Some advice for getting back into the game

Hi all,

I have been in and out of the weight lifting game for the last few
years. To put it bluntly, I got lazy and let myself slip.

Fast forward to today and I have been back at it for about a month
now. I have finished all the basic workouts and gone through the
agony of getting back at it after all those years. I am finally at a
point where I really want to get serious. I need some advice on how
to proceed.

Right now I work out about 5-6 days a week. I work out each body part
once a week with a basic workout program as below:

Day 1: 30 mins cardio, triceps and biceps. I do anywhere from 3-5
exercises for each body part with 5 working sets. My triceps have
always been fast growers, so I hit them with 2 really heavy exercises,
and then 2-3 shaping or pump exercises. I go heavy with 3 exercises
on my bi's and finish them off with preachers and reverse curls.

Day 2: 30 mins cardio - Shoulders and back. I do 5 exercises each,
heavy on all sets. I find my shoulders and back respond best to this.

Day 3: Cardio- 1 hour

Day 4 - Cardio 30 mins. Chest. Again, 5 exercies, 4 are heavy sets,
ending with flyes or cable cross-overs

Day 5 - Legs. All heavy sets. I work my quads, hams and calves with
3-4 exercies each.

Day 6 - Cardio 1 hour

I drink a protein shake with some carbs mixed in 20 minutes before my
workouts, and a shake within 20 mins of the end of my workout with 15
grams of glutamine in that. I have a shake with glutamine before
bed.

I get about 6-8 hours of sleep a night and I have had good recovery
from the exercise.

Question: Should I continue with this until it stops working and then
change it up? Am I taking the right supplements?

I have started to work my abs and I will continue to strenghten my
core as I go.

Come May I plan on really hammering the cardio and lean out for the
summer. I will take ECA or a fatburner then.

I also go in the Sauna for 15-20 mins a workout and stretch in there.
I take some milk thistle for my liver.

Energy levels are great so far and I am really enjoying the gym again.

Any help will be appreciated.

Andrew

On Feb 28, 5:38 pm, andrew.work...@gmail.com wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> I have been in and out of the weight lifting game for the last few
> years. To put it bluntly, I got lazy and let myself slip.
>
> Fast forward to today and I have been back at it for about a month
> now. I have finished all the basic workouts and gone through the
> agony of getting back at it after all those years. I am finally at a
> point where I really want to get serious. I need some advice on how
> to proceed.
>
> Right now I work out about 5-6 days a week. I work out each body part
> once a week with a basic workout program as below:
>
> Day 1: 30 mins cardio, triceps and biceps. I do anywhere from 3-5
> exercises for each body part with 5 working sets. My triceps have
> always been fast growers, so I hit them with 2 really heavy exercises,
> and then 2-3 shaping or pump exercises. I go heavy with 3 exercises
> on my bi's and finish them off with preachers and reverse curls.
>
> Day 2: 30 mins cardio - Shoulders and back. I do 5 exercises each,
> heavy on all sets. I find my shoulders and back respond best to this.
>
> Day 3: Cardio- 1 hour
>
> Day 4 - Cardio 30 mins. Chest. Again, 5 exercies, 4 are heavy sets,
> ending with flyes or cable cross-overs
>
> Day 5 - Legs. All heavy sets. I work my quads, hams and calves with
> 3-4 exercies each.
>
> Day 6 - Cardio 1 hour

Your workout depends on what your goals are. Seems like a lot of
cardio. If you are wanting to put on muscle, too much cardio can slow
that down. Anyway, studies show walking is just as good for general
health. You really don't need to kill yourself with lots of cardio.

Also, you should mix up light and heavy sets to recruit the different
types of muscle fibers.

>
> I drink a protein shake with some carbs mixed in 20 minutes before my
> workouts, and a shake within 20 mins of the end of my workout with 15
> grams of glutamine in that. I have a shake with glutamine before
> bed.

What is the rest of your diet like? Downing protein shake will just
add more calories if you're diet consists of donuts and cheese
burgers. If you like eggs, they are a great source of protein (not
fried, of course). Eggs, tuna, chicken.

>
> I get about 6-8 hours of sleep a night and I have had good recovery
> from the exercise.
>
> Question: Should I continue with this until it stops working and then
> change it up? Am I taking the right supplements?

Change should be built into your program. One way to do that is
through exercise selection. Another is through periodization.

>
> I have started to work my abs and I will continue to strenghten my
> core as I go.
>
> Come May I plan on really hammering the cardio and lean out for the
> summer. I will take ECA or a fatburner then.

