Jake's Workout

[JakeyHards]

Hey there everyone, I'm fairly new to the weightlifting scene, although now that I have a membership to the local gym, I have been taking it very seriously.

I'm 17 and I weigh in at just over 240 Pounds, and I'm not aware of my body fat percentage, although I'm sure it's not very high. I have always been naturally big, and I do not look near as heavy as I am.

I have been going constantly (5-6 times a week) for the past month and a half now, and I have already been seeing good gains to accompany my natural strength. I am currently not taking any supplements although I am more than likely going to start using protein very soon. I am also considering HMB and Creatine Monohydrate for a little while to get some big gains, and to get past my peak (Who knows when it'll strike).

I do not specify which days I do certain workouts, however I do make sure I do the following:

Shoulders & Biceps twice a week
Chest & Triceps twice a week
Legs & Back twice a week (However sometimes I will shorten in order to do 20-30 minutes of cardio)

I find not assigning my workouts to certain days helps me a lot in case for some reason I cannot go to the gym, I simply bump the workout I would have done that day, forwards one day.

I will post more about my Maxes and averages soon, as I will record them the next time I am at the gym.

Please feel free to give any suggestions/comments, I can use as much help as you all can give!

Thanks!

[Heisman]

How tall are you?

Do you have a set routine, as in the exercises, sets, and reps you do with each workout?

[JakeyHards]

I stand at 5'10 1/2, and I think I'm pretty much all grown vertically.
Every other day I do abs, although I think I'm going to have to start doing them every workout.
My Workouts usually consist of the following:

(Workout, Average Weight, Sets, Reps)

Chest & Triceps:
Flat Bench, 195, 4, 8
Incline Bench, 165, 4, 8
Decline Bench, 145, 4, 8
Flyes, 30/arm, 3-4, 8-10
Thin Grip Bench, 135, 3, 8
Inverse Bench, 119, 2, 10
Tri Pulldowns (Using Rope), Stack(Not sure how much it is), 3, 10
Tri Pulldowns (Using Bar), Stack, 3, 10
Leg Raises, 5 sets of 25

Shoulders & Biceps:
Seated Dumbell Military Press, 60/arm, 4, 8
Seated Barbell Military Press, 135, 4, 8
Front Dumbell Raise/One Arm Side Laterals, 25, 4, 6 of each
Preacher Curl(EZ Curl Bar), 75, 3, 8
Standing Straight Bar Curl, 85, 3, 8
Hammer Curls on Preacher Bench, 30/arm, 3, 10
21s(OUUUCH!!!!), 25/arm, 2 sets, well.... 21
Concentration Curls, 35/arm, 3, 8

Back & Legs:
Dead Lifts, 370, 4, 6
Lat Pulldowns, Not Sure, 4, 8
Rows(All sorts of Rows), Weights Vary From Each Exersize, 4, 8
Half Squat, 350, 3, 8
Jumping Squat, 165, 4, 5
Barbell Lunge, 135, 3, 6
Lying Leg Curl, Not Sure, 4, 6-10

I also do a lot of skipping as well as running to strengthen my calves and other leg muscles. The reason I have chosen skipping over working out calves directly is because of calves being vital in my football, and if they become too bulky, it may prohibit my full range of motion, causing me to run slower, which is the exact opposite of what I want.

This is my general workout, however I do not stick to these exact plans everyday. I like to experiment, and I take advice from everyone who is willing to give it, thus I am always learning new exersizes and adding them to my program.

I usually stay at the gym for an hour to an hour 45 minutes, and yes I know that this is a bit much, but I will definately shorten my workout once my access fat is burned off, which should be within another 2 - 3 weeks.

Any suggestions? Please feel free again, I'm always looking for constructive critisism. And if I'm being a complete and total moron in what I am doing at the gym, please word it nicely, or dont say it at all. I dont want to have to get into an arguement.

[Heisman]

You are being a complete and total moron. Just joking. You seem serious about this and are willing to accept help, so you can't be a moron.

There are some things that I would do differently. Abs should only be trained once or twice a week; no more. You read that right. There is no such thing as spot reduction, so if you keep working your abs they will be overtrained, and you will have an even harder time doing heavy compound movements because the abs will be too tired to stabilize you.

I believe you are doing too much in the gym. In working out, less is usually more.

