Your workouts

[Redtown]

Originally Posted by Redtown

Take an entire week off once every 6-8 weeks. Other than walk your dog do nothing. You'll be surprised at how refreshed you are and your body needs that rest.

Originally Posted by jkidd

I took all last week, Sunday to Sunday, off to recover. All I did was my 4 mile jog with the husky, and that was it. About to head to the gym in an hour or so, and man do I feel ****ing great.

You are a very smart man for having the ability to recognize my words of wisdom. Very smart.

[Phila26Flyers]

Really excited about the new regimen I made for myself.

The past year, it's been incredibly hard to stay motivated and enjoy my workouts up until about six weeks ago. First of all, I would end up working out once or twice some weeks, even a couple times not at all. Second, I would basically do four or five exercises and do four sets of each in an increased weight/decreased reps pattern. I eventually realized this was very redundant and contributed to me messing up my right bicep tendon, which I posted about two months ago. I did some reading and collected some good tips. Now, I do about 12 sets total, spread out over six free weight and iso exercises. I do 15 reps on the starting weight, then increase the weight and try to do 15 but no less than 12. I've already found myself able to lift more weight than when I started this regimen, and still perform these sets comfortable.

I also read up on proper form for doing my "push muscle" day because of my shoulder. It's going to take a while to heal down to virtually no pain, but it's slowly getting better and I've adjusted my chest and shoulder presses accordingly so it doesn't bother me. I make sure to get my rotator cuff exercises in as well.

Now that I've really read up on this stuff, I feel like such an ass for doing what I was doing before (bad form on press exercises, way too many sets). I feel rejuvenated, rarely miss a workout, and have only missed a workout if I've had to go into my new job for an extra late-night training shift.

My schedule goes like this:

Day A: Pull
Warm up: seated cable row, the one where the seat moves back like you're in a canoe and you can simulate 1K races and whatnot. Light resistance to get the blood flowing and the muscles loose
2 sets of Iso High Rows, 12-15 reps each
2 sets of Free Bicep Curls, 15
2 sets of Free Bent Over Rows, 15
2 sets of Iso Delt Fly, 12-15
2 sets of Iso Forearm Curls, basically bicep curls but with my palms facing down. I use a straight bar, not the one that's angled to make it easier. Not entirely sure how healthy this is for the wrist but I haven't experienced any problems. 15 reps each.
2-3 sets of back crunches, w&w/o weights, 15.

Day B: Push
2 sets Iso Rotator Cuff inward, 15 reps each
2 sets Iso Rotator Cuff outward, 15
2 sets Iso Incline Press, 12-15
2 sets Free Shoulder Press, 15. I've had to adjust my form to better suit my shoulder because of my problem. I used to keep my elbows pointed outward for the whole exercise. This put too much stress on my bicep tendon when pushing up. Now, I point my elbow forward when coming down, then flare them outward when pushing up. No pain at all in my shoulder. Love this exercise now.
2 sets Iso Chest Press or Pec Fly, 15.

Day C: Legs
Warmup, light run or bike
2 sets Free Lunges, 16-20 reps each
2 sets Iso Leg Press, using one leg each to assure I'm not favoring one side, 15.
2 sets Iso Calf Press, 30 reps each in quick succession of each set of leg presses to keep the intensity up.
2 sets Iso Leg Extension, 15
2 sets Iso Leg Curls, 15
A 15-20 minute stationary bike session with stretches of high resistance for strengthening and light-medium for endurance.

Sometimes I'll combine Days B and C if I know I won't be available the next day, but I never combine Days A and B. I also have a few different ab exercises that I'll do at the end of every second or third day, depending how intense my ab workout was.

I really find this regimen working for me so far, and I'm motivated to keep it up, whereas if I was tired after work I would use that as an excuse not to go. Now, I have a cup of coffee or two if I need it and get my ass going.