If that's your plan, then drop most of the cardio for sure. Spend
more time with free weights. Do squats.

>
> I also go in the Sauna for 15-20 mins a workout and stretch in there.
> I take some milk thistle for my liver.
>
> Energy levels are great so far and I am really enjoying the gym again.
>
> Any help will be appreciated.
>
> Andrew

Finally, I recommend you read this...
http://strength-training.wikidot.com...t-really-works

Good luck.
Greg

"GregB" <gnbonney@gmail.com> wrote

-snip-

> Finally, I recommend you read this...
> http://strength-training.wikidot.com...t-really-works

A good article, IMHO. I don't agree with absolutely everything in but,
especially for those gym bunnies who spend their time working the
circuit of machines, it's a great read. Nice bit on flexibility towards
the bottom as well, including this:

" ...muscle tightness is usually secondary to muscle weakness. By
strengthening the weak links you will also increase your flexibility."

Yup, yup, yup.

-S-
http://www.kbnj.com

On Thu, 28 Feb 2008, andrew.workout@gmail.com wrote:

> Any help will be appreciated.

I'm no expert, but i think you might be doing a lot more volume than you
need. You don't really need more than one exercise per muscle element
(counting, eg, sternal and clavicular heads of the pectoral muscle as
separate elements), and "shaping or pump exercises" are pretty much an old
wives' tale. You probably don't need more than two or three sets of each
exercise. If you're going for growth, 3 sets x 10 reps is ideal. How many
reps are you doing per set?

You don't need the glutamine. It's not the magic some people think it is,
and there's enough in your protein shake.

tom

--
intelligence, purity, the potential freedom of space, and the potential
aesthetics of mathematical computations

On Fri, 29 Feb 2008, Steve Freides wrote:

> "GregB" <gnbonney@gmail.com> wrote
>
>> Finally, I recommend you read this...
>> http://strength-training.wikidot.com...t-really-works
>
> A good article, IMHO. I don't agree with absolutely everything in but,
> especially for those gym bunnies who spend their time working the
> circuit of machines, it's a great read.

It is refreshingly down to earth. Although it does engage in magical
thinking when it declares that exercises which move the body are superior
to otherwise identical ones which don't (the dip vs decline press
example).

Not sure that i'd consider glutes part of the core, either!

Now, he says:

"When possible, choose to train in a standing or ground based position
rather than seated or lying."

This reminds me of something. I saw a website at one point that was
written by an experienced competitive lifter, a sort of grand old man. One
of the things he wrote which has stuck with me was, roughly "the best
exercises are the ones that involve standing on your own to feet and
lifting a piece of iron above your head" - a real back-to-basics
principle. I love that maxim, and my lifting lives by it (mostly - i have
to confess to machine seated rows). But i can't for the life of me
remember who this was, or where the website was! I do remember that the
site was vast, and the guy had sadly died recently, and someone else was
maintaining it in his honour. I think he was Canadian; if not, then
American. I think it had a strong dose of strongman and olympic related
stuff, rather than just mainstream powerlifting. I thought it was called
something like ontariostrongman, although i don't think it actually was
ontariostrongman.ca, that's something else. Does anyone have any idea what
i'm talking about?

tom

--
intelligence, purity, the potential freedom of space, and the potential
aesthetics of mathematical computations

"Tom Anderson" <twic@urchin.earth.li> wrote in message
news:Pine.LNX.4.64.0802291617540.21914@urchin.eart h.li...
> On Fri, 29 Feb 2008, Steve Freides wrote:
>
>> "GregB" <gnbonney@gmail.com> wrote
>>
>>> Finally, I recommend you read this...
>>> http://strength-training.wikidot.com...t-really-works
>>
>> A good article, IMHO. I don't agree with absolutely everything in
>> but,
>> especially for those gym bunnies who spend their time working the
>> circuit of machines, it's a great read.
>
> It is refreshingly down to earth. Although it does engage in magical
> thinking when it declares that exercises which move the body are
> superior to otherwise identical ones which don't (the dip vs decline
> press example).
>
> Not sure that i'd consider glutes part of the core, either!
>
> Now, he says:
>
> "When possible, choose to train in a standing or ground based position
> rather than seated or lying."
>
> This reminds me of something. I saw a website at one point that was
> written by an experienced competitive lifter, a sort of grand old man.
> One of the things he wrote which has stuck with me was, roughly "the
> best exercises are the ones that involve standing on your own to feet
> and lifting a piece of iron above your head" - a real back-to-basics
> principle. I love that maxim, and my lifting lives by it (mostly - i
> have to confess to machine seated rows).

