T Nation

Advice on My Created Workout

Bodybuilding
#1

I am pretty much a begginer who is overweight and I have crappy strenght :frowning: I’m 17 6’0 255 and my 1RM for bench, squat and DL are ~ 200, 315, 350.

I decided to try and make my own workout because I would probably be more proud of myself if I got results… lol

My goal is to loose fat and build muscle/strenght at the same time (yeah I know it is hard to do both at once, unless you are really fat, which I am.)

My reasoning behind this is that from what I have read on this site over the past few weeks… too many artices to count. Compound movements should be the primary focus of any workout plan. So here goes nothing.

Day:1
3x8 @ 10RM for all

A1 Bench Press
A2 Seated Cable Row
B Back Squat
C1 Military press
C2 Pull up
D1 Dip
D2 Upright Row
E Dead Lift

Day:3
3x8 @ 10RM for all

A1 Barbell Curl
A2 Some form of tricep extension
B1 Calves
B2 Shrugs

Day:5
Same specs as day 1 but do the workout in reverse order.

Day:7,13,19

Same as 1 but with more weight. (hopefully)

Day:9,15,21

Same as 3 but with more weight.

Day:11,17,23

Same as 5 but with more weight.

Well as you can see the middle day is to hit the smaller muscle with isolation exercises (lower volume) while the outer days are total body workouts with compound movements. I made it this way because my biceps and triceps are really fucking weak.

The reason for switching the order of workouts on the total body days is so that I’m not always performing certain exercises with full energy and others when I’m tired, which I think would lead to imbalanced gains.

I’m not sure on what my rest times should be maybe 60 seconds beetween antagonist training and 120 beetween straight sets? I got the antagonist part from some of Waterbury’s articles and I liked the idea.

For nutrition I was thinking about ~2500 calories a day with 200g of protien. I plan to buy HRX, Surge, (out of stock@%#&!) Grow!, Metabolic Drive, ZMA.

So any help would be appreciated. Be brutally honest. If the program sucks say so. My goals would probably be to be around 200 pounds <15% body fat within the next 4-5 months hopefully that is achievable.

On another note… I just noticed that my title has way too many capital letters… I’ll just play it off and say that “My Created Workout” is some special name that deserves caps.

#2

If your goal is to lose fat and build muscle at the same time, you need to take more of a bodybuilder’s approach to your weight training regimen. For example, i think it would be most effective in your case to use a three-day split such as…

Day 1: Chest and tris
Day 2: Back and bis
Day 3: Legs and shoulders
Day 4: Rest
-train calves and abs on alternating days

Although you may notice that most professional bodybuilders use four or five day splits, it is very difficult to match their training intensity to where your muscles would only need to be trained once a week. In the case of most beginners, training each body part twice a week seems to be most effective. However, as you become more and more experienced in the weight room and you begin to increase training intensity and sets per bodypart, your routine should develop into one more similar to a bodybuilder’s, eventually training each bodypart only once per week.

You should begin your workout on day 1 with bench, day 2 with deadlift, and day 3 with squat, and then experiment around to find two or three other supplementary exercises that you like per bodypart. And when I say “that you like” that doesn’t actually mean exercises that you enjoy doing, it means exercises that yield the most results, so don’t try taking the easy way out fat ass.

Also, I noticed that you do not pyramid the reps of any of your exercises. In your case, it will be most effective to do 12 reps on your first set, 10 on your second, 8 on your third set, and then on your compound lifts such as bench, squat, and deadlift, do a final set of 6 reps. By the way, you don’t just do less reps on each set, you increase the weight each set so you reach failure at the specified number of reps.

As far as rest between sets goes, quit thinking so god damn much. You know when you’re ready to do another set. However, that doesn’t mean you can try and sneak a twinkie in between sets big boy. Stay focused throughout your workout and rest time between sets will become instinctive.

If I were you I would add Hydroxycut Hardcore to your supplement program. Good shit.

So, you told us to tell you if you’re routine sucks, and well, it fuckin sucks. No one does full body workouts anymore, unless they’ve got a pussy or false teeth, and hopefully you don’t have either of those, so if you want to see some results muck your program and pick up on a more bodybuilder-oriented style of lifting.

