Bit of advice on weights :D
Discussion
I've recently started (last week) doing weights to try and get in shape, and at the moment I am doing the following with a weights bench, barbell and dumbbells.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Reps Set Weight kg
Monday
Bench Press 10 4 50
Push Ups As many as possible
Dumbbell Flys 10 4 15
Bentover Barbell Row 10 4 50
One arm Dumbbell Row 10 4 20 (each side)
Upright Row 10 4 40
Tuesday
CARDIO
Wednesday
Squats 12 4 30
Dumbbell Lunges 6L 6R 4 25
Deadlifts 10 3 50
Standing Calf Raise (still waiting for a small step bench to start those
)
Thursday
CARDIO
Friday
Military Press 10 4 30
Dumbbell Lateral Raise 12 4 10
Bentover Reverse Fly 12 4 10
Barbell Bicep Curl 10 5 30
French Press 10 5 20
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
For cardio I am doing a mix of cycling, running, skating and cross trainer for approx. 1 hour, skating usually lasts 3hours+. Along with the cardio I am doing weighted situps and 'side lifts' (holding a dumbbell of 40kg, standing straight and then leaning to the left x 10, right x 10 for 4 sets with the weight on the opposite side).
Does that look ok? I know that I need to add in some further stomach exercises (so any suggestions much appreciated!) and is there a method of doing squats without the need to have the barbell over the neck area? I could increase the weight a fair bit but unfortunately my partner is heavily pregnant and not that strong, so I'd be a bit concerned about getting her involved or me collapsing with too much weight
As mentioned, I only started a week ago but feeling great already! I did touch on weights very lightly 10 years ago but I became bored very quickly as didn't feel the need for them at the time.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Reps Set Weight kg
Monday
Bench Press 10 4 50
Push Ups As many as possible
Dumbbell Flys 10 4 15
Bentover Barbell Row 10 4 50
One arm Dumbbell Row 10 4 20 (each side)
Upright Row 10 4 40
Tuesday
CARDIO
Wednesday
Squats 12 4 30
Dumbbell Lunges 6L 6R 4 25
Deadlifts 10 3 50
Standing Calf Raise (still waiting for a small step bench to start those
)Thursday
CARDIO
Friday
Military Press 10 4 30
Dumbbell Lateral Raise 12 4 10
Bentover Reverse Fly 12 4 10
Barbell Bicep Curl 10 5 30
French Press 10 5 20
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
For cardio I am doing a mix of cycling, running, skating and cross trainer for approx. 1 hour, skating usually lasts 3hours+. Along with the cardio I am doing weighted situps and 'side lifts' (holding a dumbbell of 40kg, standing straight and then leaning to the left x 10, right x 10 for 4 sets with the weight on the opposite side).
Does that look ok? I know that I need to add in some further stomach exercises (so any suggestions much appreciated!) and is there a method of doing squats without the need to have the barbell over the neck area? I could increase the weight a fair bit but unfortunately my partner is heavily pregnant and not that strong, so I'd be a bit concerned about getting her involved or me collapsing with too much weight
As mentioned, I only started a week ago but feeling great already! I did touch on weights very lightly 10 years ago but I became bored very quickly as didn't feel the need for them at the time.
Edited by Happy82 on Thursday 19th April 18:22
Couple of pointers but those with more experience will hopefully be along shortly.
-Try doing 3x6 so go heavier. Heavier weights build strength.
-If it's not safe to do squats, check out Bulgarian Squats on YT.
-I hear bent over reverse flies are bad for your back. Not sure if that also applies to bent over barbell rows. Given that the dumbbell bent over rows (one hand at a time) works the same muscles, I'm not sure you'd be missing out. Also do BORFs one arm at a time in similar stance to BORs. Again, should work the same muscles. Certainly, doing one hand at a time with other hand supporting on a bench, I still really feel it afterwards.
-Also, I read somewhere that for a beginner, you can just repeat the same routine twice a week eg deadlifts, bench press, squats, OHP, BORs, pull ups (where are your pull ups?), dips ( http://darrensurrey.hubpages.com/hub/How-to-perfor... ).
-Try doing 3x6 so go heavier. Heavier weights build strength.
-If it's not safe to do squats, check out Bulgarian Squats on YT.
