Order

[grk77536]

I need help deciding what order to work my body throughout the week. For example, I don't wanna blast my biceps and try to bench press the next day. But this only applies if i have consecutive days that i work out. What is better? Working out consecutive days, or working out 1 or 2 days and then taking a break for 1 day?

[TALO]

It depends on how your body reacts to the situation. Me , I do mon,wed,fri . Somepeople go mon , tues , thurs ,fri - and some do mon - fri , Weekends off. I've known some guys to go really hard for 1 whole week , then take a whole week off. It's not that common , but it works for them . Mainly because of their work scheduale.

[Ross86]

Because you're just starting out, it's probably a good idea for you to follow a proven program. Look into Rippetoe's SS.

[grk77536]

Sorry, but Riptoes' SS? Dunno what that is.

I was thinking a routine like this=

Mon- legs
Tues- chest
Wed- OFF
Thurs- back
Fri- arms
Sat-OFF
Sun-OFF

Plus cardio 5 days a week.

[altus580]

im not the most experienced guy here, but everybody is going to tell u that that whole day for arms is not needed, at all, your working them twice already-chest day and back day- so you could toss that then do a mon wed fri

[grk77536]

So...

Mon-Legs
Tues-Off
Wed-Chest
Thurs-Off
Fri-Back
Sat-Off
Sun-Off

That looks about right. So do arm exercises on the chest and back days?

[grk77536]

Someone critique the above plan please.

Kind of vague but its kind of like a template. I'm going to hit the weights hard for those three days, but rest each part i work out for a week. I'll be doing cardio 5 days a week, and gettting around 4000-5000 calories.

[_Wolf_]

Go to the "Search" option above and type in Threads Starting With "Rippetoe". You will get a wide range of journals and threads. Read up on them.

To answer your question directly, since you are just beginning out (I presume you have less than 1 year of lifting experience), I would advise you to learn the correct form on the following big compound exercises (note: you cannot use a smith machine for any of these - they must all be done with free weights or barbells. If you do not have free weights we can discuss other possibilities later)

Deep Squat (this means below parallel)
Deadlift
Pull-ups
Glute Ham Raise
Bench Press
Military Press
Front Squat

Once you learn the right form on them, put them together in the form of a program done on 3 days of the week:

Mon
Deep Squat - 3 sets of 5 reps
Glute Ham Raise 4 sets
Bench Press - 3 sets of 5 reps

Wed
Front Squats - 3 sets of 5 reps
Overhead Press 3 sets of 5 reps
Pull-ups - 3 sets to failure

Fri
Deadlifts 3 sets of 3 reps
Bench Press 3 sets of 5 reps
Deep Squats 3 sets of 5 reps

This is just over the top of my head as some general pointers. If you have money to spare, we could recommend some good lifting books which could help you progress and learn the lifts.