Newbie
 

Well, here are a couple of pics of me after 4 months at the gym - but looking at some of you guys, I have a LONG way to go :) and I deffo need to work on my chest which is being really stubborn!! :weights:

Welcome and keep up the progress :)

Welcome.

welcome

welcome...good work so far...

Anuj

Thanks everyone - have to confess that at the moment I'm only using machines and the Smiths - haven't ventured into free weights yet but that will come - and I can see from those photos that I need to work on my forearms or I'll be out of proportion!! Onward and upward

I wouldnt worry to much about your forearms yet man, it will come all in time. How about posting what your doing as far as training so we can take a look?

There is defenitely no better time to hit those free weights. That right there will help your forearms simply from gripping and holding heavy weights in your hands. Good luck!

For a 48 year old, I think you look GREAT! I can only hope to look like that when I'm that age!

My suggestion is eat.
Welcome to the board.

Schedule
 

Thanks for all the comments - this is what I'm doing at the moment - Monday, Wednesday and Saturday:

Seated Row
Leg Press
Chest Press
Lat Pulldown
Shoulder Press
Pec Deck
Standing Calf
Decline Bench Press
OR Smith Machine
Triceps Dual Pulley
Leg Curl
Leg Extension
Bicep Curl (Machine)
Assisted Dip
Assisted Chin Ups
Incline Chest Press
Lateral Raise
Rear Deltoid (Pec Deck)
Hip Abductor
Hip Adductor

You mean your doing all those exercises each day?

Schedule
 

Hiya - well not EVERY day - every other day so I have at least a day's rest in between. This is a schedule worked out for me by one of the instructors - mind you, the weights are pretty light at the moment and just 3 sets of 8 reps each.....I was a bit concerned about overtraining, but I seem to be coping so far - and yep, eating like a pig, but only good stuff :)

I meant each day you workout :) .

That could stand some improvement. You've got 4 chest presses but no corresponding pulling movement. That is also way too much volume for a three day a week full-body program. I'm not talking about whether you can recover or will you overtrain, mind you, I'm talking about what is optimal.

IMO, you want to put on more muscle faster with a full-body you need cut down the volume and increase the intensity with primarily COMPOUND movements working the larger muscle groups. Starting out with light weights is one thing, but completely suboptimal weights is another.

There is way too much pre-occupation with the "beach" muscles going on here. I'm counting 15 sets of chest work on a three day full-body program. That's somewhat ridiculous. I'm not saying you're not growing at this point since you just started out but go to the

Why Aren't You Growing Sticky

3 sets 8 reps of allllllll of that stuff, how do u make it through that workout lol? I would probably be dead tired halfway

Your workouts should center around squat, deadlift, bench, and rows. Cut out all the arm isolation work like bicep curls and tricep pushdowns or whatever you're doing and concentrate on progressive improvement of the big push/pull compounds.

You're instructor probably thinks, btw, that all the machines will minimize you're chance of injury. This is by far not the case and some machines can make you more likely to injure yourself....I've heard about more people screwing up their shoulder on hammer machines then I ever have with free weights. Another fallacy is the idea that starting out with machines is "preparing" you for work with free weights allowing you to start out heavier then you normally would. One problem is that there is not necessarily complete carryover between a machine and a free weight lift and another is that some of the machines are not training the stabilizers. Both scenarios could heighten the likelihood of injury when moving to free weights.

I just realized you have seated rows but there is still way too much pushing in comparison to pulling.

Probably getting in to endurance land. It's probably taking waaay too long. Need to keep it less than an hour or you'll end up eating muscle up.

That is a bit much. Time to clean up your workout a little and you will see some great gains. 3 or 4 day split hitting the core excercises like Eric suggested would be the way to go.

Ok - I've been reading a lot, researching the forums and I've come up with this 3 day routine - how does it look? Any suggestions/improvements?

Free Weights Schedule


Saturday – legs/shoulders

Shoulders

Seated Military Press 3 X 8 Free weights **
Lateral Raises 3 X 8 Dumbells
Shrugs 3 X 8 Free weights **

Legs

Squats 3 X 8 Free weights **
Leg Extension 3 X 8 Machine
Leg Curl 3 X 8 Machine
Calf Raise 3 X 8 Machine


Monday – chest/triceps

Chest

Incline Barbell Bench Press 3 X 8 Free weights **
Decline Bench Press 3 X 8 Free weights **
Flat Barbell Bench Press 3 X 8 Smith Machine

Triceps

Tricep Press Down 3 X 8 Cable
Assisted Dips 3 X 8
Lying Triceps Extensions 3 X 8 Free Weights **

Wednesday –back/biceps


Back

Deadlift 3 X 8 Free weights **
Lat Pull Down 3 X 8 Machine
Seated Row 3 X 8 Machine
Assisted Pull Ups 3 X 8

Biceps

Standing Barbell Curls 3 X 8 Free weights
Alternating Dumbell Curls 3 X 8 Free weights


Friday – Cardio

Treadmill, Rower, Cross Trainer



** = the exercises I need to be shown by instructor

Well just done the first session of my new routine - chest and triceps. I showed it to one of the instructors and he thought it was fine. He also suggested that I could cut the cardio right down. I've got a planning session on Friday to be show the exercises with free weights that I'm not sure about. Have to say that today, I actually feel as though I've DONE something and I feel great. Thanks for all your advice - it's been really helpful.

I see a few things to point out. There are probably other tweaks as well but for right now it would be good for you to get used to the exercises and handling heavier weight.

What are "assisted pullups"? Are those the ones where you use the floor to help you? I'd say nix that idea. Don't look at it as getting all the reps in. Now is as good a time as any to improve your strength. Regular pullups will do more for you...put them FIRST. It doesn't matter if you can't get all the reps. You don't have to do 3X8 anyway. You could do 4x6 or something else. Even if you only get two or three that's fine. Next time you'll get more.

Same goes, imo, for anything involving bodyweight. I would drop the seated rows for a barbell row.

Assisted Pullups
 

Assisted pullups are done on a machine that uses the weight stack as a counterbalance to your own weight - the less weight you select, the harder the pull up is - so for example if I set the weight at 25kg, I'm pulling my own weight minus 25kg - the idea is that as you get stronger you gradually reduce the weight you use until you're using no counterbalance at all - then and only then do you do pull-ups unaided.

I must have missed that in the rule book

Wish someone had told me :lame: .

why r ur pants down were u rubbin one out to fellow bodybuilders from this forum???:gay: :gay: :gay: :gay: