Tweak my Workout, you veterans

[Lees Dragon]

Right. My new workout; based on bodyweight exercises and intensity.

I've laid out the basic layout, and i need help in tweaking it and fixing it.

I'm basically aiming at muscle gain and building strength.

3 days a week: (sat. or sun. or mon. or fri)

Each of the 3 days i do one of the following:

No. 1

Dips 3 sets of 10 reps
Push ups 4 sets of 25 reps
planche holds 1 set of 60 secs
Bodyweight Rows 3 sets of 7 reps
Weighted Bench Dip 3 sets of 8 reps (40 kg)
Sandbag clean and press 3 sets of 10 reps (40 kg)
cross crunches 1 set of 25 reps
Handstand push ups 4 sets of 10 reps
Pistols 3 sets of 10 reps
Springing Tiger Hold 2 sets of 60 secs
Deep knee bends 2 sets of 50 reps
Sandbag Step ups 3 sets of 20 reps (40kg)

No. 2

Dips 3 sets of 10 reps
Push ups 4 sets of 25 reps
planche holds 1 set of 60 secs
Bodyweight Rows 3 sets of 7 reps
Lower Ab thrust 2 sets of 20 reps
Lower Ab roll ups 2 sets of 20 reps
Frog Crunch 2 sets of 30 reps
Bench Crunch 2 sets of 30 reps
cross crunches 1 set of 25 reps
Pistols 3 sets of 10 reps
Deep knee bends 2 sets of 50 reps
Wall Squats 3 sets of 60 secs
Sandbag Full Squats 3 sets of 10 reps (40kg)

No. 3

Dips 3 sets of 10 reps
Push ups 4 sets of 25 reps
planche holds 1 set of 60 secs
Bodyweight Rows 3 sets of 7 reps
Lower Ab thrust 2 sets of 20 reps
Lower Ab roll ups 2 sets of 20 reps
Frog Crunch 2 sets of 30 reps
Bench Crunch 2 sets of 30 reps
Deep knee bends 2 sets of 50 reps
Wall Squats 3 sets of 60 secs
Sandbag Full Squats 3 sets of 10 reps (40kg)
Pistols 3 sets of 10 reps
Springing Tiger Hold 2 sets of 60 secs


As you can see its completely random, and i didnt organize it yet.
I await your wisdom ppl.

[Steve]

Just pick up some objects and toss them around rather than doing "deep knee bends" for muscle gain

[mr popular]

What the hell is all this?

Just get a manual labor job, and perform pushups, situps, and pullups in your free time.

[compleks]

Seems fine for a general conditioning workout.

I would throw some chinups in there as well.

[Skilzat85X]

Lower abs? Preposterous!

[Kon-El]

like compleks said, fine for general conditioning. You'll see strength and muscle gain at first, but it probably wont fly for long, ull need different parameters for strength, mostly but not limited to, less volume, higher intensity. for now i would actually put less exercises on one day, as a beginner you can improve without such high volume, but again i dont really know how hard or easy its gonna be for you currently. finally just keep things challenging (progress to harder variations) and throw in some pullups or muscleups (again as compleks mentioned).
if all this fails, move to abu dhabi, its crawling with gyms- from 7ashkal to classy.

[Lees Dragon]

Seems fine for a general conditioning workout.

I would throw some chinups in there as well.


like compleks said, fine for general conditioning. You'll see strength and muscle gain at first, but it probably wont fly for long, ull need different parameters for strength, mostly but not limited to, less volume, higher intensity. for now i would actually put less exercises on one day, as a beginner you can improve without such high volume, but again i dont really know how hard or easy its gonna be for you currently. finally just keep things challenging (progress to harder variations) and throw in some pullups or muscleups (again as compleks mentioned).


Right. Since I got two go-aheads, i'm gnna go on with this as it is.
I'll try to follow this workout for two weeks, and I'll see if I can keep up with it, and I'll see if I'm makin gains.

You can make suggestions through these two weeks, and I think I'll probably re-evaluate this workout by the end of these two weeks.

