Question for all gym-rats here; How do I improve my workout routine?

[FakeSympathy]

About myself:

30m, 5'2", 145lbs. Been doing some home workouts as well as running around the neighborhood, but decided it wasn't good enough so I've been going to gym for the past 8 months. Definitely see some progress, but definitely could lose some roundness around belly.

Goal:
My goal is to achieve that cut/aesthetical look; Good tones around body, abs clearly shown.

Here's how I look now:

And this is the look I am aiming for:


I plan to bulk after this.

Diet & Lifestyle:

I do intermediate fasting, where I don't eat from 8 pm the previous night to 12 pm the next day. When I'm "allowed to eat", I eat a lot of rice (I come from Korean household), but I always make sure to take small portion of rice and eat more of side dishes consisting of veggies and protein. Sometimes I have pasta as well, but I always try to have it with more veggies and proteins and less on the pasta noodles itself.

For protein, I try to consume at least 100g each day, with a help of whey protein during workout and beef jerky as snacks. Always make sure to get at least 1 serving of fruits each day.

Currently working as a remote Data Analyst, I find myself sitting down for the majority of the day. I tried to get up and walk around the house a lot, or take my dog out for a walk. I drink water frequently, around 6-7 cups a day, not counting the water I chug down during workouts.

When it comes to sleep, I always make sure to get 7-8 hours of sleep each night.

Workout routine:
Here's how my weekly workout looks like. Keep in mind that I always start with 5 min of dynamic cardio warm up, and end with 15 min of swimming. Also, for abs rollout and side abs rollout, they switch every other day each week. So for one week I do them Mon, Wed, Fri, and in the week after that I do them on Tues and Thurs

Mon (4 sets ea)	Tues (4 sets ea)	Wed (3 sets ea)	Thur (4 sets ea)	Fri (4 sets ea) Total: ~72 min
Ab rollout x20 1 min rest	Lat pull-downs x12 2 min rest	Ab rollout x20 1 min rest	Bench Press x8 2 min rest	Ab rollout x20 1 min rest
Side ab rollout x20 1 min rest	One-arm cable rows x10 1 min rest	Side ab rollout x20 1 min rest	Incline dumbbell press x10 1 min rest	Side ab rollout x20 1 min rest
Chest Dips x10 1 min rest	Pull ups x12 2 min rest	Crunches x20 1 min rest	reverse chest fly x12 1 min rest	Pull ups x12 2 min rest
Bench Press x8 2 min rest	One-arm dumbbell row x12 1 min rest	Plank 30 sec 30 sec rest	arnold raises x12 1 min rest	one-arm cable row x10 1 min rest
Incline dumbbell press x12 1 min rest	Barbell curl x10 1 min rest	Side plank 30 sec 30 sec rest	Side lat raises x12 1 min rest	Barbell curl x10 1 min rest
Chest fly x12 2 min rest	Concentration curls x12 1 min rest	Heel touches x20 (each side) 1 min rest	One arm reverse fly x12 1 min rest	Concentration curls x12 1 min rest
arnold raises x12 1 min rest	Hammer curls x12 1 min rest	Bicycle crunches x20 (each side) 1 min rest	Triceps rope pushdown x10 1 min rest	Hammer curls x12 1 min rest
One arm reverse fly x12 1 min rest	EZ bar reverse curl x10 1 min rest	Dumbbell side obliques x16 1 min rest	Dips x12 1 min rest	EZ bar reverse curl x10 1 min rest
Triceps rope pushdown x10 1 min rest	Weighted squats x10 2 min rest	Hanging leg raises x20 1 min rest	Reverse wrist curl and Wrist curl x12 1 min rest	Weighted squats x10 2 min rest
one-arm dumbbell Tricep extension x12 1 min rest	Calf raises x12 1 min rest			Deadlift x 10 2 min rest
Reverse wrist curl and Wrist curl x12 1 min rest				Calf raises x12 1 min rest
				Leg curls x10 1 min rest

As for how much I lift, I usually try make the last set barely completable. I.E. For bench press, squats, and deadlifts I start with 135 lbs and the max load I can do is 165 lbs. When I'm at 165 lbs, that last lift I have to really push it.

One day of the week is dedicated to abs, as I believe (at least until now) it's a great balance to give other muscles groups a rest

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

Your routine looks a lot like what my routine did when I first started lifting and didn't really know what I was doing (not that I really know now, but I do know more).

So this is going to sound counter-intuitive, but actually when lifting sometimes less is more. I think you're doing too many different lifts on too many days. You're either overloading your workouts and not getting enough rest, or you're not lifting as heavy as you could in order to get through this routine. How long do you spend working out each day? You would actually probably see better gains if did fewer different lifts per day. Your muscles grow more when you rest them better. If you've been doing this routine for 8 months without any breaks I would actually recommend taking a week off from working out because I don't think your muscles are getting enough recovery. Also, studies show that caffeine significantly improves performance in all areas of workouts, so if you want to work out harder pound a coffee before your workout.

I would also recommend fewer exercises hitting the same muscle group back to back. Like on Monday you're going from chest dips, to bench press, to incline dumbbell press to chest flies all one after the other. By the time you've gotten to chest flies your pecs are probably so fatigued that you're no longer doing your best sets. If you're dead set on doing all of those lifts each day I would at least shuffle them around so that you're doing chest-arms-chest-arms, instead of doing all your chest work at once and then doing all your arm work at once. Giving your muscles a bit more time to recover will allow you to lift heavier, and you'll be less worried about going to failure because you don't have to work the same exact muscle group right after.

