In DIRE need of Workout Help ASAP!!!

[Hellawulf]

Alright this is the story if you wanna read it, I'm 18 years old, 6'1", 195 pounds, I've been working out since I was in the eighth grade, last year I buckled down hard core to gain and jumped to about 230 (football), then during the summer, after an injury in which I am no longer able to play contact sports, I dropped to 180, but I didn't get the body I wanted (no were close), I've gained back to 195, now a lot slower than I have in the past because I'm trying to get that perfect beach body before I go off to college. I've got about four and a half months. Currently I am working out weightlifting in the mornings before school as follows: Mon (chest/abs), Tues (legs), Wens (back/abs), Thurs (Shouders/tris) and Fri (bis/abs) (each workout is anywhere from 40 - 50 min). I do cardio after school, about 8 hours later, changing it up between interval training, long jogs, jump rope, speed ladder, speed bike. I do this on Mon, Tues, Thurs, Fri. I take Saturday and Sunday off, but I work at a Best Buy where I am always running back and forth in the store and up ladders, on my feet for hours. My current routine may just need some tweaks, or if you have a completely new idea please let me know. I am desperate to find something to get me into shape so I have that sexy physique to go off to college with. (btw the college I will be attending is on the beach).
I eat a bagle with some fruit juice, go to the gym, afterwards drink a protein shake and bananna, 2 hours later snack fiber bar, lunch - 2 sandwhiches, yogurt, apple, 2 hours later snack cheese strip, home snack cashews, dinner (whatever mom cooks).

The only requirements are that I can do the workout within an hour, it can be two seperate hours as well, one after school and one before school. I only have 4.5 months, so a 3 or 4 month program would be awesome.

 

[Hellawulf]

I figured I'd post a pic, so you can see what I'm working with, atleast a little, but this is at the best possible angle, with the best possible light, I need to firm up my chest, create a six pack, lose the fat on my butt and legs, and build some arms.... lots of work to do, not a lot of time to do it...

 

[joe d]

dog crapp (google it) and a shit load of protein

 

[Hellawulf]

dog crapp (google it) and a shit load of protein

So in Dogg Crapp, you workout on a body part with one workout, and hit it hard on that one workout, and you use two different days and thats it, so like chest workout monday, leg workout wensday, chest workout Fridays, Leg workout Monday.....?

That sounds great for trying to get bigger, which I might use next winter, but for the next three months I want to focus on shaving my body into perfect beach form... My arms need some mass, but I need to trim everything else. That may be impossible. I was thinking about P90X, but for some reason I don't trust it... though a more areobic exercise like that may work though

 

[OneBreath]

So in Dogg Crapp, you workout on a body part with one workout, and hit it hard on that one workout, and you use two different days and thats it, so like chest workout monday, leg workout wensday, chest workout Fridays, Leg workout Monday.....?

That sounds great for trying to get bigger, which I might use next winter, but for the next three months I want to focus on shaving my body into perfect beach form... My arms need some mass, but I need to trim everything else. That may be impossible. I was thinking about P90X, but for some reason I don't trust it... though a more areobic exercise like that may work though

Think in terms of building muscle/loosing bodyfat. There is no such thing as a routine that accomplishes shaving, shaping, toning, chiseling, etc.

Your routine builds the muscle and your diet manages the bodyfat (with added cardio if needed)

Make sense? If you can get over this one common mental hurdle you will be better off than most guys your age.

So your solution is a routine that builds muscle and a diet/cardio regiment that takes care of the bodyfat.

Keep your mind focused on these things and you'll be able to accept and understand advice like joe d gave without it being processed through the musclemag knowledge filter.

My personal advice is the 5x5 routine found in the stickies along with a high protein / moderate carb diet with total calories averaging right at maintenance. Perhaps 200 over on lifting days, 200 under on cardio days.

Good luck on your journey.