[compleks]

Constantly re-evaluate your program.

The only problem with training the way you are (which I have done in the past aswell), is that it can be hard to track your progression. Especially with limited equipment.

Set goals, and find ways of recording your results.

[Lees Dragon]

Thats really true.

But i'm not puttin too much concentration on that.
Cause that'll just interfere with overall progress. So i'm gnna keep it basic.

Basically every two weeks I check my weight, and take pictures from all sides of the body, flexed and unflexed, and I should be able to guess if i'm making progress or not.

Primitive, but it'll do for the time being.

Basic goals: Muscle Build-up and strength gain. I'm not gnna be too fussy or stict with these goals. Gnna keep them simple for now. As for fat-loss, I aint even gnna bother with that anymore.
This year is just basic progression in Lean Mass and strength.

(Things will start to get serious next year. Hopefully.)

[compleks]

Thats really true.

But i'm not puttin too much concentration on that.
Cause that'll just interfere with overall progress. So i'm gnna keep it basic.
Not sure what you mean by that. Tracking your progress wont interfere with anything.
Taking pictures is an example of tracking your progress anyway.

Basically every two weeks I check my weight, and take pictures from all sides of the body, flexed and unflexed, and I should be able to guess if i'm making progress or not.
That's good.


Basic goals: Muscle Build-up and strength gain. I'm not gnna be too fussy or stict with these goals. Gnna keep them simple for now. As for fat-loss, I aint even gnna bother with that anymore.
By 'simple', you mean vague, which let's you off the hook from setting and attaining measurable goals. Don't be afraid of failure, set yourself some solid goals to work towards. It may be to 'increase weight by 5lbs by '2 months from now'' - for example.

This year is just basic progression in Lean Mass and strength.
The pictures and bodyweight will cover progress for increasing 'lean mass'. But find a way to track strength gains aswell. That was you can set goals and monitor progress.

[Lees Dragon]

By 'simple', you mean vague, which let's you off the hook from setting and attaining measurable goals. Don't be afraid of failure, set yourself some solid goals to work towards. It may be to 'increase weight by 5lbs by '2 months from now'' - for example.

Ok. I guess my solid goal will be to have gained 5lbs by the end of the mid-term holidays.
This increase in weight, must not be accompanied by increase in body-flab (visible fat).
A side goal is to be able to do 12 chin-ups non-stop by the same time period.

The pictures and bodyweight will cover progress for increasing 'lean mass'. But find a way to track strength gains aswell. That was you can set goals and monitor progress.

Good point. I think strength gains will be measured by the amount of reps of some specific exercises. If I can do more reps than i could do before, it means my strength has increased.


PS....I just did workout number 1. Shit. It exhausted me right out. But I completed it.
But the fact that it exhausted me that much puzzles me. My body wasn't working as effeciently as it usually does. dunno why....some outer factor, perhaps.

[Robo]

PS....I just did workout number 1. Shit. It exhausted me right out. But I completed it.
But the fact that it exhausted me that much puzzles me. My body wasn't working as effeciently as it usually does. dunno why....some outer factor, perhaps.

Overdoing it much? =P You could just tone down the exercises instead of diving in that hardcore. Did you do those exercises before? I would die if I started out with 3x10r dips. Then again, dips aren't exactly my strong point... Perhaps try rearranging your exercises, or just toning them down a bit? Not being able to do 100 dips in a row does not make you weak.

And maybe you should stop overanalyzing everything. =P I read your questions in the H&N forum. What's the use of overanalyzing? I don't see the point. Understanding what you're doing is one thing, but trying to find an obscure reason for why you can't do 3x10 dips straight away? I don't know...

[Ashtar]

I never know what a deep knee bend is, I figure it's either a BW squat, or a hindu squat.

[Lees Dragon]

Damn....I'm feelin rather damned!

I havent worked out for like 2 weeks now, and i wont be workoing out for the next 4 weeks either. DAMMIT!