Drop sets are your friend. You actually build the same amount of muscle regardless of whether you're lifting light weight or heavy weight as long as you lift to failure. On your last set of each exercise when you hit failure you should reduce your weight and then get a couple more reps out without rest, go to failure again and drop the weight again. This way you can go to failure 3 times in a single exercise, which will help you build more muscle. I also think that you're doing too many reps per set. You could probably do higher weight at lower reps and see better results. Switching to a 5x5 routine with heavier for your heaviest lifts (like bench press and deadlift) will get you results faster than doing 10 rep sets.

Getting visible abs is all about diet. Also not everyone can get a six pack, even Arnold Schwarzenegger only had a 4 pack. Not everyone has the same number of separations in the rectus abdominis muscles, so whether someone can achieve a 4, 6, 8, or 10 pack is actually determined by genetics. So don't get obsessed with a 6-pack. Personally, I only have a 4-pack, but that's mainly because I work out to be able to eat whatever I want. I don't have the self-control to really cut for a six-pack, I enjoy whiskey too much for that.

 

[Drathnoxis]

Do it all with a turtle shell on your back.

 

[Bedinsis]

For the last year or so I had a work-out routine that targeted the abs. Never revealed them. What they told me online is that "abs are made in the kitchen", i.e. that what you eat to a greater degree affects whether they are revealed or not. Which made me annoyed; I like food!

The way to lose belly fat (and hence reveal abs) was apparently high intensity interval training so I added 20 minutes of running where I alternate with 1 minute of jogging speed and 1 minute of high speed. This, unlike all the other exercises in the gym, tend to actually make me sweat. I don't know if it's working.

 

[FakeSympathy]

Your routine looks a lot like what my routine did when I first started lifting and didn't really know what I was doing (not that I really know now, but I do know more).
So this is going to sound counter-intuitive, but actually when lifting sometimes less is more. I think you're doing too many different lifts on too many days. You're either overloading your workouts and not getting enough rest, or you're not lifting as heavy as you could in order to get through this routine. How long do you spend working out each day? You would actually probably see better gains if did fewer different lifts per day. Your muscles grow more when you rest them better. If you've been doing this routine for 8 months without any breaks I would actually recommend taking a week off from working out because I don't think your muscles are getting enough recovery. lso, studies show that caffeine significantly improves performance in all areas of workouts, so if you want to work out harder pound a coffee before your workout.

Interesting! Each session (including the warm-up and the 15 min swim), can take anywhere from 80-98 min. I do drink coffee every morning.

I would also recommend fewer exercises hitting the same muscle group back to back. Like on Monday you're going from chest dips, to bench press, to incline dumbbell press to chest flies all one after the other. By the time you've gotten to chest flies your pecs are probably so fatigued that you're no longer doing your best sets. If you're dead set on doing all of those lifts each day I would at least shuffle them around so that you're doing chest-arms-chest-arms, instead of doing all your chest work at once and then doing all your arm work at once. Giving your muscles a bit more time to recover will allow you to lift heavier, and you'll be less worried about going to failure because you don't have to work the same exact muscle group right after.

Again, very interesting, and yes that's what exactly I have been feeling; Chest dips to incline dumbbell press I can do no problem with bench press being the highlight. I think it's the most intensive exercise of the day. Chest flies do get really tough because as you said, pecs are fatigued but I always thought of them as a sign of improvement.

Drop sets are your friend. You actually build the same amount of muscle regardless of whether you're lifting light weight or heavy weight as long as you lift to failure. On your last set of each exercise when you hit failure you should reduce your weight and then get a couple more reps out without rest, go to failure again and drop the weight again. This way you can go to failure 3 times in a single exercise, which will help you build more muscle. I also think that you're doing too many reps per set. You could probably do higher weight at lower reps and see better results. Switching to a 5x5 routine with heavier for your heaviest lifts (like bench press and deadlift) will get you results faster than doing 10 rep sets.

Definitely will take that into consideration, thanks!

 

[Chimpzy]

Don't have any advice, but lemme summon @Cheetodust. He's a personal trainer, so probably the most qualified person here afaik.

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

Interesting! Each session (including the warm-up and the 15 min swim), can take anywhere from 80-98 min.

Yeah, I would say that's too long for a workout you're doing 5 days a week. That's more the kind of time I would expect for an every other day workout. I don't think you're giving your body enough time to rest and your muscles enough time to recover.

It's sort of like you're asking for a sprinter's body but training like you're running a marathon. A shorter more intense workout with lower reps but higher weight would probably be more what you're looking for.

Remember, it's less about the number of reps you're doing and more about going to failure as often as possible. People get too fixated on the number of reps in their routine but the feel of each rep and getting the maximum you can out of each rep is more important than the overall number. Mindful reps with good form, properly targeting the specific muscles that the exercise is supposed to target yield more results than trying to just do more reps.

Basically if you're starting to get gassed out in the middle of your workout your body starts trying to distribute the fatigue more between the different muscles. Like if you're doing incline chest press after bench and your pecs are already tired your body is going to start recruiting your delts into the lift more, and it's going to change how you're lifting the weight, which is going to prevent you from hitting the correct muscle group effectively. That's why people's form breaks down when they get tired, it's their body trying to compensate for the fatigue in one muscle group by recruiting other muscle groups to assist.

 

[FakeSympathy]

Yeah, I would say that's too long for a workout you're doing 5 days a week. That's more the kind of time I would expect for an every other day workout. I don't think you're giving your body enough time to rest and your muscles enough time to recover.