I agree wholeheartedly. My lifting almost always includes a standing
kettlebell military press, usually one side at a time but occasionally
two at a time, or two done see-saw fashion (lowering one while lifting
the other).

> But i can't for the life of me remember who this was, or where the
> website was! I do remember that the site was vast, and the guy had
> sadly died recently, and someone else was maintaining it in his
> honour. I think he was Canadian; if not, then American. I think it had
> a strong dose of strongman and olympic related stuff, rather than just
> mainstream powerlifting. I thought it was called something like
> ontariostrongman, although i don't think it actually was
> ontariostrongman.ca, that's something else. Does anyone have any idea
> what i'm talking about?

Not me, sorry.

-S-
http://www.kbnj.com


> tom
>
> --
> intelligence, purity, the potential freedom of space, and the
> potential
> aesthetics of mathematical computations

Dnia 2008-02-29 Tom Anderson napisa³(a):
> On Fri, 29 Feb 2008, Steve Freides wrote:
>
>> "GregB" <gnbonney@gmail.com> wrote
>>
>>> Finally, I recommend you read this...
>>> http://strength-training.wikidot.com...t-really-works
>>
>> A good article, IMHO. I don't agree with absolutely everything in but,
>> especially for those gym bunnies who spend their time working the
>> circuit of machines, it's a great read.
>
> It is refreshingly down to earth. Although it does engage in magical
> thinking when it declares that exercises which move the body are superior
> to otherwise identical ones which don't (the dip vs decline press
> example).
>
> Not sure that i'd consider glutes part of the core, either!
>
> Now, he says:
>
> "When possible, choose to train in a standing or ground based position
> rather than seated or lying."
>
> This reminds me of something. I saw a website at one point that was
> written by an experienced competitive lifter, a sort of grand old man. One
> of the things he wrote which has stuck with me was, roughly "the best
> exercises are the ones that involve standing on your own to feet and
> lifting a piece of iron above your head" - a real back-to-basics
> principle.

Not this one?
http://jva.ontariostrongman.ca/BASICS.htm
"get off of your back and back side and start training while standing on
your own two feet with the bar in your own two hands."

> I love that maxim, and my lifting lives by it (mostly - i have
> to confess to machine seated rows). But i can't for the life of me
> remember who this was, or where the website was! I do remember that the
> site was vast, and the guy had sadly died recently, and someone else was
> maintaining it in his honour. I think he was Canadian; if not, then
> American. I think it had a strong dose of strongman and olympic related
> stuff, rather than just mainstream powerlifting. I thought it was called
> something like ontariostrongman, although i don't think it actually was
> ontariostrongman.ca, that's something else. Does anyone have any idea what
> i'm talking about?

--
Andrzej Rosa 1127R

It's good that you've decided to "get serious" about working out, but
I don't think you need to do things like fat-burners and whatnot. I'm
not aware that any of them "work" -- they all feel insecure enough
about their own products to note "results not typical" or some such
disclaimer. Indeed, if any of them actually did burn fat (as opposed
to induce a slightly increased body temperature temporarily -- at
best), I think it'd be on the evening news.

As for your workout schedule, it looks solid to me. Thing is, are you
working out "hard" enough? A lot of times people just lift sissy
weights. Are you sweating and huffing like me -- or just feeling like
you've "done your duty" the way most other gym-goers seem to be? I
see a lot of these girls who show up in the gym regularly, and fairly
often too, but what are they doing, exactly? Having conversations on
the stationary bikes. Sure they're burning calories -- but it's
likely not primarily from pedaling! Not pedaling their legs,
anyway....

What are your goals? It sounds like you're trying to achieve a
certain something. If you have specific goals in mind, you'll get
more targeted advice. Otherwise, well, it looks like an exercise
program, all right, what you have going there. You're feeling great
and things are working for you. There's nothing else to be said,
unless there's a particular issue you have in mind.

Tom Anderson <twic@urchin.earth.li> writes:

> On Fri, 29 Feb 2008, Steve Freides wrote:
>
>> "GregB" <gnbonney@gmail.com> wrote
>>
>>> Finally, I recommend you read this...
>>> http://strength-training.wikidot.com...t-really-works
>>
>> A good article, IMHO. I don't agree with absolutely everything in but,
>> especially for those gym bunnies who spend their time working the
>> circuit of machines, it's a great read.
>
> It is refreshingly down to earth. Although it does engage in magical
> thinking when it declares that exercises which move the body are
> superior to otherwise identical ones which don't (the dip vs decline
> press example).
>
> Not sure that i'd consider glutes part of the core, either!

