My Old Routine Vs New Routine -- Which Is Better?

[MrCastle]

Alright this week I decided to add cardio to my workout routine. My old routine was working out every other day and looked like this:

 

Day 1: Push ups, pull ups, crunches, weights

Day 2: Off

Day 3: Push ups, pull ups, crunches, weights

Day 4: Off

Day 5: Push ups, pull ups, crunches, weights

Day 6: Off

Day 7: Push ups, pull ups, crunches, weights

 

The workouts left me exhausted but I'd push through, but it felt like I was doing too much. I decided to break up my workouts into two days so I'd have more energy to do them slower and really focus on the muscles.

 

Now it looks like this

 

Day 1: Push ups, pull ups, crunches, bike

Day 2: Weight lifting, bike

Day 3: Off

Day 4: Push ups, pull ups, crunches, bike

Day 5: Weight lifting, bike

Day 6: Off

Day 7: Push ups, pull ups, crunches, bike

 

I think it looks better. I'm working out 5 times a week as opposed to 4, and with the introduction of cardio, even better. But should I go back to my old routine and on the days where I'm off, do bike on those? So I'm working out every day? One day all the weights and exercises, and the next day cardio?

[jphcbpa]

I like the new routine. I notice the cardio is all bike....have you thought about mixing up the cardio with a swim, run/jog, elliptical ect?

[MrCastle]

I like the new routine. I notice the cardio is all bike....have you thought about mixing up the cardio with a swim, run/jog, elliptical ect?

 

Well I love jogging. It's my favorite cardio exercise, but I like jogging outside, not on treadmills. So, I'm waiting for fall to come around so I can jog outside. Right now in this summer heat/humidity, I can't run on days that are crazy hot. But I do have a stationary bike in my house so it's just more convenient right now to use the bike indoors during the summer until I can do some outdoor activities. I also want to jump rope but have no room in my house to do it so it's another thing I'd like to do outdoors when the weather cools.

 

I do all my working out at home. I have weights and the iron gym pull up bar so that's how I get all my stuff done. I used to go to the gym years ago but I've since stopped. I'm not one for gyms or community pools so swimming is out, but when I can, I go the beach to run and swim and it's the ultimate cardio workout, but I can't go to the beach every other day just for that obviously.

 

But definitely when the weather cools I'll be more creative and varied in my cardio.

[MrCastle]

Anymore feedback?

[Eternal Sunshine]

Anymore feedback?

 

Stop hassling people to reply to your threads

[Emilia]

Anymore feedback?

I'm sure tman will be around at some point, haven't seen him for a while.

 

Regarding weightlifting: what does that mean exactly? What do you do? How heavy? How many sets/reps?

[sillyanswer]

Alright this week I decided to add cardio to my workout routine.

 

You ask which is better... but you don't say what your goal is.

 

(I probably can't give you an answer even if I know what your goal is... but I'm sure it'll be useful for those who can.)

[Sunshinegrl]

Do you even squat?

[tman666]

I'm sure tman will be around at some point, haven't seen him for a while.

Regarding weightlifting: what does that mean exactly? What do you do? How heavy? How many sets/reps?

 

Mr. Castle: in order to give you any meaningful feedback, we'd really need to know more about what you're doing.

 

"Weightlifting" isn't very specific, unless you're referring to the sport of weightlifting (clean+jerk, snatch).

 

Sets, reps, weight being used, perceived exertion, etc. are relevant to what kind of advice that you might get.

[MrCastle]

I don't get crazy with the weights. I do several different types of curls with 20 lb weights. Three different types of curls, usually 4 sets of 5 reps, so 20 curls for each type of curl, totalling 60 reps altogether. I go very slow to really feel the muscle being used. I've always been a fan of lower rep count but slowing them down so it feels like more.

 

As far as my overall goal -- to be cut and tight. I'm not trying to bulk up or anything.

[KungFuJoe]

For starters, I would ditch your plans. No offense, but I was like you when I first started working out. I would try this and that...spending 1-2 hours a day, 5-6 days a week in the gym...no real plan, etc. I had good results, but it was more from being young and just working out like a mad man.

 

Now, I know better and if I only knew back then what I know now, I could have cut my workout time in HALF and still had the SAME results.

