Hi y'all!

"Old" newbie here. Got some questions for all the gym-rats here, especially the "o-tais". Need some feedback on my situation. Really hope that u guys can help me out. I'll try to make this as brief as possible, and please forgive me for any naive questions that I might ask.

Ok, first things first; a little info on myself.

I called myself "old" because, well, I'm 31yrs old. But i'm only now going to the gym to build that "mythical" gym body. (At least for me la).

I joined a ghetto gym (situated close to my apartment) about 1 month ago. It's owned by a former bodybuilder, and, according to him, former mr. malaysia. I'll refer to him here as "my coach".

Nway, from day one, my coach gave me a training program which he calls "Circuit Training", in which I do twelve (12) different excercises such as the following:

1. Cable Tricep Extention
2. Standing Calf raises
3. Leg extentions
4. Chest press
5. Hip twist (1minute)
6. Lat pulldown
7. Shoulder Press
8. Decline Situps (20-25)
9. Pec Dec
10. Seated cable row
11. Leg curls
12. Standing bicep curls (dumbell)

All the above exercises (except hip-twist and sit-ups) are done 10-12reps (or till failure), and are done in that order. This is what I do monday, wednesday, and friday, and being a former athlete in my school and uni days, I give every training session everything that I got.

So here's my problem:
On my 2nd week, my coach said that I should do two (2) sets of the above Circuit Training routine. After that, everytime after training, despite feeling very tired after the gym session, I have problems sleeping at night, sometimes staying awake till morning! If I do manage to sleep, it's after 3am and I wake up feeling like I i hadnt slept at all.
On top of that, I've fallen sick twice in the last month.

When I first decided to start gym training, my initial short term goal was to build up as much mass as possible till July, after which I would start doing more cardio, and go into the "cutting" phase till end of November.

So guys, my dilemma is:-

1. Why do I have problems sleeping after training? Is it because I am too unfit to train like this?
2. My goal is to bulk up on muscle. Is the Circuit Training routine given to me suitable? I know I might have limited knowledge in bodybuilding/strength training, but from what I understand, shouldnt bodybuilding training consist of "Body-part days"? Or is this training supposed to build my strengh first?

To be honest, I'm already kind of bored of this routine, and going to the gym seems more like a chore, rather than a joy, now. Plus, my coach gets really annoyed if I do anything outside of his training program.


And one more question on supplements:-
1. Since I want to bulk up, should I be taking Mass Gainers or just pure Whey Protein?
The thing is, I'm 5'6" (165cm) and 69kg (152lbs), my BMI is 25.1 and my body fat is 30% (according to some test machine), so I'm not actually lean and skinny. (I have some 'love-handles'). But I've been told that Mass Gainers are better than pure Whey Protein when u want to bulk up, and that pure Whey is better suited for the cutting phase.


So, that's all for now guys. Looking forward to yr answers. Thanx in advance. And sorry if I sounded like a complete dork.

Thank you, guys, for yr advice and comments. Really appreciate it.
Sorry for this late response to all the above input, been busy on the weekend.

Nway guys, just wanted to clarify a few things;

I work-out right after work, around 6pm. It takes me about 1hr 30mins to complete the whole session. (Including warm-up, stretching, etc). So no, it's not right before sleeping. I'll usually be home at around 8pm.

As for goals, the full story is I did as much research as I could before I joined this gym. And like I said, I had set a short term goal. Which was to bulk up as much muscle as possible from March till June (12 weeks) and start cutting/loosing fat from July till November. (In fact, before I started, I stocked up on a 6lb tub of Mass Gainer, a bottle of Creatine, and a bottle of Glutamine.) In short, I guess u can say, I had it all planned.
(FYI guys, yes, I did tell 'my couch' about these goals of mine the very first day I walked into that gym.)

Enter "my couch", and the whole thing went a different direction.

*I'm trying to be very careful with my words because I believe that since I'm a relative newbie at this, my 'knowledge' is no comparison to that of an experienced BB like 'my coach', and I try my very best to respect his 'ways'. However, as you all have read, I'm experiencing a few "technicalities" that just made me more confused.

Nway, long story short, by the time I'm done with my session, I'm feeling really3x beat. Giddy, almost.

I've asked him why I'm not doing split routines, he says that "If u cant take this stuff for 3mths, than dont even think about BB (split routines) because that is alot more tougher shit.", which kind of sounded logic la, in a way.

I'd love to do some compound excersizes, but he wont let me touch anything else outside this Ciruit Training. Tried it once, wanted to do some barbell bench pressess, got a 30min lecture by him about me not listening to him, etc.

It's all very confusing. I've tried to do my homework. My general (and limited) knowledge tells me that I should do split routines, on alternate days. (So that 1. My body gets enough rest etc. and 2. I dont get bored.)

But 'my coach', who is an experienced BB, tells me that I should do a full body workout aka Circuit Training on alternate days. It's been a month. It's very tiring. I'm not the type to b**** about a little pain. But I want to make sure this this is truly the right path. To be fair to him, I believe there is some slight definition in my physique now, but I cant be sure if its also because of all the supplements I take.