They play an important role in positioning the hips and thus
protecting the lumbar spine, so I think it makes sense to include
them, functionally if not anatomically.

--
Jim Janney

<andrew.workout@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:87d7707b-55ee-40ba-b922-34ef1dff49a6@e10g2000prf.googlegroups.com...
> Hi all,
>
> I have been in and out of the weight lifting game for the last few
> years. To put it bluntly, I got lazy and let myself slip.
>
> Fast forward to today and I have been back at it for about a month
> now. I have finished all the basic workouts and gone through the
> agony of getting back at it after all those years. I am finally at a
> point where I really want to get serious. I need some advice on how
> to proceed.
>
> Right now I work out about 5-6 days a week. I work out each body part
> once a week with a basic workout program as below:
>
> Day 1: 30 mins cardio, triceps and biceps. I do anywhere from 3-5
> exercises for each body part with 5 working sets. My triceps have
> always been fast growers, so I hit them with 2 really heavy exercises,
> and then 2-3 shaping or pump exercises. I go heavy with 3 exercises
> on my bi's and finish them off with preachers and reverse curls.
>
> Day 2: 30 mins cardio - Shoulders and back. I do 5 exercises each,
> heavy on all sets. I find my shoulders and back respond best to this.
>
> Day 3: Cardio- 1 hour
>
> Day 4 - Cardio 30 mins. Chest. Again, 5 exercies, 4 are heavy sets,
> ending with flyes or cable cross-overs
>
> Day 5 - Legs. All heavy sets. I work my quads, hams and calves with
> 3-4 exercies each.
>
> Day 6 - Cardio 1 hour
>
> I drink a protein shake with some carbs mixed in 20 minutes before my
> workouts, and a shake within 20 mins of the end of my workout with 15
> grams of glutamine in that. I have a shake with glutamine before
> bed.
>
> I get about 6-8 hours of sleep a night and I have had good recovery
> from the exercise.
>
> Question: Should I continue with this until it stops working and then
> change it up? Am I taking the right supplements?
>
> I have started to work my abs and I will continue to strenghten my
> core as I go.
>
> Come May I plan on really hammering the cardio and lean out for the
> summer. I will take ECA or a fatburner then.
>
> I also go in the Sauna for 15-20 mins a workout and stretch in there.
> I take some milk thistle for my liver.
>
> Energy levels are great so far and I am really enjoying the gym again.
>
> Any help will be appreciated.
>
> Andrew

Doing cardio before weight training will seriously inhibit any results.
Always always always do cardio AFTER lifting. 5 minutes of cardio as a
general warmup would be ok but anything beyond that will significantly
reduce the effectiveness of your workout.

On Fri, 29 Feb 2008, Andrzej Rosa wrote:

> Dnia 2008-02-29 Tom Anderson napisa?(a):
>> On Fri, 29 Feb 2008, Steve Freides wrote:
>>
>>> "GregB" <gnbonney@gmail.com> wrote
>>>
>>>> Finally, I recommend you read this...
>>>> http://strength-training.wikidot.com...t-really-works
>>
>> Now, he says:
>>
>> "When possible, choose to train in a standing or ground based position
>> rather than seated or lying."
>>
>> This reminds me of something. I saw a website at one point that was
>> written by an experienced competitive lifter, a sort of grand old man. One
>> of the things he wrote which has stuck with me was, roughly "the best
>> exercises are the ones that involve standing on your own to feet and
>> lifting a piece of iron above your head" - a real back-to-basics
>> principle.
>
> Not this one?
> http://jva.ontariostrongman.ca/BASICS.htm
> "get off of your back and back side and start training while standing on
> your own two feet with the bar in your own two hands."

