How did you arrive at your current weight lifting program?

[RottenWillow]

did you experiment with different training frequencies and training splits, or did adopt a program suggested by someone? Not suggesting either way is necessarily better, just wondering how everyone arriving at their current program. If you find you've had to change the weight lifting program to accommodate cardio, talk about that as well.

In my case I adopted an intermediate trainnee program back in mid Sept suggested by Lyle McDonald on his website. I followed it exactly as written for 2 full cycles (which was three weeks in this case) before determining I needed to tweak it for my own needs. Been on that regime now for 7 weeks.

 

[trex74]

I came up with my current program just as a way of trying something different that I can fit into my schedule and get everything in for the week.
I experimented with different splits, upper/lower, one bodypart/day, 3 day chest/shoulders/tri, back/bi, legs, and now i am doing chest/back, legs, arms/shoulders.
I am pretty much going by how I feel and how I look.
I am thinking of splitting up legs into two days for a while. Quad based and Ham based.
I am also thinking of splitting up arms and shoulders into separate days in the future.
I like to change things up as you can see.
I had been doing steady state cardio for 30 min or so 3-4 days/week, but now I find I am not that into it, and having done reading which tells me that extended cardio can actually increase stress levels and cortisol, it seems counter-productive to me.
I am thinking about incorporating some HIIT twice a week. Am going to be doing about 30 sec on sprints 2 min recovery jogging- havent decided for how long, but I imagine it'll be about 20 min to start.

 

[Roxy722]

Mine was really just to try something different. The current thing I'm using is the Max OT program and it appealed to me because it was short but intense. So a 40-45 minute workout. I've cut back on cardio since coming off of contest prep but doing 30 minutes moderate intensity cardio approx 4 days a week. I'm not sure I"ll stick with it long term but it's been a nice change of pace.

 

[peili]

We (husband and I) developed the program we are doing after a lot of reading on my part, trial and error and talking to a trainer at the gym who is a friend of ours. We currently work out 5 days a week doing chest/back, bi's/tri's, legs, shoulders, core three (bench, squat deadlift). Abs are incorporated three times a week also. Currently no cardio as we are both bulking at the moment and also are short on time as we have three kids in school and both work. I am getting a spin bike for Christmas and then the cardio will begin again when I can do it at home.

 

[OMEGA]

~ Multiple Injuries annoying injuries
~ Realized all the best looking bodybuilders ( with longevity) lifted SMART
The biggest Pecs I ever saw ( Arnold Big) the guy used 225 on Flat but it was all chest....
he told me he learned the hard way too lol
~ Helping others you learn alot "To teach is to learn twice"
~ Seeing my work with others who Listen

 

[RachelM]

For me it was injury, injury and being uneducated about what to do and how to do it. I was overtraining and not allowing my body to rest. I did a lot of research on the internet and found a lot of beginners programs but the posted by Tatyana was detailed, and had the reasoning behind it. The exercises were basic and I could carry out the full routine with the resources that I have.

The main reason that I chose this workout is - it was step by step and dumified, so I could just follow it through without having to ad-lib or second guess.

I am bulking up nicely and seeing some good muscle growth. I am not doing any cardio at the moment, but I would like to reduce body fat so I will start looking into this into the future. But as everything is working well and I am increasing strength progressively I feel that I should continue on and review the cardio at a later stage.

 

[nefertiti]

I'm constantly adjusting. It's a battle between my tendency to overtrain and my need to stay consistent so I don't lose motiation. I travel a lot right now, so it's hard to have a firm program anyway. The only thing I'm sort of dead set on (pun not intended), is back day. The rest I'm still tweaking. Cardio I throw in only when I think it won't be potentially overdoing it, or setting myself up for injury.

 

[Rebecca D]

Currently I am trying the Omega System. But usually I will look at my short-term and long-term goals and pick a 3-4 week workout that fits my needs. I don't like doing the same thing for longer than a month. I like a little variety


Rebecca D

 

[Island_Girl]

I have done DC training and FST-7 in the past. I like to do programs that are structured and laid out because I work well at that. Currently I am just going into the gym and training. I am looking to start again on something more structured. I was looking into what Roxy is doing. Max OT.