Back to the Gym Looking for some input

[2canSAM]

Haven't lifted since high school and even then it was just to show off and was done hanging out. That was many, many years ago. Finally decided I have to do something. Started going back a few days ago and built out a pretty basic routine. Take a look and tell me if any glaring issues. My main goals here were

1. Time - I only have 1 hour to actually work out. Going before work and starting on an empty stomach. I drink 20oz water first thing and another 20-30oz while lifting.

2. Don't want to depend on machines - Wanted to only include a bench and dumbbells. I like the fact that dumbbells work independent and I can't compensate weak side with strong side. I feel the isolation is better too. Plus I don't want to rely on a piece of equipment being available. I can grab dumbbells and pretty much work any where in the gym.

1. Start with treadmill. 7 minutes. Start at 3.0Mph and ramp up to 4.5 to 5Mph.
2. Flat Bench Press 1 set of 10-12 reps
3. Bicep Curls 1 set of 10-12 reps
4. Shoulder Presses 1 set of 10-12 reps
5. Bent Dumbbell Rows 1 set of 10-12 reps
6. Triceps Kickbacks or Overhead extensions 1 set of 10-12 reps
7. Calf Raises 1 set of 10-12 reps (first set is flat, then I stand on small platform for next)
8. Incline Bench Press 1 set of 10 reps
9. Squats or Leg Presses (depends on if machine is available)
10. Hanging Leg Raises - 1 set straight up and down, set 2 legs to the left, set 3 legs to the right
11. Cool down for 10 minutes on bike.

I Repeat 2 through 10 for another set or two in the same order. Currently doing this M-W-F

 

[crashtech]

I'd put pull-ups in place of curls, but I'm no expert. Looks like you only have one exercise targeted at the lats, and pull-ups do lats and biceps, very functional exercise.

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

I have issue with no cardio. Focus on chest shoulders tri, next day legs, other day back and biceps, instead of all in one day.
Need deadlifts too. Squat and deadlift are the number one and two weight lifting exercises and it's not even close to 3.

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

I'd put pull-ups in place of curls, but I'm no expert. Looks like you only have one exercise targeted at the lats, and pull-ups do lats and biceps, very functional exercise.

Yep. I'm big into compound movements. I'm always short on time and want bang for the buck time wise. I don't do curls or triceps specific exercises. Waste of time imo. I'll let my bench presses and dips take care of triceps. Deadlift and pull ups for biceps.

 

[2canSAM]

I'd put pull-ups in place of curls, but I'm no expert. Looks like you only have one exercise targeted at the lats, and pull-ups do lats and biceps, very functional exercise.

So as sad as this is to admit... Pull-ups are very difficult for me. I typically can only pull one or two times. Should I be using the assist machine the gym has?

I have issue with no cardio. Focus on chest shoulders tri, next day legs, other day back and biceps, instead of all in one day.
Need deadlifts too. Squat and deadlift are the number one and two weight lifting exercises and it's not even close to 3.

Cardio will be mixed in on Tuesday and Thursday and weekends.

Yep. I'm big into compound movements. I'm always short on time and want bang for the buck time wise. I don't do curls or triceps specific exercises. Waste of time imo. I'll let my bench presses and dips take care of triceps. Deadlift and pull ups for biceps.

I like the idea of compounds. Good idea, any other compounds I should try?

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

I do bench, pull ups, dips, squat, deadlifts, Romanian squats, kettlebell swings, incline bench, with dumbbell a bicep curl into shoulder press. Look up athlean x channel on YouTube for more. He has lots of advice.

 

[crashtech]

So as sad as this is to admit... Pull-ups are very difficult for me. I typically can only pull one or two times. Should I be using the assist machine the gym has?

I hear you. Use a lat pulldown machine for now, when your strength increases you can revisit it.

 

[deadlyapp]

I'd think about reducing your reps and increasing your sets. In the 10-12 range you're pretty likely in hypertrophy where you should be thinking about strength building instead. Maybe think about a good balance around 6-8 reps x 4 sets if possible. Minimize rest between movements to keep your heart rate up.

If you can't fit that routine in, then rotate splits with half of your movements twice a week and half the other days. If you can't get a good lift in a single muscle group then you're not going to see much progress overall.

 

[Ancalagon44]

I wouldn't try to do all of that in one day - you will run out of time. Add deadlifts and squats. I especially recommend the single leg deadlift.

Here is the routine that I do:
Monday - Chest and Triceps
3 sets of incline bench press
3 sets of flat bench press
3 sets of triceps extension
Might add more here

Wednesday - Back, Biceps and Abs
Lat pullover
Bent over row
Dumbell curls
Hammer curls
Kettlebell swing
Ab crunches

Friday - Legs and shoulders
Goblet squat
Single leg deadlift
Military press
Side lateral raises

On Tuesday and Thursday, depending on the weather, I might go for a walk or a run. If it is cold, probably a walk. Don't dismiss walking - it's very good for you. Among other things, a 1 hour walk will put you in a good mood.

Running in the cold hurts my lungs, so if it is cold out, I'll probably run on the weekends, when I can run closer to noon.

I don't bother with a treadmill - I prefer to be outside when running or walking. You need the vitamin D.

 

[Ancalagon44]

EDIT: Sorry, double post.

 

[SlitheryDee]

1. Start with treadmill. 7 minutes. Start at 3.0Mph and ramp up to 4.5 to 5Mph.
2. Flat Bench Press 1 set of 10-12 reps
3. Bicep Curls 1 set of 10-12 reps
4. Shoulder Presses 1 set of 10-12 reps
5. Bent Dumbbell Rows 1 set of 10-12 reps
6. Triceps Kickbacks or Overhead extensions 1 set of 10-12 reps
7. Calf Raises 1 set of 10-12 reps (first set is flat, then I stand on small platform for next)
8. Incline Bench Press 1 set of 10 reps
9. Squats or Leg Presses (depends on if machine is available)
10. Hanging Leg Raises - 1 set straight up and down, set 2 legs to the left, set 3 legs to the right
11. Cool down for 10 minutes on bike.

