Well, I've been a lurker on these forums for some time now, and finally decided to make my first post. I love the site, there are a lot of knowledgable people on here, with good advice. That's why I'm asking for some here. To start off I'm 17, 6'1", and 180lbs. I started working out twice a week in October 2004, weighing 155lbs, and in February 2005 switched to working out 4 or 5 times a week and started watching my diet for the first time, simply eating clean (lots of protein, fair amount of carbs, low fat, no junk food, that kind of stuff). I basically have two days that I alternate through in the gym, chest and back one day, shoulders and arms the other. I do squats at home (one leg, no weights) and run once a week, so not much lower body work. I really don't like any of the excersises for some reason. For a typical routine I'll do a warm up set, three sets at my target rep range (currently 7-9, though I switch between that and 9-11). The last set will be a drop set of 3, for a total of 6 sets on each excercise. I do 2 excercises at once, alternating them with a one minute break after each two, or a two minute break after a drop set. Any advice on how to improve my diet and routine to maximize gains, would be much appreciated.

Chest/back day:

Barbell press
Incline flys and decline dumbell press, or vice versa
Lat pull down and seated row
Weighted back extensions? (the ones where you lie on a bench with your feet under a pad and lift your torso up from the floor and hold for 5 seconds) and cable cross overs

Shoulders/arms day:
arnold press or shrugs and barbell curl
dumbell curl or hammer curl or preacher curl and tricep pulldown? (the one with the rope, pulling down on the pulley machine)
wide grip chin ups and tricep extensions? (upper body parallel to ground, holding and dumbell and pushing the arm up and behind)

On top of this I do about 20 minutes of crunches, 4 nights a week right before I go to bed.

A few specific questions, but please comment on the above as well. I currently take a whey protein suppliment post workout with carbs (usually a sandwich), is this a good time? I also eat cottage cheese mixed with fruit right before my ab excercises, then another protein shake and then off to bed. Is eating like this right before sleeping a bad idea since I'm told your metabolism slows down when you sleep? Any advice on how to get past a plateau, I've tried changing a few excercises in my routine and it seems to have helped a bit, but I'm not making gains nearly as fast as when I started. Is this normal and is there any way to change this? Thanks in advance. :db:

To start off I'm 17, 6'1", and 180lbs. I started working out twice a week in October 2004, weighing 155lbs, and in February 2005 switched to working out 4 or 5 times a week and started watching my diet for the first time, simply eating clean (lots of protein, fair amount of carbs, low fat, no junk food, that kind of stuff). I basically have two days that I alternate through in the gym, chest and back one day, shoulders and arms the other. I do squats at home (one leg, no weights) and run once a week, so not much lower body work. I really don't like any of the excersises for some reason. Chest/back day:

Barbell press
Incline flys and decline dumbell press, or vice versa
Lat pull down and seated row
Weighted back extensions? (the ones where you lie on a bench with your feet under a pad and lift your torso up from the floor and hold for 5 seconds) and cable cross overs

Shoulders/arms day:
arnold press or shrugs and barbell curl
dumbell curl or hammer curl or preacher curl and tricep pulldown? (the one with the rope, pulling down on the pulley machine)
wide grip chin ups and tricep extensions? (upper body parallel to ground, holding and dumbell and pushing the arm up and behind)

On top of this I do about 20 minutes of crunches, 4 nights a week right before I go to bed.

Well, what do you think about the 25 lbs you added in 5 months or so? How does it look, are you satisfied?

You need to work your legs. I don't like to brush my teeth, do you think I shouldn't brush them? We do things, we may not "like" to do, because it is good for us.

Not working your legs, specifically- squatting, is like trying to build a house from the roof down.

About the 25lbs so far, I'm happy with the start that I've made, I'm no longer a twig, but my results seem to be slowing down drastically. Also, a good portion of that 25 pounds was fat, that's what happens eating ice cream every night before bed. So the general conclusion so far is that I need to work my legs. I don't like doing it but if it's necessary then I'm gonna start next week, this week is a rest week (spring break). Any good excercises to do, I rarely have a training partner, I work out in my school gym during my spares and I'm usually the only person in there. So squats would only be possible on occasion. Any more comments on my current upper body routine and diet?

About the 25lbs so far, I'm happy with the start that I've made, I'm no longer a twig, but my results seem to be slowing down drastically. Also, a good portion of that 25 pounds was fat, that's what happens eating ice cream every night before bed. So the general conclusion so far is that I need to work my legs. I don't like doing it but if it's necessary then I'm gonna start next week, this week is a rest week (spring break). Any good excercises to do, I rarely have a training partner, I work out in my school gym during my spares and I'm usually the only person in there. So squats would only be possible on occasion. Any more comments on my current upper body routine and diet?

you dont need a spotter for squats, just put those bars in the squat rack so you can drop the weight on them. besides, you don't need to do squats to failure, just start light.

