How do I read this?

Question 1:
Day 1: Incline Presses: Is it read as, 4 sets of between 8 to 12 repetition of Incline Presses? Cincai 8 times or 10 times or 12 times also can?

Or is it read as 4 sets of Incline PResses, starting with 8 repetition first set, 10 repetition second set, 12 repetition third set?


Question 2:
Day 2: Pullups 3x Failure means?


Question 3:
Day 3: 70% MHR means Max Heart Rate?



============

Day One:

Chest/Triceps/Cardio
o 4x 8-12 Incline Presses
o 3 x 8-12 Incline Flyes
o 2x 8-12 Press Machine
o 3x 8-12 Either Pec Dec or Cable Crossovers
o 3x 8-12 Rope Pushdowns
o 4x 8-12 Skull Crushers (French Presses)
o 2x failure Dips or Bench Dips
o 2x 8-10 Kickbacks

print Click Here For A Printable Log Of Day One.

Day Two:

Back/Biceps
o Pullups 3x Failure
o Partial Deadlifts 3x 8-12
o Bent Over Rows 2x 8-12
o One-arm Rows 3x 8-12
o Pullovers 2x 10-15
o Straight Bar Curls 3x 8-12
o Alternating Curls 3x 8-12
o Hammer Curls 3x 8-12
o Reverse Curls 3x 8-12

print Click Here For A Printable Log Of Day Two.

Day Three:

Abs/Cardio
o Leg Raises 3x failure
o Decline crunches 3x failure
o Cable crunches 3x failure
o Side Bends 2x failure
o Treadmill 30 mins @ moderate rate... 70% MHR

print Click Here For A Printable Log Of Day Three.

Day Four:

Traps & Shoulders
o Dumbbell Shrugs 4x 8-12
o Upright Cable Row 4x 8-12
o Rear Delts Raise 3x 8-12
o Shoulder Presses 4x 8-12
o Front Raises 3x 8-12
o Side Raises 4x 8-12

print Click Here For A Printable Log Of Day Four.

Day Five:

Legs/Calves/Cardio
o Leg Extensions 3x10
o Leg Curls 3x10
o Front Squats 4x 8-12
o Hack Squats 3x 8-12
o Walking Lunges 2 sets
o Standing Calve Raises 3x 8-12
o Horizontal Calve Presses 3x 12-15

answer to question 1:

Incline presses... do it for min. of 8 times, max. 12 times.. so u can do it 8, 9, 10, 11 or 12 times as u can.. per set... do 4 sets... tat means if one set, u do it 8 times, then 4 sets, u will have to do at least 32 times..

answer to q 3:

MHR is max. heart rate...

This post has been edited by youngkies: Jun 25 2006, 06:15 AM

Bro... crazy, crazy routine. That's going to lead to overtraining, especially for arm work, with quite a number of useless exercises in between. Where'd you get it from?

bodybuilding.com

I'm not going to do it.
I just wanna know how to read it nia... the 3x Failure means?

Yo! Well, the first number is the number of sets. Each set has a number of reps. So, 3 x 10 means 3 sets of 10.

3 x failure means 3 sets, each set, you'll be doing the repetition till failure in the positive phase of the rep.

Oh I see... I get it. Push yourself till you fail la... Understood. Thank you.

Darklight79,
Is that you in your own avatar? How much weight is that you're carrying?

i still don't understand about the set. Is there any delay between the set?. Or we just rotate all the exercises untill the set are completed?

usually i rest 2 minutes for eact reps set....

for example i did biceps curl 12-10-8
after 12 reps,
i continue with squats.....i did that bcoz want to rest my arm a while...
dunno thats a good method or not

Chow.

Would like to ask the proper way for breathing while pumping.

Inhale when you exert strenght and exhale when you go back to the beginning position

OR

Exhale when you exert strenght and inhale when you go back to beginning position.

The trainers have been giving me different answers and i would like to know the proper way to it

Hi Pennywise. Yes, that's me in the avatar. Was deadlifting 200kgs. I'm constantly trying to improve my lifts. The 200kg barrier was an important PR for me. It hurt like a b**** though.

ExCrIpT, the general rule is, exhale on the positive phase of the repetition and inhale on the negative phase.
It's slightly different on some exercises like squats and deadlifts where you need to maintain intra abdominal pressure while going down.
But that's the general rule.

darklight79,

1. Important PR... what does PR mean?

2. Btw, what's positive phase of the repetition and inhale on the negative phase? Care to share your knowledge for a beginner?

