Advice on Training Plan

[DaveNY]

Hey all-

I stopped working out for about two months. I was drained, not very big, weight was 150. I'm 19, 5'9. Was maxing bench at 155 for one rep, and preacher curl repping 90 about 5 times.

The past 45 days or so I have gotten back into the swing of things. My weight was up to 160 at the start of training. I jumped up from 160 to 164 in the past 12 days. I'm doing at least 30-60 min cardio each day. Biking and Running. I use 2 ripped fuel before cardio, and 1 before the gym.

My goal is to be a bit bigger, but very lean. I want strength vs being huge.

I'm taking in about 180 grams of protein a day (about 120 of that coming from whey powder), eating something every few hours. two cans of tuna a day, 3-4 bananas, no - few late day carbs, oatmeal in the morning, no extra sugars, no milk.

I work out 4 days a week:
mon - chest and tris
3 sets incline bb
3 sets incline db
3 sets incline fly
3 sets bench bb
3 sets bench db
3 sets bench fly
3 sets of cable flys
3 sets of dips exhaustion
3 sets of skull crushers exhaustion
5 sets of cable pull downs supersetted

tues - back
3 sets of pull-ups
3 sets of t-bar rows
3 sets of bent over rows
3 sets of bent over lat rows with db
3 sets lat pull down (upper lats hit)
3 sets pull down machine (lower lats hit)
3 sets cable rows

wednesday - shoulders
4 sets smith press to front
4 sets smith press to behind neck
3-4 sets front db raises
3-4 sets side db raises
3-4 sets rear delt raises (hunched over in chair, chest to knees)
3-4 sets heavy upright rows
1-2 sets of mid-weight bb shrugs

friday - bi's
6 sets preacher -pyramid weighting, alternating close grip and wide grip, throwing in negatives when possible
4 sets seated db curls (two with 35lb, two with 40lb)
4 sets incline db curls (two with 35lb, two with 40lb)
3 sets standing bb curls
2 sets of 21's bb curl

After every workout I drink myoplex lite with 1.5 cups of water, 36g of whey powder, a banana blended. I used to always have a tuna sandwich, but now I have begun eating a bowl of pasta instead.

I will also say that I don't lay off the alcohol. I typically go out tuesday night, thursday night, friday night, and saturday night drinking. I average about 7 drinks each night. Is this ruining my fitness plan?

What am I doing wrong? I still look somewhat sloppy. My 4 upper abs show if I flex them, the bottom is hidden. I have small love handles, I am not cut enough. My arms are big but my chest is weak (also uneven and ugly), and my lats are tiny. Please don't tell me to do legs, I have big thighs to begin with, and I get a good enough workout from running and biking.

Thanks for any help. Feel free to rip me apart.

 

[bignate73]

first off, cut your workload. its way too much. some may disagree but looking at your chest workout, either you need more intensity or you just arent training hard enough. (you are doing alot of exercises) its good if your goal is to burn calories but since you are doing so much cardio also, and working out, you may just be maintaining. your strength isnt going up because your body is used to the extreme workload. take a week off and read about intensity building techniques. varying little things to challenge your body.

chest...too much

back...too much. ps. there is no such thing as upper and lower lats. if you are getting a full contraction, you are hitting the muscle as a whole. if not you need to lighten the weight and slow your rep speed down, youll feel it then.

bi's...did i read this right? 19 sets???? way too much. there is no way you are going 100% the whole time. the biceps are a small muscle, the workload should reflect it. 6-8 sets max.

shoulders....cut out behind the neck presses. they suck and dont mechanically do anything more than front. hit 2 sets of all raises and upright rows are up to you. i value my shoulders and wrists so i dont do them.

your diet sounds questionable.

good luck

 

[DaveNY]

Could someone give me some tips on a good routine fitting my schedule? Just some good chest movements for form and definition. I don't care if I can bench 200 lbs. I'd settle for getting up to about 180.

And should I eat pasta after my workout? Should I go back to a tuna sandwich? I thought I was getting sufficient carbs from the myoplex lite and bread from the sandwich.

The only other time I really have carbs is in the morning, or my bananas before and after my workout.

Thanks.

 

[tomcat]

QUOTE "The only other time I really have carbs is in the morning, or my bananas before and after my workout."
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Yea, that and all the alcohol...

 

[bignate73]

Originally posted by DaveNY:
Could someone give me some tips on a good routine fitting my schedule? Just some good chest movements for form and definition.

hit the dbells. they will force you to work alot stricter and thus concentrating more on your chest development vs raw pressing. try alternating single arm dumbell presses for something different. you have to lighten up a bit but they put a good burn in there.

 

[Steelheart]

Come visit my website.

The program that brought me from 226lbs 19% down to 212lbs @9%

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http://bodybuildinginfo.cjb.net

 

[DaveNY]

Thanks for the DB info, I like using them, I feel it more. And I will check that website posted.

I'm confused about the quote of my carb intake....is it bad? Besides the alcohol, I know that isn't good for me.

 

[keiko]

You should be eating about 1.5 to 2 grams of protein per pound. I'd lose the pasta and eat more food. Obviously drinking is going to keep you pudgy, but if you want muscles, you need to feed them. Get your carbs from brown rice, veggies, and add some chicken, lean beef, healthy fats, (like olive oil and natural peanut butter).

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It's not funny, like on TV, and it's not smart, like it is in books.

 

[keiko]

You should be eating about 1.5 to 2 grams of protein per pound. I'd lose the pasta and eat more food. Obviously drinking is going to keep you pudgy, but if you want muscles, you need to feed them. Get your carbs from brown rice, veggies, and add some chicken, lean beef, healthy fats, (like olive oil and natural peanut butter).

Even if your goal is additional strength, not huge muscles, your body still need the fuel.

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It's not funny, like on TV, and it's not smart, like it is in books.

 

[LeviathanX]

If you want to make substantial gains you MUST cut out the alcohol (especially beer). As everyone else has said before me, you are doing far too many sets - almost as if you are trying to do every exercise possible for a certain bodypart on a particular day. This is a common novice mistake (I made it as well when I started). It sounds like you are trying to 'make-up' for your bad habits by working yourself to death in the gym. This isn't effective because if you are pushing yourself as hard as you should be, you shouldn't be able to last for all the sets you have listed.

Remember, less is actually more and you grow when you are resting, not when you are lifting.