MarkSk89

Ok,,,, I am about to change city / gym / everything, so thought I'd train harder than I currently am.

I have only recently started going to the gym for the past 2 months, and have seen huge gains in what I have been doing
(example flat bench dumb-bell press from 12.5kg in each arm to 27.5kg [about 60lbs]) But with the new lifestyle change I would like to put more effort into all this.

I am a hard-gainer, 150 lbs, 6'3, having a very high metabolism, next to no body-fat, and know that the main thing I need to sort is my diet, this part is ok. Now for the help I need on my routine.

I currently train 3 days a week (monday / wednesday / friday) doing a 2 hour workout on each day, hittin all the major body parts except legs within these 2 hours.

All 3 days my routine is :

Flat bench chest press, 1 warm up set, followed by 3 sets of 8-12 reps, depending on the weight, at as heavy as possible.

Inclined/declined bench chest press, alternating, 3 sets, 8-12 reps, heavy as possible.

Fully inclined bench, shoulder press, 3 sets, 8-12 reps, heavy as possible.

Shoulder shrugs, using smith machine weights with handles, 3 sets, 25 reps per set (highest weight is easy to do)

Chest fly machine, 3 sets, depending on intensity of other chest exercises, high reps, or high weights, 8-12 reps high weight, 15-20 reps low weight.

Dumbbell alternating hammer curls (recently had elbow tendonitis so other positions cause discomfort and may lead to worse injuries), 3 sets, 8-12 reps, heavy as possible.

Dumbbell seated curls, 3 sets, 8-12 reps, heavy as possible.

EZbar curls, close grip, 3 sets, 10-15 reps, low weight (elbow issues)

Rope pulldown (tricep, not sure on technical term for excercise), 3 sets, 8-12 reps, building up weight.
SUPERSETTED With
Bar bulldown (tricep, not sure on technical term for exercise), 3 sets 8-12 reps, building up weight.

Close grip Bench press, on smith machine, 2 sets, 8 reps, heavy as possible at this time.

Tricep kickbacks, 2 sets, 8-10 reps, heavy as possible

Wide grip pullups, as many as possible without help. (usually 10 first set, 8 second set, 5/6 third set)

Weighted sit-ups (weight on chest), 3 sets, 25 reps, heavy as possible... (already have 'abs of steel' with an 8 pack forming - partly due to low body fat)


So this is my workout, I dont do any leg exercises at current, due to a misconception it would hinder my upper body, and also add unwanted weight to my lower body (not ideal for the sport I current partake in)



When moving, My life will be much more flexible, able to go to the gym 3-5 times a week, time to include leg exercises (I realise they help with full body growth, especially squats!!!!!!!) and sort out my diet.

So my questions,

1.Should I split my work out to body parts on seperate days?

2.Should I change the order of my work out regularly so that each part gets more priority?

3.I KNOW I HAVE TO DO LEGS, but what exercises would be best?

4.How often should I go, for how long, and how should I fit it into my week?

5.What sort of rest should I have between sets / exercises?

6.Are the exercises above sufficient or should I change some / add more?

7.Any other comments, thanks.

8.Cardio, yes or no for hard-gainers?

Thanks for your time
Hope for constructive replies to any of the Qs asked.

Mark

(Research has been done, but would like a more specific reply to me)

irwit

you do all those moves in a 2 hour session ??? You dont do "legs" ??? Have read ANYTHING in these forums before posting ?

MarkSk89

"3.I KNOW I HAVE TO DO LEGS, but what exercises would be best?"

And what is the problem with doing these exercises in a 2 Hour session, overtraining doesnt seem to be a problem as it stands, If a body part feels fatigued I leave it out, I have recently had a weeks break from the gym, for rest purposes.

So instead of your un-helpful comment, please enlighten me...

(Thanks for a reply, at least you seem to have read my post )

MarkSk89

Oh and quick comment, all weights are steadily rising, so it does not seem like there is a problem while during the session my body can't handle it.

and my first question was indeed "1.Should I split my work out to body parts on seperate days?"

So realistically "Have read ANYTHING in my thread before posting ?"

BabyYoYo

Can I ask why you dont do legs?

MarkSk89

I started going to the gym to increase upper body strength for climbing, this didn't (in many peoples <--- the wrong peoples) opinion did not need leg workouts, so I left them out.

After much reading, I have obviously learnt the necessity of doing legs, even if it is just the large compound exercises such as squats.

I have not started doing exercises such as these yet, as I have decided to wait til I start back at uni so that I can monitor gains, and record everything.

(IE do things properly)

Now I obviously need to incorporate some of the huge compound movements such as weighted pull ups, squats, deadlifts.

So I thought I'd ask for some more advice while I was at it.

BabyYoYo

Thanks for that... well just an example of what I do for legs:

BB SQUATS
DB LUNGES
LEG PRESS
LEG CURL

Deadlifts I do on a back day...

Have a look around on the site, there are plenty of guys with journals etc. This will give you more of an idea of which exercises to incorporate into your routine.

Just go with what feels best.

paul_22

agree with this comment you cant be told a routine or what exercises if that was the case we would all be doing arnolds and ronnie colemans routine ... you gotta find yourself and what works best for you but being told the principle leg exercises is ok but i dont think anyone is going to lay out a routine for you .... research online for all the exercises and try them out and go with what feels good ....good luck buddy !