3. By the way, how much does a 6ft bench press bar weighs?

This post has been edited by Pennywise: Jun 26 2006, 03:37 AM

darklight79,
I have been wanting to lose weight, body build, get more confidence, feel better, live healthier for a while now. I finally found some time to do it.

For starters, I have a workout plan made by my friend, student in Sports Management in Australia and also a diet plan made by another friend who is a nutritionist.

Here's my sample workout. Simple running / jogging / walking every morning at 6am for ~30 - 40 minutes coupled with low fat diet. Can you kindly comment on my workout plan?

Monday - Chest
Bench Press 3x10
Incline Press 3x10
Dumbell Bench Press 3x10
Dumbells Flys 3x10

Monday - Back
Lat Pulldown (Front & Back) 3x10
Upright Row 3x10
Shrugs 3x10
T-Bar Row (Alternative Cable Row) 3x10
One Arm Dumbell Row 3x10
Deadlift 3x10
=============================================

Wednesday - Biceps
Barbell Curl 3x10
Alternate Biceps Curl 3x10
Easy Bar Curl 3x10
Concentration Curls 3x10

Wednesday - Legs
Squats 3x10
Leg Press 3x10
Leg Extension 3x10
Hamstring Curl 3x10
Lunges 3x10
=============================================

Friday - Shoulder
Military Press 3x10
Front Flys 3x10
Side Flyes 3x10
Lateral Flys 3x10

Friday - Triceps
Cable Tricep Extension 3x10
Reverse Tricep Pulldown 3x10
Lying Tricep Press 3x10
Standing One-Arm Tricep Extension 3x10

Friday - Abs
Decline Crouch 3x10
Dumbell Side Bend 3x10



Can you kindly comment on this? Currently, I'm not too strong. I bench press a 6ft bar with 15kg per side for about 3 sets of 10 repetition. I ended up with my palms hurting. My friend taught me instead of relying on my palm, I must bench press using a punch movement. When I pushed it up, I have to breath in and hold my breath to feel the chest muscles? Is that correct?

I tell you how much I can carry now because I am hoping you can tell me what's a good weight to start off with my workout above? My friend who made me the workout plan said I should increase my weight every 2 weeks.

Lastly, I am currently not any gym member yet but I am looking forward to join back Fitness First in Aug when my friend leaves abroad and transfer sells me her membership.

P/S: I am quite sure I cant do many of these without joining the gym. All I have at home is the bench press chair, a 6ft bar, 2 dumbells and some weights.

This post has been edited by Pennywise: Jun 26 2006, 03:44 AM

I'm sorry but i'm going to be honest here. That's bloody crazy insane volume and gonna lead to overtraining and a burnout. Tell your friend you don't need direct arm work, period. I rarely do direct arm work and i have 17 inch arms, and even if i do, i throw in 3-4 sets of arm work at the end of my workout. Even if you must, do back and biceps on one day, chest and triceps together on one day. And keep arm work to a minimum.
And back day, deadlifts at the end of the back routine? It should be done at the beginning. Your friend seriously needs to revise the program given for you. Too many isolation exercises, they need to be dropped, pronto. I don't wanna see you burnout fast.
My workout volume is less than half of that routine.

is each day do both program? If it is yes, then that's crazy wei~~~~~ I think it mean for 1 program each day, and switch program on the next same day.

it is exhale when you push or use your force on bench press and inhale when you going down.

Which is better? Slightly heavier weights + low reps or slightly lighter weights + high reps?

pennywise, you siao ar? Starter only do so many things already. I think your body cannot even heal up well on wednesday when you go for your second routine. the best I think will be letting your body full rest for at least 48 hours then decide on the second routine.

I think is too heavy packed already your workout routine. Probably you can do it after 1-2 months into the normal routine... Your body also needed rest leh... some more you are beginner, you will hurt yourself even more.

I've been to gym before so I am not beginner. Ok la, maybe beginner since I quitted liao. Was member at FF and then CF 1U, now no more.

Anyway, is the training really that heavy? I think it's alright lor. I dont intend to go with heavy weights. Maybe 15kg per dumbell.

I just wish I know the right weights for me.

