Hi Guys.
I have been gone for a few days. My uncle is dying of lung cancer and it is taking it's toll on our family. :( I am a spiritual person and know that he will be in a better situation soon.:angel: I certainly don't mean to bring anyone down, just wanted to explain my absence as of late....

Beachgal:
To answer your question.
I have been training for almost 12 years now. (geez, time flies!!) I met my husband in the gym when I joined that many years ago. He had just won the Mr. Seattle show ands I knew absolutley nothing about weight training. He got me started and well, I got the bug!:strong: I know many BodyBuilders , Fitness and Figure competitors varying form amatuers to pros that I have gotten aquainted with over the years and they are part of my 'cirlcle' as it were...I also know many very bright, knowing people who choose not to compete. I also very much enjoy reading books written by experts on BodyBuilding and training diets etc.I am a big magazine reader too, and have my face in one the BodyBuilding rags pretty frequently. I seek advice myself and never stop learing on a regular basis. It is a constant challenge. I have had 2 children since I lifted my first weight and I am pretty convinced there is no way I would be in the shape I am in without the assistance of weight training. I have my own 'expert' (my Sponsor) who I meet with regularly to assess my progress. I train with him at least 3 times a week when I am getting ready for a contest. I also have a pro Fitness competitor I meet with who gives me feedback on my progress and helps me out with my stage presence and that kind of thing. Even though I have lifted weights for awhile, there is a lot I don't know. I am also still fairly new to Figure Competitons and need a lot of feedback to progress with that.
You will never get to a point where you know everything and don't need anyones' opinion anymore (at least I won't). While I am grateful and happy for what I have accomplished, I have not ,by any means whatsoever, reached the peak I want to be at. I have got a whole lot of work to do to accomplish my goals. I value the opinions of others. As long as I ASK for that opinion and it isn't shoved down my throat! (important sidenote!). I learn a lot from reading posts on here from people who have just started. I try to be a sponge and keep an open mind while at the same time following the rules of what I know (through experience) works for me. I remember very well when I first started lifting weights ...
I have a distinct memory (for example) of doing flat DB presses with 15's or 20's and my forearm gave out and I gave myself a black eye!:dizzy: Now, on a good day, I can do that same excersise with 50's on my own, or 55's if I have a spot. I also train my forearms so they can keep up! I have many memories like that and I have to smile when they come to mind on accassion. :)
Varying my excersises helps to 'increase' my strength on all excersises, as a general rule. If I go a very long time with out doing a certain excersise, I may have to drop off a little on the weight because it hits the muscle in a way I haven't hit it in awhile. It doesn't (neccesarily) mean that muscle has gotten weaker but I try not to let that happen, since my goal is to get stronger on everything. I am just struggling to do my thing like everyone else is.
I respect any and everyone who is in that gym. I would never presume that my workout is any more important than anyone else in there nor would I offer advice that isn't sought. It is a fascinating ,never-ending journey with endless rewards. It is truly an investment in yourself that will be your friend and pay you back for the rest of your life :cloud9:
Happy lifting :strong:

XOXO
L2L

L2L, I am so sorry to hear about your uncle. :grouphug: My uncle passed away from the same ailment two years ago and it was very hard. I pray that you will find peace, and I trust in the same faith...that he will be in a much better place. :grouphug:

Thank you for the great ideas. I'll need to check out the magazine rack sometime soon!

I did check out the exercise section of the local bookstore, and there were so many choices that I was overwhelmed. Does anyone know of any good basic books that would help a newbie get started?

15 and 20 lbs weights? :lol: I'm struggling with 5 lb weights! I have a long day to go, but I'm looking forward to a day when I can lift much bigger weights with great confidence! :strong: Thanks, L2L...you are so humble! :goodvibes:

free beer here!
 

gen- I did see tis post and had a few thoughts. I'm racing off to the gym for a few early clients but will try to get back to you this afternoon :)
Mel

Here's my 2 cents Gen :) , but I know Mel will have the proper way of doing it since she's the trainer...