 

I strongly recommend jumping over to someplace like bodybuilding.com and asking these questions there, to be honest. There are some ridiculously knowledgeable people there.

 

But, if you're just looking for some tips, here's a few.

 

Cardio sucks. That's right. It does. If you're jogging a lot because you enjoy it or because you play sports, that's fine. But in terms of LOOKING good...well...lemme ask you this. How good do marathon runners look?

 

If you WANT to do cardio...do something like HIIT (High intensity interval training). That's more akin to sprinters...and THOSE people are in awesome shape.

 

Ditch the crunches...if you're just doing them by lying on your back with no added weight. They are absolutely useless. Your abs are the most worked out part of your body, even if you do NOTHING. Your abs are so used to doing things in everyday life...that you REALLY need to kick their ass if you want to build them up. Your abs will laugh at crunches, unless you do a thousand a day.

 

Honestly, if you want a 6 pack...just lose fat. Whatever abs you have will poke through and give you that lean look. If you want them to pop out a bit more, I would suggest building them up by doing something like weighted rope ab crunches.

 

I know you say you don't want to bulk up, but if you cut fat (which you will have to to get definition) you will lose muscle, too. If you REALLY want that lean/mean look...I suggest going on a bulking program...putting on some muscle AND fat (this can't be helped...nearly impossible to gain muscle without adding fat) and then going on a cut program to lose as much fat as possible while maintaining as much muscle as possible.

 

I really like Doug's 4 Day Split programs. He has one for bulking and one for cutting. But they are pretty intense and require you to have access to a fair amount of equipment and are also considered intermediate programs.

[dichotomy]

Well you got push ups and pull ups. Thats good. I would say drop the curls and do shoulder presses instead. Then some sort of squats/deads. You can do these with dumbells on the lite side of things. I started doing squats with a single dubmbell cupped in both hands - I was really out of shape back then.

[KungFuJoe]

I would ditch the push ups myself.

 

I have a rule...if you can do more than 10-12 reps...then you need to add more weight. Most of the "studies" done on building muscle show that efficiency drops once you go past that rep range unless you're doing a program that is SPECIFICALLY geared around hypertrophy such as HST (hypertrophy specific training). And the problem with push ups is anyone in decent shape can probably do around 20 of them and you can't add weight in any reasonable manner.

 

Pull ups, however, are AWESOME. They are a great compound work out, hitting biceps along with back. And you can add weight by getting a belt you can attach weight to.

[MrCastle]

Pull ups are the hardest exercise I do and I love them. I feel everything being tugged when I do them. I love that sore feeling I get when I wake up the next morning. It's like a good kind of sore.

 

I do cardio to shed any excess body fat that isn't going away. It's also good to build up stamina. For someone who's skinny as I am (or was) I was definitely not in shape. I just overall want to be in better shape and live a healthier life.

 

So being bulky, or extremely cut up is not really my goal. Just tight and fit.

 

Anything more would require a ridiculous amount of focus and dedication and it's not something I'm willing to commit to. I know myself.

 

For some, working out is a lifestyle, a culture. They look forward to working out.

 

I, for the most part, hate working out. It's like a chore. But I do what I have to in order to get the body I want. And the body I want isn't asking for a whole lot.

 

I was skinny starting out, so that helps me, because I want to remain lean. I just want muscle definition and overall, more stamina, which I'd get with cardio.

[KungFuJoe]

Pull ups are the hardest exercise I do and I love them. I feel everything being tugged when I do them. I love that sore feeling I get when I wake up the next morning. It's like a good kind of sore.

 

I do cardio to shed any excess body fat that isn't going away. It's also good to build up stamina. For someone who's skinny as I am (or was) I was definitely not in shape. I just overall want to be in better shape and live a healthier life.

 

So being bulky, or extremely cut up is not really my goal. Just tight and fit.

 

Anything more would require a ridiculous amount of focus and dedication and it's not something I'm willing to commit to. I know myself.

 

For some, working out is a lifestyle, a culture. They look forward to working out.

 

I, for the most part, hate working out. It's like a chore. But I do what I have to in order to get the body I want. And the body I want isn't asking for a whole lot.

 

I was skinny starting out, so that helps me, because I want to remain lean. I just want muscle definition and overall, more stamina, which I'd get with cardio.