-I hear bent over reverse flies are bad for your back. Not sure if that also applies to bent over barbell rows. Given that the dumbbell bent over rows (one hand at a time) works the same muscles, I'm not sure you'd be missing out. Also do BORFs one arm at a time in similar stance to BORs. Again, should work the same muscles. Certainly, doing one hand at a time with other hand supporting on a bench, I still really feel it afterwards.
-Also, I read somewhere that for a beginner, you can just repeat the same routine twice a week eg deadlifts, bench press, squats, OHP, BORs, pull ups (where are your pull ups?), dips ( http://darrensurrey.hubpages.com/hub/How-to-perfor... ).
Edited by Hoofy on Thursday 19th April 18:56
I have setup a pullup bar but I'm struggling to do more than one at the moment However I do weigh 105kg which may be part of the issue at the moment 
As for decreasing the reps / increasing weight, is it best to do this after a couple of weeks or straight away? I only started last week so was not sure whether I needed to bed my muscles in a bit before adding a bit more weight.
Cheers for the link to the dips video/info, I'll get that added in as well. And I'll have a look at into the Bulgarian squats (sounds like an illness!)
However I do weigh 105kg which may be part of the issue at the moment As for decreasing the reps / increasing weight, is it best to do this after a couple of weeks or straight away? I only started last week so was not sure whether I needed to bed my muscles in a bit before adding a bit more weight.
Cheers for the link to the dips video/info, I'll get that added in as well. And I'll have a look at into the Bulgarian squats (sounds like an illness!)
I found it online on a website called Muscle&Strength and was supposed to be beginner based, thought it might be suitable as it was a chest/back on Monday, legs on a Wednesday and then arms on a Friay.
Also it was suited to the equipment I have as you guessed, I looked for exercises that were based around free weights.
Also it was suited to the equipment I have as you guessed, I looked for exercises that were based around free weights.
Edited by Happy82 on Thursday 19th April 22:28
Happy82 said:
I found it online on a website called Muscle&Strength and was supposed to be beginner based, thought it might be suitable as it was a chest/back on Monday, legs on a Wednesday and then arms on a Friay.
Sorry there was a deadlift there I just (obviously can't read). Personally I think splitting chest from back makes a lot more sense. I do something that's quite traditional push/pull/legs.
Push is chest and triceps since they get worked together during those exercises.
Pull is back and biceps for the same reason as above.
I personally can't do squat and deadlift on the same day as the back pumps I get are immense!
As above may be better doing a traditional push/pull/legs split. Move the back workout to a seperate day and add the shoulder workout to the chest workout.
Exercise choices look decent enough although I'd personally move the deadlifts to the back workout. If you don't have a squat rack then you could consider front squats and add in stiff-leg deadlifts for the hams.
Exercise choices look decent enough although I'd personally move the deadlifts to the back workout. If you don't have a squat rack then you could consider front squats and add in stiff-leg deadlifts for the hams.
HonestIago said:
Ordinary_Chap said:
I personally can't do squat and deadlift on the same day as the back pumps I get are immense!
Mmmmmmmm too much creatine monohydrate?! 
3-5g taurine/day should ease the back pumps. Sorry for unrelated post OP.I do genuinely think they should split up anyway given each take a huge amount of effort each should take and I prefer to make sure the most important lifts are done fresh!
Cheers, I'll split the weight sessions as suggested and add the dips in.
Just looked at the Bulgarian squats ( still makes me giggle ) and they'll be ideal, at least it's safe and I can exercise the legs correctly.
Thanks for the tip of straight dead lifts, my hamstrings could do with strengthening as they were an issue when I played rugby so I'll add those in too
Hopefully I'll get some decent results, as mentioned I feel better already for starting the weights and feel a bit like my old self before my injury and massive fat gain
Thank you again!
Just looked at the Bulgarian squats ( still makes me giggle
) and they'll be ideal, at least it's safe and I can exercise the legs correctly.Thanks for the tip of straight dead lifts, my hamstrings could do with strengthening as they were an issue when I played rugby so I'll add those in too
Hopefully I'll get some decent results, as mentioned I feel better already for starting the weights and feel a bit like my old self before my injury and massive fat gain
Thank you again!
With regards to squats, if you have a low enough bench to place behind you and then if you struggle you can just drop onto the bench and take the weight of your legs.
I've also always done chest and tris, legs and shoulders then back and bis as my main routine and found it splits up well.
I've also always done chest and tris, legs and shoulders then back and bis as my main routine and found it splits up well.
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