Taking it up a level

[Mrperegrino]

Hello all,
Been lurking for a while, learning all I can. Let myself go this last winter and found myself at 20% BF this April. Been back in the gym and eating better and now I'm down to 15%, feeling stronger, and am ready to get serious.

I'm posting my plan to make sure I'm on the right track. Any thoughts are appreciated.

Age 39
Height 6’2 (188cm)
Weight 223 (101Kg)
BF- 16%
Arms 15”, Waist 35
Max : bench-308 (x5), Squat ?


Goals:
Jan 1, 2007
BF 10%
Increase size shoulders/ arms
Show abs

Summer 2007
BF > 10%
Weight 200lbs
Arms 18”, Waist 32

Situation:
Ex Athlete – have done training and lifting periodically over the years
Living in China- Singe parent (no time for morning/ evening workouts)
Access to regular gym on weekends.
Weekdays- have pretty good machine at work that will cover all body parts, treadmill, and Stationary bike, but no free weights.

My plan:
Workouts-
Sat; Chest/ Back/ Shoulders- Heavy- free weights- low rep
Sun; Legs/arms-heavy-low rep
Tues: Chest/Back- Hi rep- (machine)
Wed: Legs/Shoulers- Hi rep- (machine)
Thurs: Arms- Hi rep- (machine)

Mon/Fri: bike-30 min, intense
3x week: Morning Jump rope- 20 min

Diet:
7am: Oatmeal/protein drink
10am: Chkn brst / Tuna sandwich (whole wheat, tomatoe, cucumber, no mayo)
12:30 Lunch- Chinese- meat veggies, no rice
3pm snack- canned tuna
6:30 Dinner-Chinese- meat veggies, no rice
8:30 Snack- yogurt

[whiteman90909]

Im not a fan of machine days, and what is your 'high rep' range?

[McIrish]

MrP, if you live in Shanghai, you should be able to find a reasonable gym membership. If not, what part of town do you live in? I know that Fudan has a student gym on campus with free weights, and I imagine Jiaotong Daxue and Shanghai Daxue also have them... free weights > machines, hands down.

I live in Nanjing - what brings you out this way?

[Tofer]

Planning to add three inches to your arms in less than a year is a pretty lofty goal (unless you're starting out with 12-13 inch "guns").

Anyways, I can't say I'm a big fan of your routine... There are probably more efficient ways to train than having dedicated arms days and machine days. But hey, you do what you gotta do with the situation you're in, right? Best of luck with reaching your goals.

[Mrperegrino]

Thanks for the input gang...

Having a gym membership is not the problem... ,I've got one near my home, it's the time. During the week I'm up at 5:30 just to do a little cardio before I get the kids together, off to school and myself to work.

In the evening I'm home about 6ish, then its dinner, home work and Bedtime. I could leave at 9pm, but a good workout at that hour would have me up past midnight.

I'm not a fan of machines either, just a bench and a dumbell set would do me fine, but I'm not seeing a better alternative during the week. I thought about buying another membership at a gym near work, but the closest one is still 30 min each way... that makes for a longgg lunch.

I know the 3 inches on the arms is a lot to ask... a man can dream Cant he? hehe, besides.. I'd rather aim big and fall a little short than not aim high enough.

I was thinking the same thing about the "dedicated arm" day. not very productive is it? My concern is that the machine rack is not heavy enough alone to stimulate arms much on the back/chest day. How about using a chest/tri, and back/bi split?

For the high rep range i was thinking sets 15-12-10-8, or if I'm maxing the plates, as many as I can do.

I'm open to suggestions?

[Songsangnim]

Thanks for the input gang...

Having a gym membership is not the problem... ,I've got one near my home, it's the time. During the week I'm up at 5:30 just to do a little cardio before I get the kids together, off to school and myself to work.

In the evening I'm home about 6ish, then its dinner, home work and Bedtime. I could leave at 9pm, but a good workout at that hour would have me up past midnight.

I'm not a fan of machines either, just a bench and a dumbell set would do me fine, but I'm not seeing a better alternative during the week. I thought about buying another membership at a gym near work, but the closest one is still 30 min each way... that makes for a longgg lunch.

(1)I know the 3 inches on the arms is a lot to ask... a man can dream Cant he? hehe, besides.. I'd rather aim big and fall a little short than not aim high enough.