4 day split A:
- chest and tris
-quads and abs
-back and bis
-hams and shoulders
OR
4 days split B:
- legs (quads and ham)
- shoulders and arms
- back and abs
- chest
OR make it the same as above B and add an extra day and do just arms and abs on a day ...

I personally like a 4 or 5 days split because it gives the body part plendy of rest... You're only doing weights for 40-45 minutes then you still have energy to do a half hour of cardio afterwards, EXCEPT, on leg days, when you can barely walk after a leg workout!! :eek:

HTH...
TTFN...
:wave:

thank you
 

On a leg day Gen I do: 1. squats, 2. leg extensions, 3. leg curls, 4. lunges... I do 4 exercises of each at 10-12 reps each...This is a basic leg day ... I don't do squat AND leg presses in the same workout, usually, because I feel they basically are the same exercise and work the same leg muscles...

Lessons Learned
 

Hi all,

I’ve been in the middle of an interesting experience that I thought I would share, because I’m learning a lot from it, and I’d like to get your take on it.

On Friday, I trotted off to the gym just before lunchtime to do what I thought was going to be a quick UB workout. But it was one of those fabulous moments in the gym ... the place was nearly deserted, so I had my pick of machines and equipment. I hadn't done any exercise since Tuesday, and I felt great. I had had a big bowl of oatmeal about 10, and I felt like I had energy to burn.

And burn I did. :devil:

What started out as a quickie UBWO (I had been thinking chest and back), turned into a complete UBWO with some legs thrown in. (My rationale: since I hadn’t gotten in my usual Wednesday workout, I thought I’d make up for lost time.) Not only did I add exercises, I added weight. After following this thread, I thought, well, let's give it a go. I lifted more weight than I have in years and years. When I walked out, I felt great.

An hour later, I still felt great. But you know what's coming, don't you ... by 4, I was dying. No, not pain -- yet. I was exhausted. And I was starving. STARVING. I thought I had taken steps to prevent that: as soon as I was done, I drank a protein shake, and about 30 minutes later I had a really nice lunch because I had to do a tasting for a board dinner (tough job, but someone's gotta do it :lol: ) By 4, it was as if I hadn't had a thing to eat.
I ate some yogurt, then some cottage cheeze, and finally some pistachios.
That put a dent in my appetite, but by 7 I was hungry again. Then I didn’t want to eat a full meal that late, so I kept picking. And I went from clean to lousy food.

I just couldn't seem to set myself right.

I slept like the dead, and woke up Saturday morning tired. And Hungry. And I kept grazing. Then, starting Saturday afternoon, I started to ache, big time. ‘ course, by then, it could have been the lousy food I’d been eating, as well. But clearly, the extra weight was taking its toll.

This morning (Sunday), I finally feel recovered. I’ve waked the dogs, had the usual egg white omelet, and feel like I’m back on track.

So, here’s what I’ve learned:

1. Beware that burst of enthusiasm. It can be dangerous. Overdoing a weight lifting session can have unforeseen repercussions, especially in the early stages. Next time, I would stick to my original plan of chest and back. I think I could have added the weight and still been fine if I hadn’t added so many other body parts.


2. Next time I get that hungry, I’m going to go find a real meal, regardless of the time. I can see now that I would have been so much better off on Friday night if I’d had something like a chicken breast or steak, a baked potato and a big salad. I didn’t do that. I kept trying to fill up on half a cup of cottage cheese or something similar. No dice.

3. Saturday morning, I should have taken a walk, just to loosen up the body. I totally lost my mind-body link and awareness. I was tired and uggy.

So, what does anyone think? Does my assessment sound right? And, more important, are the “next times” the right way to go? :shrug:

Hi Gen and Robin :wave:

Gen you're absolutely right in thinking that you "would be working the muscle less often but harder", and it would have plenty of recovery and rest between workouts.... Also , Gen it is good to work back and bis AND chest and tris in the same workout because they are sort of connected, when you are working back you use your bicep muscles a lot and the same goes for chest and triceps... I have worked hams and quads seperately, but that was a very long time ago... Lately I always worked hams and quads the same day because I work my legs only once/week... It works fine for me...