It's sort of like you're asking for a sprinter's body but trying like you're running a marathon. A shorter more intense workout with lower reps but higher weight would probably be more what you're looking for.

Remember, it's less about the number of reps you're doing and more about going to failure as often as possible. People get too fixated on the number of reps in their routine but the feel of each rep and getting the maximum you can out of each rep is more important than the overall number. Mindful reps with good form, properly targeting the specific muscles that the exercise is supposed to target yield more results than trying to just do more reps.

Basically if you're starting to get gassed out in the middle of your workout your body starts trying to distribute the fatigue more between the different muscles. Like if you're doing incline chest press after bench and your pecs are already tired your body is going to start recruiting your delts into the lift more, and it's going to change how you're lifting the weight, which is going to prevent you from hitting the correct muscle group effectively. That's why people's form breaks down when they get tired, it's their body trying to compensate for the fatigue in one muscle group by recruiting other muscle groups to assist.

Okay, assuming I do each exercise until failure, how would you reform my current workout plan?

 

[Cheetodust]

Don't have any advice, but lemme summon @Cheetodust. He's a personal trainer, so probably the most qualified person here afaik.

Oh cheers man.

So first things first the problem with losing belly fat is that where we store our fat is largely down to our genetics so for a lot of us the middle is where we keep most of it. That might be the hardest part to shift and will just take time and patience so don't give up even if it feels daunting. You can't spot reduce fat so that will just go when it goes.

2) The saying goes abs are made in the kitchen,which is true. Your diet seems on the right track so I would just only suggest possible tweeks. For a guy your size 100g of protein is actually a decent amount but advice I would give is rather than whey try and get it with some lean protein from meat or fish. A portion of something like cod, hake, turkey or lean beef will get you the same amount of protein but will help you feel fuller than a shake will. But that's entirely optional, if you're not struggling to stay on this diet then keep doing what you're doing. One major thing is if you want to get very lean you are going to have to get comfortable actually counting your calories. That's not necessary for everyone but if you want to get down to single digits body fat then the closer you get the more strict you will have to be.

3.) So our exercise actually has a fairly low impact on our overall calorie consumption. The biggest factor, besides our BMR, which is how many calories you burn just existing is our Non Exercise Activity Thermogenesis or our all around basic activity. So rather than trying to burn your calories in the gym just try to be as active as you can with things like walking and moving around. Even a damn hard workout will maybe burn 200-300 calories at the top end. Which isn't going to do much to move the needle taken on its own.

4) On to your workout. If you want to build muscle you need to rest more. Around 90 minutes every day is too long and your inter set rests are too short too. Try and cut out some of the isolation exercises like the bicep curls. When you perform heavy pulling movements your biceps get work there and same with triceps on pushing exercises. There can be an urge to do as much as possible but that is actually counter intuitive.

There are about 6 movement patterns you should focus on
Squat
Hinge
Vertical Push
Vertical Pull
Horizontal Push
Horizontal Pull.

I recommend respectively
Barbell Squats
Barbell Deadlift
Standing Barbell Press
Chin ups
Dips
Chest supported rows using either a t bar machine if your lucky enough to have one in your gym, if nota Bench set an Incline and some dumbbells work too.

Side note, I prefer the palms up Chin up variation to the palms out Pull Up. A lot of people say the Chin up is easier but that's because it recruits more muscle to complete and involves the bicep more. To build bug muscles you got to move big weights so first we should work on building a solid foundation of overall strength.

But remember we're looking at patterns not exercises. You can substitute exercise to hit the same muscle groups if you need to.

For each workout train three of those and then the next workout train the other 3.

So workout A could be Squat, Dips, Row and Workout B could be Deadlift, Overhead Press, Pull Down or Pull Up.

Do 3-4 warmup sets with lower weights, building up to your working set which you should push to failure aiming for 6-10 reps. If you can do 10 then it's time to up the weight.

After your 3 big compound movements then you can add in one or two isolation exercises. But maybe don't for the first few months and just see how you progress. And then finish with your ab work. Just one exercise taken to failure again.

We don't start with abs because they're small muscles that don't need a lot of stimulus and there's no point tiring ourselves out at the start of the workout with them. And training your Squat, Deadlift and Overhead Press (standing) will work our core too.

When you train, your body first needs to recover from training and then it builds muscle. Unless we're on gear that process isn't fast enough to accommodate training everyday. Even if you do see some gains we should ask how much more we could see with adequate recovery.

So a sample programme I would suggest is

Workout A
Squat 3x6-10 3-5 min rest
Dips 3x6-10 3 min rest
Row 3x6-10 3 min rest
Sit ups 1×12-20 (hold a plate to your chest/increase the weight if your able to do 20 reps.)

Workout B
Deadlift 1x6-8 (will explain below)
Overhead Press 3x6-10 3min rest
Chin ups 3x6-10 3 min rest
Sit ups 1x1w-20

Always take at least one full rest day in between and alternate each workout. So A B A B A B (Some people would do A B A and then repeat that the next week so I'm just clarifying that point). You're still relatively a novice to this so every workout should see an increase in either reps or weight (although sometimes we're just fatigued from the day to day and that's fine but if it's the norm then something is wrong) if you don't see consistent improvement then you likely aren't recovering enough rather than not training hard enough.

It seems almost too simple but simple is good. Always log your workouts so you can track your progress.

For the bodyweight exercises of you are struggling to hit six reps at the moment you can use bands or the assisted machines if your gym has them.

And the reason to just do one set if deadlifts is that they are a very systemically taxing exercise that are A) Harder to recover from and B) Carry a high risk if performed poorly due to fatigue.