P.S.
six small meals a day, lots of cardio, green tea
keep us posted

#3

Hi
I’ve just started training again after 8 months break and I have similar goals. I’m quite fat but still have quite a lot of muscle (which is quite strange after 8 months :slight_smile: but I’ve lost alot of strength instead. I can describe you my current routine.

I dont train legs (squat DL because of ankle injury)

I train 3 days per week.

A workout
Bench press for strength (4x6) for now later maybe 5x5, 6x4 or working for max triple I don’t know yet.

rest of training sth along EDT meets Gironda. 6x6 with 30 second breaks. Currently when I do 6x6 I add weight later maybe i’ll decrase rest periods.
incline BP
Dynamic shrugs
Biceps curls
incline bench curls
bent over laterals
sth for forearm
abs

B workout
Pulldowns for strength (i’m too weak/heavy for pullup now :frowning:

rest as in A workout
seated cable rows
narrow grip bench press
seated dumbell extensions
standing side laterals
sth for forearm
sth for abs

I’ve been working for 3 weeks now and have gained 45 pounds in bench press in that time.

Your training is ok but you could change a rep scheme a little bit. you ve got only 3x8. try 3x8 and 4x6 or 3x8 and 8x3. Check Chad Waterbury rep scheme bible article. I prefer 4x6 5x5 6x4 as i had great strength gains on this rep schemes when I trained before.
your 1st workout has too many exercises.
And your second workout its basically arms. Take some movements from 1st one and throw to the second one and it should be okm

hope this help

#4

If you are a beginner, stay away from body part splits. Just perform full body workouts w/ no special techniques yet. (i.e. drop sets, EDT, etc) Keep it simple. Focus on compound movements w/ occasional “isolation” movements if you want. Balance push/pull, hip/quad dominant movements etc. Save the more advanced stuff for down the road.

GL,

Danny

#5

If you are a beginner, why are you trying to create your own program? You mentioned that you read Waterbury’s articles. Use one of his programs! Read the posts on his articles, and you can see what people have to say after doing them (10x3 For Fat Loss comes to mind).

You could also look into Cosgrove’s New Rules of Lifting, or any of the other contributor’s articles here. There is no need for you to try to make up your own routine, when there are so many great ones already. The moral of the story is: Don’t reinvent the wheel… (Especially when you don’t have a M.S. or PhD in kinesiology).

#6

PapaJ,

Why do you believe that a bodybuilding style workout is best for the fat loss/muscle mass goal?

Also, what would your leg/shoulder day look like?

#7

Buckeye-

The shoulder/leg workout is very tough, I admit, especially if you’re training as hard as you should be. I play football at Princeton University, and we obviously hit the weights very hard. I don’t train legs and shoulders on the same day anymore, but when I did, it would look about like this…

Military
DB Press
Lateral Raises superset w/
Bent Lateral Raises
Shrugs

Back Squat
Leg Press
Leg Extensions
Leg Curls or Stiff-Leg Deadlift

As far as the bodybuilding question goes, what do you think bodybuilers live and die on? Gaining muscle and losing fat!

#8

You have created a fairly good program.

Now get to it.

You made the right choice by choosing total body workouts.

#9

http://www.T-Nation.com/readTopic.do?id=508031

For full body splits.

#10

I see no valid reason why a body part split would be superior in your situation.

Could it be effective? Yes

Are there other methods at least as effective? Yes

i would stick with the full body, obviously something drew you to it so go for it.

However I would NOT design your own program. Yes you will be more encouraged if you get results, but you will also be more DISCOURAGED if you don’t get results. Spend some time actually using the routines you have read about only then can you really know how to apply what you have learned from reading.

If you want to stick with your program I wouldnt do it as laid out. Why not do three full workouts instead of two hardcore ones (8 compound exercises is a real ass kicker) and one half assed? This way you will take full advantage of the added freaquency full body allows. My honest opinion is 3 full body is perfect for your goal because you can stimulate a much larger amount of muscle mass each session. This will help burn more calories, and as a beginner the weight your moving doesnt require a full weeks recovery.

I would go straight to Waterburys’ Total Body Training and never look back