Robin -- I think your "next times" are perfect... For myself I love those bursts of enthusiasm and energy I get once in a while, I take full advantage of them... Granted, I am hungrier and could eat a horse!! (sorry Karen :lol: ) but like you said, eating a "real meal" instead of 1/2c cottage cheese or other small thingys would have been much better and would have helped you get over the hunger... I know it helps me... When I have these huge workouts I feel like the food I eat just seems to absorb into my system in about an hour just like what you experienced so I try to eat a "real meal" no matter what time of day it is because anything else will NOT satisfy me...

Gen,
There are loads of splits and different theories on why to do them. My current is:
Mon: Chest and tri's
Tues: shoulders, calves and abs
Wed: hamstrings and quads
Thurs: Cardio only
Friday: Back and Bi's

Another example would be to group chest and back on 1 day and biceps and triceps together on another.

I usually do 3-4 exercises per body part making sure that I get at least 1 exercise for each aspect or part of the muscle, and 4-5 sets of each. I do a lot of supersets and giant sets, and combine plyometic training and balance work in with heavy lifts. For example, a typical chest workout would include flat bench db presses, flyes on a stability ball, incline press machine, either cable flyes or pec deck, then push-ups to failure alternating hands on a medicine ball. For triceps, I'd do a single armed pushdown type exercise, and single armed extension exercise, then a push-down with both hands working together and an extension with both hands working together.

My leg days are probably crazy- I always do squats of some variety as well as the leg press, because I don't feel they hit the muscles the same way. My favorite giant set is to do single legged leg presses feet high, then double the volume 2 legged with feet mid-level, then deep, slow squats. Yes, I've hit my quads on each, but each time I've gotten them from a different angle and empasized a different part of the muscle group.

Mel

Hi GUys,
My current split goes like this

Monday: Bi's, Tri's, Forearms
Tuesday: Hams, Glutes
Wednesday: Back, low back
Thursday: Heavy "Compound" Legs
Friday: Chest, Shoulders
I do Abs and Calves (1 excersise and about 6 sets each) at every workout

I like to give my Hams, Glutes extra focus even though I hit em on my big Leg day. I feel 48hrs recovery is enough before doing heavy legs. I need more recovery from my Big Leg day though and so I have 4 days to recover before my ham, glute day rolls aorund again. While I have trained Back and Bi's/Chest and tri' together in the past. I enjoy being able to focus on the muscles individually. Since Bi's are strongly recruited in back excersises, I have 48hrs recovery between arms and back. My chest and shoulders, I am trying to 'bring up' so I do them on Friday when I am in no hurry (no work the next day and no workouts on the weekend) and when hubby can help since Heavy free weight chest excersises really require assistance. Also, my tri's are cpmpletely recovered by then and available to help with chest and shoulder excersises.
Point being, I change up my workout here and gain but a lot of thought goes into how I plan it. Sometimes I get going on a new plan only to realize it ain't going to work for one reason or another. Like 'my shoulders are still sore and not recovered on Chest day so I get a crappy chest workout' for just one example.
I have been going on this split for awhile and making progress. Keep in mind, I change the 'excersises' at every workout even though I am training the same bodypart for that day.
Ok..... that's all I got FWIW.........
XOXO
L2L

For this week, I am doing one body part per day, to work on form. Next week I go back to the following:

bis tris and forearms
back and abs
chest and shoulders
quads, hams and calves
45 minutes cardio on each day except leg day - only 30 minutes cardio.

I do my cardio prior to my lifting so my endorphin high will carry me through the weights. When i did it the opposite way, my cardio workouts were always half-a**ed or didn't get done at all.

Tiki.

L2L - I like your workout... Just a couple of questions on Tuesday: Hams, Glutes, are those exercises like leg curls, leg extensions... Could you give more examples? AND on Thursday: Heavy "Compound" Legs, are those exercises like squats, lunges, more examples please...:D... Thank you!