This last year at high school has really gotten us pressurised to the max. I barely have any spare time, never mind time to work out. My sleepin patterns for these last two weeks have been shit.
What can I say....If i wnna get a shot to get into a good University or College in a cool country, i'm gnna have to put up with this.

But I feel damn guilty about not exercising (well...i do got to kung fu 3 times a week, so thats at least something).

[receive]

I can never understand how school takes up so much of some peoples' time. You're there for like 7 hours, with at least an hour of free time, and then you go home and just forget about it until the next day. Do you go to bed at 4pm?

[Kitosho]

I didn't do a single homework assignment my entire senior year of high school and I got into U of M Ann Arbor

[anfeyd]

I can never understand how school takes up so much of some peoples' time. You're there for like 7 hours, with at least an hour of free time, and then you go home and just forget about it until the next day. Do you go to bed at 4pm?

Next semester I have school mondays from 9am-9pm, tuesdays from 10-3 and working until 10, wednesdays from 10-3, thursdays 9am-9pm, fridays 9-12, saturdays working until 5p and I will find time to workout.



As Kitosho mentioned I didn't put forth any effort to succeed and I got into a decent school.

[Nabil]

Enough with the nonsense of i cant get anywehere good crap if i give an hour or 2 every 2 days for a workout.
U remind me of all the typical useless excuses of people i wud train pointlessly
If u dont care enough to improve, neither do we.
You live around the UAE, for some reason i think your goals are more size oriented.
In my opinion, scrap the shit your doing, and start on a proper strength / power training program, stick to it for 6 months or one year.
Switch to hypertrophy training after that and your dreams will come true
Goodbye
Also pics every 2 weeks, wont help
try every 2 months or every 4 in my opinion
goodbye again

[Lees Dragon]

Dudes...trust me, I'm the last one to give shit excuses like this (I used to sneak away from my family just to get the privelege of working out 5 times a week). But reality is reality. Nowadays....as soon as i get back from school i get a good meal and then i start working. The problem is that the people in charge of the high school educational system this year have turned things upside down. every few days they change something major in the system. can you imagine that they cut off one month from the first term. ONE FUCKIN MONTH. we're late in almost evry subject and they kkep on requesting reports and projects from us. Not to mention we've got tests every day and a half. and the day we dont have paper and pen tests, we've got oral tests.
All that, i gtta do one after the other. Its gettin crazy around these parts for high school students. Our exams are in 3 weeks or so, and everyones freaked about it.

Do you go to bed at 4pm?

Nope. I only sleep from like 11pm to 5am.

[Nabil]

ok well fine, however you did say that you do kung fu 3 times a week.
Kung fu is not going to help you gain size nor strength...well maybe a bit of strength, but nothing in comparsion to what you could achieve in the gym.
What do you want more? Kung fu skill (or the fun you have in those classes), or a more built physique with greater strength gains?

[Lees Dragon]

Both really..
I would be totally unsupported from all sides if I were to go to a gym now. So i've planned that I only do kung fu now...and when i graduate this year, i'm planning on going to a gym + kung fu.

I'm pretty ambitious aint I?

[Lees Dragon]

YEAH!
Nevere thought i'd get to this point, but the exams are over and now we got ourself a holiday.
BACK TO TRAINING and TRICKING!

Feels good to be alive.......

[Lees Dragon]

Yo...
Its been a while since i last did some anaerobic training.
I just came along this, and I was wondering is this a good anaerobic plan to follow, or is there a better one?

http://www.mensworkoutguide.com/fitness_articles.html/interval_training.html

PS...Scroll down until it says: The rule to interval training

[compleks]

The Rule to Interval Training

Always warm up for 4-6 minutes

High intensity: Perform one minute as fast as you can.
(Level 9 or 10 intensity on a scale of 1-10)

Moderate intensity: Slow down to a moderate pace for two minutes
(Level 6-7 intensity).

Therefore, one round will last about 3 minutes.

Always cool down for 5 minutes

Warning: Do not perform interval training before resistance training. It can actually cause a negative effect on your routine.

Is that the program?

