The Routines!
Beginner
The 12-10-8 system
Intermediate
Advanced
Mass Routine
Get past your sticking point!
New!
Superset Workout
No matter how good a routine is, it will only give good results for a relatively short time, usually 6 to 8 weeks. This is about how long it takes your body to adapt to the routine, and the gains start to slow down. This is commonly known as a "sticking point" or "stale area", you still have seemingly good workouts, but the results just don't come like they did at first. The best way to beat a sticking point is to keep changing your routines, about every 6 weeks. This can be done many ways, some of them are:
- Change the exercises you do
- Change the order in which you do body parts
- Increase or decrease the frequency with which you train a bodypart
- Add intensity increasing techniques to you workout, such as partial reps, cheating, burns, supersets, etc.
The best routine is not really a "routine" at all, but is constantly changing, in order to fool the body into adding muscle and losing fat. The body does not like to change, and will resist your efforts every step of the way, but it will do what it has to. If your body has to lift weights, it will try to make it easier for itself the next time, by adding more muscle! The next time you train, you should attempt to lift even more weight, forcing your body to add even more muscle.
The Routines
Beginner
Quick FAQ:
What is a rep? A rep, or repetition, is one complete cycle of an exercise from the starting position to the finish position and back to the start position.
What is a set? A set is a series of reps. If you do say, 10 repetitions of a given exercise that is called a set.
What is a split routine? As your intensity increases it becomes too taxing to train the whole body in one workout. The solution to this is to split the routine into 2 or more days. In a 2 day split you would train half the body one day and the rest the next training day. The days can be consecutive or have a rest day or days between.
Beginner: Week 1 and 2: Learn to do the basic lifts for the major body parts. Train every second day using the routine below. Use a weight which enables you to do 12 - 15 reps, and concentrate on using good form. (No jerking or swinging the weights). Women may want to do slightly higher reps, up to 20 with a lighter weight, for a "fitness" look.
Warm up on a stationary bike, stepper, treadmill or other aerobic exercise for 6 - 10 minutes, then do 2 sets each of the following:
Bench press
Pull-ups or Lat Pulldowns
Military Press
Barbell Curls
Triceps Extensions
Squats
Standing Calf Raises
Abs
Take 1 to 2 minutes between sets and use a weight which enables you "just" to do the reps.
Do this every second day for 2 weeks, then add a third set of each. Every week (or when the weight you're using feels easy) increase the weight by 5-10 lbs., or more if it's still easy.
Use the first few weeks to get used to the exercises and
practice your form with fairly light weights.
After that, slowly increase the weight until it's a challenge to get into the
rep range.
Here is an alternative routine you may want to use after 4-6
weeks on the above routine, or you can go straight to the intermediate routine.
Body part |
Chest |
Back |
Legs |
Abs |
Shoulders |
Arms |
# of Sets |
3 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
# of Reps |
12-15 |
12-15 |
12-20 |
To failure |
12-15 |
12-15 |
Day1 |
Bench Press |
Bent-over or seated rows |
Squats or LegPress |
Sit-ups |
Dumbbell Shoulder Press |
Biceps curls |
Day 2 |
Off |
Off |
Off |
Off |
Off |
Off |
Day 3 |
Incline Press |
Lat Pulldowns |
Leg Press or Squats |
Crunches or knee raises |
Side Laterals |
Triceps Press, or press-downs |
Day 4 |
Off |
Off |
Off |
Off |
Off |
Off |
Start with Day 1, take a day off, then do Day 2, next day off, then back to Day 1, alternating them throughout.
Now it's time to do several exercises per body part and split up the training a bit. Pick 2 exercises for each body part and do 4 hard sets of each. Keep the reps between 6 and 15, averaging 8-10. Do each set to failure, or very near failure, and take 2-3 minutes between sets.
Day 1: Chest, Biceps, Abs
Day 2: Back, Triceps, Calves
Day 3: Off
Day 4: Shoulders, Legs (Quads, Hamstrings, Calves)
Day 5: Off
Day 6: Off
Alternate workout:
Day 1: Back, Chest, Abs
Day 2: Shoulders, Biceps, Triceps
Day 3: Off (Abs)
Day 4: Quads, Hamstrings, Calves
Day 5,6: Off
You get out of it what you put into it, but more is not always better!
Other routines:
Beginner
The 12-10-8 system
Intermediate
Advanced
Mass Routine
Get past your sticking point!
New!
Superset Workout