 

What I would do then is look at those Doug 4 day split routines and trim some of the stuff out so that it's not so intensive.

 

I'm kinda like you...I'm naturally skinny and I know that I could bust my ass and REALLY get built, but I'm too lazy and I don't really enjoy working out. So I do just enough to stay in shape, I play basketball for cardio and I try to eat right...well...as good as I can without depriving myself, I guess.

 

Right now I'm doing a modified version of Doug's 4 Day Split that goes like this:

 

Mon - Shoulder dumbbell presses, reverse shoulder flys, barbell shrugs, tricep extension, one armed tricep extension

 

Tue - Wide grip pull downs, bent over barbell rows

 

Thur - Flat barbell bench, incline dumbbell bench press, incline dumbbell curls, standing barbell curls.

 

I used to do squats, but I play basketball tue and thur and that's enough of a leg workout for now. If I ever quit playing, I'll throw in squats and maybe deadlifts on Fri.

 

For reps/sets, I do 4 sets of each of the main/compound exercises at up to 10 reps each. For the isos (curls, etc) I do 3 sets up to 10 reps each. If I can do 12 reps easy, I bump up the weight.

 

That's pretty much it. Doesn't take too much time...maybe 45 minutes a day, except for Tue which is less than half an hour.

 

Diet is VERY important. And especially protein. You want at least a gram of protein a day for each lb of body weight...and you want to spread it out throughout the day. I always have a good amount of protein powder around to supplement my meals.

 

And it's VERY important to have a protein shake RIGHT after your workout...that's when your body needs it the most. Mix it in with some dextrose to ensure it gets to your muscles as efficiently as possible.

[RonaldS]

I would ditch the push ups myself.

 

I have a rule...if you can do more than 10-12 reps...then you need to add more weight. Most of the "studies" done on building muscle show that efficiency drops once you go past that rep range unless you're doing a program that is SPECIFICALLY geared around hypertrophy such as HST (hypertrophy specific training). And the problem with push ups is anyone in decent shape can probably do around 20 of them and you can't add weight in any reasonable manner.

 

Pull ups, however, are AWESOME. They are a great compound work out, hitting biceps along with back. And you can add weight by getting a belt you can attach weight to.

 

Push-ups are tremendous. You just have to do them the right way(s).

 

Most of my muscle/strength building exercises are based off what a lot of college football S&C coaches do. Explosive move countered by slow negative resistance. So, with push-ups for example: I will use two dumbbells. Slow on the way down, get your chest almost to the floor, back straight in plank form, hold it for three seconds, explode up. You're not going to easily rip off 20 of those unless you're a freak. Do the same thing with pull-ups...explode up, hold your chin above the bar for 3 seconds, down slowly. You can do that with weights too.

 

And then, do work-outs like that either in timed-cycles (rotate 3 exercises to 80% for 10 minutes, for example), or my favorite: stacked workouts. Take 7 or 8 exercises, so maybe push-ups, pull-ups, timed jump rope, squats with weight, kettlebell swings, TRX stuff, active rest like a plank or various stretches like Zeniths...whatever you come up with. Calculate your reps or times to get to 80% with each exercise. Then....do the 1st. Then the 1st and 2nd, then the 1st, 2nd and 3rd, and so on until you're doing all 7 or 8 in succession. Then take the 1st one off. Then take the 1st and 2nd one off, and so on until you end doing one set of the last exercise.

 

Stacked workouts are killers! Love em.

[RonaldS]

Oh, KFJ...since you're a BB player, you should try my Super Suicides.

 

Take a medicine ball (start with 10lbs....I use an 18lb), and run suicides with it. Hold the ball straight above your head on the way out (run upright w/straight back), and then hold it directly out in front of your chest (arms straight, back straight).

 

They sound easy....till you do one. Then it's like, holy sh*t. There's no way you can do them in rapid succession...you'll kill yourself. I always have to take about a 1 minute breather between each one and coax my heart back into my chest. Try to set a time (like 45 seconds), and always try to beat your time. I consider it a good day if I do 7 of them. They're BRUTAL.

 

But....they are amazing for building speed and core strength. Once you so them for a couple weeks, watch what happens when get a board and go. It's coast-to-coast in a whole new gear, and when you're driving in and there's contact, with that increased core strength, people just bounce off you.