That's exactly it! Hidden in a subdomain! God damn!

tom

--
Well, I'm making a list too. But I'm also preparing appropriate
retribution. -- Graham

On Fri, 29 Feb 2008, Jim Janney wrote:

> Tom Anderson <twic@urchin.earth.li> writes:
>
>> On Fri, 29 Feb 2008, Steve Freides wrote:
>>
>>> "GregB" <gnbonney@gmail.com> wrote
>>>
>>>> Finally, I recommend you read this...
>>>> http://strength-training.wikidot.com...t-really-works
>>>
>>> A good article, IMHO. I don't agree with absolutely everything in but,
>>> especially for those gym bunnies who spend their time working the
>>> circuit of machines, it's a great read.
>>
>> It is refreshingly down to earth. Although it does engage in magical
>> thinking when it declares that exercises which move the body are
>> superior to otherwise identical ones which don't (the dip vs decline
>> press example).
>>
>> Not sure that i'd consider glutes part of the core, either!
>
> They play an important role in positioning the hips and thus protecting
> the lumbar spine, so I think it makes sense to include them,
> functionally if not anatomically.

Fair enough. They're also part of the lower body group, and some part of
my brain was refusing to accept that they could be in both groups at the
same time.

tom

--
Well, I'm making a list too. But I'm also preparing appropriate
retribution. -- Graham

On Mar 1, 11:29 am, Tom Anderson <t...@urchin.earth.li> wrote:
> On Fri, 29 Feb 2008, Andrzej Rosa wrote:
> > Dnia 2008-02-29 Tom Anderson napisa?(a):
> >> On Fri, 29 Feb 2008, Steve Freides wrote:
>
> >>> "GregB" <gnbon...@gmail.com> wrote
>
> >>>> Finally, I recommend you read this...
> >>>>http://strength-training.wikidot.com...article:what-r...
>
> >> Now, he says:
>
> >> "When possible, choose to train in a standing or ground based position
> >> rather than seated or lying."
>
> >> This reminds me of something. I saw a website at one point that was
> >> written by an experienced competitive lifter, a sort of grand old man. One
> >> of the things he wrote which has stuck with me was, roughly "the best
> >> exercises are the ones that involve standing on your own to feet and
> >> lifting a piece of iron above your head" - a real back-to-basics
> >> principle.
>
> > Not this one?
> >http://jva.ontariostrongman.ca/BASICS.htm
> > "get off of your back and back side and start training while standing on
> > your own two feet with the bar in your own two hands."
>
> That's exactly it! Hidden in a subdomain! God damn!
>
> tom
>
> --
> Well, I'm making a list too. But I'm also preparing appropriate
> retribution. -- Graham

Another good article. Too bad the guy is not with us anymore. Kinda
sad to see his postings where he talked about how much time he had
left. I hope they keep his web site alive for a long time to come.

Greg

On Mar 4, 11:59*pm, GregB <gnbon...@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Mar 1, 11:29 am, Tom Anderson <t...@urchin.earth.li> wrote:
>
>
>
> > On Fri, 29 Feb 2008, Andrzej Rosa wrote:
> > > Dnia 2008-02-29 Tom Anderson napisa?(a):
> > >> On Fri, 29 Feb 2008, Steve Freides wrote:
>
> > >>> "GregB" <gnbon...@gmail.com> wrote
>
> > >>>> Finally, I recommend you read this...
> > >>>>http://strength-training.wikidot.com...article:what-r...
>
> > >> Now, he says:
>
> > >> "When possible, choose to train in a standing or ground based position
> > >> rather than seated or lying."
>
> > >> This reminds me of something. I saw a website at one point that was
> > >> written by an experienced competitive lifter, a sort of grand old man.. One
> > >> of the things he wrote which has stuck with me was, roughly "the best
> > >> exercises are the ones that involve standing on your own to feet and
> > >> lifting a piece of iron above your head" - a real back-to-basics
> > >> principle.
>
> > > Not this one?
> > >http://jva.ontariostrongman.ca/BASICS.htm
> > > "get off of your back and back side and start training while standing on
> > > your own two feet with the bar in your own two hands."
>
> > That's exactly it! Hidden in a subdomain! God damn!
>
> > tom
>
> > --
> > Well, I'm making a list too. But I'm also preparing appropriate
> > retribution. -- Graham
>
> Another good article. *Too bad the guy is not with us anymore. *Kinda
> sad to see his postings where he talked about how much time he had
> left. *I hope they keep his web site alive for a long time to come.
>
> Greg

I'll maintain the Askem website as long as I can. It was supposed to
be a
temporary thing, but it's been up for four years already...Strossen
at
Ironmind was originally going to host it, but apparently he never did
get
around to it.

I know that some of you guys have the original site backed up on a CD
-- if
you see anything that I'm missing (especially pictures) please let me
know,
and send it my way if you can.

Regards,

Grant Buhr
OntarioStrongman.ca