I need some advice for my workout...

[BjsAust]

In between arguments theres been a number of helpful tips in here. Its your choice to take them or keep arguing. Thus far all you've done is troll.

[Dr. Casey]

I'll respond to them if you people stop distracting me with your hate speech.

[Q.]

"I haven't given up."

That's definitely a step in the right direction! I do have respect for someone who can weather the storm and show me something else after they got off on the wrong foot. Please do stick around and I'm sure everything will work out in time!

[Dr. Casey]

Awesome, thanks a lot. [img]smile.gif[/img]

I'm off to take a shower, I'll make another response in a little while. Until then, let the argument die and don't try to provoke me (Although if Mahler wants to defend himself, that's fine).

Be back in a half an hour.

[Q.]

No attacks... just a question or two.

Mind if I ask what "brbd00dbrb" in your email address means?

Do you frequent forums a lot? You knew how to do the quote thing which most people wouldn't unless they were forum hounds.

[K-Court]

Go over to t-nation, Casey. They actually get off on the being-an-asshole thing over there. Might be a better fit for you.

[Dr. Casey]

Go over to t-nation, Casey. They actually get off on the being-an-asshole thing over there. Might be a better fit for you.

hi K-Court

Anyway, for some reason I couldn't post this because I can't have parenthesis in HTML tags (Even though I... you know... didn't), so I took out all the parenthesis. I know it'll make it a lot less readable...

Back in March 2003, I wanted to sign up for a Yahoo Usergroup, but ran into a myriad of problems. So, I asked some guy I knew if he had any spare emails, and he gave me his brbd00dbrb@yahoo.com address. By the time I got a GMail account two years later I felt kind of attached to the silly brbd00dbrb, so I decided to use it for that email as well.

And yeah, I go to about... um... well, quite a few other forums. <_<; My first post under Dr Casey was made in May 2001, and it was up until a few months ago when some hacker wiped out every post on the Ezboard system. And yeah, when I first started out on message boards, I didn't know what emoticons or 'net abbreviations were, and I was so proud in July when I figured out how to use email. XD

Anyway, to give you all the stuff you asked for...

Age: 18

Height: 5' 10" or thereabouts.

Weight: 137 125 when I started working out, 160 in June, gone down 23 pounds

Body fat %: Last I checked, 18.

Lifting experience: I started working out in February of 2004, due mainly to my being one of the weakest in 9th grade PE. I started off doing pushups, situps, benchpressing 45 pounds, and running; in the second exercise I added curling to the mix 10 lbs. 10 times with each arm; on the eighth exercise I added the butterfly 30 lbs. 10 times; on the 43rd I added prison exercises 10 lbs. 10 times and tricep extensions 60 lbs. 15 times... I might've started too light, but I didn't know where to start off, added reverse crunches on the 107th; added the bicycle on the 108th; added weighted situps on the 109th 2 sets of 25 with 10 lbs.; and finally, added leglifts on the 122nd.

I did the first 50 from February 14th, 2004 until June 13th, 2004, almost consistently every two days. I then took the rest of the summer off. I started again when Junior Year started, from August 11th until May 13th, but I did a very poor job of being consistent. I got through exercises 51 - 108. That summer, I increased my benching by 40 pounds. The last workout I did was on August 2nd, where I benched 135 pounds 10 times.

In case you haven't figured it out, I've put a hell of a lot of work into this the 132 times I did work out, and I'd rather not have it all written off with an insulting two-word term and a "Better luck next time!" attitude. That would be fine if I had only been working out for two weeks, but I want something a little bit more than that at this point. I want to know what body parts I have been working out, first of all, as I know this hasn't been a total waste I can do 200 pounds on the butterfly easily now, instead of just a brief and rude "your workout sucks". That would do a much better job of letting me know where I stand and need to go from here.

Diet: Well... my favorite kind of food are fruits and vegetables. Sweets make me sick. Meat is boring. I like cereal. Juice kicks ass, as do milk and chocolate milk.

Goals: Um... get stronger. Get even bigger arms Looking at them again in the mirror, they're better than I remember them being. Get a decent chest. Hell, just make some definite progress.

