This is my first shot at a gym log. So I hope that if you see something I'm doing wrong or can improve, you'll let me know now before it's too late.

The routine I started a few days ago is as follows.

1st, 3rd, and 5th day:

I got this routine from the beginners thread posted by trainerdan. Right now I'm only doing 1 set of each exercise until I can get used to lifting again.

Chest press 12x25#
Barbell Squat 15x30# each side of barbell
Seated Row 15x60#
Seated Shoulder Press 12x20#
Standing Calf Raise 15x10# each side of barbell
Lying Leg Curl 12x50#
Dumbbell Curl 12x20# (Gonna start using a barbell)
Lying Tricep Extension 12x10#
Ab Machine 12x70#
Cardio on treadmill/bike/stairclimber about a 40 minute workout

2nd, 4th, and 6th day

On these days I only do the cardio part of the workout.

7th day

Even God needed a day of rest on the 7th day.


I'm curious if this is good enough, or if it's actually too much to start. Please throw any advice/changes you think I should make.


Shawn119

Hi Shawn, I'm still a novice, but your routine looks good to me. I suggest building up slowly until you are back in the groove again. Also, many lc'ers have a few fast carbs before lifting and don't count those as part of their daily carb count. This gives you a boost for the lifting, and you'll burn the excess off with the cardio afterwards anyway. You'll also want to eat some slow protein afterwards, like a half cup of cottage cheese. You can also have a few fast carbs after lifting to get the muscle repair going faster.

Good luck!

Here's my workout for 10/25...
I did about 35 minutes on a pre-programmed workout on a machine called a EFX-546.
Distance=2.42
Calories=469.2
Average Heart Rate= 156

Chest Press w/ dumbbells 12x25# going to 30 on next workout
Barbell Squat 12x30# each side
Seated Row 15x70#
Seated Shoulder Press 12x25#
Lying Leg Curl 12x80#
Barbell Curl 12x20# each side
Lying Tricep Extension 12x15#
Ab Machine 12x70#
Bicyle for Abs 4 countx12 this is gonna hurt like hell

This is the end of my first week, so I'm still only doing 1 set of each. That'll probably last about a month before I add a set.


Shawn119

10/26 was my day off. It really felt odd not being in the gym, as it was my first day off since I started going.

Workout for 10/27:

EFX-546 machine on weight loss program. This is about a 40 minute workout.
Distance- 2.45
Calories- 476.5
Heart Rate- 157
One set each of:

Chest Press- 12x30#
Barbell Squat- 12x30# each side
Seated Row- 12x80# Keep your back straight!
Seated Shoulder Press- 12x25#
Lying Leg Curl- 12x80#
Barbell Curl- 12x20# each side
Lying Tricep Extension- 12x20#
Ab Machine- 12x70# stay at this weight for awhile yet
Bicycle- 12x4 count rep.
Crunches- 20



Workout for 10/28..

Lifecycle Bike- 20 minutes
Distance- 7.28

EFX-546 Quick Start Program

12 minutes on resistance 2
8 minutes on resistance 3
30 second sprints, 45 second recovery time.

Distance- 1.76
Calories- 200

I'm no expert, but I would suggest that you do weights before cardio (with warmup first) and keep your cardio to 30mins, as far as I've heard over 30 is a waste of time.

Other than that you're program looks a lot like mine. I'm 5 weeks in (I train 3 times a week) and my results have been pretty good so far.

I agree. Definitely move the cardio to after the lifting. When you do cardio first you wear your muscles out and they can't lift as strong. If you need to do a bit of warm up before lifting, then keep it to 3-4 minutes. Really!

Your exercise sessions shouldn't be more than an hour.

Rather than just keeping to 1 set and upping the weight, you are better off going to 3 sets. Your first set damages a group of muscle fibers. Then when you wait 30-60 seconds or so and do another set of the same exercise, it damages different fibers. You can think of it as reaching deeper into the muscle. So you are working more sets of fibers doing 3 sets rather than just continually stressing the 1 set of fibers. Also the time you wait in between sets can make a difference, too. If you wait a long time, then you are still just damaging that first group of fibers. If you wait a short time, then you are damaging the 2nd set of fibers.

