip should be a bit wider than shoulder width. Feet should be placed in about shoulder width or heels touching if you like that more.
* Tilt your head slightly forward during the lift to minimize leaning backwards and cheat.

Come to think of it it is pretty hard to describe how to perform them but get the form down first by having instructor or PT showing how to perform the lifts. This is crucial if you want to stay injury free. Most gym trainees are walking injuries waiting to happen. Take injury prevention seriously and you will progress so much quicker. This means:

1. Learning the proper form on exercises, this means taking the first few weeks on learning the proper way to perform them even if it is boring!
2. Not lifting with the ego. I.e not lifting more weights than you can handle.
3. Doing proactive work to keep injuries from happening (rotator cuff exercises).

A site where you can get some exercises are here http://www.exrx.net/Lists/WtMale.html

Be careful though, all lifts are not performed in the proper way on that site but they give a general good indication on how they should be performed.

 

[ArcBound]

Monday, I did my first squats first doing a set using no weights and then going up to 50lbs for the second set. Squats are harder than they look, I made sure my knees didn't pass my toes and went down until I was parallel to the floor. I found that it exercised my legs but also hurt my shoulders a little which might mean my form is not right. Then I did some leg presses 90lbs 2 sets @ 20 reps each. Seems like it did something since I stumbled a bit while walking back to my dorm.

Tomorrow is Tuesday so I'll just be playing basketball for cardio and then doing situps.

W
Bench press and Military press

 

[RMM]

I found that it exercised my legs but also hurt my shoulders a little which might mean my form is not right.

Hm? Depends what hurts. When squatting you're keeping your muscles on the upper back tensed and you're resting the weight on them, so it's not rare for them to be sore. (Though I'm sure someone with more knowledge than me will be able to tell you for sure).

 

[Cure]

To re-iterate, be sure to include something for your upper back

barbell rows, or pull ups.

Other than that you've got a good program worked out, make sure you eat above maintainance, eating enough is, in my experiance, the most difficult part of weight training.

Cure.

 

[ArcBound]

@Cure yeah I upped my meals in a day to 4 and ate slightly more in each
Today I did my first deadlift. I started at 90lbs and did just about 10 reps and 2 sets. My lower back felt tighter after doing (which I'm guessing is supposed to happen) but not sore yet. Ironically when I did squats on Monday my legs weren't sore until the next day.

OK so my schedule edited somewhat is:
M
Squats
Leg Press

T
Basketball
Situps

W
Deadlifts
(Pullups or Barbell Rows not sure yet)

Th
Nothing

F
Bench Press
Military Press

Sat
Swimming

Sun
Nothing

 

[Cure]

Good stuff!
I started dead's on about 90lb to! you can put weight on the bar pretty fast so long as you get someone who knows what they are doing to check your form.
Generally muscle pain only kicks in the next day (DOMS) , if you back was tight/sore after doing the dead's your form may be off slightly, leading to your back doing to much of the work.

Your schedule looks very similar to what Im doing! Do Rows and pull ups with the dead lifts.
Do Tuesdays sit-ups on dead lift day, after the dead lifts. Your abs/ core muscles are essential for stabilization, You don't want to exhaust them the day before heavy squats/dead's.

Cure.

 

[ArcBound]

I decided to record everything I do in a notebook and every time I fill up a page I will scan it here.

So currently my plan includes mainly the big three, squats, dead lifts and bench presses with a couple more things thrown in like leg presses, military presses and crunches.

Yesterday I was squatting 160lbs and doing 300lbs leg presses (though I think I can definitely do even more) at around 20 reps per set. My deadlift however I can only do 160lbs around 1-5 max reps.. Are deadlifts supposed to be a lot harder than squats? Also my benchpress is currently around 65lbs though I think I can increase it more...

Are my legs far ahead of every other body part? Should I be adding in other exercises to rectify this situation? I don't want to be the guy with super legs but scrawnyish arms

Edit, also I haven't been counting the 45lbs pole, do you count that when you consider how much weight you lift?

 

[CarlitosWay]

lol at that guy bashing curls, chest flys and lateral raises...Everyone should be doing those alongside all their big lifts whether a newb or not. It just makes sense. It doesn't make sense to neglect smaller muscles after training the bigger muscle groups. This is EXACTLY why you have some people end up with big ass shoulders, small/weak chest development, big back and legs, small calves, unbalanced arms after years of training. Than they wonder WHY?!

Compound work plus isolation work > only compound work as far as achieving the best results in strength/physique.

People act as if a couple isolation exercises a week is some how going to transfer into so much more damn work. It's doesn't, not at all.

 

[CarlitosWay]

I decided to record everything I do in a notebook and every time I fill up a page I will scan it here.

So currently my plan includes mainly the big three, squats, dead lifts and bench presses with a couple more things thrown in like leg presses, military presses and crunches.

Yesterday I was squatting 160lbs and doing 300lbs leg presses (though I think I can definitely do even more) at around 20 reps per set. My deadlift however I can only do 160lbs around 1-5 max reps.. Are deadlifts supposed to be a lot harder than squats? Also my benchpress is currently around 65lbs though I think I can increase it more...

Are my legs far ahead of every other body part? Should I be adding in other exercises to rectify this situation? I don't want to be the guy with super legs but scrawnyish arms

Edit, also I haven't been counting the 45lbs pole, do you count that when you consider how much weight you lift?

Look after shoulder/chest work add some close grip bench press work off pins, followed by a tricep extension movement like larry scott extension, dead floor tricep extensions, pjrs or something.

on Wednesday after rows/deadlifts add some bicep work + forearm work. 1-2 exercises for biceps (ez bar curls, preacher and 1 forearm movement e.g. pin wheel curls, hammer curls or reverse forearm cable curls.

bicep work in the 6-15 rep area and forearm work in the 12-15 rep area....

 

[ArcBound]

Yeah it makes sense, but around here isolation exercises sometimes get a bad rep... but I guess I'll add some because the squat/leg press day is the only day I come out dead tired and ore for the next few days, I feel like maxing out 1-5 rep deadlifts won't do much if I don't much else...

 

[CarlitosWay]

Yeah it makes sense, but around here isolation exercises sometimes get a bad rep... but I guess I'll add some because the squat/leg press day is the only day I come out dead tired and ore for the next few days, I feel like maxing out 1-5 rep deadlifts won't do much if I don't much else...

Yeah just find what works for you and you only. Some people can add size very easily and some others can't and will need more attention/volume to certain areas. It's all about trial and error.

 

[CarlitosWay]

add one fly movement after chest work also and one lateral movement after shoulders. I think this will have you covered for a good while.

and please listen to ATP's advice, especially on the bench press form and keeping that upper back tight/shoulder blades essentially "pinched together" to create a platform. It will save your shoulders from the many injuries most careless lifters suffer.