A lot of ppl say, if you want buff, WWE body like The Rock, you take HEAVY weights but LOW repetitions. If you want dancer or Olympic sprinter body, you take LESS weight but MORE repetitions. How true is this statement?

We're talking about volume here. It is way too much imo. I've been training many years and my volume has never been that high. I know some people who compete and their volume isn't that high either. Too many exercises.

lol, that really is alot in your list, are you sure you arent going to overwork yourself?
i do less than half of what you have on the list hell i dont even know what half of the things you listed are . i'd probably stop half way exhausted overworked and straight out tired of it. unless you've already been working out regularly over the past few months you cant just jump straight into a heavy routine, chances are you'll burn out and quit, start small and build up.

As true as the fact that masturbating a lot will give you hairy palms.

What the..... ? You could have just said no right?

Lol... *****.

lol, but that would give a better impression and commits to memory better.

If you want to be Bruce Lee big, lift heavy.

If you want to be Brad Pitt big, lift heavy.

If you want to be The Rock big, lift heavy.

If you want to be Arnold big, lift heavy.

Point is, there are only 2 things you can do for your physique, build muscle and reduce bodyfat.

Huh? Then how do those dancers / body pump and The Rock get their body? If they have done the same workout, wouldnt they end up the same?

*looks at bare palms*
I'm such an innocent.....

I want muscle definition not boulders on my chest. Whats your routine like darklight? Heavy, less reps or light, more reps? You're power training or going for arnold-like buffness?

I powerbuild actually. My routine is a bodybuilding routine but built up around the big three; squat, bench press and deadlift, as priority.
Imo, if these 3 core exercises are weak, other lifts don't matter at all, period.

If you want definition, it doesn't really have much to do with the weight training routine but diet and cardio.

*Looks at palms*





Gawd! The hair, THE HAIR!!!! I'M GONNA HELL!

Ok, maybe my workout plan is too much. I will surf something up from bodybuilding.com.

Darklight79 sifu, if everyone lift heavy weights - how do those dancers / body pump and The Rock get their body? If they have done the same workout, wouldnt they end up the same?

You stop going heavier when you reach your ideal physique. It's not like you lift heavy and in 3 months from nothing *POOF* Shiet. I'm the Rock, beech. No, it doesn't happen that way. Growth comes gradually.

-edit-

But of course you can always follow the routines of what certain people do to get their physiques and hope that there is enough strenous activity to stimulate muscle growth.

This post has been edited by FleshWound: Jun 27 2006, 06:38 AM

^^^^^^^^^^^

He answered it. But i would like to add bigger weights + DIET = bigger muscles.
You have no idea how much i eat, especially on workout days.
And Pennywise, please don't call me sifu, there're plenty of other experienced members on this board too.

Anyway, general rule, if you're getting stronger but not growing, your routine is good but your diet sucks, if you're getting bigger but your lifts are stagnant, then a person's diet is good but the routine sucks. This is a GENERAL rule but not applicable to all situations.
I can easily tell you now that bodybuilding is 70% diet and 30% other factors. My friends on bb.com have repeatedly drilled this into my head. I've trained for many years and while i got pretty strong, my growth stagnated after i jumped from 55kg to 78kg.
After i started eating right, my lifts exploded and my bodyweight increased to 97kg. Fooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooood!



This post has been edited by darklight79: Jun 27 2006, 09:29 AM

now gimme some of your food.....i dun have money to buy
rite now only taking HL milk.....
before this only lift weight but eat crap foods....
dun giv a damn bout DIET


Chow.

darklight, we gotta go out someday on a makan trip.
Since you eat a lot.
Yet even you say I eat a lot. (C'mon, I'm always hungry!)
I feel like a hippo.

