Need some advice - Both routine and general

[imported_Indohottie]

So here is the deal:

I am 26, right at 6 ft tall and weigh(as of this morning 247.5lbs). I have been working out for about 6 weeks using the following program:

Monday
20 mins cardio
Chest/Shoulders
Tuesday
20 mins cardio
Back/Abs
Wednesday
20 mins cardio
Legs
Thursday
20 mins cardio
Triceps/Abs
Friday
20 mins cardio
Biceps
Saturday
20 mins cardio
20 mins swim
Sunday
OFF

So here are my questions:
1. How does this routine look from a total prospective? I want something that 5 to 6 days as I try to create a habit out of it.
2. While my focus is weight loss (20 lbs so far) I want to make sure I am doing the right things as I lift. I have been repping focused on completing 10 per set for 3 sets, but I have not really increased the weight, maybe 5 lbs over the 6 weeks at most. Is this the right way to do it?

Thanks... feel free to flame if need be!

 

[SociallyChallenged]

You might want to include the trapezius muscles since most back work won't target them. You could put that with Biceps on Friday and do stuff such as shrugs, etc. Congrats on the 20 pounds gone and with this amount of discipline, I'm sure there will be many more to come. Do you have any questions about what kind of weights and set structures you should be using?

 

[paulxcook]

If I were you, I would focus more on compound movements and less on having an entire day devoted to biceps or triceps. If you work hard at chest press and various rows, your triceps and biceps will get worked plenty, but you will develop more overall muscle, which will aid in fat loss. Also, if it were me I wouldn't bother with abs much until I lost a significant amount of fat, but if you like doing it feel free. I just hate doing abs and wouldn't bother until I could see results. Also, you will want to increase your cardio sessions as you're able, if your focus is on fat loss. Good luck and keep asking questions. I'm far from the most knowledgeable person here, I just hit reply first (edit: or second ).

 

[KoolDrew]

1. How does this routine look from a total prospective? I want something that 5 to 6 days as I try to create a habit out of it.

You don't want to go to the gym for lifting sessions that many days a week. Personally, if you're just starting then I'd do something like Starting Strength by Mark Rippetoe. Especially if your goal is to cut, you're wasting your time with isolation movements. Go to the gym 3x a week, hit the heavy compounds and get out. You can still go to the gym 5-6 days and do cardio, but I really wouldn't recommend lifting sessions that many days a week.

Check out paul's journal on here because he's doing the Starting Strength routine.

2. While my focus is weight loss (20 lbs so far) I want to make sure I am doing the right things as I lift. I have been repping focused on completing 10 per set for 3 sets, but I have not really increased the weight, maybe 5 lbs over the 6 weeks at most. Is this the right way to do it?

Lower reps, up weight. Try and push yourself and increase weight whenever you can. It might be difficult while on a cut, but if you're just beginning you should still see some nice strength gains.

Also, keep in mind that whether you lose weight or not is all about diet. What does your diet look like?

 

[theeedude]

I was exactly where you were 1 year ago, 26, ~245lbs. Now I am 27, 200lbs.
20 min cardio is too short, IMO. It is not enough time "in the zone" and it does not build your endurance enough.
Do at least 30, or if you have machine that measures calories burned, do 500+ calories.

 

[MixMasterTang]

Make sure you are doing 20 minutes of good hard cardio, so you need a 5-10 minute warm up and a 5-10 minute cool down with 20 minutes of hard work in between.

 

[imported_Indohottie]

You might want to include the trapezius muscles since most back work won't target them. You could put that with Biceps on Friday and do stuff such as shrugs, etc. Congrats on the 20 pounds gone and with this amount of discipline, I'm sure there will be many more to come. Do you have any questions about what kind of weights and set structures you should be using?

As far as set structure, I have been working on a 3 sets, 10 reps at whatever is the max weight I can lift after doing a 1 set warm up at a much easier weight. Is this a solid way to go about it?


For the cardio portion, I am working my way up to a solid 20 min run (does not include a 5 min warm up and cool down). Right now I am running 2.5 mins, walking 2.5 mins getting about an average of a 10 min mile. My goal is to be running a 5K by April time frame. I do monitor my heart beat and do a decent job of keeping it up in the 160 to 170 range, but toward the tail end of my walk it sometimes dips.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Originally posted by: Indohottie

You might want to include the trapezius muscles since most back work won't target them. You could put that with Biceps on Friday and do stuff such as shrugs, etc. Congrats on the 20 pounds gone and with this amount of discipline, I'm sure there will be many more to come. Do you have any questions about what kind of weights and set structures you should be using?

As far as set structure, I have been working on a 3 sets, 10 reps at whatever is the max weight I can lift after doing a 1 set warm up at a much easier weight. Is this a solid way to go about it?


For the cardio portion, I am working my way up to a solid 20 min run (does not include a 5 min warm up and cool down). Right now I am running 2.5 mins, walking 2.5 mins getting about an average of a 10 min mile. My goal is to be running a 5K by April time frame. I do monitor my heart beat and do a decent job of keeping it up in the 160 to 170 range, but toward the tail end of my walk it sometimes dips.

To address your set structure: I would probably warm up a little bit more. First I would stretch mostly everything (a light 10-15 min warmup to loosen up), and then do at least a couple of warmup sets. I'm not quite sure how you should do them if you're warming up for 10 reps, but I would imagine you should probably start with weight around 60% of what you're going to be lifting for 10 reps for the first set (I would rest a couple of minutes and then do another set like this to get the blood flowing), then up the weight a to about 80% of what you'll be doing and do 6ish reps, then up it to 90% and do 4 reps just to get everything all warmed and ready for the weight. It wouldn't surprise me if you were able to lift more weight after a good warmup. The thing you want to watch out for is any fatigue during the warmup. If you start to fail or have trouble putting the warmup weight up, something isn't right. You need to change the warmup at that point.

Ok, and now for cardio In essence, you're doing it right. You want to make sure you push yourself though so don't get comfortable with the perfect split of rest and run. Also, you may just want to slow your average speed down and just jog for as long as you can (especially if you wanna get ready for a 5k). If you're running an average of a 10 min mile, that means that you're averaging 6mph. So you're probably running too fast during the running part. I'd say try running consistently at the 6mph without rest and see how that goes for you. You may be able to wean yourself off of the rest. At that point, you'll meet your goal of running for 20 min straight and then you can work on increasing the speed Also, if you keep running constantly, you will keep your heart rate up. If it's not somewhere that you want it to be, then you can adjust however you'd like.

 

[imported_Indohottie]

I am assuming you only do the warm up sets prior to your first lift... after that you dont do a warm up set..

ie.. warm up sets on bench press, then your normal bench sets, then you move to incline bench.

 

[KoolDrew]

You might want to include the trapezius muscles since most back work won't target them.

I disagree. Deadlifts hit my traps very hard. My traps happen to be one of my best features (that and quads), and I thank heavy deadlifting. Never done any direct trap work. Not saying there's anything wrong with throwing some shrugs in there, but to say back work won't hit them is just wrong.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Originally posted by: KoolDrew

You might want to include the trapezius muscles since most back work won't target them.

I disagree. Deadlifts hit my traps very hard. My traps happen to be one of my best features (that and quads), and I thank heavy deadlifting. Never done any direct trap work. Not saying there's anything wrong with throwing some shrugs in there, but to say back work won't hit them is just wrong.

Yes, that's very true. If he decides to deadlift, then that would be very good. I hate doing trap work because it doesn't feel like it's doing much except destroying my grip. Fair enough though. OP, if you want to hit traps on your leg days, do as KoolDrew says and do some good ol' regular and stiffleg deadlifts.