 

[bblazer]

Whatever you do, please, please do not be one of those guys that essentially neglects their legs. I'm looking at your routine, and I see it mostly consists of upper body work. If you do that you will end up looking chicken legged and if the wind blew too hard you would fall over. Make these three exercises the basis for your routine:

Squat
Deadlift
Benchpress (or standing overhead press)

Then incorporate exercises around them that accentuate those movements. But those three should be your primary exercises.

B-

 

[joe d]

So in Dogg Crapp, you workout on a body part with one workout, and hit it hard on that one workout, and you use two different days and thats it, so like chest workout monday, leg workout wensday, chest workout Fridays, Leg workout Monday.....?

That sounds great for trying to get bigger, which I might use next winter, but for the next three months I want to focus on shaving my body into perfect beach form... My arms need some mass, but I need to trim everything else. That may be impossible. I was thinking about P90X, but for some reason I don't trust it... though a more areobic exercise like that may work though

no you work every body part 2 times in every 8 days

 

[LucSulla]

Think in terms of building muscle/loosing bodyfat. There is no such thing as a routine that accomplishes shaving, shaping, toning, chiseling, etc.

Your routine builds the muscle and your diet manages the bodyfat (with added cardio if needed)

Make sense? If you can get over this one common mental hurdle you will be better off than most guys your age.

So your solution is a routine that builds muscle and a diet/cardio regiment that takes care of the bodyfat.

Keep your mind focused on these things and you'll be able to accept and understand advice like joe d gave without it being processed through the musclemag knowledge filter.

My personal advice is the 5x5 routine found in the stickies along with a high protein / moderate carb diet with total calories averaging right at maintenance. Perhaps 200 over on lifting days, 200 under on cardio days.

Good luck on your journey.

Nothing really to add as this is great advice.

A word of warning in addition, and I am not saying this to be a dick at all. Phrases like "perfect beach form" and "arms need mass" send up all kinds of red flags around here. Generally they mean said poster has been sucked into a world of muscle mag BS and, despite the best intentions and probably being perfectly nice individuals, will probably need a bit of tough love to clean out said BS. For instance, if you want arm mass, almost everyone here is going to tell you to eat more and do deadlifts - not deadlifts in addition to curls, but deadlifts and MAYBE some curls. Why? Because it works. Almost all of us here will try our damndest to make you realize that whether you want a beach bod, a 400 pound bench, or to be a powerlift that it all starts with squats and deads.

Just thought I would try to say that succinctly in one post. I mean, Bill Starr is a minor saint around these parts ;-)

Best of luck with your training!

 

[OneBreath]

Nothing really to add as this is great advice.

A word of warning in addition, and I am not saying this to be a dick at all. Phrases like "perfect beach form" and "arms need mass" send up all kinds of red flags around here. Generally they mean said poster has been sucked into a world of muscle mag BS and, despite the best intentions and probably being perfectly nice individuals, will probably need a bit of tough love to clean out said BS. For instance, if you want arm mass, almost everyone here is going to tell you to eat more and do deadlifts - not deadlifts in addition to curls, but deadlifts and MAYBE some curls. Why? Because it works. Almost all of us here will try our damndest to make you realize that whether you want a beach bod, a 400 pound bench, or to be a powerlift that it all starts with squats and deads.

Just thought I would try to say that succinctly in one post. I mean, Bill Starr is a minor saint around these parts ;-)

Best of luck with your training!

lol, that second paragraph should be a sticky. That was the most polite way of putting it that i've heard around here.

To the OP, most of the advice posted so far points to this as your routine:

Bill Starr 5x5 - Madcow Intermediate or Linear Version

Read the whole page, then download the spreadsheet at the bottom. Don't fuck up the load! The load is possibly the most important thing. Week to week progression is the key.

This routine will put muscle all over your body. You'll have to unlearn all that you have learned in order to see this though.

Add a clean diet using calorie levels i mentioned above and you will have a "beach body" that will destroy the other guys your age that are doing tons of concentration db curls and tricep rope pushdowns.