Btw, everyone that joins his gym is required to do his Circuit Training routine. After 3mths or so, he'll let u do his BB rountines.

Comments, guys?

Oh yeah, I guess I should add that I want to bulk up because I've never had much of a chest and my shoulders are a bit rounded (not that wide). Mainly wanted to focus on improving these two aspects, before i go to the cutting phase.

I believe I'm an Endo/Meso. I'm a bit chubby right now (I think) but I believe that I can lose weight/fat if and when I put my mind to it.

I used to do competitive Taekwondo (state representative) when I was in school and Uni, so weight loss was part and parcel of my training way back then. It also explains why I never had much of a chest and shoulder; not much attention on those bodyparts. (Plz dont flame me for this, I'm not trying to show off or anything. I just want to explain that I believe that I have the discipline to do what ever it takes, but I want to do it right.)

So, can/should I just follow what "my coach" says, or should I try (somehow) to do normal split routines? I dont want to waste time doing something thatss not suitable for my goals.

So fellas, looking forward to your response on this, and thanks again. Cheers.

*Supposed to go to the gym today, but whole body is still a bit sore from last Friday's workout...

Syd G, apparently, they are.

And I totally agree with pizzaboy when he says that as time goes by, new and improved methods of doing things surface, and there are reason they exist.

At the same time, I also agree with Syd G's point No 3.

*I did some reading up, and from what I understand, Circuit Training is generally used for body conditioning. It's generally done with attention to repetitions (15-20reps), at a light to medium weight. And is more appropriate for the cutting phase. (Plz correct me if I'm wrong). *Did I mention I wanted to pack on some muscle?

However, my coach's Circuit Training seems to deviate a bit from this norm.

First of all, in his own words, "If u can do 13reps of that weight, the weight is too light. It must be a weight where u can do 12reps MAX, whereby the last rep is to 'everything-u-got' failure."

Secondly, I only did 1 x 12 on the first week. And 1 x 12 was actually quite easy for me. No problem finishing it in 30mins. No problem sleeping at night. I suppose after seeing that 1 x 12 wasnt very taxing for me, he decided that I should be pushed to the next level. (In fact, 1 x 12 doest make me sore...)
So, from week two, it was 2 x 12. 12reps max.
So basically, it's 24 excersizes at 12reps max. If at anytime I am able to do any of those excersizes in more than 12reps, I must increase the weight. So, by the time i'm finished with set 2, I'm feel like I just did a 1hr 30m marathon. (To be honest, I think the Quad and Hamstring excersizes are the ones that really take alot of energy out of me).

Like I said, I'll take the pounding, if that's what it takes. But my (albeit limited) knowledge of weight training and my inability to sleep well afterwards tells me a different story.

Your thoughts, gentleman?

This post has been edited by jayElliot: Apr 7 2009, 12:50 PM

I take some apple juice added with 5g of pure creatine 30mins before i leave for the gym. Occasionally add 2pcs of wholemeal bread (with butter, for taste). That's all.

I only take 1 cup of coffee in the morning.

Overall diet;

Breakfast: 1 (sometimes 2) bowl of milk and cereal, and 2 eggs. Coffee.

Lunch: Usual white rice with 1 pc chicken, beef, and veg.

Afternoon snack: White bread toast, or Whey Protein (Depends what I'm doing and where I am at the time).

GYM (mon, tues, fri) Whey + L-Glutamine post workout.

Dinner: White rice, with veg and chicken/lean beaf etc.

Supper (before bed): Whey Protein (with 5g of L-Glutamine) with milk or some wholemeal bread.

This is the usual routine for me. Of course might deviate abit but this roughly how it is most days of the week.

Oh, and I'm a light smoker, 10 sticks a day, max.

I sleep around 12midnight everyday.
I have late-night outtings only once a month.

What stressess me out? Uh, I need mo' money.? Or maybe it's my dead-end job, but hey, everyone has one of those. ;-)

I dont think the problem is in my diet (even though I know it's less than perfect), nor any stress related factor. I used to lift weights in my ill-equiped condo gym before this, futsal as well, and I had no problems sleeping. I only have problems sleeping on the night I go to my gym. On rest days, sleep is fine.

Went to the gym yesterday.
6.15-7.45pm.

Did the usual 2x12 shit.
Couldnt sleep till 1.30 am.
Had to take sleeping pills.

Feel like getting a paintball marker and giving 'my coach' a headshot...

Sorry guys. Was a bit cranky yesterday.
Last night, sleep was fine, so feeling normal today.

iamyuanwu, yes, I've told him about it. He probably never went through it, because he looked perplexed after I told him, and he said that I wasnt eating enough and that I'm "not strong".

But whatever it is, I guess you guys are right; I should drop the intensity. As for training time, I cant really do anything about that, coz it's right after work.

Today is gym day again for me. I'll see how it goes...