Dirty hipsters gave good advice too he's right about 6 packs and I would also add that it applies across the board. The size and shape of our muscle is genetic. If you have a high muscle insertion then the muscle looks shorter which will affect how big they can look.

He's right about drop sets, you can also do rest pause where rather than reduce the weight, after the last rep tak about a 15 second breather and do another couple reps to failure and then do that once more. You'll probably see a pattern like 6,2,1. If you have a training partner they can also assist you with the concentric and you do a slow, controlled eccentric. But we're now getting into more complicated territory.

Start simple. Add complexity when simple isn't working.

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

I was out all day so I didn't have time to write out a workout plan. Cheetodust is way more qualified than me to be giving this advice though. I'm just happy his advice more or less meshed with mine, so I almost sound like I know what I'm talking about.

I slightly disagree with a couple of pieces of advice he gave, but since I would only rate myself as an "intermediate" level lifter you should take the following with a grain of salt. I am not a pro and you should usually listen to the pros.

1. I don't necessarily think you have to have a rest day in between every workout, but I do think that if you're going to work out 5 days a week you shouldn't work out upper body twice back to back. You could do a split like this for 2 weeks:

Day 1 - Upper body chest and arms.
Day 2 - Legs
Day 3 - Upper body back and shoulders.
Day 4 - Legs
Day 5 - Upper body chest and arms.
Day 6 - Rest
Day 7 - Rest
Day 8 - Upper body back and shoulders.
Day 9 - Legs
Day 10 - Upper body chest and arms.
Day 11 - Legs
Day 12 - Upper body back and shoulders.
Day 13 - Rest
Day 14 - Rest

If you're doing completely different muscle groups then you're still getting a day of rest in between loading them. I personally work out every other day, so I do follow the Cheetodust method of having a rest day in between each workout, but you could do a 5 day split if you really want and still get enough rest.

2. I think working sets of 6-10 reps of your biggest lifts is too many reps. I think that 10 reps is good for warm-up sets, or when doing isolation exercises, but when doing their biggest lifts with their heaviest weight people start to do sloppy reps around rep 6 or 7. The best muscle growth happens when doing the lifts with the most proper form, and when that form starts to break down from fatigue you're getting way less out of those last reps. That's why I'm a fan of the 5x5 routine. I find that 5 sets of 5 reps to failure (with a good rest in between) will give you more optimally done reps per set and will allow you to lift heavier weight for that lower amount of reps (and you can do the last set as a drop set to further optimize how many times you go to failure).

Like I said though, I'm not a coach, personal trainer, or professional gym bro, I just play one on the internet. If you want professional advice you should listen to professionals.

 

[Cheetodust]

I was out all day so I didn't have time to write out a workout plan. Cheetodust is way more qualified than me to be giving this advice though. I'm just happy his advice more or less meshed with mine, so I almost sound like I know what I'm talking about.

I slightly disagree with a couple of pieces of advice he gave, but since I would only rate myself as an "intermediate" level lifter you should take the following with a grain of salt. I am not a pro and you should usually listen to the pros.

1. I don't necessarily think you have to have a rest day in between every workout, but I do think that if you're going to work out 5 days a week you shouldn't work out upper body twice back to back. You could do a split like this for 2 weeks:

Day 1 - Upper body chest and arms.
Day 2 - Legs
Day 3 - Upper body back and shoulders.
Day 4 - Legs
Day 5 - Upper body chest and arms.
Day 6 - Rest
Day 7 - Rest
Day 8 - Upper body back and shoulders.
Day 9 - Legs
Day 10 - Upper body chest and arms.
Day 11 - Legs
Day 12 - Upper body back and shoulders.
Day 13 - Rest
Day 14 - Rest

If you're doing completely different muscle groups then you're still getting a day of rest in between loading them. I personally work out every other day, so I do follow the Cheetodust method of having a rest day in between each workout, but you could do a 5 day split if you really want and still get enough rest.

2. I think working sets of 6-10 reps of your biggest lifts is too many reps. I think that 10 reps is good for warm-up sets, or when doing isolation exercises, but when doing their biggest lifts with their heaviest weight people start to do sloppy reps around rep 6 or 7. The best muscle growth happens when doing the lifts with the most proper form, and when that form starts to break down from fatigue you're getting way less out of those last reps. That's why I'm a fan of the 5x5 routine. I find that 5 sets of 5 reps to failure (with a good rest in between) will give you more optimally done reps per set and will allow you to lift heavier weight for that lower amount of reps (and you can do the last set as a drop set to further optimize how many times you go to failure).

Like I said though, I'm not a coach, personal trainer, or professional gym bro, I just play one on the internet. If you want professional advice you should listen to professionals.

There's nothing necessarily wrong with that advice and it lines up perfectly with what many coaches preach. Honestly if OP took this approach he would definitely see progress.

But just for consideration my reasons for a rest day between each workout are that, particularly with big compounds taken to failure or beyond, (drop sets, rest pause, assisted reps) it can become systemically fatiguing, not just muscular. A day of heavy ass squats might affect your Bench the next day just by virtue of not having as much in the tank overall. So as an example, in work we have this heavy sign that needs to be put out everyday. Normally I can carry it pinch grip style one handed. But sometimes with a build up of fatigue my grip just isn't as strong and I have to use two hands. So that's just something to consider. It's all a balancing act and finding the sweet point of training to recovery. Everyone is different but you COULD be overtraining yourself and not know it but there's no way for me to know so that is not me suggesting you are.

