For cardio, do what I do, run like the wind! Run like you're trying to get to the edge of the earth. Run, Forest, run!

 

The military press can be done seated or standing, with dumbells or a barbell. Check this link to see how to do it. MILITARY PRESS

Lateral raises can also be done seated or standing and are done with dumbells. Check the link. LATERAL RAISES

"Lats" is short for latissimus dorsi, the muscles that run along the side of your back. To see where the lats are, click this link. I circled the words "latissimus dorsi" so that you could find the muscles on the diagram more easily. LATISSIMUS DORSI

 

subscribing.

i will answer some questions when i get back from dinner.

 

If you look at one of my previous posts in this thread you'll see the benefit to doing cardio as soon as you wake up. As for your workout routine, your arms day should consist of biceps, triceps, and forearms (if you choose to work them out). Don't bother mixing in triceps with your chest, work them out with the other arm muscles. Then in addition to working out your chest throw in your back exercises on that day too. Many of your back muscles are flexing and being worked while performing chest exercises and vice versa.

Now for the exercises I explained earlier...

Side Lateral Raise: Stand straight, feet shoulder width apart, with a dumbbell in each hand and your arms at your sides. Lift your arms straight out, you'll look like the letter T.

Front Lateral Raise: Same as the previous exercise except instead of lifting your arms out to your sides, you're going to lift them straight out in front of you.

Middle Back Shrug: Incline the bench somewhere between 45-75 degrees, lay with your stomach against the padding, let your arms hang freely and pick up the dumbbells. Then simply shrug your shoulders back/together.

Lat Pulldown: There is a machine for this in every gym. What you do is sit at it with your back straight and shoulders back, perfect posture. There will be a bar hanging above you, grab it on the ends with a wide grip and then pull the bar down to your chin.

Reverse Butterfly: Lay with your stomach down on a flat bench and let your arms hang freely. Then pick up the dumbbells and while keeping your arms straight, raise them to your sides. If you're doing it correctly, you should look like the letter T if someone were to be looking down on you.

Stiff Legged Dead Lift: Stand straight up, with your feet shoulder width apart and either a bar or dumbbells at your feet. Now bend down, keeping your back and legs straight, and grab the weights. Then while gripping the weights, stand straight up, then bend back over, then stand back up, and so on. This is like bending over and touching your toes when you go to the doctor.

Military Press: Again almost every gym has one of these machines. It's exactly like the lat machine except instead of pulling down, you'll be pushing the weights up while in a seated position.

Back Extensions: Lay face down on a flat bench with your upper body hanging off the end, so your body will be bent at a 90 degree angle at your waist. You'll need someone to hold your ankles or anchor them down. Now cross your arms over your chest and using your lower back muscles lift your upper body up so you're straight. Then go back down, back up, etc. It's like a reverse situp.

I tried to explain the exercises as best as possible, hopefully it helps you out. If you have any more questions don't hesitate to ask. Good luck

 

Thank you so MUCH!! The diagrams really helped. I do the lateral raises, but the pics showed me a clearer way of doing it.


Never did the military presses, so will start on that.

A hearty thank you.

 

Veritas,

THe info you provided is priceless and thus I thank you!

I did see your previous post about cardio in the AM, and thus I directed my question to you. I always did weights first, cardio second.

THen one of my friends said, he always does cardio first, and weights second. I tried that for 2 days. After the cardio, I didn't have ounce of energy for weights.

For example if I was doing 35lb curls before, at this point I could only do 5 lb. I was that much weaker.

THus I was asking you, how much of a difference it made if weights were done earlier. I mean I still wake up, do weights, cardio, then breakfast.

Would it be a huge change if I did the cardio first? If you answer yes, then I wil make antoher attempt at it. Thanks for the help!



Secondly

Really appreciate you taking the time and breaking down the excersises for me. They really help, and I will really incorporate them in my routine.

The lat Pulldown you mentioned. I always do this on the bicep/arm day, as I always thought it worked the forearms. BOY WAS I WRONG! I will then switch this to a different day as you suggested.

How about the sit down (row type machine). Where there is a handle in front of you, you sit down on teh bench, and keep your back straight and pull the weight towards you? SHould that not be in the ARM day as well?


The reason I used to mix in triiceps/chest is, many of the chest exercises really worked out the tricep. I like giving the muscle some rest after I work it out.

SO If I do the biceps and triceps the same day, and try doing the chest the next day, won't my triceps be beyond sore that will effect my chest excersises?

I will take your advice and do chest+ back.

Thanks again.

Hope to soak all the info in.

 

No prob man. I've been in your position before... I'm glad I could help.

 

Hey no problem at all, my major is in exercise science human performance, so personal training and nutrition is what I love doing. Weight lifting can be very difficult if you're not provided with information to guide and educate you. To answer a few more of your questions...

Yes, the seated row is where you pull the bar towards you, I'm sorry I left that one out in my last post. Do this on your chest and back day, because it's not intended to target your arms. What you could do to prevent soreness in your triceps is keep a day between those workouts. For example, workout your chest/back monday, then hit legs tuesday, and arms wednesday. That's what I do and it will give your upper body a day off.

Cardio is very demanding and will cause you to not be able to lift as much. The dramatic change in strength happens to almost everyone, so you're not alone. My question to you is what does your cardio consist of? What I would do, if you have the time, is do your cardio in the morning right away, then do your weight lifting later in the day after you get some nutrients in you. When you're lifting your body is going to be drawing on proteins, carbs, and fats. It's a good idea to get something nutritious in you about an hour to an hour and a half before lifting.

 

The thing about waiting between sets really depends on what you're trying to develop. Muscle endurance or strength.

If you want to build endurance then the wait time between sets will ultimately be shorter. Doing this will also turn your workouts into aerobic workouts also, as your heart will constantly be raised. A good way to make good of your time at the gym is to do super sets. Which works opposing muscle groups (chest/back, bi's/tri's). This way, you're constantly moving and your heart rate never has time to rest.

If you decide you want to build strength, then you'll let your muscles recover a bit longer inbetween sets to get the most out of them. This way you're able to do more reps and heavier weights.

 

And please don't ever workout on an empty stomach. That's the worse thing you can do..

Whenever you are doing cardio though, try to keep your heart rate at at least 60-75% of your max heart rate. A quick way to find out your max heart rate is doing 220 - your age.

For example. i'm 22, so i'll do 220 - 22 = 198bpm
198 * 75 = 148.5bpm

So while i'm running i'll try to keep my heart rate at 148-149bpm for optimal fat burning. This is kinda hard to do without a heart monitor though, and I wouldn't trust the ones they have on those treadmills.