97KG now.......
wao! I dont think I want to be that range at all as I am only 170cm. 65kg - 70kg I think is max for me adi...

nah...i'm 176CM
When I was 63, I said 70's ideal. Now I'm 70, I'm aiming for 80KG's.
When I reach 80, I'm gonna want 85, but I think that's it for me. 85KG's

Btw, I think darklight's about your height.

nah.. I think I will try to maintain my weight and workout at the same time. Getting heavier in muscles scares me sometimes when I think about later in life when I cant exercise that much anymore. hehehe... no offense

right. i agreed with you. if you dont eat well, then it is impossible for your muscle to grow. simple rule is.. eat more, pump more = muscle increase. if you eat less and pump more, will not get your further...

pennywise, long time no see. based on your daily routine, honestly, is over-loaded. some of the movement is unnecessary. if you want to do it, you can swap the movement. e.g. this week do these movement and following week do another movement.

from what i know, during bulk up stage, no matter how you diet, somehow you will get fat. maybe my way of gaining muscle is not same with darklight79 (no offence)... but it achieve the same result at the end. pro and con...

the answer is to do the right movement. doesnt care how heavy you carry... as long you do the right movement, your muscle will grow if you eat well and rest well.

dont follow like other gym fella where they tend to carry heavy yet doing wrong movement... e.g. i saw ppl doing standing barbell curl... carry heavy weight and when doing it, the whole body swinging front and back. this is wrong.

dont let other ppl influence you on these. as long you do correct way... is good enough. just like darklight79 said, many BB doesnt carry so heavy... remember these point.

Yep! Correct form with moderate poundages > crappy form with heavy poundages.

I've seen that form of exercise you describe. They're called clean curls, done by guys who load up too heavy on barbell curls and end up using their lower back to swing it up.

Pennywise, as for your workout routine, i seriously recommend you take off direct arm work. Focus on packing on slabs of muscle, build a good foundation, then start specializing in arm work later.
The body's physiology is built in such a way that a person's lower back will not allow him to curl more than what his lower back can support. So if you focus on barbell rows, deadlifts, squats to strengthen your posterior chain, then you'll be able to curl more in good form without swaying your back.

Stop going heavier when I reach my ideal physique. Well, thank you for your advice. Sometimes, I just dont know how long the whole regime will take. My friend who goes to gym tells me that it's a lifestyle that can never stop. It will be a part of me to continue looking fit. Once I stop, I will just grow another belly.

I've been in this board long enough to know that darklight79 and nonameNo are the ones that rule this section of the board. Dont be humble with your knowledge, the label "sifu" suits you two best. Your knowledge can be of help to many of us.

So, how much do you actually eat? If it's not too much of a trouble, why not share your weekly diet here with us? Are you the 10-half-boil-eggs every morning type? I'm pretty sure you're not the bah-kut-teh type though.

I wouldnt want a makan trip but I was hoping darklight79 could share his diet plan with us.

Well, different height then should probably go with different weight eh? What's MY ideal weight since I'm 191cm?

It just keeps getting more and more eh? But if it's muscles, then it's ok. If it's fats, then its a problem.

What happens to your muscle when you cant exercise that much anymore? They all just go away or they drop and change into fats?

Yea, long time no see. I'll be going back to FF in Aug!! Yay!!

I've been reading so much about eating and dieting but when I go look around in bb.com and other boards, I can only find food and stuff thats only found in the US. Like our lifes here in Msia. Most of the time, I eat out as my house dont cook. Mamak, chinese food, fast food is our style.

I have a nutritionist friend who advice me on some healthy eating habits. So far, she drafted two diet plans for me but I have not put them into practice yet. Before I even bulk up, I wanna thin down a bit first. When I hit dual-digit weight like 99 and below, I will work up some muscles.

My friends used to push me a lot, always adding more weight. Until my palm and elbows hurt only stop. They keep pushing it, of course with some support and helping with bench press and etc. So, all these while I thought, carrying heavier = powerbuild = faster growing muscles... Wrong?

My muscles are growing. I can feel it and watch it on the biceps and feel it on the triceps. Now, I need to work on the tummy. I just need to go out and workout more than just sit here on forums, anime and programming.

I so seriously need someone to help me on my workout plan... For now, I'll just do those that I can do at home, every alternate days without miss.

Bruce lee training by lifting heavy? I tot his trainning duration is long.

bruce lee did alot and i mean ALOT of weight lifting.

- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruce_lee

thnks for the link, but still need a good guild for tht. Any1 in to boxing? How much to buy a sandbags?

Guild like monday-to-sunday.

This post has been edited by silllver: Jul 2 2006, 02:11 AM

eh guild?

sandbags can be bought for as low as RM235(i think? the 1utama new wing sports shop has i think, light weight one).

depends on how big and how heavy a bag you want.

just a side note, if you're training to box as a sport thats fine but if you're going for boxing as a method of self defense, that may work on inexperienced attackers but as most of us who have been in a few fights will probably know, boxing dont do crap when someone brings his knee up to your chin or his heel down on your neck.