I'm sticking with mostly iso machines for my chest and shoulders for now as they offer the most control so I don't re-injure my shoulder. But if anyone has any suggestions for more free weight exercises (especially for legs) please let me know. I will be rotating out some exercises next week to keep my routine changing.

[Phila26Flyers]

Big laughs at the guys who try so hard to squeeze out a set of biceps curls with an 80 or 90 lb barbell. They lean back and really strain to force out those 8 reps or whatever they're doing. It doesn't even look enjoyable. It's terrible form and they're going to throw out their backs one day. The strange thing is, these dudes actually have good-size arms. I don't know how the hell that happened. Steroids I guess. My form hasn't always been perfect, but one thing I've never done is throw my back into my biceps curls. In fact, I use that angled bench looking thing that you drop your arm over so you don't cheat. I'd love to see some of these fools drop that 80 lb barbell over that thing and see how well they hold up!

[Philly Fan 27]

thanks for posting that, pretty interesting. ive been doing the push/pull thing too and enjoy it alot. the one thing i wanted to mention is i usually save curls for the end of my pull day b/c im hitting my biceps when doing rows/pull up/etc. last time i did a super set of flat bar curls and hammer curls. you obviously wont be able to curl as much weight as you would if you did them early in your work out, but you dont seem interested in that anyway.

that post made me think about how i lift. regardless of muscle group or exercise or whatever, i do 4 sets. usually start off w/ 15 reps, increase weight and work my way down to 5-8 reps. i might throw in a burn out set at the end w/ light weights, but i dont think i ever do less than 4 sets.

[Phila26Flyers]

Originally Posted by Philly Fan 27

thanks for posting that, pretty interesting. ive been doing the push/pull thing too and enjoy it alot. the one thing i wanted to mention is i usually save curls for the end of my pull day b/c im hitting my biceps when doing rows/pull up/etc. last time i did a super set of flat bar curls and hammer curls. you obviously wont be able to curl as much weight as you would if you did them early in your work out, but you dont seem interested in that anyway.

that post made me think about how i lift. regardless of muscle group or exercise or whatever, i do 4 sets. usually start off w/ 15 reps, increase weight and work my way down to 5-8 reps. i might throw in a burn out set at the end w/ light weights, but i dont think i ever do less than 4 sets.

Thanks for the tip, and I should mention that I don't always do the workouts in that order except for the warmup, obviously. It's good to mix it up every few cycles so you're not running on muscle memory.

I used to do four or five sets of each exercise, too, and for me personally, I found it to be redundant and counterproductive. I also found I was plateauing a lot quicker. On bicep curls I would go from a 25 lb dumbbell to 30, 35, then do as many as I could on 40, where I just couldn't get past 5 or 6 no matter what. With the two-set routine, I started with 15 reps of 20, then 15 of 25. Then I moved up to 15 each of 20 and 30. I've most recently been doing 12-15 each of 25 and 35 and will be moving up to 30 and 40 after a few more cycles through my regimen. It's incredible the pace I've been making, but that doesn't necessarily mean it will work for you. However, I would suggest trying out the two-set system for a month just to see how it feels. It certainly can't hurt to try. Keep your total sets around 12. This way, you'll find you can work in a few more exercises in about the same time as your current workout, maybe less because your breaks between sets end up being a lot shorter (mostly because there's only one break!). I like to do a third set of one of the exercises, too, choosing a different exercise each time.

Again, I personally found that doing four sets was overdoing it for me. Like doing that many sets was ironically counterproductive because it was burning me out. Just too many little tears in the muscle tissue to recover in time for my next workout. Essentially, I probably ended up working backward, which probably contributed to my shoulder injury. I'd do like 16 or 20 sets on 4-5 exercises and I wasn't moving along as much as I wanted to be. I hope I'm not making this sound like a cheesy miracle system haha, but I feel like I'm getting a much better overall workout. 12 to 15 reps each, make your point, and move on. Just enough tears in that spot for your body to heal up and put you ahead of where you were, and you still got a full set in. When you think about it, it kinda makes sense...you get your body used to doing those reps on that weight, then you can increase the weight and squeeze out the same # of reps. You get your body used to pulling 15 curls with a 40 dumbbell, instead of getting your body used to doing a burned-out 6. That's how I view it.