Sets of 5 are great. I'm on a cut at the moment so my programming is sightly different but in a couple of weeks I'll be back doing a modified version of MADCOW. I started barbell training with Starting Strength and moved onto the Texas Method so I do love sets of 5 and use them a lot.

2 reasons I recommend higher reps:

Like I said, for a newer lifter even that first rep out of 5 is going to be tough, whereas with higher rep ranges the first couple reps are going to be easier to maintain excellent form which can lock that movement pattern in for the rest of the set. The 4th or 5th rep of 10 will feel like that 1st rep of 5 but the body will already be in that pattern.

I like to work in rep ranges rather than a fixed amount. If you did six last workout do 7 this time and so on. If your goal is to always hit 5 reps then the range for linear progression gets tougher. You always have to add more weight to the bar in order to increase volume. Whereas if you build from 6 to 10 reps with a particular weight then you can easily throw more weight on the bar and still be able to hit 6 again. In principle I'm saying the same thing you are. Train to failure but with the addendum that it's easier to improve where that failure point is by manipulating reps and then weight rather than just weight. You could also say 5-8 rather than 6-10 or even 3-5. But I'm sure you know yourself that it's a big difference lifting something for 3 reps this week and 4 next week than going from 6 to 7.

It's all about seeing what the body responds to and OP is likely coming close to the end of newbie gains where almost anything you do will work so it's going to take experimentation and honestly giving both these approaches a go for 6 or so weeks each wouldn't hurt.

 

[Baffle]

My routine's an adaptation of Jim Wendler's 531 Boring But Big routine (the man's a bell, but everyone seems to rate his training). I like it because I only have to change what I'm doing a few times in the session, it's quite simple to track, and it works well for me. I go to the gym late at night so I'm not hogging the things I'm on when other people want to use them.

It's an adaptation because I like to go to the gym pretty much every day (rather than the four days of the original programme), and also I've stripped out anything I don't like doing because I just won't do it when I'm there (so standing shoulder press is all the way into the bin).

It's a three-week cycle with very slightly different weights in each week (I'm not convinced this is completely necessary, but I do it anyway). This is week 1, which is the middle week by weight lifted, and takes about an hour to do:

Week 1
Squat	LEG DAY					Bench	PUSH DAY					Deadlift	PULL DAY
%	Weight	Sets	Reps	Split Weight		%	Weight	Sets	Reps	Split Weight		%	Weight	Sets		Reps	Split Weight
70%	87.5	1	5	33.75		70%	57.5	1	5	18.75		70%	107.5	1		5	43.75
80%	100	1	5	40		80%	65	1	5	22.5		80%	122.5	1		5	51.25
90%	112.5	1	5	46.25		90%	75	1	5	27.5		90%	137.5	1		5	58.75
65%	82.5	5	10	31.25		70%	57.5	5	10	18.75		65%	100	5		10	40
RDL	100	5	10	40		S. press	40	5	10	20		Lat pulldown	90	5		10	45
Leg Curl	64	5	10	NA		T. pushd	40	5	10	NA		Cable Curls	50	5		10	NA
Leg press	100	5	10	NA		Dips	BW	4	10	NA		Cable lat raise	9	4		10	NA

Bench	PUSH DAY					Squat	LEG DAY					Bench	PULL DAY
%	Weight	Sets	Reps	Split Weight		%	Weight	Sets	Reps	Split Weight		%	Weight	Sets	Reps	Split Weight
70%	57.5	1	5	18.75		70%	87.5	1	5	33.75		70%	57.5	1	5	18.75
80%	65	1	5	22.5		80%	100	1	5	40		80%	65	1	5	22.5
90%	75	1	5	27.5		90%	112.5	1	5	46.25		90%	75	1	5	27.5
65%	52.5	5	10	16.25		65%	82.5	5	10	31.25		65%	52.5	5	10	16.25
Cable flyes	35	5	10	NA		Leg press	120	10	5	NA		Free rows	35	5	10	NA
S. press	40	5	10	20		Lunges	40	5	12	20		Cable row	60	5	10	NA
T. pushd	22.5	5	10	NA		Leg raises	bw	5	10	NA		Pull ups	NA	4	10	NA

(I list my barbel split weights on my sheet because I'm a fucking idiot and can't do the maths on the fly.)

 

[Cheetodust]

(the man's a bell, but everyone seems to rate his training)

So many of them are. Like I love Mike Mentzer as a coach but that dude had a hard on and a half for Ayn Rand.

If you're looking for some positive figures then I recommend Greg Nuckols and Eric Helms. But they're really if you want to get into the weeds of scientific research. Alan Thrall and Omar Isuf also seem pretty chill. Ben Carpenter mostly focuses on diet content but I really like his work. James Smith started out as a bit rage baity but his content is actually pretty good now and he's a lot more positive.

 

[Baffle]

So many of them are. Like I love Mike Mentzer as a coach but that dude had a hard on and a half for Ayn Rand.

If you're looking for some positive figures then I recommend Greg Nuckols and Eric Helms. But they're really if you want to get into the weeds of scientific research. Alan Thrall and Omar Isuf also seem pretty chill. Ben Carpenter mostly focuses on diet content but I really like his work. James Smith started out as a bit rage baity but his content is actually pretty good now and he's a lot more positive.

Cheers. I have watched some of Nuckols' stuff and it pretty good. I tend not to get too deep into the 'characters' of the lifting world because really all I'm trying to do now is stay in acceptable shape as my body makes a beeline for 50. And given that I'm currently in recovery from a hernia repair op, I think I may need to account for that a little more than I have been ...