Good luck

 

[Hellawulf]

I didn't realize that deadlifts were so important.... thanks for the advice, tough love is great, and yeah in the world of fitness, I know some, but probably comapared to you guys I don't know anything... again thanks for the advice.

 

[Hellawulf]

After taking a look at the 5x5, I'm pretty pumped about it... hell yah, I'll start that next week on Monday, thank you, it will be really hard for me to go down to three days a week though.

I guess my only other question then is how much cardio do you guys think will maximize my results? I've been doing the interval training and I like it, it makes running more fun, whereas just running long distances gets boring to me.

Also do you think I should start with the intermediate program or the advanced?

 

[OneBreath]

Start with the intermediate. Intermediate vs advanced is not really what you might think. Yes you could do the advanced, but you would actually not progress as fast. Advanced is for people that have come to the point in training that they need to plan their progress from month to month or 6 months or even a year.

You need to work on week to week progress. 3 days a week actually works well because you body needs more time to recover from these big lifts. Your muscle grows when you are resting, not when you are lifting.

On the other 4 days i would suggest (and you'll hate it) low to mid intensity, steady state cardio for 45 min to 1 hour. It's fucking boring as hell but it strips of that bodyfat while allowing you to recover from those hard lifting sessions. High intensity or interval training could keep your body from recovering fully and thus you won't see maximum results from the overall program.

 

[Hellawulf]

Aw, but if thats whats best, thats whats best, so steady cardio is best for me... what do you suggest, like 6-7 mph for 45 minutes?

 

[OneBreath]

Make it based on heart rate. Whatever gets your HR between say 130 and 140 would suffice. For me that's 3.2 MPH @ 11% incline. I go 45 minutes to 60 minutes. Never less than 30.

So i obviously walk instead of run. This is to protect those legs that have been taking a beating from squats. These cardio sessions are all about the fat burn.

Also, for your barbell rows, do them from the floor. Each time picking the weight up dead from the floor. Below is a decent example of this.

 

[Hellawulf]

Thanks, I think I might do my Maxs tomorrow and friday to put into that excel spread sheet, but when and what do I do for abs in this program?

 

[OneBreath]

Just keep it simple. Your core will get rocked by the deads, squats, rows, and standing barbell overhead presses. I've had heavy squat workouts where i wake up the next day and my abs hurt like i'd done 500 situps or something.

So on the days it mentions doing abs as assistance, just do 3 or 4 sets of 15-20 reps with something like weighted situps on the decline or hanging leg raises. It doesn't need to be anything elaborate. You are really just supplementing the core work you'll get with the heavy lifts with some direct ab stimulation.

 

[joe d]

Thanks, I think I might do my Maxs tomorrow and friday to put into that excel spread sheet, but when and what do I do for abs in this program?

you do all of the core lifts correctly thats it. you abs will grow.

 

[bblazer]

Everyone keeps talking about abs. What are those? I still don't get it.

B-

 

[ExtraMile]

Thanks, I think I might do my Maxs tomorrow and friday to put into that excel spread sheet, but when and what do I do for abs in this program?

do the assistance sets of weighted situps and never wear a lifting belt, your abs will grow fine and also get alot stronger.

Also, on friday it says to do 3 sets tricep extension, I would reccomend close grip benchpress instead or, if you have to do a tricep extension do skullcrushers, they are by far the best extension...

 

[Hellawulf]

I'm willing to give it all a try, its like they say: the man who doesn't like the way in which things are going but isn't willing to change anything about the process is a fool, it will be hard for me to accept that 3 days a week will give me the growth I'm looking for, especially in arms... but I like the excel spreadsheet that comes with this workout, thats def a plus, I've always been a little lost on what weights I should be doing. Thanks a lot for all of the help, I guess it goes to show that it doesn't hurt to ask questions.

 

[Hellawulf]

Actually after next week it might hurt a little...