Give it a try if you want man!

[ChiefJunior]

Originally Posted by Phila26Flyers

Big laughs at the guys who try so hard to squeeze out a set of biceps curls with an 80 or 90 lb barbell. They lean back and really strain to force out those 8 reps or whatever they're doing. It doesn't even look enjoyable. It's terrible form and they're going to throw out their backs one day. The strange thing is, these dudes actually have good-size arms. I don't know how the hell that happened. Steroids I guess. My form hasn't always been perfect, but one thing I've never done is throw my back into my biceps curls. In fact, I use that angled bench looking thing that you drop your arm over so you don't cheat. I'd love to see some of these fools drop that 80 lb barbell over that thing and see how well they hold up!

Agreed.

Two things, 1) your "arms" will not outgrow the rest of your body. As you get stronger and bigger (chest, back, legs) your arms will do the same. Countless arm curls with bad form etc.. will not do the job. 2) your arms are a small muscle (especially the bi-cep) . You don't need to do more than 6-9 sets to have them grow. Remember your tr-cep is 2/3rds of your arm.

[ChiefJunior]

Originally Posted by Phila26Flyers

Really excited about the new regimen I made for myself.

The past year, it's been incredibly hard to stay motivated and enjoy my workouts up until about six weeks ago. First of all, I would end up working out once or twice some weeks, even a couple times not at all. Second, I would basically do four or five exercises and do four sets of each in an increased weight/decreased reps pattern. I eventually realized this was very redundant and contributed to me messing up my right bicep tendon, which I posted about two months ago. I did some reading and collected some good tips. Now, I do about 12 sets total, spread out over six free weight and iso exercises. I do 15 reps on the starting weight, then increase the weight and try to do 15 but no less than 12. I've already found myself able to lift more weight than when I started this regimen, and still perform these sets comfortable.

I also read up on proper form for doing my "push muscle" day because of my shoulder. It's going to take a while to heal down to virtually no pain, but it's slowly getting better and I've adjusted my chest and shoulder presses accordingly so it doesn't bother me. I make sure to get my rotator cuff exercises in as well.

Now that I've really read up on this stuff, I feel like such an ass for doing what I was doing before (bad form on press exercises, way too many sets). I feel rejuvenated, rarely miss a workout, and have only missed a workout if I've had to go into my new job for an extra late-night training shift.

My schedule goes like this:

Day A: Pull
Warm up: seated cable row, the one where the seat moves back like you're in a canoe and you can simulate 1K races and whatnot. Light resistance to get the blood flowing and the muscles loose
2 sets of Iso High Rows, 12-15 reps each
2 sets of Free Bicep Curls, 15
2 sets of Free Bent Over Rows, 15
2 sets of Iso Delt Fly, 12-15
2 sets of Iso Forearm Curls, basically bicep curls but with my palms facing down. I use a straight bar, not the one that's angled to make it easier. Not entirely sure how healthy this is for the wrist but I haven't experienced any problems. 15 reps each.
2-3 sets of back crunches, w&w/o weights, 15.