I would train biceps with back and shoulders with legs, since you don't want your biceps to be tired when you try to do the back, and vice versa. It would be better to just train them on the same day.

On chest/triceps day I would cut out the flyes, inverse bench, and do skull crushers instead of the tri pulldowns. This will cut your workout down some and will probably be more effective. You also might think about doing three sets of each exercise instead of four.

On legs/shoulders day I would regular full squats ass to the grass, jumping squats, stiff legged deadlifts, and barbell lunges or GHR if you fell you need to work your hamstrings more, one form of military press, side laterals, and bent over laterals.

On back/biceps day I would do rows before the pulldowns, cut out the 21s, and concentration curls, and only do two sets of the other three bicep exercises.

I hope this helps.

[JakeyHards]

Well Heisman, I've been doing what you suggested for the last few days, and so far I'm having a much better time with shorter workouts. By pushing myself with higher weights instead of more reps, and by spending less time at the gym, I find that I am getting the same feelings in my muscles everytime I work them, and I have much more energy. I've convinced my mother to allow me use to her credit card so I can buy some protein powders, but until then I'm afraid it's still eggs every morning and meat during the day.

Any other suggestions for someone my size? Anyone's input will again be greatly appreciated.

[Heisman]

Yay. My advice helped.

If you are looking to lose weight then your diet is very important. Do you keep track of how many calories you eat per day and how many are protein, carbs, and fats?

[JakeyHards]

I am pretty happy with my current diet. I eat a good amount of carbs and I try to get as close to my reccomended protein count as possible. I have extra fat that I do plan on losing, but I'm
going to do so with running which I will be starting once all this damn snow melts.

I'm planning on purchasing protein powders very very soon, and Creatine is on my to-get list as well. My plan is to use protein powders like reccomended and take creatine only when I hit peaks (which honestly I hope I never have to do). Other than that, I'm pretty happy with myself and the results I've made in less than 2 months of lifting.

[JakeyHards]

Thought I'd give a lil update on my workout today.

It was a good workout today, reached a new max as I reached 70lbs per hand for my dumbell shoulder press. Also moved up to a 85lbs preacher, it's reached the equivilant of my standing straight bar curl (hope I move up in that soon). Other than that, my workout was generally the same, and with the new weight in my shoulder press my shoulders feel awesome, torn and ripped to pieces!! Haha, any comments, please feel free.

[Heisman]

Post exactly what you did; exercise/weight/sets/reps.

[JakeyHards]

Dumbell Shoulder Press, 55-70lbs/hand, 8Reps, 3 Sets
Barbell Shoulder Press, 125, 8 reps, 3 sets
Dumbell Shrugs, 115lbs/hand, 10 reps, 3 sets
Front Dumbell/Side Lateral Raises, 27.5lbs/hand, 10 reps, 2 sets
Hammer Curls, 35-40lbs/hand, 8 reps, 3 sets
Preacher Curl, 75-85lbs, 8 reps, 3 sets
Standing Straightbar Curl, 75-85lbs, 8 reps, 3 sets
Cable Machine Curl, Stack (Unsure of weight), 6-8 reps, 3 sets
Concentration Curls, 25lbs/hand, 10 reps, 3 sets

I know Heisman, you told me not to do those Concy Curls, but I lovem so much, the just make my arms feel enormous after every set, I had to do them again

In total I was working out for about 50 to an hour.

[Heisman]

The problem is, you are doing 15 sets for biceps, and they also get trained on back day, so they probably get worked too much. You want to keep the total number of sets at nine or under in my opinion. However, if this is working for you, then keep doing it.

[JakeyHards]

I'll post a picture as soon as I can, I'm beginning to see definition, which in all honesty, has not been there EVER before. And while doing workouts similar to these, I've been feeling burn and it's doing me good it seems.

I'll post some pics from a month 1/2 ago and some recent pics and you'll see what I mean, believe me, it's been a BIG change.

[JakeyHards]

Update, Todays workout.

