[kbak]

alright alright..joined a real gym. at this stage couldn't see buying more equipment on my space and schedule constraints, so the wife and I joined Gold's yesterday. We checked out Powerhouse as well, but between their setup, where it is at in town, and similar costs as Gold's, we went with Golds. It's right across from our daycare so i have to drive by it twice a day..should help some lol

1st day using the place so, nail me if i need to change/improve something cause:

A)i'm a noob
B) not sure how to construct a GOOD split. I must've read about 1000 different ones in the forums, magazines, books, etc...
C) I may be hurting one group by doing muscles in combination that doesn't work..i dunno..

so flame me if i need it, by God...

9a- stationary bike- 30 minutes/5.10 miles

1115 @ the gym

warmup-recumbant bike at 5 min

leg press 15x180,15x230,15x280,15x320
leg ext - 15x100,10x120,10x140,8x160
leg curl- 15x100,10x110,8x110
(the previous two I felt the weakest of the whole day)
standing calf raise- 15x200,15x220,10x240

barbell curl- 15x50,10x60,8x65,15x50 (dunno why i did it this way)
DB hammer curl - 10x25,10x30,10x30 (bad form on my left arm..rights much stronger)

tricep ext - 15x50,10x60,9x60 (failure)
tricep pushdown w cable and rope handles - 15x50,15x65,15x75,19x75 (failure)

reg crunches - 2 sets x 20
hanging leg raise - 1 set of 20, 1 set of 15
oblique/twist crunch- 1x18 (got sick on this one....never worked till i puked) and this is probably a woose workout

crosstrainer for 5 minutes to cool off..lil walk pace

diet-
nothing prior to cardio but water

1030a - 2 eggs, 1 cup egg beaters w .5 cup of tomators, .5 cup of bell pepper
blk coffee one cup

1p grilled chicken breast, one leaf of lettuce, 2 slices of tomato, whole wheat tortilla
water

330p will be a shake with two scoops of whey, fat free milk, half a banana

suggestions appreciated, tomorrow is shoulders, chest and back, 330 after work

thanks KB

[Rocky]

Good for you for joining a gym - could do a lot worse than Gold's! :)

For a noob you have very respectable strength judging by those figures.
If I mnay make a suggestion on split, obviously you've only posted one workout so I don't know how you've grouped the other muscle groups, and I don't know what you are aiming for with regard to mass, definition, general fitness, so I'll just throw something in here:

Personally I like to give legs their own day - they take so much out of you to do it in one session.

I would suggest one of the following:

PUSH/PULL/LEGS

or

Chest/Tris
Back/Bis
Legs/Shoulders

or

Chest/Back
Shoulders/arms
Legs

This way you are either using related muscles in each session or if it makes it more difficult to really give each muscle group your all in the first 2 then the last one gives you a split in which you have optimum rest between muscle groups and related muscle groups.

I noticed in your leg day you didn't squat. Is there a reason for this, because if not, then I would seriously advise incorporating this awesome (if horrible) exercise.

And with regard to your other sessions I hope to see Chins, BB bent rows, deadlifts, incline bench, military press, dips and BB curls in the mix! :P)

Just some thoughts. Nice to have a new log here and look forward to reading your progress!

[kbak]

Chest/Back
Shoulders/arms
Legs<<<< that one sure does make sense...

reason without squats is I was kind of apprehensive to do it without a spot. only 4 of us in there at that time of the morning, and noone working the barbell type things. I saw a Smith machine but wasn't really sure how to deal with it. over there by the squat racks I saw a leg press machine (you sit upside down on it?) and some kind of squat machine you load with plates (standing upright but at a angle) so I was kinda noobed out and thinking WTF do i do..i punted and did the machine leg press...

so you use the Smith if you don't have a spotter..right? but I know that won't bring in all the mucles you guys do the squat for...i don't work out with anyone so no spot...

I think I'll take your advice on the splits, Rock. I was going to do shoulder presses, incline and regular bench press, deadlifts, DB bent over rows (barbell better?) cable rows, pulldowns, lateral raises, flyes.

tomorrow was going to be back/shoulder/chest...figured i'd work upper/lower twice a week that way...abs 4 times as well...

goals? cut the fat...i'm 243 (as of today) and stand 6' = flabby a$$...far cry from when i got out of the service at 197lbs and could run 3 miles in a lil under 28 minutes (that's slow for a Marine but I hated running) could max sit-ups and 12 pullups (that was my last PFT)

since then it's been drinking, partying, divorce, marriage, kids, eating like crap and doing nada but going to p lay softball (and drink more beer)

my physical in Jan scared teh crap out of me since my little Indian doctor (love her to death) said do something or don't worry about seeing who my 4 year old daughter would ever marry...

so long story short (noobs always post long dont' we lol) i gotta cut fat, but eventually want to increase strength and add some decent mass. never going to compete, but want to live to kick the $*(#& out of my daughter's boyfriends, make sure my wife doesn't marry someone else and spend my insurance money, and look good

thanks for the help Rock...tomorrow I'll restructure my first upper body workouts and post...

thanks again

KB

PS..sore as SH$I but man..i feel kinda pumped and wired and mentally GOOD...