I was thinking the same thing about the "dedicated arm" day. not very productive is it? My concern is that the machine rack is not heavy enough alone to stimulate arms much on the back/chest day. (2) How about using a chest/tri, and back/bi split?

(3) For the high rep range i was thinking sets 15-12-10-8, or if I'm maxing the plates, as many as I can do.

I'm open to suggestions?

(numbers are mine)

1. A rough rule of thumb is that one inch on the arms (assuming lean muscle mass) equates to 20-30 lbs on the entire body overall. What this means is that to get big arms you must get big overall. The body does not like disproportionate growth . So you should figure on gaining at (least) 50 pounds of muscle mass on to your entire frame. This means that you should eat lots and focus on the big compound exercises (deadlift, squat, bench, chin, T-bar row, leg press, push press). If not, then your quest for big arms is doomed to fail.

2. Try biceps with chest and triceps with back. Then instead of being trained once, they get trained TWICE a week. (Biceps are trained indirectly on back day and directly on chest day, while triceps are trained indirectly on chest day and directly on back day.)

3. Don't do high rep ranges (see number 1). To accomplish your stated goals you'd be best served sticking to compound exercises (see number 1) and keeping a 6-8 rep range.

[Songsangnim]

.

My plan:
Workouts-
Sat; Chest/ Back/ Shoulders- Heavy- free weights- low rep
Sun; Legs/arms-heavy-low rep
Tues: Chest/Back- Hi rep- (machine)
Wed: Legs/Shoulers- Hi rep- (machine)
Thurs: Arms- Hi rep- (machine)


A few notes here (see my previous post).

Don't train back and chest together

Don't train arms by themselves

Don't train shoulders with a lot of exercises since they get hit on each back and chest day. Shoulders are an easily injured joint and with all that back and chest work they don't need much excess stimulation. Stick with about 3-4 sets of OH or push press.

So something like this:

Sat: Chest, biceps

Sun: Legs (with a few sets of shoulder presses)

Tuesday: Back, triceps

Wednesday : Legs

Thursday Chest/back work (different exercises and go lighter)

[Stumprrp]

its ok to have arm work, i do heavy arm work very often, but i dont think they need there own day

song - whats wrong with chest and back together? ive done it and had no problems

also to the OP, if your gonna keep hitting stuff twice maybe a 3x a week fullbody would work for you

[Mrperegrino]

Thanks Song, that split makes sense.

I wish i could keep the reps down to 6-8, but for chest, row, and leg press- the rack on the machine aint heavy enough.

I'd have to gain 100 lbs for just 2 inches on the arms? that seems a bit extreme.. but i get the idea. I'll let go of the "Big Arms, tiny waist" fantasy hehehe

[RedSpikeyThing]

I wish i could keep the reps down to 6-8, but for chest, row, and leg press- the rack on the machine aint heavy enough.


You could try training for speed instead of reps. Give your self 30 seconds and pump out as many reps as you can, then next week use the same time frame but shoot for more reps.

[Bob]

I wish i could keep the reps down to 6-8, but for chest, row, and leg press- the rack on the machine aint heavy enough.


You could try training for speed instead of reps. Give your self 30 seconds and pump out as many reps as you can, then next week use the same time frame but shoot for more reps.

Actually.. you can keep the reps down to 6-8.. just do them reeeaaaaaaallll sloooooooowww...
Going for speed is going to help your power & strength...
but going slow is going to help you gain muscle size better..

So on the eccentric contraction make the lift last 10 secs.. then on the concentric contraction explode for 2 secs..

A BB classic way to build muscle without as much strength...
This is why Westside and other PL'ing programs don't recommend slow lifting.. muscle without so much strength..

[Mrperegrino]

Ok... this is starting to sound do-able.

If I combine low rep/ hi intensity on the weekend for strength, while I have the free weights-
Then the sloooooow eccentric contraction for size on weekdays when I have to use the machine...

I might be able to make this situation work.

You guys are the best!

[Songsangnim]

song - whats wrong with chest and back together? ive done it and had no problems



Nothing's terribly wrong with chest and back together...but if you are training arms as well on those days, it might be a bit too much. Also separating back and chest allows you to give total focus on one main bodypart. For me personally after doing 400 lbs+ deadlifts for reps, I'd be too drained to go heavy on the bench press...but to each his own.