Exersize/Weight Range/Sets/Reps

Flat Bench, 135-205, 3, 8-10
Incline Bench, 115-155, 3, 8-10
Decline Bench, 135-175, 3, 8-10
Machine Flys, 8-10 Plates on machine, 3, 10
Tricep Pulldowns (Rope), 13 plates - Stack, 3, 10-12
Tricep Pulldowns (Straight Bar), Stack, 3, 10-15
Seated Tricep Pushdowns, 10 - 14 Plates on Machine, 6, 6-8

I like the seated pushdowns, and I did 6 sets because I did 3 sets of heavier weights, ie. 13 or 14 plates on the machine for my inner chest, with 5 or 6 reps each set, and then 3 sets of 10-12 plates on machine with 8 reps each set.

That was my Chest workout for the day, feeling good, lookin large, and eating right, good day in general... other than the Physics test I wrote today.....

[JakeyHards]

Alright, two more questions for whoever wants to answer them, although I know Heisman is going to be the first to respond.

1. What is a good way to start cutting?

2. How many reps should you do, per muscle, per week, I know I'm over training but I'd like to know exactly how much I am over training, thanks.

[Heisman]

To start cutting figure out how many calories you are going to need to eat per day to lose the weight. Remember, 500 calories a day is a pound per week. So, if you are consistently gaining one pound per week, then cut the calories by 1,000 and you will lose one pound per week. I'm not to good with diets, unfortuanately. You could make a thread somewhere asking people what you should do to cut.

Basically, a good routine would be something like this:

Monday: Chest/Tris

Flat barbell bench press: 3 sets
Incline dumbell bench press: 3 sets
Leaning forward dips: 3 sets
Close Grip Bench Press: 2 sets
Skullcrushers: 2 sets

Tuesday: Rest

Wednesday: Back/Bis

Deadlifts: 3 sets
Bent over barbell rows: 3 sets
Weighted pull ups: 3 sets
Barbell curls: 2 sets
Hammer curls: 2 sets

Thursday: Rest

Friday: Legs

Squats: 3 sets
Stiff legged deadlifts: 3 sets
Lunges: 3 sets
Leg Curls: 3 sets

Saturday: Shoulders/Traps/Grip work

Military presses: 3 sets
Side laterals: 3 sets
Bent over laterals: 2 sets
Barbell shrugs: 3 sets
Cuban rotations: 3 sets with lots of reps and low weight
Static holds: 3 sets up to 30 seconds
Other grip stuff if you want.

This is just a sample.



Yes, I posted first.

[kulex]

you were right heisman, thats the nutrition you want, and JakeyHards, once you get a good solid workout that isn't overtraining you while bulking, you just keep the same workout while your cutting. The only things you change are as heisman said the calories, and do more cardio i.e. walking, running, hiit, etc...(watch how it goes for the first week, if you lose more than about 1.5-2 lbs, then do a little less cardio, if your not losing enough, then do a little more cardio) but just keep doing your regular routine (once you get a good one, that doesnt overtrain you) and you'll be fine

1. Same (good) Workout
2. Eat a deficit (usually 300-500 calories less than maintain/day)
3. Do cardio (i.e. - hiit, running, walking, swimming)
4. watch how much you lose and adjust accoardingly

good luck!

[JakeyHards]

Well I got my protein, and at a not bad deal either, 2.5 pounds for $17.25, and considering that's Canadian, it's a pretty decent deal (It works itself out to $69 for 10lbs). So, 2 months in I'm finally starting with my first helping hand.

Anyways, I was wondering about what I should do...
as I've said, I'm around 235-240lbs and although I do not look very fat, I know I have a bit of access fat on me, I was wondering whether I should gain muscle mass first, then cut all the fat, or cut the fat and then gain my muscle mass? Both seem to have certain positives and negatives, I just want to see your opinions. Thanks.

[kulex]

Yea Jake, theres both positives and negative with it, you could Bulk and put on some more muscle, then when you cut you'd look a little more ripped
but if you cut you'd look ok, then you'd bulk (if you bulk correctly) and you would have far less fat to lose after the bulk and you'd be able to see your development from bulking, even while bulking....so its really up to you, but when I first cut, I lost 80 lbs and after that I still had those 'deposits" that nobody could see, but I was still pretty fat (maybe, 16%) but I decided to bulk anyway, and I've learned soooo much in just these past few months. It's upto you, but whichever way is fine!

[JakeyHards]

Okay thanks, I think I'm gonna keep working out, gradually doing more cardio, until I'm weighing less and looking ripped. I hope this protein does something as well. I had my first day of protein drinks yesterday, and today my bis felt like they've never felt before, the felt inflated and hurt quite a bit, I'm pretty sure it idnt due to the protein but it's nice to think that it is.

