How intense do you train?

[Smilie]

Originally Posted by BTank

Sure thing.
I read in a Mens health magazine that it is much better to do a light workout than to do nothing at all. Allot of men will never see the results they want because they skip even a day.
So I have adopted that into a workout.
There are days I do my light workout as it is less time consuming and can do it before I go to sleep. If I dont have time for a full 2 hours I do this at night, like brushing my teeth

Then every 2-3 days I do the p90x system "Ab Ripper X" and the "Chest Shoulders and Triceps" or possibly the "Shoulders and arms" but I need larger weights (need a new job) takes about 2 hours.
Thats my normal workout.

DO NOT BUT MEN'S HEALTH MAGAZINE

This magazine is a waste of money and basically recycles the content of every fitness article every few issues. You should but one of the large books that explain in detail how to exercise.

Wanderer was basically right in his pattern of what to do on each day, except that I do not recomend doing biceps and back on the same day. This is because when you are doing most back exercises you are actuallyusing the biceps as the secondary muscle. Alot of professional bodybuilders do them on the same day (as do they do chest and triceps, as triceps are used secondarily in chest exercises). This is so they can fatigue their muscles better, as working til fatigue is the aim, but most people find that they are too tired from the previous exercise to then be able to focus on the second muscle group.

[wanderer]

Originally Posted by Smilie

Wanderer was basically right in his pattern of what to do on each day, except that I do not recomend doing biceps and back on the same day. This is because when you are doing most back exercises you are actuallyusing the biceps as the secondary muscle. Alot of professional bodybuilders do them on the same day (as do they do chest and triceps, as triceps are used secondarily in chest exercises). This is so they can fatigue their muscles better, as working til fatigue is the aim, but most people find that they are too tired from the previous exercise to then be able to focus on the second muscle group.

I see what you're saying about working the biceps and back the same day. A lot of the articles I've read group chest/back for this reason. But my logic is that if I'm already working the biceps as a secondary muscle, I may as well hit it some more that day and totally work it out. On my routine it'll be another 3 days before I work that muscle again and I figure that should be adequate rest. Also I only do 3 sets for each muscle group because of the tendency to lose focus after working to fatigue.

Keep in mind this is just something I'm trying and I am in no way a pro weight lifter or even a muscle head. It's just based on a bunch of articles I've read on T-Nation other sites as well as that it worked for me last year when I did this routine.

[Smilie]

If you choose to do back and biceps on the same day (and chest and tricpes on the same day) is a matter of preference. As the secondary muscle group will already be fatigued from exercising the first muscle group, you wont be able to lift heavy weights, or do enough reps to make a big improvement.

[mrgravez]

Cutting:
I lift 4 days / wk
back/bis, shoulders, cardio, chest/tris, legs, off, cardio

Bulking:
I lift 3 days / wk
squat/bench/rows, off, squat/incline bench/dead lift, off, off, squat/bench/rows, off

[Durk]

Show your routine. I can make myself near death with a 45min routine no problem.

[trackfire]

I use my morning and afternoon commutes as training for my biking (sorry, I'm not aspiring to be super buff like most of y'all! Lean is the way to be for me :-D).

Since I ride on a lot of flat road, I do a lot of time-trial intervals. It can take a few minutes for the lactic acid to kick in and for me to reach my lactate threshold and go anaerobic (Zone 3 or 4; not sure, since I don't have a heart rate monitor). There were some rides which left my core feeling really weird, which I'm unsure as to whether it comes from lack of core exercise or just a really hard effort. My legs are usually shot for most of the day afterward.

When I'm on the trainer, I spend a lot of time at 60 to 80 percent of my max heart rate (I would do longer intervals, like 7 minutes at 80% max HR, then 1 minute getting as close to 100% as possible, then resting for 2 minutes). Doing this for 45 minutes actually hurts a LOT more than my commute, though technically the workout is supposed to be 19 minutes at 60% and 1 minute at 80%, with no rest in between. I'm not up to that point yet.

As far as results, they are definitely starting to show. My climbing has improved a LOT since I've started incorporating technical training, and I can pretty easily maintain a 20+ mph flat speed. I can also motorpace with traffic, with at some points able to go up to 35 mph on the flats before overshooting LT and backing out. Weight-wise, I lost the bit of weight I gained from vacation (went up to about 160 lb; am now 155 lb) and am borderlining at 10% body fat, which is fine for me.

[mrgravez]

My bulking routine:

M:
Squats 5x5 constant weight
Flat bench 5x5 ramped weight
Rows 3x8 ramped weight
5 sets of pullups til failure
3 sets of inclined situps

W
Squats 5x5 light ramped weight
Dead lift 5x5 ramped weight
Incline bench 5x5 const weight
weighted hypers 3x12

F
Squats 5x5 heavy ramped weight
Flat bench 5x5 const weight
Rows 3x8 ramped weight
5 sets of pullups til failure
3 sets of inclined situps

Cutting routine is a lot longer and I have to get back to work, but I usually run for 45mins after each workout and on off days besides legs and dead lifts days.

[Yorkshireman]

Cant beat rock climbing to gain a really solid physique, especially since the fear forces you to use everything you've got. Excellent for core stability and the lasses go crazy if you tell them you'll teach them.

[Durk]

Originally Posted by Durk

Show your routine. I can make myself near death with a 45min routine no problem.

lol guys I was talking to the OP

[Durk]

Originally Posted by mrgravez

My bulking routine:

M:
Squats 5x5 constant weight
Flat bench 5x5 ramped weight
Rows 3x8 ramped weight
5 sets of pullups til failure
3 sets of inclined situps

W
Squats 5x5 light ramped weight
Dead lift 5x5 ramped weight
Incline bench 5x5 const weight
weighted hypers 3x12

F
Squats 5x5 heavy ramped weight
Flat bench 5x5 const weight
Rows 3x8 ramped weight
5 sets of pullups til failure
3 sets of inclined situps

Cutting routine is a lot longer and I have to get back to work, but I usually run for 45mins after each workout and on off days besides legs and dead lifts days.

That looks a lot like bill stars 5x5 routine. I have built my foundation with this. Its pretty much useless for me now since I have milked it to death. I probably owe about 30 pounds of muscle it it alone.

I would probably take out all of the hypers. I would only do chins on weds. change the rows to 5x5, put in some Bicep and tricep work because I made that mistake before with this routine and had to play catchup with my arms, and I would change your weds incline press to seated BB shoulder, otherwise your shoulders wont be in proportion with your chest.