Day B: Push
2 sets Iso Rotator Cuff inward, 15 reps each
2 sets Iso Rotator Cuff outward, 15
2 sets Iso Incline Press, 12-15
2 sets Free Shoulder Press, 15. I've had to adjust my form to better suit my shoulder because of my problem. I used to keep my elbows pointed outward for the whole exercise. This put too much stress on my bicep tendon when pushing up. Now, I point my elbow forward when coming down, then flare them outward when pushing up. No pain at all in my shoulder. Love this exercise now.
2 sets Iso Chest Press or Pec Fly, 15. - you need tri-cep work

Day C: Legs
Warmup, light run or bike
2 sets Free Lunges, 16-20 reps each
2 sets Iso Leg Press, using one leg each to assure I'm not favoring one side, 15. - dump this and try deadlifting
2 sets Iso Calf Press, 30 reps each in quick succession of each set of leg presses to keep the intensity up.
2 sets Iso Leg Extension, 15 - dump this & try belt squat or zercher squats
2 sets Iso Leg Curls, 15
A 15-20 minute stationary bike session with stretches of high resistance for strengthening and light-medium for endurance.

Sometimes I'll combine Days B and C if I know I won't be available the next day, but I never combine Days A and B. I also have a few different ab exercises that I'll do at the end of every second or third day, depending how intense my ab workout was.

I really find this regimen working for me so far, and I'm motivated to keep it up, whereas if I was tired after work I would use that as an excuse not to go. Now, I have a cup of coffee or two if I need it and get my ass going.

I'm sticking with mostly iso machines for my chest and shoulders for now as they offer the most control so I don't re-injure my shoulder. But if anyone has any suggestions for more free weight exercises (especially for legs) please let me know. I will be rotating out some exercises next week to keep my routine changing.

Just an idea.

[Phila26Flyers]

I'll have to google belt and zercher squats. I'm not familiar with the names. As for tricep work, that was my routine a month ago. I've swapped out a few exercises and two of the new ones are tricep exercises -- one free weight and one iso. Also able to do some dips now, which I couldn't do with a bad tendon. I don't make dips a focus in my workout but it's good to get a few in. Thanks for the response.

[devils29]

Originally Posted by Phila26Flyers

Big laughs at the guys who try so hard to squeeze out a set of biceps curls with an 80 or 90 lb barbell. They lean back and really strain to force out those 8 reps or whatever they're doing. It doesn't even look enjoyable. It's terrible form and they're going to throw out their backs one day. The strange thing is, these dudes actually have good-size arms. I don't know how the hell that happened. Steroids I guess. My form hasn't always been perfect, but one thing I've never done is throw my back into my biceps curls. In fact, I use that angled bench looking thing that you drop your arm over so you don't cheat. I'd love to see some of these fools drop that 80 lb barbell over that thing and see how well they hold up!

This is why I've stopped doing standing dumbbell bi curls for a little while and doing them seated. Takes away the ability (or 90% of) to use my back in it which of the last few weeks I've noticed I started to do. Had to drop down two weights in dumbbells but I can feel it more again.
Preacher curl is great for that too (the angled bench you refer to)

[JKidd]

Figured I'd update this a bit with some updates. I shed too much weight (I know, most would love this problem), and it left me a lot weaker for hockey season than I thought it would, so right around the new year, had to change things a bit. Trying to stay in fight shape and game shape for hockey just wasn't happening. Had to rethink things and adjust from walking around at 185 and cutting to 175, to walking around at around 205-210 and cutting down to 200. The two sports and their weight/power requirements for me, just didn't mix too well.

Sunday - legs (It's a little lighter than usual) / sparring-boxing
Squat
Straight legged deadlift
Leg extension
Leg curl (seated or laying down - whatever I'm feeling)
Heel raise
Seated, weighted heel raise

Monday - chest / heavy core
Bench
Incline bench
Fly
Cable cross
Bench press machine
Weighted ball crunch
Cable crunch
Weighted side shrugs
Machine sit up

Tuesday - back
Deadlift
Lat Pulldown
Bent over one arm row
Pull ups
Seated cable row
Iso, straight arm lat pulldown

Wednesday - rest

Thursday - Shoulders
Power clean
Arnie press
Upright row
Lateral raise
Bent over row
Shrugs

Friday - Heavy Legs / arms
Squat
Straight leg deadlift
Leg press
Usually a rest after that, because I'm dog ass tired.
Preacher curl
Seated bicep curl
Tricep extension
Skull crusher

Saturday is normally a boxing day with agility work, mitts, bags, and sparring if anyone needs/wants it.