 

[FakeSympathy]

Alright, Thanks for the advice everyone!
First off, it's not that my plan so far has been crap. Here's how I looked like 8 months ago:


And here's my most recent photo:


Yes, I can see the difference, but I am looking for something bit more noticeable and at faster time



Here's everything that I came to understand from reading the thread:

Diet:
For the diet, just keep doing what I've been doing? To clarify, mosy of my protein intakes comes from eggs, edamame, pork, chicken, fish, tofu, and a soy bean drink. We have a machine at home that grinds down dry beans. I have been experimenting with different beans as well, and my recent combination consists of 1 cup of soy beans, 1 cup of black beans, and 1/4 cup of peanuts. Even with all that I seem to only have 75-80g of protein, which is why I also take suppliments. Also, coffee every morning as @Dirty Hipsters suggested.

My question is should I go on intermittent fasting? I know for a fact that It's a geat way to lose weight, because I went from 165 lbs to 140 lbs in the past. My fasting period was from 8 pm to 12 pm the next day, skipping breakfast. If I do this again, would it get in the way of protein consumption? I do think I have limit to how much I can eat in two meals.

Workout:
I didn't realize my workouts were so long, and in fact that I wasn't giving myself enough rest! Based on all the plans that I've seen so far, here's what I came up with:

Day 1 - Upper body chest and arms.
Day 2 - Legs
Day 3 - Upper body back and shoulders.
Day 4 - Legs
Day 5 - Upper body chest and arms.
Day 6 - Rest
Day 7 - Rest
Day 8 - Upper body back and shoulders.
Day 9 - Legs
Day 10 - Upper body chest and arms.
Day 11 - Legs
Day 12 - Upper body back and shoulders.
Day 13 - Rest
Day 14 - Rest

Warm-ups:

• The dynamic cardio that I have been doing
• lightweight dumbbell tricep extensions on chest/arms days, 3x10
• lightweight barbell curls on back/shoulder days, 3x10
• lightweight leg press on leg days, 3x10
  

Chest and arms (not in this order):

• Bench Press 3x6-8 on my current limit, which is around 165 lbs. This is the same amount for deadlifts and squats
• Chest Dips 3x10
• Cable tricep pushdowns 3x8-12.
• Reverse wrist curl and Wrist curl 3x12. I had to throw wrist curls here, as I really wanna see nice forearms and I don't think they are getting enough attention
• Crunches w/ weights 3x8-12. I heard sit-ups are terrible for lower backs and crunches are better?

Back and shoulders (not in this order):

• Rows (one-arm cable or dumbbell?) 3x12
• Chin ups 3x12
• Overhead press 3x8-12. I am actually debating whether to do this or Arnold Press
• One arm reverse fly 3x12. I start with 5 lbs and then go up to 15 lbs. 20 lbs is bit too much for me, so as of right now 3 sets is what I can do
• Crunches

Legs:

• Squats 3x8
• Deadlifts 1x6-8
• Leg curls 3x10
• Calf raises 3x12. Just like with wrist curls I feel it's not getting enough attentions

Let me know what you guys think

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

Alright, Thanks for the advice everyone!
First off, it's not that my plan so far has been crap.

No one is doubting that you've made some great gains using your current workout routine, but making gains when you first start out is really easy. When your body isn't used to lifting yet doing literally any lifting is going to be better than nothing and will get you results even if you have no idea what you're doing. When I first started I spent about a year having no idea what I was doing and still improved considerably, but I could have gotten the gains that I'd gotten in 6 months instead if I had actually followed a properly structured workout. This is actually why I recommend either paying for a week of sessions with a trainer when you first start, or going to the gym with a friend who knows what they're doing to help you get started. It shaves months off the "IDK what I'm doing" phase.

After a while everyone hits a wall where they are no longer making the gains they want to be making, and that's when you need to start getting deeper into learning how various exercises work, how your muscles function, optimized lifting strategies, etc. That's exactly what you're doing now so you're right on track.

Also, coffee every morning as @Dirty Hipsters suggested.

I actually recommend having the coffee an hour or 2 before your workout rather than in the morning. I usually work out around 5 (when I get off work) and grab a coffee at 3.

Warm-ups:

• The dynamic cardio that I have been doing
• lightweight dumbbell tricep extensions on chest/arms days, 3x10
• lightweight barbell curls on back/shoulder days, 3x10
• lightweight leg press on leg days, 3x10

• Honestly, I wouldn't recommend a separate warm-up when lifting (other than the dynamic cardio you've been doing). I don't think there's a need for the light dumbbell work at the start of the workout. Just whenever you're doing your sets of each exercise do a few "warm up sets" with low weight before launching into your working sets. This will warm up the specific muscle group you need and will also help you set up your form before going for your bigger lifts. If you do want to warm up with some weights though, a warm up I would recommend is kettlebell swings.

Chest and arms (not in this order):

• Bench Press 3x6-8 on my current limit, which is around 165 lbs. This is the same amount for deadlifts and squats
• Chest Dips 3x10
• Cable tricep pushdowns 3x8-12.
• Reverse wrist curl and Wrist curl 3x12. I had to throw wrist curls here, as I really wanna see nice forearms and I don't think they are getting enough attention
• Crunches w/ weights 3x8-12. I heard sit-ups are terrible for lower backs and crunches are better?

