Critique please - Starting afresh after a few bad injuries

[CraigM]

Well I'm back to training after almost 6 months out (and a lot of pies and alcohol ) after my various injuries (broken arm and more recently torn ligament in ankle) and putting together an intensive 8-12 week program to get me back on track. Copied this from bodybuilders.com after reading comments on here about starting out and how much you can do.

Also there are a few machines that my gym does not have the equipment for so if you have any ideas on replacement exercises please let me know (the ones marked n/a). I do have someone I'm training with.

Monday - Upper Body
all two sets of each
**Dumbbell presses on flat bench - 10-12 Reps*
*Pec deck flyes - 10-12 Reps*#########no pec dec so butterflys on flat bench???
*Standing barbell military presses - 10-12 Reps*
*Tricep V-bar pushdowns - 10-12 Reps*
*Skullcrushers with EZ-bar - 10-12 Reps*
*Lateral dumbbell deltoid raises - 10-12 Reps*
*Preacher curls with EZ-bar - 10-12 Reps*
*Seated dumbbell bicep curls - 10-12 Reps*
*Lat pulls - 10-12 Reps*
*Dumbbell rows - 10-12 Reps*
*Dumbbell shrugs - 10-12 Reps*

Tuesday - Lower body and abs
*Leg presses (plate-loaded machine) - 10-12 Reps*-3x sets
*Leg extension machine - 10-12 Reps*-2x sets
*Seated hamstring curls - 10-12 Reps*-2x sets
*Face-down hamstring curls - 10-12 Reps*-2x sets - #########do not have this machine
*Standing calf presses - 10-12 Reps*-3x sets
*Seated calf presses - 12-15 Reps*-2x sets#########do not have this machine
*Ab-machine of choice (Nautilus recommended) - 10-12 Reps*-2x sets
Squats - 3x reps

Thursday - Upper Body
*Chins (assisted, if necessary) - 10-12 Reps*-3x sets
*Seated cable rows - 10-12 Reps*-2x sets
*Upright cable rows - 10-12 Reps*-2x sets
*Lateral dumbbell deltoid raises - 12-15 Reps*-2x sets
*Standing EZ-bar bicep curls - 10-12 Reps*-3x sets
*Seated dumbbell hammer curls - 12-15 Reps*-2x sets
*Dumbbell presses on incline bench - 10-12 Reps*-2x sets
*Cable crossover flies (focus on contraction) - 12-15 Reps*-3x sets
*Standing barbell military presses - 10-12 Reps*-3x sets
*Dips (assisted, if necessary) - 10-12 Reps*-3x sets
*Tricep rope pushdowns - 10-12 Reps*-3x sets


Friday - Lower Body and abs
*Donkey calf presses - 10-12 Reps*-2x sets
*Standing calf presses - 10-12 Reps*-2x sets
*Seated hamstring curls - 10-12 Reps*-2x sets
*Kneeling one-leg hamstring curls - 12-15 Reps*-2x sets#####Not sure on this
*Kneeling one-leg hamstring curls - 10-12 Reps*-3x sets#####Not sure on this
*Hack squats - 12-15 Reps*-2x sets
*Ab-machine of choice (Nautilus recommended) - 10-12 Reps*-2x sets
*Crunches - Unlimited Reps*-3x sets

Work out is from body building.com - Matt Danielsson Beginner's bodybuilding program

Thanks for reading and any useful comments much appreciated.

[finlee]

interesting to read that this is a beginners' workout.

I think you should try it and see what effects you get from it.

[Karlos02]

....oh dear.

i really dont know where that bodybuilder is coming from, the volume is waaaay too much, especially for a beginner!! your poundages will be absolutly piss poor with that and any gains will be very hard to come by.
more is not better.

[Resurrected]

I'm just leaving for work so have not time to post.

However that is an awful routine, with way to many exercises. You need to start back after a 6 month lay off with a simple 3 x week full body routine.

[finlee]

i'd be interested to see the results though.

[lee25]

one word - YUCK

[Bison]

can anyone say.... OVERTRAINING!!

mate as already pointed out, that is waaaay too much volume.

I suggest you stop looking on bodybuilding.com and start looking at workouts here

[CraigM]

The workouts I have done so far (Monday & Tuesday) have taken 40 minutes and I'm not on heavy weights as I am having to take it easy because of the injuries.
I don't really see how it is over training either as I'm only working the same muscles twice a week with 3 days in between training and only 40 minutes a session.

I can't do 3 heavy workouts (ie attacking the main muscle groups) as my injuries will not sustain that.

More or less it's training the whole body in varied ways to get it used to doing weights again (I literally have been doing nothing for 5 months, 2 months of almost complete bed rest or down the pub).

[Bison]

Just for starters this is what you're going to be hitting your biceps with in a week

*Preacher curls with EZ-bar - 10-12 Reps*
*Seated dumbbell bicep curls - 10-12 Reps*
*Standing EZ-bar bicep curls - 10-12 Reps*-3x sets
*Seated dumbbell hammer curls - 12-15 Reps*-2x sets

on top of that you've got your back exercises like rows and chins which also hit that small and puny muscle we call the bicep and they hit them hard.

like I said... Overtraining...

Just doing 3 sets of close-grip chins a week (which you're already doing) would stimulate your biceps to grow much better maybe throw in 2 sets of heavy barbell curls if you think they could handle more. That's it, that's all they need mate.

Forget dumbells and preacher curls, waste of time for a beginner. I think they're a waste of time full-stop but that's going off topic

[CraigM]

I wouldn't have thought that 4 exercises (2 monday and 2 Thursday, 3 sets of each exercise) a week on one muscle group would be over training but I suppose as I am starting out as a 'beginner' I suppose it could be way too much too soon.
I see what you are saying about the chins and dips as well.

I'll take another look at all the training journels, but if anyone can point me to a good one to start with please do. I'm getting bored now of trying to find something that will work well for me.