How to vary it up?

[kyledr]

I've lift weights some, have been this school year, but I get the feeling I should be changing what I do more. Here's what I do usually:

Bent over row with dumbbells or machine (I do alternating by months)
Bench press or pectoral machine
Lateral pull down machine or overhand grip pull up
Bicep curl with dumbbells
Triceps pushdown with cable
Abs

I'm going to add lunges too, and yeah, I know that's all upper body there, but that's my main concern at the moment. But as far as alternating, I do it about once a month, but I feel the alternation isn't significant enough or something. Also is there anything critical as far as upper body is concerned that I'm missing?

Also, what would be a decent size for someone 5'7"? I"m not trying to get huge, just want to look pretty decent, not really bulky but rather muscular and lean. Right now I'm 142. I was thinking 150 with 8% body fat is a decent goal, you think? How long is reasonable if I'm 142 with 12% body fat? I suppose I should make my goal like 155 if I want to end up 150 though... Losing fat is the easy part for me.

[Alcoholiday]

start doing lower body work

[EasyRhino]

Throwing a big zany leg day in there would DEFINITELY mix things up.

You could also fiddle with your sets and reps. More sets of fewer, heavier reps.

Supersets. Bench press immediately followed by rows. Biceps immediately followd by triceps.

[twoolf]

Adding in some squats, deadlifts, and single-leg work will help you add muscle mass all over your body. If you want to gain muscle, you really need to include some lower body work in your program.

Try one of the training routines from this thread. Using professionally designed programs for a while will probably speed up your progress considerably.

[Ogedei]

Despite what everyone else thinks. I think you could really benefit from doing some Squats and Deadlifts, as well as some lunges and split squats. I think some lower body work would definitely shake up your routine.

Also not sure how often your working out, but it seems to me from your description that you are doing the same things day after day and then switching to a new day after day routine every month? Maybe try doing an AB total body workout 3 days a week?

I also wanted to make a point....
You specified an exercise or group of exercises for everything...except abs. You just said abs. What are you doing for abs?

[Aoife]

ok, this is just a pet peeve, but it's not "lateral pulldown" … the "lat" doesn't stand for lateral, it stands for latissimus dorsi, those big back muscles.


and yeah, work your legs, vary your top, and you'd prolly be better served doing vertical press/pull than arm exercises. pullups would be better overall than pulldowns, and add in some shoulder or military presses. (they're pretty nice for building up those shoulders)

[kyledr]

OK fine! Last time at the gym I did a machine that is kind of like doing squats, it worked my hamstring and glutes, which is nice cause I wouldn't mind having a nice ass too. However, my legs and ass are naturally bigger than my upper body from cycling and such, so I'm worried about my pants becoming too tight, and then I'll need new pants! You can see why I'm concerned...

For abs, I used to do an ab machine, now I do sit ups on an inclined bench... I go up to vertical and down to a bit below horizontal, not letting my back touch the bench. It also works my lower back doing that. Switching from the ab machine to the inclined bench was great. I wasn't getting any soreness from the machine, and I didn't feel I was making much for gains, but now on this inclined bench, my abs were quite sore the first couple times doing that.

I guess deadlifts are important because my lower back is weak compared to my upper back. Would not doing lower body really stop me from gaining muscle in my upper body? I would like to understand why.

Thanks for the advice

Oh and I work out every other day, sometimes adding one day between if I feel like I didn't recover enough due to lack of sleep or heavy drinking, or if I'm too busy. Yeah I know drinking is bad...

[LisaS]

many people will tell you that the physiological and hormonal responses that you get from working the big muscles of the lower body hard will enhance muscle growth throughout the body - so by not strength training the lower body it isn't working against upper body growth per se but rather you are avoiding doing something that would enhance it -

as far as what might be missing - Do you know your goals? Do you have a plan for the next 3-4 months to get you there? What kind of periodization are you following? That is, are you varying reps and sets and weights according to a plan and proven methods or are you making it up as you go along?

Maybe you should get a book like Waterbury's Huge in a Hurry and follow a good plan that someone else has put together. Then once you get the hang of how a good and balanced program flows you can strike out on your own later.

[eastcoastsurfer]

Just start doing a balanced program hitting the whole body. I'll second what Lisa said about Huge In A Hurry. I've been doing it for 3-4 months now and it's great. The workout changes every 4-weeks so you don't get bored and it's fun to not worry about sets anymore.

[kyledr]

So far I generally do what feels right as far as reps and sets goes, but I do vary it up so that I go through peaks of high effort and periods of low effort. I'll try that book out. I think a book would be helpful. Also, I definitely need to eat more. I'll have a stable lifestyle in two weeks, so I should be able to make it happen.

As for goals, I'd like to be 150 with 8% body fat, maybe 155 if I get there and feel it's not good enough. I don't wanna be too bulky though cause I think short bulky guys look silly. Just my opinion. For a timeline, I was thinking three months. If I gained a pound a week I'd be there in two months and then I could use the remaining month to lower body fat. Is a month sufficient to lower body fat by 4% from 12% to 8%? I can lose weight pretty easy, though I don't know how it works if I want to lose just fat while maintaining overall weight. I guess maybe I should shoot for 153 and lower to 150? Even if no fat was converted to muscle, the fat loss would still be about 2%, so that's cool I guess. Is that reasonable?

Also, maybe I could gain 2 pounds to make it to 153, cause that's 5 weeks maybe. I think I might be up to 143ish right now.

[kicka]

guess u should be moving up and focus on one huge body part/ muscle group per training day, e.g. here's what i do for chest

pec machine 5 x 8-12
incline bench press 5x 8-12
flat bench fly or cable fly
decline bench press or dip
cable cross over

that added up like 1hour 15 min for me approx, including warm up set for each of the exercise above.

[sonortubelug]

The curls and the push downs are a waste of time.Squat and deadlift are your friends,anything thats a compound movement if you want to get bigger and leaner.If you're starting out then overhead press,squat,deadlift,bent over row,bench and some basic core work(sit ups etc)Good form.1 second lift,1 second pause,3 second lower.3 sets of eight to ten reps of each exercise.That'll do you for a few months.Oh,and eat a good ratio of carbs and protein.Lots.