I would break this up a bit. I don't really have anything against full body type workouts, but you don't want to arrange your exercises so that one interferes with the other.

For instance, you're starting with flat bench presses. That's good. The only problem is that before you get around to your second set of flat benches, you're throwing in shoulder presses, triceps kickbacks, and incline bench presses. Each one of those exercises is going to fatigue the same muscles that you're going to need for your second set of flat bench presses. Since the flat benches are arguably the most important of those exercises, it behooves you to be as fresh as possible for every set of them.

I would recommend that you finish ALL of your sets of flat benches before you move on to incline benches, shoulders, and triceps. In fact, I would start by finishing all my sets of all the major compound movements in order of importance, and then do the isolation work in the circuit style that you seem to be going for. I would also do a minimum of 3 sets each of squats, flat bench, bent over or dumbell rows, shoulder presses, and dead lifts. That's going to end up being a lot of volume, hence my suggestion that you break it up.

My routine would end up looking kind of like this.

Mon, Chest/tris/shoulders

Flat Bench 3 sets 8-10
Shoulder press 3 sets 8-10

Triceps kickbacks/Shoulder side raises/chest flies/ - Circuit style for however many sets you want

Wed, Legs/abs

Squats/leg presses 3 sets 8-10

Calf raises/Leg extensions/leg curls/hanging leg raises - circuit style for however many sets you want

Friday, back/bis

Dead lift 3 sets 8-10
Bent over rows 3 sets 8-10

Dumbell rows/biceps curls/pullups - circuit style for however many sets you want

You might want to make some minor alterations. For instance, I don't think I would want to do deadlifts with my legs still sore from squats, so I might make back/bis my first day and chest/tris my last day.

Another important thing to understand is that you want to be increasing the weight of your major compound exercises every workout for as long as you can. You don't need to increase them by a lot. In fact I would increase them by the minimum possible week over week, depending on the plate choices available at your gym. It'll get difficult soon enough, don't rush it.

Last year I started basically with just the bar on all my exercises. Now I think I'm doing respectably well in everything. Just get in the habit of constantly striving for more weight. That, along with a good diet is what will ultimately get you results. Push more weight, build more muscle, which lets you push more weigh, and so on.

 

[CaptainAwesome]

It's important to start small if you have not done it in a while. An hour is plenty of time to get a good solid workout in. I hardly ever workout for more than 45 mins and I get plenty of results.I would stick to that routine and just get into the routine of going consistently. Eventually I would do something like this. Here are a couple of ideas without getting too specific.

Monday - upper body
Tuesday - Lower body
Wednesday - off
Thursday - Upper body
Friday -Lower body
Sat and sunday off

Then after a while you can make it more instense by targeting a specific muscle everyday.

Sunday - off
Monday Biceps and triceps
tuesday - Legs
Wednesday - Chest and abs
thursday - Sholders
Friday - Back
Saturday - off

I hope this helps!

 

[Pantlegz]

So, what are your goals? It looks like you've got some sort of bodybuilding routine in mind but doing the same shit every day isn't the most effective. Without a purpose it's difficult to give recommendations and even more difficult to make lifting a habit rather than a fad.

 

[2canSAM]

So, what are your goals? It looks like you've got some sort of bodybuilding routine in mind but doing the same shit every day isn't the most effective. Without a purpose it's difficult to give recommendations and even more difficult to make lifting a habit rather than a fad.

Primarily building muscle and overall strength. I am dieting and cardio for the weight loss portion right now. Already down 50Lbs.

 

[ViviTheMage]

I only gym 3 days a week, about an hour or less as well.

I do 4x8 bench, 3x8 preacher curls, 4x8 squats, 3x8 curls, 3x8 side lat raises, 3x8 leverage high row, 3x8 rows, 3x8 lat rows, 15x2 dips, 10 dips with 35lb weight, 3x8 curls, 3x8 chin up with weight, 3x8 pull down at machine.

I am probably calling the last two wrong names, but I like this workout. I can get it done in about 45 minutes if its not busy, and an hour if its busy right after work. Sometimes I throw in 15~ minutes of biking. I alternate between machines and free weights depending how busy the gym is...the boldes ones are always free weights though.

 

[TripleThreatTLT]

I don't understand the doing a single set and then repeating the entire routine over.

Why not do 3 sets at a time?

The problem I see is at my gym if you do this you would either have to leave your weights set up and monopolize the equipment which will annoy everyone. Or you have to tear down and setup every time which is inefficient.

 

[SNC]

Something not mentioned here so far. Listening to your body and proper form are more important than actually going to the gym. I see guys throwing weights around and banging shit around and wonder why they are in pain. If you are focusing on biceps and are doing curls, use your bicep to list the weight, keep your shoulder down and back, keep your knees slightly bent and don't move them. Stand tall and don't swing the weight, or in cross-fit jargon kipping the weight.

My way of attacking a workout is the old school push pull mentality. A pulling movement is done after a pushing one, so after bench would come some sort of lat or back movement. And with respect to those movements keep them even. Work your back as much and as hard as your chest. This can help with shoulder issues. For arms, tricep extensions of some sort always follow curls. For a beginner an hour is plenty, but please move your workout around so that you are completing your goal sets in each exercise at one time. Your body and everyone else at the gym will thank you.