New workout routine for someone new to the gym

[wannaBmoy]

Let me start by saying thanks ahead of time for anyone who posts and helps me out with their time. I've been trying to do the best with what I know and using whatever resources I have available to me, but I'm at that point where I want to take some serious strides.

My goal is to bulk up and put on some good lean muscle mass, without losing my tone. I guess I would have to classify myself as a hard gainer as I've never really been able to gain weight not matter how much I eat.

I have been working on a regular basis for a while now. Started with the purchase of a home gym, and once I realized that I wasn't able to accomplish my goals with that, I purchased an olympic bench set which as helped alot. But for Christmas I figured I should just go the whole 9 yards, so I purchased a 1 year gym membership and I'm trying to figure out what routine would be best for me.

At current I've been trying to give myself plenty of rest so here's what it looks like now.

Day 1: chest, back
Day 2: situps, cardio, but rest mostly (i heard that to gain weight as a hard gainer I'm supposed to do very little cardio)
Day 3: arms, shoulders, neck
Day 4: situps, cardio, rest
Day 5: chest, back
Day 6: situps, cardio
Day 7: arms, shoulders, neck
Day 8: situps, cardio

Start cycle over.


Here are a few particulars.

Age: 22
Height: 5'11
Weight: 155 (I've gained almost 10 pounds in the last few months on this workout, however I can tell I've lost some of my toneness especially around my abdominals)
Body fat %: WAS 6% a few months ago
Goals: Build lean muscle mass, bulk up, without losing tone
Routine: see above
Time using routine: Have been using that routine for about 2 months, also tried a 7 day, and experimented with a 10 day (which I gave up on because I couldn't count). I can tell that my shoulders, and my upper body has increased ever since I moved from the resistence weights to free weights but not in the degree that I would like.
Diet: varies, sometimes I can eat like 6 times a day all good meals maybe 4,000 calories or more with lots of proteins and carbs, and somedays I might only have 2 meals.
Suppliments: Protein shakes and glutamine.

Chest work outs:

My bench press atm I am doing repping 135 in 3 sets of 8, and sometimes I'll switch to 155 and 3 sets of 6. Usually I'll do the latter, however at home I do not have a spotter and sometimes I get a little nervous if I try to go for a max or anything I can't put up comfortably.

I'll also do an incline bench with dumbells using 40 lbs dumbells. I'll do 3 sets of 8.

I'll also go back to my home gym and use the butterfly machine, but I don't know exactly how much weight is on there. I try to go for as much weight as I can get up and do 3 sets of 4-6.

Arm work outs:

Bicep curls with 40 lb dumbells each arm individually 3 sets of 6
Skull crushers and I'm not sure exactly how much weight i'm using 3 sets of 6
Lat pulls on my home gym using all the weight that it has. 3 sets of 8.

Once again thanks for your help any who offer their advice and time.

[jp6v]

I didn't see "legs" anywhere in your post.

Read the sticky by kethnaab at the top of this forum and do that routine.

Before anyone is going to believe you about your "hard gainer" status you'll have to post a diet. I'm sure like everyone else who thinks they are a hard gainer, you aren't eating enough.

[wannaBmoy]

Originally Posted by jp6v

I didn't see "legs" anywhere in your post.

Read the sticky by kethnaab at the top of this forum and do that routine.

Before anyone is going to believe you about your "hard gainer" status you'll have to post a diet. I'm sure like everyone else who thinks they are a hard gainer, you aren't eating enough.

My leg workouts were tied with me running 8 miles on my cardio days, however I'm switching over to swimming now because of the stress my legs, ankles, and feet have taken over the years (I am flat footed).

As for my diet I know I'm probably not eating enough at the moment but currently I'm eating 3 big meals and snacking in between.

Breakfast: sausage, toast, eggs x 3 sunny side up.

Lunch: Lots of rice whatever meat is prepared

Dinner: see above.

In between I'm always snacking whether it's peanut butter and jelly sandwiches or left overs, I'm always eating. One of the problems in my diet is I don't really eat vegetables and I'm allergic to alot of fruits, so I take vitamin suppliment pills. I believe that 155 x 20 = 3100 calories is what I should be taking in. Thanks for your post and help!

[NewBodyBuilder7]

I've done plenty of research on working out, but still consider myself to be a "newbodybuilder". Anyway, your goal of gaining muscle but not losing tone isn't really realistic. To gain muscle mass, you're going to have to gain some fat too. The best time to do this whole "bulking" phase if you're uncomfortable with the fat gain is during the winter when you're going to be wearing more layers of clothing anyway. Then when you want to start "cutting" and getting that tone back, that's when your calorie intake will drop and you'll start adding in some more cardio to lose the body fat. Attaining the muscle mass and keeping the definition at the same time though isn't really possible though, to the best of my knowledge.

[jp6v]

Originally Posted by wannaBmoy

My leg workouts were tied with me running 8 miles on my cardio days, however I'm switching over to swimming now because of the stress my legs, ankles, and feet have taken over the years (I am flat footed).

That's not a leg workout. If anything running 8 miles will destroy muscle, not build it. Swimming is also not a leg workout. You need to work your legs.

[wannaBmoy]

Originally Posted by NewBodyBuilder7

I've done plenty of research on working out, but still consider myself to be a "newbodybuilder". Anyway, your goal of gaining muscle but not losing tone isn't really realistic. To gain muscle mass, you're going to have to gain some fat too. The best time to do this whole "bulking" phase if you're uncomfortable with the fat gain is during the winter when you're going to be wearing more layers of clothing anyway. Then when you want to start "cutting" and getting that tone back, that's when your calorie intake will drop and you'll start adding in some more cardio to lose the body fat. Attaining the muscle mass and keeping the definition at the same time though isn't really possible though, to the best of my knowledge.

This is something that I'm becoming more increasingly aware of. As I've been trying to bulk up over these last few months I've noticed that my usual "6-pack" is hiding a little more. I'm just wondering if tossing in those 2 days of cardio (probably swimming) would be counter productive to gaining mass?

[wannaBmoy]

Originally Posted by jp6v

That's not a leg workout. If anything running 8 miles will destroy muscle, not build it. Swimming is also not a leg workout. You need to work your legs.

I've always wanted to have runner's legs with a body builderesque type of body. I have nothing against leg work outs, it's just I have no idea how to properly do them. Few years ago when I was playing on my basketball team, I wanted to be able to dunk consistently and did lots of squats, toe raises, and calves. I realized however that even though I added heigh on my vertical that I was cramping my legs alot. This kind of deterred me from wanting to do heavy leg lifting. I suppose I will have to think about adding that into my routine though. Thanks again for your input.

[wannaBmoy]

Would replacing Day 2: cardio and Day 7: cardio with legs be a good idea?

[Hallock]

Eight day workout seems kind of... absurd. I'm surprised you've gained weight of any form to be honest with no whole-day breaks.

[wannaBmoy]

Originally Posted by Hallock

Eight day workout seems kind of... absurd. I'm surprised you've gained weight of any form to be honest with no whole-day breaks.

I agree lol. I'm thinking of trying to go back to at 10 day with more rest in between. Not sure how I'm going to do it yet, but hey that's why I'm here trying to figure some stuff out lol.

[DBee]

i suggest *rippetoes* i went from 170 to 180 in 2 month on it heres a link all you gotta do is print it out and start hitting the gym and frig*

www.clanrabid.org/rabid/voidobot/workout.jpg


this is me gained alot of good muscle from compound lifts
http://myspace-683.vo.llnwd.net/0120...04129683_m.jpg
{no homo}