New to Gym and Need a lot of Advice and Help!

[Charlie G]

Firstly, I would just like to say that I am very impressed with these forums; after looking around for just a short amount of time I have learnt a considerable amount about weightlifting and fitness in general.

However it is because of these observations that I have come to realise that my current "workout" regime may well be very poor and needs a lot of attention in order to obtain the results that I wish for.

Let me start by saying that I have been going to the gym for about 4 or 5 months, and this time period has been one of a great deal of trial and error due to a lack of any experience in the gym. I am 19 and fairly skinny and my main objective is to increase my muscle mass considerably, however my abs are covered by a layer of fat which I would also like to change.

My current workout schedule consists of: (nearly all workouts are of 8-10 reps to failure on the last set)

Monday: Chest and Triceps:
Flat bench press with dumbells
Incline bench press
Decline bench press
Dumbell Flies
Dips
Wired tricep pull downs
BB Head crusher

Wednesday: Back and Biceps
Bicep workout found in mens fitness consisting of 3 exercises in a row that fatigues the muscles a lot!!
EZ bar seated curls
Chin ups
Lateral pull downs
Horizontal machine pulls
One armed Rows

Friday: Shoulders and Abs
Seated shoulder press
Clean and press
Lateral Raises
Shrugs
Pull Ups
Various ab workouts depending on how I'm feeling..

Now I realise that currently I am neglecting my legs and I believe that is a very bad thing so any advice on that front would be very helpful and the potential benefits of incorporating legs etc..
Also I believe that now (after looking around this site) I should add deadlifts and squats somewhere into this workout. Is this to improve my overall strength??
I am fairly new to all this gym stuff so please don't rip me apart some constructive criticism and advice would be very much appreciated, many thanks, Charlie.

[Was_once_fat_dave]

legs legs legs, need to do them legs mate. Good to see tho that you've picked up on the need for squats and deadlifts.

One thing that sticks out tho about your current regieme (other than lack of legs) is that your doing your Biceps before back. Back work incorporates your arms too (look at the motion your elbow goes thru when rowwing or doing chin ups). The way your doing it your arms will be giving up before youve hit your back properly.

Hows about this for a split (pinched from cheef)

back tri

deadlifts 5x5
dips 5x5
(weighted) chins/pullups 5x8
pressdowns or cgbp(close grip bench press) 4x10
bent over rows (bor's) or cable rows 4x10
skulls/pressdowns 4x12


shoulder and legs

squats 4x8
miltary press 4x8
lunges/leg press 4x12
laterals/ezbar uprite row 3x15
calves 4x20
rear delts 2x15

Chest and Biceps

bench 5x5
oly bar curls 4x8
inc db press 4x10
db curls 3x12
inc flys 4x10
chins 2xfailure

[suj]

where the heck are legs?
add them to the shoulders (with abs too)

doing squats/deadlifts etc. can release GH which will make the rest of you bigger!

listen to dave aka the squating-machine!

[musefan]

hey charlie what are your aims? good body or to help with sports?

[echelon101]

Quote

Hows about this for a split (pinched from cheef)

back tri

deadlifts 5x5
bench 3x10
pullups 3xmax, till active failure (the rep before failure)
bent over rows 4x10
dips 5xmax, till active failure (the rep before failure)

shoulder and legs
squats 4x8
standing miltary press 4x8
lunges/leg press 4x12
uprite row 3x8-12
calves 4x5 (Heavy)
Seated shoulder press 3x8-12

Chest and Biceps

bench 5x5
weighted chins 5x5
inc db press 3x10
zottman curls 3x8
dumbell flies 4x10
push up on med ball 3xmax, till active failure (the rep before failure)

That's a little tweak but honestly do this
http://www.elitefts.com/ws4sb/WS4SB.pdf

Good and proven program!

[bad_horse]

if you're going to be doing legs (which you should) you need to do some direct hamstring work aswell or you may well end up getting injured, especially if you play any sports involving sprinting. Do some straight leg deadlifts perhaps, or hamstring curls if you cant do anything else.

[comanight2]

incase you hadnt got it....get squatting!

if you dont squat then you aint got squat

[cheef]

legs training =sollid abs if you dont train them you will fail mate

[Charlie G]

Hey, thanks guys for the responses they are really helpful!
Musefan I want to go for a good body to be honest I'm not really going to the gym to help with sports.

Just to clarify; the importance of legs is to create a good foundation for the rest of your body to build on? Does it make it easier to get a lean six pack etc?

Also Dave when in that workout schedule would I fit in abs? Should I doing abs twice a week or once?? Oh, and there is no chance you could recommend any really good ab workouts is there??

One last thing when it comes to cardio is 2/3 sessions a week adequate??

Cheers guys, charlie.

[- DJT -]

Quote

Hey, thanks guys for the responses they are really helpful!
Musefan I want to go for a good body to be honest I'm not really going to the gym to help with sports.

Just to clarify; the importance of legs is to create a good foundation for the rest of your body to build on? Does it make it easier to get a lean six pack etc?

Also Dave when in that workout schedule would I fit in abs? Should I doing abs twice a week or once?? Oh, and there is no chance you could recommend any really good ab workouts is there??

One last thing when it comes to cardio is 2/3 sessions a week adequate??

Cheers guys, charlie.

Compound lifts like squats and overhead presses will hit your abs, if you want to do extra just add it at the end of a workout. Go on exrx.net or youtube and search for planks, rollouts, leg-raises etc

There's no point going overboard with ab training imo, they'll be solid off compounds and will only be visible (which I assume is what you're interested in) if you have a low bodyfat % regardless of how much you train them.