Changed cardio up a bit as well. I'm now doing two cardio sessions a day. When I get to work, I hit the gym we have around 6.30'ish and ride the bike for a half hour, helps me wake up. Then again at lunch I hit the treadmill or head down the road to the arena for open skate and get another session in.

Great results thus far with the changes with more muscle mass, and overall strength has increased in the core lifts (squats, power clean and bench).

Also incorporating a rest week (no weights at all) after 4 weeks. And supplement use, I'm cycling off creatine during the rest week, and back on when the weights resume.

[Phila26Flyers]

Originally Posted by devils29

This is why I've stopped doing standing dumbbell bi curls for a little while and doing them seated. Takes away the ability (or 90% of) to use my back in it which of the last few weeks I've noticed I started to do. Had to drop down two weights in dumbbells but I can feel it more again.
Preacher curl is great for that too (the angled bench you refer to)

Thanks, preacher is the way to go for that exercise, IMO. Seated is good as well, much better than standing at least.

I made one major change to my routine a couple weeks ago: I started doing my workout in the morning before work. What a difference this has made. First, and MOST importantly, it has gotten my sleep schedule back on track. I'm asleep most nights between 12 and 1, which is an enormous improvement from not being about to sleep until at least 3. Aside from that, I seem to get through my workout better from start to finish, as my body is just starting to wake up and get energized, as opposed to using up the last of my energy for the day. It also feels good mentally to step outside into the morning afterward. I could go on, but that's the gist.

[JKidd]

It is amazing how much a workout in the morning sets the rest of the day up.

I wanted to just improve my cardio more than I was, but after I started feeling the affects, it's here to stay!

[Godly_goon]

monday-wednesday-friday

20 minute jog max incline on a treadmill
5 minutes on the battle ropes
crunches, sit ups, what other greasy ab works outs im feeling
5 more minutes on the battle ropes
5 minutes on the heavybag throwing as many punches as i can
5minutes on the battle ropes again
5 minutes jumpingjacks, or burpees
20 minutes on the treadmill, 2:30 second sprint every 10 minutes jogging the rest of the time



tuesdays,

are leg day


thursday is arm,chest, what ever else needs to be worked on day




im more worried about shedding pounds and getting in shape then building muscle at the moment

[devils29]

Originally Posted by Phila26Flyers

Thanks, preacher is the way to go for that exercise, IMO. Seated is good as well, much better than standing at least.

I made one major change to my routine a couple weeks ago: I started doing my workout in the morning before work. What a difference this has made. First, and MOST importantly, it has gotten my sleep schedule back on track. I'm asleep most nights between 12 and 1, which is an enormous improvement from not being about to sleep until at least 3. Aside from that, I seem to get through my workout better from start to finish, as my body is just starting to wake up and get energized, as opposed to using up the last of my energy for the day. It also feels good mentally to step outside into the morning afterward. I could go on, but that's the gist.

Morning workouts are the best feeling. I used to do my weights then but due to my job now, we do a PT session first-up, so its too much to do weights beforehand. Now I do my workout during my lunch break and it works pretty well for me.

[mckendo83]

I am up to 4 days a week now at the gym i joined

its boxing and kick boxing classes but its all professional fighters training you , not aerobic instructors. The work outs are intense. the 15-25 minutes depending on who is running the class that you spend 'warming up' is a full workout. Its heavy bags and 16 ounce gloves, and also 1 on 1 work in the ring on the mitts.


monday and wednesday mornings the class is run by

http://www.sherdog.com/fighter/Sam-Oropeza-51885

The class i go to tuesday and thursday evening is run by

http://www.sherdog.com/fighter/Joe-Del-Viscio-81471

and the class on friday evening is by
http://www.sherdog.com/fighter/Bassil-Hafez-116663