please rate my regiment

[StarBoy]

I'll be moving back to my old town this summer and returning to training. To prepare, I am getting on an exercise regiment so I'll be in better shape for when I get back in. I haven't trained in a year and a half so I gained a few pound. I'm not too worried about it though. I'm not really aiming to get skinny. I have a large frame and skinny doesn't look good on it. Even if I'm on the skinny side of toned, it doesn't look right. On the other hand, I don't want to get too bulky. This is the exercise regiment I have set up for myself. I'll be doing full body one day a week because I can only get to the gym (routinely) on Saturdays.

I'm thinking of doing 3 sets of 10, though some days I feel pretty good and think I can do up to 5 sets.

Bench Press
Inclined Bench (though I'm not sure if this gym has one)
Overhead Tricept Extension
Lat Pulldown
Lat Row
Bicept Curls (I heard this was bad for the elbow though, any thoughts?)
Hammer Curls

The (| |) in the leg press exercises is meant to show the position of my feet

Leg press (| |), (\ /), and the one that works the calves.
Hackslide (I don't think the gym has this, I heard it was bad for the knees though, anyone know for sure?)
(| |), (/ \), (\ /)

Also, there will be cardio, though that will be a problem. Because of work, I can't get to the gym much during the week, definitely not routinely. I also don't run or jump rope (I don't want to irritate and old knee injury). When I go to the gym, I use one of the walking machines. I hear a lot about HIIT and was thinking of doing that. But what good will it be to only do it one day a week?

Anywhos, this is the HIIT program I've found.

Phase I:
Week 1+2: 4 x 90s work, 90s recovery
Week 3+4: 5 x 60s work, 60s recovery

Phase II:
Week 1+2: 6 x 45s work, 30s recovery
Week 3+4: 7 x 30s work, 20s recovery

Phase III:
Week 1+2: 8 x 20s work, 10s recovery
Week 3+4 10 x 20s work, 10s recovery

And then you're pretty much staying at Phase 3/wk3+4), possibly doing more intervals to failure.

So this is it, what do the rest of you advise?

*braces himself for a suggestion to start gator wrasslin'* :D

[prana]

sounds pretty good, however sets of 10 are considered hypertrophy. You are going to get even chunkier :eek:

Whatabout doing some 2-3 Max Reps or plyometrics ?

[TaoBoy]

Can you please explain the notation used in your phase explanation?

[Ford Prefect]

Prana is correct. 3x10's are primarily used to gain mass. If you don't want to get bulkier than doing sets of 1-5 would be better suited to you.

Also, the added benefit to failing on intervals in phase 3 weeks 3&4 is far outweighed by the energy it takes. In other words, it is not worth it. Say if you are doing your intervals on a bike, you just set a baseline for yourself like 90 rpm's. When you can no longer sustain 90 rpm intervals, then you stop.

[StarBoy]

First, the notation:

s means seconds and what a phase means (phase 1, week 1+2, for example) is that I will do 90s of work at my max ability (like sprinting) and then 90s of recovery (which would be like a light jog). I would do that 4 times.

As for the sets, I think I'm confused. You are suggesting I do less reps and more weight? I thought -that- would make me gain more mass. I mean, I do have to build some muscle mass as I've lost a lot over the past year and a half, but I'm just trying to avoid getting too big.

Also, on the cardio, is once a week even worth it? I know it's better than nothing, but I got used to having the time to do it every day back when I trained. I can't imagine building any aerobic and anaerobic capacity by cardio once a week, even if I'm using the HIIT method.

Ford, I had read something like what you were saying about not doing HIIT to failure. Though the article I read was geared more towards people with joint problems that did high-impact exercises. My only real reason for going to failure was because I'd only be able to do cardio that one day anyway and I figured I'd get the most out of it.

[Ford Prefect]

I really don't think you'll glean much from the added intervals. Especially considering that you are only doing it once per week. Any study I've seen on the effects of HIIT had test subjects doing HIIT at least 4 times a week, so I'd imagine that easily measurable effects won't be apparent with much less.

As for your sets and reps. If you add more weight thus limitting the reps, mass gain will be negligible but strength increase will be very good. Hypertophy will only result if you have a short rest time and overly fatigue yourself. Allow yourself enough time to recover between sets in order to make hypertrophy negligible. A sample routine would be something like:


- Squat or Goodmorning: 2x5; 2x3; 4x2

- BB Bench Press: 2x5; 2x3; 3x3

- Weighted Chins: 5x5 or 5-4-3-2-1

- Push Press: 5x3 (possible to superset with chins)

- Cleans or Deadlifts: 1x5; 1x4; 1x3; 3x2

That's what the numbers would look like anyway.

[Serpent]

Also, not to be picky, but the word is regimen. A regiment is a group of soldiers! ;)

Otherwise, I got nothing for the subject. *sheepish*

[StarBoy]

Also, not to be picky, but the word is regimen

I knew it looked funny, but I couldn't put my finger on it...

And I think I'm confused.

I was always under the impression that if you don't want to get that big, you do more reps, less weight. I am going for toned, I just don't want to end up on the really skinny side of toned. Apparently I'm wrong though. Can someone correct me to how it really works?

[Ford Prefect]

You're right. That is an old myth about strength training.

[Mr. Bao]

Ford, i agree and heard this bs from gym members all the time at work.

[StarBoy]

Squat or Goodmorning: 2x5; 2x3; 4x2

btw, do the semicolons mean "and" or "or"?

[Ford Prefect]

And. The first two would be done with a warm-up weight, so you wouldn't be maxing out. The last one is done with your work weight.

[StarBoy]

Sorry it's taken so long to reply...it's been a busy week or so.

I should mention that I don't have a spot, so jacking my weights might not be a good idea. What makes matters worse is that I don't go to the kind of gym where I can ask someone for a spot, either. I have a friend that I might be able to hit the gym with, but it would only be one day a week for the weights. I figure that's fine though because if I do full body one day a week then it's good enough. What's worse is that the gym doesn't have a universal machine or inclined bench. Someone told me that I could simulate it with dumbells, but can anyone explain how I could do that for the benches, tricept extention, and curls while still keeping the proper form. I know it's probably difficult to do not-hands-on, but there's not a wealth of weight training knowledge around here so you all are my best source.

As for the cardio, I'm trying to work an extra 2 if not 3 days into my schedule for it. I figure it's the only way I'm going to shed some of the flab I've gained from inactivity over the past while. I did hear mixed opinions about training to failure though, so thanks for the additional info Ford.