If you're not going to dump your workout, why did you even bother asking us in the first place? In your words, I don't know why i'm wasting my time. But here's my advice to you

Alright, let me clarify. I don't want to be told that I should dump my workout. I want a well-argued, non-insulting post explaining why I should do so. I don't like people, and I don't like feeling like someone's attempting to pressure me into changing - because that's what it can seem like without an argument. "I won't give answers and you shouldn't ask questions, just do what I say." Show me the merits of your ideas, and eventually I'll take you all out of the equation and change for myself.

Upper body horizontal pull bent over row
Upper body vertical push dip
Upper body vertical pull pull-up

Ahaha, pull-ups. Good times, good times... *Remembers swinging legs around like an idiot when attempting pull-ups in front of everyone during 9th Grade PE; builds time machine to go and stab 15-year old self*

I don't know what the other two I quoted are, by the way.

[Q.]

I haven't seen any sports specifically mentioned... at least that I remember right now. If you are interested in improving in a sport, that would make some difference in what would help you the most. There are "sport-specific" workouts.

Personally, I and a lot of people here do not do any "isolation" exercises, i.e., ones that work basically one joint with a limited number of muscles activated. We prefer "compound" exercises because, basically, they involve more muscles. So, if you are doing pull-ups, you still get your biceps worked but you also get a lot of back muscles involved, too. Squats are another "core" compound exercise. Deadlifts are favorites of most people here, I believe, because these involve a hell of a lot of muscles.

If you add the pushups that you are already doing to those three, IMHO, you have a pretty good starting point for all your work outs. You can get multiple joint movement in a variety of planes.

However, from your original post, it doesn't sound like you have access to much in the way of free weights (all machines plus 15 lb db's). Is that correct? If not, what do you have? If you don't have free weights (at school?), you might want to consider either buying an inexpensive set or joining a gym. Lately, I've been very interested in body weight training so, if you don't have weights, no problem.

Let's start there and see where we need to go next, okay?

[Q.]

By the way, I was also one of the kids swinging around in front of my 9th grade peers but, a couple of years before I turned 50, I finally started to be able to them. No, I didn't have to work on them for 30+ years to get there but I did have to get over not being able to do them when I was younger (the mental aspect) and just work on them repeatedly until I COULD do them! Stick with it... it's very much worth it!

[Dr. Casey]

I haven't seen any sports specifically mentioned... at least that I remember right now. If you are interested in improving in a sport, that would make some difference in what would help you the most. There are "sport-specific" workouts.

Ah, no, I'm not into any sports. I played whatever was assigned up through 9th Grade (the only year I had Gym at the High School), but I haven't been into official sports since Little League.

Personally, I and a lot of people here do not do any "isolation" exercises, i.e., ones that work basically one joint with a limited number of muscles activated. We prefer "compound" exercises because, basically, they involve more muscles. So, if you are doing pull-ups, you still get your biceps worked but you also get a lot of back muscles involved, too. Squats are another "core" compound exercise. Deadlifts are favorites of most people here, I believe, because these involve a hell of a lot of muscles.

Alright, thanks for explaining. I'll have to have my brother explain in detail how to do squats, as I'm not completely sure about some things. Pull-ups aren't too bad; I tried doing them somewhere about six months ago and did ten of them. I've also done deadlifts before, and was able to get 200 lbs. up to my stomach. I'm not sure where I have to get them before it's considered a full deadlift, though...

However, from your original post, it doesn't sound like you have access to much in the way of free weights (all machines plus 15 lb db's). Is that correct? If not, what do you have? If you don't have free weights (at school?), you might want to consider either buying an inexpensive set or joining a gym. Lately, I've been very interested in body weight training so, if you don't have weights, no problem.

Ah, no, 10 and 15 lb. dumbells are just what I used at first. Last time I worked out, I did curling and prison exercises with the big 35'ers. =P I also have a freeform, true benchpressing thing.

Let's start there and see where we need to go next, okay?

Okay. [img]smile.gif[/img]

[Q.]

ExRx is an excellent website that you can explore on your own. Just about everybody refers to it at one time or another.

