Changing My Life & Grand Plans For The Future

[Syd Barrett]

Hi,


I am in my early twenties and a relative beginner who has only been going to the gym for a few months. I am an average weight for my height/age - 73kg and 181cm.


I know many of you here are very experienced and knowledgeable with a lot of wisdom regarding gym-going, so I would really very much appreciate it if you could have a look at my goals & plan and make any comments or suggestions.






GOALS:


I'm not aiming to be a bodybuilder, I just want to have some decent visible muscle on my upper body and flatten out my belly/abs. Think more Brad Pitt in Fight Club as opposed to The Rock.


I can only commit 2-days-per-week to the gym (usually Monday and Friday). I know this isn't ideal, but it's the reality of my schedule.


I know this may take a lot longer to get to my ideal physique, but I'm willing to play the long game and hopefully keep it at that level throughout my life.


I will also go a run 1-day-per-week for cardio, and I go regular walks, and hiking in the mountains on average once a month.






CURRENT WORKOUT ROUTINE:


I do this same workout every time I go to the gym. This is the correct order in which I do it.


I know I would be better changing it up completely every so often, but I find it very difficult to learn full new workouts/routines/form etc. Ideally I'd like to keep as much the same as possible.




1.) Abs: All of this TWICE [25 crunches, 15 sit ups, 30 raised leg crunches, 30 crunches with leg extension, 44 alternating heel touches, 50 scissor kicks (criss cross), 50 scissor kicks (up & down), 30 russian twists with 9kg kettlebell, 44 mountain climbers, 44 mountain climbers (2nd time)]
2.) 3 x 15 [30kg] Barbell Squats
3.) 2 x 10 Assisted Pull Ups (20kg counterweight on machine so bodyweight minus 20kg [approx 53kg lifed])
4.) 2 x 10 Assisted Dips (20kg counterweight on machine so bodyweight minus 20kg [approx 53kg lifted]) (I try to focus more on tricep dips)
5.) 2 x 10 Assisted Chin Ups (20kg counterweight on machine so bodyweight minus 20kg [approx 53kg lifted])
6.) 2 x 10 [12kg per dumbbell] Standing Dumbbell Shoulder Press/Military Press
7.) 2 x 10 [12kg per dumbbell] Standing Dumbbell Curls
8.) 2 x 10 [16kg per dumbbell] Dumbbell Bench Press
9.) 2 x 10 [Approx 28kg] Cable/Rope Tricep Extension/Tricep Pushdown
10.) Abs: 60seconds front plank, 30 seconds side plank (right), 30 seconds side plank (left)






DIET:


Immediately after each gym workout I eat approximately 35g protein (in 130g chicken with 4 slices of wholegrain bread sandwiches), a 15g protein protein bar, and an apple.


Every morning for breakfast I have 2 Weetabix with some muesli, branflakes, a banana and about 30g mixed nuts.


The rest of the week I don't consume protein products specifically but have a fairly healthy and balanced diet with a mixture of meat, carbs, fruit and vegetables. My diet isn't perfect but is reasonably healthy.






What I am pretty much looking for is literally any suggestions to improve this workout routine (or diet) and achieve my goals as specified above, within the confines of my schedule.






Any comments or suggestions or answers are welcome, no matter how critical, I don't mind. If you think my full plan/strategy is completely wrong then I am happy with this and glad you have told me.


Thank you very much in advance for all your help.


Cheers,
Stephen.

 

[stevesmi]

what is your history? were you an athlete in school? were you always the skinny kid? fat kid? average?

this matters because you won't be able to look like The Rock or Brad Pitt in fight club if you have poor genetics. however the good news is it does not matter. you can always be the best YOU.

all this layout is decent, not great, there is a lot i would adjust but you really need to work with someone who can help tweak things. hard to answer anything on a forum. good news is i provide 1 on 1 consultations, so drop me a PM and we can get to work

 

[SteveMobsterG]

In this case it might be worth paying to sit down with a good PT / nutritionist for a session.