There are different theories about how many reps to do. If you are going for true strength, then you want to keep your reps down to 6-8, not 12. Work up to 3 sets of 8, then increase the weight and do 3 sets of 6. Then work your way back up to 3 sets of 8 at that new weight.

Keep up the great work! I have been a bit negligent on my workouts lately because of my work schedule, but I'm getting back into them this week.

I've been a bit lazy about keeping up with my journal. So it's time to get caught up.
10/29

Ab machine - 12x70#
Bicycle - 12x4 count reps.
Chest Press - 12x30# 12x35#
Barbell Squat - 12x35#
Seated Row - 12x80# 8x90#
Lying Leg Curl - 12x80#
Barbell Curl - 12x10# each side 11x20# each side
Lying Tricep Extension 12x20#

This workout was after work, so by this point it was about 4:30 a.m. I was falling asleep and couldn't handle a cardio workout so I went home and passed out.

My workout for 10/30 was a cardio workout, but I forgot my book and was unable to get my numbers, woops.

Halloween's workout. Yet another workout after work.

Chest Press - 12x30# 12x35#
Barbell Squat - 12x35#
Seated Row - 12x80# 12x90#
Seated Shoulder Press - 12x20# 12x25#
Lying Leg Curl - 12x70# 12x80#
Barbell Curl - 12x10# each side 12x20#each side
Lying Tricep Extension - 12x20#
Bench Press - 12x35#

I'm torn on whether I should be working my abs or not, considering I'd REALLY like to find a way to shrink my waist. I know you can't burn fat from a specific area, but I'm worried that adding abs to my routine will only increase the size of my waist. To that end, I'm also going to modifying my routine a bit. I've been going at cardio 6 days a week, with the thought process that the more I go, and the higher I can get my heart rate, the better off I'll be.
But after reading some articles on these forums and around the internet, I'm convinced my logic is flawed. I'm going to do cardio on alternating days with my weights workout. I'm also going to stop racing to make my heart jump out of my chest (pretty picture eh?) and control it for a longer period of time, say 45 minutes in a good fat burning target range.

Workout for 11/1

EFX-546 Elliptical on weight loss program w/o a cool down.
Distance - 2.12
Calories - 410
Over to the Quick Start
Resistance - 7 Crossramp - 6
Distance - 1.93
Calories - 217.5

Total Calories 627.5 Total Time - 45 minutes + 5 minutes cool down

11/3 workout

Chest Press - 12x30# 10x35#
Seated Row - 12x80# 12x90#
Barbell Squat - 12x40# each side
Seated Shoulder Press - 12x20# 12x25#
Lying Leg Curl - 12x70# 12x80#
Dumbbell Curl - 12x20# 12x25#
Lying Tricep Extension - 12x15# 12x20#
Iso Lateral Wide Chest - 12x35# 12x45# each side

EFX-546 Elliptical Weight Loss Program
Distance - 2.11
Calories - 409
Quickstart Program
Distance - 1.98
Calories - 225.8
Crossramp - 6
Resistance - 7

Total Calories for 45 minutes + 5 minute cool down - 634.8

11/4
EFX-546 Weight Loss
Distance - 2.12
Calories - 412.1
Quickstart + 5 minute cool down
Distance - 1.9
Calories - 217.1
Crossramp - 6
Resistance - 7
Total Calories for 45 minutes + cool down - 629.2

11/6
EFX-546 Weight Loss
Distance - 2.18
Calories - 433.8
Quickstart + 5 minute cool down
Distance - 1.98
Calories - 225.3
Crossramp - 6
Resistance - 7
Total Calories for 45 minutes + cool down - 659.1

Pulled a muscle in my arm moving furniture.. so it's cardio only for a bit till it heals.