About the 25lbs so far, I'm happy with the start that I've made, I'm no longer a twig, but my results seem to be slowing down drastically. Also, a good portion of that 25 pounds was fat,

So the general conclusion so far is that I need to work my legs.

Legs without a spotter: Sissy squats, wall squats, Hack squats. One legged calf raise with DB. Stiff-legged deadlfts. Do you have leg extension or leg curl machine or bench?

Use compound exercises like: BB squat, BB SL deadlift, leg press, BB bent-over row, BB overhead press, pullups, Dips.

Good isolation exercises: leg extension, leg curl, calf raise, DB lateral raise, DB pullover, db flies, BB curl, single DB two handed tricep extension, crunch, puuldwn on lat machine.

Slow down on crunch, 10 sec up, 5 sec down.

I believe for 80 % of people a full body exercise program is best. If you did one set using as much weight as possible per exercise you could do 10-12 exercises that cover full body in about 20-25 min. Quick simple and effective.

Look on web for exercise explanation.
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You are doing more isolation exercises thn you nedd to be. Diet counts, quality and quanity. Make up you mind, cut or bulk. You are going to have to cut some time. Now or Later.

I believe for 80 % of people a full body exercise program is best. If you did one set using as much weight as possible per exercise you could do 10-12 exercises that cover full body in about 20-25 min. Quick simple and effective.


Diet counts, quality and quanity. Make up you mind, cut or bulk. You are going to have to cut some time. Now or Later.

So one set of each excercise, then move on to the next? If I were to work out longer than 20-25 minutes, say 45 minutes would I add more exercises, or do the same 10-12 but 2 sets of each? As for these full body exercises, should I add them to my existing workout, and if so to what days since they are full body and wouldn't fall under the current set up I use. Or should I just throw out my current system and concentrate mostly on full body excercises with a few isolation excercises added in. And what is the reasoning for full body excercises being better for 80% of people. Not that I don't believe you, I just don't like following advice blindly without hearing an explanation. One last question. What are the major differences between a cutting and bulking diet? Is a cutting diet lower in fat and/or carbs, or are you putting yourself into a calorie defecit so that you're burning fat for energy? Thanks for all the help, I hope my ignorance isn't annoying.

So one set of each excercise, then move on to the next? If I were to work out longer than 20-25 minutes, say 45 minutes would I add more exercises, or do the same 10-12 but 2 sets of each? As for these full body exercises, should I add them to my existing workout, and if so to what days since they are full body and wouldn't fall under the current set up I use. Or should I just throw out my current system and concentrate mostly on full body excercises with a few isolation excercises added in. And what is the reasoning for full body excercises being better for 80% of people. Not that I don't believe you, I just don't like following advice blindly without hearing an explanation. One last question. What are the major differences between a cutting and bulking diet? Is a cutting diet lower in fat and/or carbs, or are you putting yourself into a calorie defecit so that you're burning fat for energy? Thanks for all the help, I hope my ignorance isn't annoying.

Your body is a system. When you exercise one part, it affects all part to a degree. When you eat, the food feeds your entire body not parts. When you sleep at night, you don't rest just your lower body, one night and upper the next. It a total system interconnected.

Any time we exercise we cause stress to the body. It doesn't matter if you are lifting weights, running/walking or dancing at a party. Now we should get about 48 hours to no more than 96 hours between stress to allow the body to recover. the Three day MWF or TTS schedule allows this time. Because of the stress factor, the most effective method would be to do whole body for time and effect.

Doing 10-12 sets covering the whole body with rest of 30-60 sec between sets, if you took 6 sec a rep, you would finish 12 sets of 8-12reps in 21-27 minutes taking a 1 min rest. That is efficient training covering the whole body in that time. less than 1.5 hours a week you get your training in. If you do exercises properly, you won't have strenght to any more sets.

Because you use as much weight as you can per set and do the set till you reach momentary failure, you give the muscle all the exercise it needs. It should be sufficient to build strength and size. You have in most cases given the muscle all it needs in that one set. No need to do more.

Diet for cutting requires a calorie deficit and Bulking requires more calories than you expend. The Macro level mix remains the same. The percentages of CFP remain the same just more of them in the bulking phase. The get smart link in my signature will provide most things you need to know. The exercise method I spoke about is called High Intensity Training or HIT, you will see information on it, there.

What should you do? You should make a choice after you have looked that the different methods of exercise and diet that are available. With knowledge, make the choice.