Hey ladies and gents!
As I mentioned in the weekly thread, I've been talking seriously with my brother-in-law who is a personal trainer and a serious lifter. He's recently qualified and has been lifting for years. Due to what he's learnt in his course, he's gained an awesome understanding about the science involved and has taken his lifting to an amazing level - in the last 12 months, he's gone from kinda muscular/kinda chubby to SERIOUSLY buff with the HUGEST MUSCLES I'VE EVER SEEN IN REAL LIFE. And that includes some of the guys at my gym who I swear are roid freaks. He's only ever taken a few drugs (legal in the US but not legal here) awhile ago and he gave them up in disgust, preferring the more natural approach.
So, here's what he's given me: (I've shuffled the days to fit in with my shedule):
This program is for pretty serious muscle gain and strength. Which is what I want. As well as accounting for fat loss.
Monday: Cardio (1 hr + at maximum revs!!)
Tuesday: Push (upper body weights)
Wednesday: Off
Thursday: Pull (more upper body weights)
Friday: Off
Saturday: Legs (concentrating on lower body)
Sunday: Off
*On some of my off days, I'd probably do a little light cardio at home.
The keys are here:
a) Having cardio on a day ALL BY ITSELF. No weights on that day. A rest day before hand. Upper body work on the next day, no legs!! According to my BIL, for many people it's not a good idea to do a serious cardio session on the same day as lifting weights. Some of you may find that it doesn't affect you, but for me, my body so SO shagged out from doing weights (especially legs) that I really don't get much out of my cardio at all. I have been thinking about cardio, and my BIL says that it's all to do with balance: Body builders do no cardio. Women who want to be skinny and lean do a shedload of cardio but little weights. He says that, for my goals, a session of 1hr a week (hardcore) should be sufficient, but that I may find I need to do a little more. Which is why I will do some light cardio on my days "off." I am also toying with the idea of, instead of doing light cardio on my days off, doing a ten-minute session EVERY morning to get my system revving. Will see.
b) My BIL says that the best way to work a muscle is to work it hard, and then rest it for at least four or five days. At the moment, I am often only getting 1 day's rest between sessions, and even less sometimes.
c) Further to that, he suggests a warm-up set of 60% of what you intend to start lifting.
d) Lifting to fatigue on EVERY set, 3 sets 6-8 reps. (He said it was up to me if I wanted to continue doing 12 reps)
More details: (some of these I don't actually know how to do so he's gonna show me)
PUSH
Bench Press with Barbell
Incline DB Press
Dips
Tricep Dumbell over head raises
PULL
Seated cable rows
front, close grip lat pulldowns
standing barbell upright rows
Dumbell alternate curls
LEGS
45 degree leg press
Dumbell squats
Laying leg curls
One leg calf raises
This program sits in with my needs and is much less time intensive than my current program (3 x a week: 45 minute cardio, all upper body, all lower body on same day!!)
What do you all think?