• I'm not a big fan of crunches. I just find them really boring to do. Personally I really like weighted incline sit-ups with a medicine ball, or hanging leg raises as I think these are both much more dynamic exercises. I also think of wrist curls as more of a "glamor muscle" exercise, so I wouldn't necessarily throw them into every arm day (then again, I could probably do with doing them more often myself). If you want to keep wrist curls in the rotation then I would recommend maybe doing wrist curls on every other arm day and switch them off with incline dumbbell curls.

Back and shoulders (not in this order):

• Rows (one-arm cable or dumbbell?) 3x12
• Chin ups 3x12
• Overhead press 3x8-12. I am actually debating whether to do this or Arnold Press
• One arm reverse fly 3x12. I start with 5 lbs and then go up to 15 lbs. 20 lbs is bit too much for me, so as of right now 3 sets is what I can do
• Crunches

• I really like cable face pulls as a back and shoulder exercise, especially at the end of my routine. It works a similar muscle group as the reverse fly but is easier to load for beginners. Also, chin ups are great but are oftentimes difficult for beginners. I don't know how comfortable you are with chin ups, but if you struggle with the chin ups at all, or start getting elbow pain I would consider doing underhand close grip cable pull downs instead (I like that better than band assisted chin ups).

Legs:

• Squats 3x8
• Deadlifts 1x6-8
• Leg curls 3x10
• Calf raises 3x12. Just like with wrist curls I feel it's not getting enough attentions

• Looks good to me.

 

[Cheetodust]

Yes, I can see the difference, but I am looking for something bit more noticeable and at faster time

Man that's great progress in 8 months. Don't worry about faster progress. Social media and fitness culture has warped our idea of what's achievable. In all honesty adding 15lbs of muscle in a year would be very very good progress so massive changes aren't going to be seen overnight. Fortunately for you being on the short side means that 15lbs of muscle will make you look fucking hench my dude. A guy I studied with is a bodybuilder and is your height. Weighed 20 lbs less than me but was fucking massive looking.

Diet:
For the diet, just keep doing what I've been doing? To clarify, mosy of my protein intakes comes from eggs, edamame, pork, chicken, fish, tofu, and a soy bean drink. We have a machine at home that grinds down dry beans. I have been experimenting with different beans as well, and my recent combination consists of 1 cup of soy beans, 1 cup of black beans, and 1/4 cup of peanuts. Even with all that I seem to only have 75-80g of protein, which is why I also take suppliments. Also, coffee every morning as @Dirty Hipsters suggested.

so I did the numbers real quick and I would suggest adding an extra 20g of protein a day. A lot of gym bros will say 2g of proetin per lb of bodyweight but honestly that's likely overkill. 0.8 should be more than sufficient. Your diet looks really solid. Good fats, not skimping on carbs and fiber just maybe up the protein a little.
Like I said, protein shakes are great, I have one everyday, my suggestion was only that eating your protein rather than drinking it might help with satiety. But if you're not struggling with that then do what you're doing.

My question is should I go on intermittent fasting? I know for a fact that It's a geat way to lose weight, because I went from 165 lbs to 140 lbs in the past. My fasting period was from 8 pm to 12 pm the next day, skipping breakfast. If I do this again, would it get in the way of protein consumption? I do think I have limit to how much I can eat in two meals.

If it works for you keep on doing it. All diets work by reducing calorie consumption. It really doesn't matter when you eat food. I eat about 6 times a day even on a cut because frequent smaller meals keeps more satiated throughout the day than going hours between meals. If your aiming to lose weight and you're not at a very unhealthy weight (which you don't seem to be) aim for 1lb of weightloss a week, 2 at an absolute maximum.

Warm-ups:

• The dynamic cardio that I have been doing
• lightweight dumbbell tricep extensions on chest/arms days, 3x10
• lightweight barbell curls on back/shoulder days, 3x10
• lightweight leg press on leg days, 3x10

• Keep the cardio but change the warmups to just light sets of 10 on whatever your first lift is of the session and build up to your working set.

Chest and arms (not in this order):

• Bench Press 3x6-8 on my current limit, which is around 165 lbs. This is the same amount for deadlifts and squats
• Chest Dips 3x10
• Cable tricep pushdowns 3x8-12.
• Reverse wrist curl and Wrist curl 3x12. I had to throw wrist curls here, as I really wanna see nice forearms and I don't think they are getting enough attention
• Crunches w/ weights 3x8-12. I heard sit-ups are terrible for lower backs and crunches are better?

Back and shoulders (not in this order):

• Rows (one-arm cable or dumbbell?) 3x12
• Chin ups 3x12
• Overhead press 3x8-12. I am actually debating whether to do this or Arnold Press
• One arm reverse fly 3x12. I start with 5 lbs and then go up to 15 lbs. 20 lbs is bit too much for me, so as of right now 3 sets is what I can do
• Crunches

Legs:

• Squats 3x8
• Deadlifts 1x6-8
• Leg curls 3x10
• Calf raises 3x12. Just like with wrist curls I feel it's not getting enough attentions

Let me know what you guys think

You weigh 145 and you Bench 165 for 8 reps?! Fuck man that is real good. I would say, barring any injuries I'm not aware of, those numbers aren't bad for your Squat or Deadlift but if they're both the same as your Bench then something is off with your training. They should definitely be considerably higher than your Bench. Could be a mental thing where you can actually lift more than you think but you're nervous of injury? I couldn't know without seeing you train but maybe getting a couple of sessions with a trainer might be an idea. If your gym has any they'll usually do packages where you can pay for a number of sessions. It can be expensive and not always an option but if you can afford it some coaching on your lifts could be useful. Alternatively, Starting Strength do great tutorials on those lifts. You can get the book or watch their YouTube videos.