MarkSk89

Thanks you two, much appreciated, I shall look into some of the main exercises, and start incorporating them. After finding out that works outs over about an hour long can cause the effects to be less effective, I'll make sure to spread the exercises more aswell.

irwit

I didnt leave any comments mate, I asked 3 questions. If you are still asking what leg exercises to do then you havent read anything in these forums.

I wasnt trying to sound unhelpful, I was just trying to push a point that you should really have a look into the forums here before posting. Not because we cant be bothered to answer your questions. I think you'll find numerous people in here VERY knowledgeable and very generous with that knowledge. But because these people dont normally enjoy answering the same questions with the same answers 3 times a day you might think your post is being ignored. Its is for a reason, your question has been answered many times before.

So really my best advice to you is get your head burried in these forums especially the stickies and youll find 90% of what you need. Then come back with some questions once you have a better idea of what the majority of people in these forums reccomend.

MarkSk89

ok, fair enough.
I have buried my head through stickies and posts on a number of BB forums, I have found many many things out, I have also read many many conflicting things.
I shall go a-reading

But if you would be so kind (or anyone else) what is the issue with doing these exercises in a 2 hour session?

*goes reading more*

(for all intensive purposes,
I already seem to know that splitting into different body parts seems the way forward, even though some people say do full body instead.
I know that changing workouts helps with breaking through plateau's, and that it puts different stresses on the muscles so allows greater benefits.
I can probably find a healthy list of leg exercises to be doing. Really I was after a set that only increased leg size minimally but increased hormones etc. alot.
I know about how often should go, and that rest is important, and that time of the day is down to the person, its more important that you just get the right dietary intake either side of your workout.
The information or resting between sets and exercises seem to greatly change, with some people saying 45 seconds others saying 2 minutes. So I'm not sure, currently I just wait til I feel I could rep out a good set.
I know all exercises are 'good' and some are better for different things, and I should find the right exercises for what I want.
Other comments could include, why did you ask this set of questions when you know the answers you IDIOT!
I'm not sure on the cardio part still, I have very decent stamina,
and very low BF% (5-10% depending on the test used)
So yes, I know the answers, and should go back to reading now.

MarkSk89

Oh and to answer your questions

yes i do them in a 2 hour session

I irregularly go on the leg press machine but find it rather boring to be honest, being able to lift the heaviest weight with a large range of motion, and high rep numbers

and Yes i have read alot

irwit

If you goal is huge gains then surely you are already achieving this goal ?

Horses for courses mate, whats works for you might not work for me. Surely you have have to expect that some people will rest for 45 seconds, some will rest for 2 minutes. Personally I'll rest until im ready to do the next set. Im theres to lift weights, its not a race.

Right, lets put this into a common sence point of view. Your gaol is to grow as much as possible, self confessed "hard gainer". Then why are you spending half your workout isolating your biceps and triceps. What percentage of you total muscle mass do you think these muscles represent. Also do you think these muscles are just sat about doing nothing during you bench press and pull ups ?

The more weight you are lifting then surely the more muscles you are working. So in my opinion ( and many many other ) the bigger the move the more muscle you are hitting, the more muscle you are breaking down, the more growth hormone and testosterone you are producing and so the bigger you are going to get.

I know what you are doing at the moment "feels good". Arms swelling up and tshirts fitting abit nicer. You flex in the mirror and your arms look bigger so you are getting bigger.

Two ways of looking at it. Imagine extending your house but by only extending the windows out. Yes you can extend them initially and they will look bigger, but if you ignore the rest of the house then there is only so much you can extend them by. Or you can extend the WHOLE house, it might not have those big window extentions straight away but if you extend the whole house together the windows are bound to get bigger and the foundations to keep getting bigger.

Other way of looking at it is really simple, have you ever seen a skinny man with big muscular arms ? Doesnt happen, train the WHOLE body and the WHOLE body will grow.

Finally you say you have read alot. What exactly is alot because you could pass and probably write your own degree based on the information in these foums. Not only people personaly experiences with different routines, diets, but also scientific data that often referenced and posted about the human body and how it grows, how it reacts to different foods at different times. Honestly mate you havent scratched teh surface with the ammount of information in these forums. Its all there for the taking.

Knowledge is power

MarkSk89

Thanks for the informative post,
basically (in my opinion) I had read alot, but what I'd been reading were articles.
Articles it would seem are hap-hazard of different opinions, that realistically don't help.
Sure an article will help if you are looking to find out -INSERT BODYBUILDING RELATED TOPIC-
but for background reading, the forums seem much better.
You get arguements over certain matters, you get the opinions of a group of people, and you dont get someone who has posted up a routine of XYZ without them gettin pointed in the right direction.

Since changing what I'm reading
Changing my views
Understanding more
Thinking 'less'

I have changed everything around

Heres my workout journal on bodybuilding.com if anyone fancies a rather extended read.

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...hp?t=110121841

If you dont wish to read it, basically I'v cut out 99% of isolations, put in some huge compounds, and will be completing a simple, effective, abbreviated routine.
Listening and keeping an eye on my body, making adjustments as necessary.

Thanks all.

Essentially ignore all my Qs at the start

irwit

Well I still believe you havent read enough purely based on the fact you are taking maximuscle products, they are grim !!! lol. Only joking mate. Had a quick scan at the new routine, looks so much better ! All the best with it.