This post has been edited by malaysianPotato: Jul 2 2006, 12:39 PM

basically, below is my current training routine:
session 1 (chest, shoulder, triceps)
flat bench press
incline dumbell flyes (superset to failure)
dumbell press
side raises (superset to failure)
shrug (to failure)
dips (to failure)
tricep pushdowns (superset to failure)
cruches (for abs)

session 2 (legs)
squats
leg extensions (superset to failure)
calve raises
reverse crunches
back extension

session 3 (back, bicep)
wide grip pull-ups (to failure)
seated cable rows
latbar pulldown (superset to failure)
standing dumbell curls (to failure)
hammer curls (to failure)
crunches

(the session is categorized based on muscle groups involved in the compound exercises.)
reps & sets:
2 warmup set with light weight (8-10 reps)
then 8-10reps -> 8 reps -> 6 reps -> 4-5 reps -> (burnout set with lighter weight)
-> supersets

i don't follow this routine exactly everytime, but follow its principle:
compound exercises always come b4 isolation exercises

there r excellent alternatives for compound exercises like deadlift (darklight79's favourite ), bent over rows which i will pickup when i change my routine

This post has been edited by T+1: Jul 2 2006, 11:16 AM

you're doing everything to failure! what does failure mean in this context? going to the point where you can no longer do it?

as i m doing the workout alone (no spotter), my context of failure is a bit different. my failure point is when i cannot perform the raise in correct form, e.g. a bit swing, a bit shacky
the supersets r just to "pump" my muscles.

ah, that makes sense.

Pretty solid routine. All the bodyparts seem covered. The split is something like mine, except i don't do arm work nor isolations. Good stuff.
But one correction, nothing will be an alternative to deadlifts for the posterior chain, see that you start doing it.
And try not to train to failure all the time, you're going to burn out your CNS at that rate. And you don't want that, trust me. Overall, pretty soild routine.

ic, will take note on it ...

btw, as my tempo is quite slow (3-1-3), actually my failure point is still in my comfortable zone

just curious that anybody try with "High Intensity Training" (HIT) Program.
an info link HIT Program
dunno about it b4, but it sounds very convincing
(but i won't follow it...)

This post has been edited by T+1: Jul 2 2006, 10:35 PM

It doesn't matter about your tempo range. Going to failure all the time will burn out CNS. If you want to go till failure, try doing it on the last set or burnout set at the end of an exercise, not the first or second heavy set.

Tried it. It built some strength but not much for hypertrophy gains. Too many flaws in HIT.
They keep preaching about overtraining but overtraining is overrated if your diet is in order. But that doesn't mean we should do 20 sets per bodypart.
They're too dogmatic and go emo when a person does more than one set.

thanks. after googled the net, i found that train to failure is unnecessary and lead to longer recovery time.

If you wanna do boxing, might as well go for kickboxing. I know a class in Hartamas, very active, very fun and plenty of lenglui. Surprisingly, there are more women in a kickboxing class than men.

So far, I've been cross-training for 1 week. Have not lose much weight. I am alternating between my workouts, doing what I can only at home. Have not join a gym yet.

Okie, deadlifts are not fun. No wait they're fun, but they're not easy.
Strangely, only y'day I did deadlifts , and at night after a good heavy dinner when I sat on my chair, I could actually feel back muscles jutting out.

COooL weiH~
Today still got, tomorrow donno got not.

thats because the kick boxing most gyms teach are simply throwing fists and feet around. most men dont bother with that we go straight for muaythai or thai boxing. its like going for some of the taekwondo or karate schools in malaysia, its embarrasing how unprepared for a fight some of the upper students and teachers are. if you're going to learn something learn it right, its better to learn propper boxing than it is to learn some musical kickboxing. but if the kick boxing you're talking about consists of hard sparring and practical combat techniques than ignore this.

Well, you make a lot of sense to me. But I think most people who join kickboxing isnt for the martial art but rather sweat it out, like Body Pump program.

I wanna learn "TIGER UPPERCUT!" from Sagat of Street Fighter II.

Any advice for getting my tummy muscle and my 2 chest muscle up. I want to build a good looking body. ( not a heavy lifter)