As for sit ups vs crunches our spines are meant to curve and extend. Do things like cat cows, child pose and happy baby to keep your low back mobile and you'll have no problems with sit ups. Sit ups have the added benefit of working your hip flexor through a full range of motion and they can often be neglected. A lot of low back issues can be related to weak hip flexors.

Personally I prefer not train Squat and Deadlift together as they are both very taxing systemically so I train deadlifts on my back day. But a lot of programmes do put them together. So I'd say on your leg days alternate which one you start with. You're doing Legs twice a week so just changing which one you start with means that you'll be doing both of them fresh once a week.

Calf raises are so damn important so good job including them. Same with wrist curls.

Other than that, solid programme.

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

Well it's been a year. How'd you do?

 

[Felesark]

That's a detailed program you have here. Stick to it

 

[FakeSympathy]

Alright, its been a while, so I guess it’s update time! Unfortunately not a lot of progress, and there’s gonna be a lot of “you just answered your own question”

Here’s how I look now:



My weight seem to bounce around 147 lbs to 150 lbs, which really disappointed me.

Diet:
Probably my biggest issue. I started having breakfast again, because just coffee in the morning was giving me stomach problems. having it with breakfast seemed to help. Now at first I didn't it was too bad, but the issue was I was having rather high-calorie or high-carb foods; Leftover butter chicken from the night before, "breakfast" taco with chicken tender and guac, pastas, or just going overboard with oatmeal or yogurt.

For pastas, I typically avoid any sauce-heavy dishes, and just go with ones that are mostly oil; Agilo e Olio, Truffle Oil pasta w/ mushrooms, shrimp scampi, etc. I typically try not to have butter.

For lunch and dinner, it's mostly the same as I mentioned in my previous update; Lots of natural animal and plant proteins, vegetables, and protein shake during every workout in the morning.

Weekends has been a challenge, because I go to a lot of events and meet-ups with people and it always seem to end with dining out or having high-calorie desserts.

I realized what I have been doing, and began to just have light breakfast; Oatmeals, yogurt, hard-boield eggs, lean tomato soup without any cream, etc. And on weekends be sure to eat smaller portion.

One silver lining is that I have been making sure to drink plenty of water, and sometimes have one of those mineral waters with cucumbers, basils, and lemon

Workout:
Turns out I'm pretty stupid, and ignored almost all of the warm-ups I set out to do. I still do the dynamic strentch and abs rollout, but everything else I have been ignoring.

Workout schedule and types of workouts that I do have been altered, and I have been adding more weights. The numbers are either my estimation or what I see on the dumbbell/plates:

Chest and triceps (specifically this order now):

• Bench Press 3 x 8. I went from 165 lbs on my last set (145 - 155 - 165) to 185 lbs on my last set (165 - 175 - 185).
• Chest Dips 3 x 10 w/ weights! 20 - 25 - 30 lbs
• One arm overhead tricep extension 3 x 12. It goes from 27.5 - 30 - 32.5 lbs
• Reverse wrist curl and Wrist curl 3x12. 25 - 27.5 - 30 lbs

Back and shoulders (specifically this order now):

• Rows (one-arm cable or dumbbell) 3x12. For cable it goes 72.5 - 80 - 82.5 lbs and for dumbbell it goes from 27.5 - 30 - 32.5 lbs. I try to do more one-arm cable rows, but some times the machines are in use and I go with dumbbell rows instead. For dumbbell rows, I am trying to figure out the correct weight because I swear I am not getting enough workout compared to one-arm cable
• Pull-ups 3x14 w/ weights! 20 - 25 - 30 lbs
• Incline Bicep curls 3 x 12. 27.5 - 30 - 32.5 lbs
• Reverse EZ Bar curls, 3 x 12, 50 - 60 - 70 lbs
• Arnold Press 3 x 12. 27.5 - 30 - 32.5 lbs
• One arm reverse fly 3x12. I now go from 20 -25 -30 lbs

Legs: (Squats and RDL switch order on every leg days):

• Weight Squats 3x8, 205- 215 - 225 lbs
• Romanian Deadlifts 3 x 10, 105 - 125 - 135 lbs. I have been really careful with RDL because adding too much weight put more strain on my lower back, and I wanted to get a good control on my motions to focus on my hamstrings and glutes
• Calf raises w/ dumbbells, 3 x 12, 47.5 - 50 - 52.5 lbs
• Hip Abduction machine, 3 x 12, 145 - 160 - 175 lbs

I am fully aware that this deviated from what I said I was gonna do, especially on number of reps. I guess I kinda forgot about it and just been doing what I was comfortable with?

Workout Schedule:

Day 1 - Upper body chest and arms.
Day 2 - Legs
Day 3 - Upper body back and shoulders.
Day 4 - Legs
Day 5 - Upper body chest and arms.
Day 6 - Cardio
Day 7 - Cardio
Day 8 - Upper body back and shoulders.
Day 9 - Legs
Day 10 - Upper body chest and arms.
Day 11 - Legs
Day 12 - Upper body back and shoulders.
Day 13 - Cardio
Day 14 - Cardio

Remember I said I felt weekend was a trap for me to eat not-so-lean foods? Well in addition to really watch what I eat, I've decided to do some quick cardios; Either 20 min jog or HIIT. I just adopted this change, so I need to wait and see the effect

Overall:
I am trying to have a flatter stomach, and I heard it's the stoamch fat that's the main villain. I feel the only way to fight this off is to have a stricter diet and adding more cardio to my routine.