One of the things it will help you with immediately is the deadlift form.

[nyguy]

Casey, like you, I'm new to fitness and I came to this site looking for advice. As someone who doesn't know anything at all about fitness, I started posting and trying to find the best routine to fit my goals. Of course I came with my own opinions and concepts and basically the first thing I was told was "That is a seriously suck-laden workout." I tried to develop another workout routine and once again these words of wisdom helped me again. Not only Mahler, but lots of other very knowledgeable people stepped in with criticism and sometimes with words that I wasn't too happy to hear (yes, I have an ego), but it was all for my own well being.

I bought some books, I'm reading the forum, still asking lots of questions and have a lot to learn, but I believe that I'm on the right path. I understand that people are giving you a lecture (well deserved), but you offended a respected member of this forum. Nevertheless I believe that everybody will still help you with all the questions you need, just hang in there and take the beating and it will all be forgotten when they see you with a good attitude. Hang in there and don't stop posting, this is a very good and very organized forum and you won't find any other place like it.

And welcome to the forum! [img]smile.gif[/img]

[eastcoastsurfer]

Anyway, my goal...

1) Increase stamina
2) Get decent-looking arms
3) Get a good-looking chest that isn't flat as a board and disgusting for me to look at
4) Be able to bench my own weight, at least

So you want to be chicken legged with your shoulders pulled forward from a lack of back strength?

[Dr. Casey]

No, and I don't feel like dealing with smartasses right now. I just highlighted the stuff I care about most, I'll do the rest out of necessity.

I'll reply to the rest of you later.

[Lost Dog]

If your equipment is limited, one thing you might consider is doing a bodyweight routine, or at least starting with one, and supplementing with the weights you have.

Bodyweight routines give you a lot of flexibility (not like yoga flexibility, but the kind like you can do it anywhere, with no equipment...)

Starting this way lets you get the most out of a light weight set, too. Plus, as you get more advanced, it gives your family and friends a lot of options for christmas and birthday gifts.

Some of the others might have some other links, but for $20, you can get Craig Ballantyne's TT for Bodyweight. I hear it's terrific and some people even use it as an "emergency" workout, for when the can't get to the gym.

The TT workout can be found here. TT


Here's Death By Bodyweight. A classic...

Ian King's Death by Bodyweight


Here's a good one from Mike Mahler

Mike Mahler's Bodyweight Exercises for Size and Strength

[quaribc]

first my smart ass comment:
grow up and grow some balls.

now for my advice:
aside from others have said you should also add some form of rowing movement to your routine. all your goals can easily be achieved through proper weight training and nutrition. it's good that you're eating fruits and vegetables. it would be good idea to add some lean meats for protein in there as well...if you haven't done so already.

to have a proper lifting program with no imbalances you should consider the following:
push/pull movements for upper body
hip/quad dominant movement for lower body

someone already listed this as a great way to organize your routine. trust me...even after lifting w/ the added muscle your stamina will go up. it will take you many years and many poundage gains later to really have your stamina effected from weight training.
however, if your set on some endurance type routine, then interval running would be a great way to go.

about mahler...he was just being on point and blunt. never meant as disrespect.

also...pick up a copy of the book of muscle. great source of info and workout routines that you and your mother can do.

[R]

Try this:
Day 1
Bench Press
Vertical Bench Press
Butterflys
Tricep extensions

Day 2
Walk briskly - 30 min.

Day 3
Reverse crunches
Weighted situps
The bicycle
Pushups
Curls
Prison exercises

Day 4
Walk briskly - 30 min.

Day 5 - off

Day 6 repeat cycle

[Mahler]

Dr. Casey,

We are off to a pretty bad start here. Most relatively new guys who post, asking for advice, have been lurking for a while and have a handle on what the guys are like. I have a sarcastic streak in me that seems to have struck a nerve with you.

My original assessment stands, but here is why.

You began your workout description by saying that you run, but that mom suggested brisk walking. This to me, sounded like you were talking about the over protective mom that many of us knew growing up. "Don't play with that stick. You'll poke your eye out!" Hence, my comment.

As for the workout, it seemed to me to have no rhyme or