There are heaps of different ways to structure interval training. This is just one way, and you can't really say whether it's better or worse than other methods until you try therm all.

[anfeyd]

Interval training:

Carry a dumbbell to the park. Throw the dumbbell across the field. Sprint to it. Take a breath. Sprint to a boulder. Pick up the boulder, sprint with the boulder to the dumbbell. Put the boulder down pick up the dummbell and throw it again. Sprint to the dummbell. Sprint back to the boulder and then pick it up and sprint with it back to its spot in the forest. Rest for a minute and then repeat.

[Lees Dragon]

Actually I was reffering to everything after "The Rule to Interval Training".
I mean the whole plan laid out, for the specific number of weeks.


Interval training:

Carry a dumbbell to the park. Throw the dumbbell across the field. Sprint to it. Take a breath. Sprint to a boulder. Pick up the boulder, sprint with the boulder to the dumbbell. Put the boulder down pick up the dummbell and throw it again. Sprint to the dummbell. Sprint back to the boulder and then pick it up and sprint with it back to its spot in the forest. Rest for a minute and then repeat.

cool idea. But i think i prefer running. Cause all you need are shoes, and i can run around my house.

[Syn]

get a job loading or unloading pallets of heavy objects... it'll keep you in shape

[DeeJay]

get a job loading or unloading pallets of heavy objects... it'll keep you in shape

I've got that job. And the only muss guys at work are me and my friend cos we go to the gym.

[Syn]

haha, well I eat well enough and train at home aswell as working as an unloader at walmart, and I don't think I've gotten any bigger, but I haven't lost and mass and I've been losing bodyfat

[DeeJay]

Yeah it does make you pretty lean, if you don't adjust your diet.

[Lees Dragon]

Whats more optimal: doing the anaerobic interval training after the resistance workout immediately, or doing it on a completely separate day?

I dunno..cause arent u supposed to get the protein and carbs in immediately after the resistance training? Doing the anaerobic workout after resistance training will delay your ingesting, and wouldnt that lead to muscle breakdown for the anaerobic training?

[Rahf]

Doing two types of training on the same day will make them hamper each other. Do them on separate days if you have the time and if it does not bring any complications.

[[RozoN]]

I'm sorry for a ridiculously stupid question, but would bodyweight exercises greatly increase your muscle mass? I mean bodyweight exercises are using your bodyweight only to train, right? Sure, you will grow in muscle mass for a while but wouldn't the stress on get too small after a while? You would have to resort to weights, if you want to get bigger, right?

Sorry for asking so stupid questions, but I don't really have much knowledge about working out, and I'm thinking about gaining some info and maybe start working out more seriously then I do now...

[Honken]

Bodyweight training is works aslong as your are learning skills with increasing difficulty. For example, a bodyweight squat, pushups and a few pullups will only work for so long. Eventually you will have to start doing one armed pushups, handstand pushups, planche pushups, pistols, one armed chins and so on.

[Ashtar]

haha, well I eat well enough and train at home aswell as working as an unloader at walmart, and I don't think I've gotten any bigger, but I haven't lost and mass and I've been losing bodyfat
:) I'm not complaining. You know how they have the steel platforms in the back they put the boxes that won't fit in the truck bay on? You can do pullups on those, so it's nice, and decompresses back strain from bending over all the time.

[compleks]

;769027']I'm sorry for a ridiculously stupid question, but would bodyweight exercises greatly increase your muscle mass? I mean bodyweight exercises are using your bodyweight only to train, right? Sure, you will grow in muscle mass for a while but wouldn't the stress on get too small after a while? You would have to resort to weights, if you want to get bigger, right?

Sorry for asking so stupid questions, but I don't really have much knowledge about working out, and I'm thinking about gaining some info and maybe start working out more seriously then I do now...

It's all about progressive overload.

As Honken said, as long as you can continually increase the difficulty of the exercises, you can continue to make progress.

[[RozoN]]

ah...okay thanks :)

[Lees Dragon]

Cool....Thnx for the interaction guys!