[Rocky]

lol! Nice post man! Credit for getting on and doing something. Glad I could help. I understand you with the squats. I'd go with the smith on days like that - to be honest I have to use a smith all the time as it's all I have, it works just fine if you're comfortable using it. The squat type machine you saw sounds like a hack squat press, which more isolates the quads - not a bad thing but doesn't offer the all over benefit of a squat as there is reduced need for the stabilizing muscles.
To be honest I wouldn't think you need to do abs more than twice per week, at the end of the day they are a muscle the same as any other and should be treated as such. If you're doing them right - x2 per week is fine!
I'll be reading your log with interest, and if you don't mind I'll throw in some suggestions as and when I think of any as you update your log!

Good luck with it man!

[kbak]

today was chest and back

bench press machine- 12@130, 10@150, 10@170,7@190
incline bench hammer- 10@50,10@90, 10@110, 8 @130
incline flys, db - 12@60, 10@70, 8@80, 7@80 (form was right out the window on last set)

seated rows- 15@100, 10@130, 10@150, 8@180
bent over rows (with the barbells that are already made up)
10@70,10@80,8@90
widegrip pulldown-15@100, 10@140,8@160, 6@160 (really jerkythough)
undergrip pulldown- 15@80, 10@100, 8@120

did it in that order..really really tensedup by the time i got to the pulldowns
wife is doing treadmill in the spareroom,so when she's done i'll do abs

2x25 crunch
2x25 saxon sidebends
2x25 leg raises(reverse crunch?)
this is tentative on what the 4 yr old takes to get her in the tub!

500a did 3 miles on stationary bike in 18:49 (had an early ARD today)

again, let me know if i'm screwing up (thanks again Rocky, checked out the Smith machines so Leg day will tackle those)

one question: if i do a 3 day split like this..do it 3 days or 2 days in a row? or still do a rest day between the splits?

thanks

kb

[Rocky]

Looked a good routine man. Nice exercise choice - maybe worth cutting back the weight a little on the last set of the 2 exercises your form was lost on - better to get the muscle doing the work than simply hoisting the weight up - it'll pay off better!
With regard to rest - it depends on you. Me personally, I'm now hitting the biggest weights I've done on some of my main exercises and it's hard so I'm having a rest day between each session. You may find at this stage you're able to train more frequently. The key is to try it and if you find yourself stalling or your not enjoying it so much then cut back - don'[t wanna overtrain! Otherwise - looks real good!

[Q80_MuscleHed]

Welcome to log section man :) .. glad to have ur log .. looking forward to see ur progress

[hypocrisy86]

Looks good, yea form is a must.!

[BigBen]

Welecome to the boards bro, glad to see u chose to make a log bro. From what i read you have a great diet in terms of gettin a lot of different food in their, keep up the hard work!

[kbak]

yesterday was shoulders/arms

machine shoulder press 15@60,15@60,12@70,6@70
shrugs (this was a new one to me) 15@85 dumbbells, 15@85
upright row, BB- 15@40,15@50,12@60, 6@80

(that hurt..i mean sore/hurt..i need to take the advice i think and go a bit lighter till i get form down)

I supersetted these, with biceps ex. then tri's

hammer curls 15@25,15@25,8@30
tri pressdown 15@100,15@160, 12@180,7@180

preacher machine curls 15@50,12@60,7@60
dip machine- 15@100,15@140,15@160

concentration curl- 15@20,15@25,13@30
skull crusher, bent bar- 15@40,15@50,9@50,5@60

abs- hanging leg raises, 3 sets of 15 each (none weighted)
decline crunches 3 sets of 15 each

i have a final tonight so jsut cardio about 330 when i get off work,then my final at 530. gonna try for 30-45 minutes

tmorrow are legs, off so i should hit the gym at 9a well rested

diet yesterday went good. started not doing complex carbs after 5pm (only leavy greens for dinner) and the scale moved 1.2 lbs since Monday! woohoo..hit solid 242 and that's the lowest i've been since....well ...alot of you guys weren't born then LOL

thanks for the help

KB

[Rocky]

Nice session man. Nice choice of exercises again especially to get the feel of things. Maybe when you feel more confident I would suggest moving to a DB press instead of machine for shoulders.
With regard to the upright row - it may be that you just aren't cut out for it. A lot of people believe the upright row to be "dangerous" as it can put the arms and shoulder joint in an unnatural plane - me I love it, but if it's giving you discomfort then maybe substitute it for bent over DB laterals. This way you still hit your rear delts, you'll miss out on the trap involvement that's with uprights but you're doing shrugs anyway!
Congrats with the weight too! :)

[kbak]

so...bend over at the waist then do laterals with the dumbbells? i'd never heard of that one..

yeah i got a goofy/half pain/half sore in the left elbow, so i'll try t hose

thanks man

[Rocky]

Originally Posted by kbak

so...bend over at the waist then do laterals with the dumbbells?

You got it!