 

[RickRock13]

Re: Changing My Life & Grand Plans For The Future

Reality is that even just looking like Brad Pitt in fight club... Lean with a small amount of muscle mass.. takes a lot of work, and what you have listed is very limited for both training and diet. It's hard to progress and have a physique that stands above average unless do things that are above average

 

[Syd Barrett]

Re: Changing My Life & Grand Plans For The Future

Reality is that even just looking like Brad Pitt in fight club... Lean with a small amount of muscle mass.. takes a lot of work, and what you have listed is very limited for both training and diet. It's hard to progress and have a physique that stands above average unless do things that are above average

Hi, I really appreciate the reply thanks very much.

Can you help me understand what you mean in terms of what I've listed being limited for training? Is that in quantity terms or that I am doing the wrong exercises/not enough weight?

Thanks very much.

 

[Syd Barrett]

In this case it might be worth paying to sit down with a good PT / nutritionist for a session.

It seems that I really am far from the mark of where I should be to see proper progress.

Does my full workout need changed in terms of the type of exercises I am doing? Or is it the quantity I'm doing wrong? Or am I lifting too light weights?

Thanks very much.

 

[SteveMobsterG]

Those are the questions you'd ask a PT

 

[RickRock13]

Re: Changing My Life & Grand Plans For The Future

Hi, I really appreciate the reply thanks very much.

Can you help me understand what you mean in terms of what I've listed being limited for training? Is that in quantity terms or that I am doing the wrong exercises/not enough weight?

Thanks very much.

It's more about not really doing enough to continuously progress. What you have is basically a full body workout you are doing twice a week. That can be ok for helping to get better but far from being enough to change your physique. Its basically half assing everything. You have to over load your muscle and tear it down if you expect to gain any muscle or strength

What you have is like what the guys at the gym with the dad bods do. Go hit a set or two on every machine, walk a bit on the treadmill and call it a day. Those guys look the same year after year

 

[Syd Barrett]

Thanks again for the really useful replies. I've spent a lot of time thinking about it and I think I will go with the All Pro's beginner routine with a couple of minor changes/additions.


One major challenge would be adapting to a nearly exclusively barbell focused workout routine - when in the past I have used almost exclusively dumbbell variations (DB Bench Press, DB Overhead Press, DB curls etc).


The All Pro's routine and details is here:





It involves increasing reps (8, 9, 10, 11, 12) for 5 weeks cycles and upping the weights at the end of each cycle. Some criticism is progress can be slow for beginners - but I'm in it for the long haul. My main thing is finding something that's safe and works.


The exercises are, in order:


1.) Squat
2.) Bench Press
3.) Bent-Over Row
4.) Overhead Barbell Press
5.) Stiff-Legged Deadlift
6.) Barbell Curl (I would do this not the upright row option)
7.) Calf Raises




My changes would be:


1.) I would only do this workout twice-per-week instead of three times but focus on intensity during my sessions. I would still progress in 5 week cycles as instructed.


2.) I would only do the calf raises once per week.


3.) On Day 1 I would add in 2 sets of Pull-Ups, on Day 2 I would instead add in 2 sets of Dips - alternating. So once a week an extra 2 sets of pull-ups, once a week an extra 2 sets of dips. This is because I don't want to cut these exercises out entirely.


4.) I would still add in 1 circuit of my current ab routine at the end of each workout (so half of what I'm currently doing abs wise as I usually do everything twice).


Hopefully the extra pull-ups/dips and extra abs is okay considering I'm only doing 2 sessions a week instead of the recommended 3.


If this looks okay then I think I have a solid plan and my initial question is answered and I can now go forward with my new workout routine for the coming year at least.


Again, if I am wrong, I am happy to listen to any advice and change what is needed.

 

[SteveMobsterG]

On the 2x a week thing I used to do that but only to maintain.