I did a new bicep exersize yesterday, the incline hammer curls, and WOW! Those are definately going into my regular workout. Aside from all that I'm going to do shoulders, traps, and forearms today, I'll post my workout when I get back.

Ciao,
Jake

[JakeyHards]

Well, did my workout today, did the following:

Seated Dumbell Military Press, 65-75lbs/hand, 3, 8-10
Seated Barbell Military Press, 115-135lbs, 3, 8-10
Front/Side Dumbell Raises, 27.5lbs/hand, 3, 8-10
Reverse Standing Curls, 35lbs, 3, 10
Dumbell Palms-Up Wrist Curl, 15-25lbs/hand, 3, 8-12
Standing Palms-Up Barbell Behind The Back Wrist Curl, 45-75lbs, 3, 15

I did Shoulders and wrist today, felt like a great workout followed up by a protein shake! Hehe, cool.

[Heisman]

Nice workout. Instead of doing front raises and side laterals, why don't you do side laterals and bent over laterals. Then you will workout all the parts of your shoulder.

If you post a few pics, are opinions will be a lot more valid on whether you should bulk or cut. However, it ultimately comes down to what you want to do.

[JakeyHards]

I'm pretty sure I'm just in the need of some good old weight loss, I dont think it will effect my muscles so much. I do have a lot of extra fat on me, after looking through examples of body fat %s I'm come to the conclusion I'm probably around a 21-22. Lots of Running and cardio is coming soon so I'll make sure to post results after I've been trying hard to lose weight.

[JakeyHards]

Yesterday's Workout:

Did chest/tris and had a pretty good workout. Cant exactly remember the weights so I'll post the sets and reps instead.

Flat Bench, 3, 8-10
Incline Bench, 3, 8-10
Decline Bench, 3, 10
Close Grip Bench, 3, 10
Tricep Pressdown, 3, 10
Tricep Pulldown, 4, 10
Flys, 3, 10

Doing Back and Biceps today, I'll post once I get home.

Oh, and for a personal arguments sake, does your body build more muscle after a workout, or when you're sleeping? Thanks

[Heisman]

I believe your body builds the most muscle about 2 hours after you workout, as long as you have had a couple post workout meals.

Would you consider doing skullcrushers instead of tricep pulldowns? Also, would you consider getting rid of the flys since you have three other chest exercises?

[Whisky]

OH SNAP JAkE, haha it is 2 a fw hours after, thats why post-workout meals are so important. I win this one muahaha, lol.

[JakeyHards]

No you dont, you said 45 minutes, and I thought it was while you're sleeping, and also, I asked one of those personal trainer guys at the gym today, the one with the long hair, and he said it IS when you're sleeping, although your body always is creating muscle, it does the most when you're sleeping due to the fact that your muscles are relaxed, allowing more healing due to little tension.
BOOYAH GRANDMA!
How do you like them apples?

Anyways, My workout today was as follows:

Lat Pulldowns (Long Bar), 10-12 plates on machine, 3, 10
Lat Pulldowns (Close Grip), 8-11 plates on machine, 3, 10
Bentover Barbell Rows, 225, 3, 8-10
Preacher Curls, 75-95, 3, 8-10
Incline Dumbell Curls, 30/hand, 3, 10-12
Standing Straight Bar Curls, 75-85, 3, 8-12
Seated Rows, 12-15 plates on machine, 3, 8-10

Goodnite!

[Steveo31]

Great job on the bent over bb rows @ 225. Nice!

Keep it up brudda.

[Heisman]

Nice workout. I'm going to make a thread asking when the body actually gains the most muscle. Then we will find out for sure.

[JakeyHards]

Thanks guys, and yea, I really would like to know for sure, just because one person said one thing, it doesnt mean it's correct, anyways, I'll post about my workout tonite after I get back from the concert I'm going to.

[Heisman]

Originally posted by JakeyHards
Thanks guys, and yea, I really would like to know for sure, just because one person said one thing, it doesnt mean it's correct, anyways, I'll post about my workout tonite after I get back from the concert I'm going to.

Go here. http://www.fortifiediron.net/invisio...howtopic=10323