Strength training????

whitscalcount

So everyone I could use some help!!!! I have no idea how to strength train. Which muscle groups to do together?? Whats the right amount of sets and reps?? I am clueless!!! Any advice would be great I just need some pointers....

smuehlbauer

Good place to start:
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/womans_lean_sexy_bible.htm
Read, read and read some more.
Good luck.
Steph

aprileve411

hey there are so many ways you can go about this. what is your workout regimen at the moment? where do you workout and what do you have access to?

mustangurl

i am the same way. that's why i got Ripped in 30. jillian preaches working multiple muscle groups at once to get more bang for your buck!!!!!

pyro13g

Full body heavy enough to fail in 6-12 reps. ONE SET EACH of

Leg Press or squat
Row, I prefer seated.
Bench press
Over head press
Pull down

as slow as you can to keep the the motion smooth. Most can do 3-5 seconds in each direction. Hold for 1 second when fully contracted(top of a press, bottom of a pull like a pull down or top of a pull up)

Alternate

Leg press or squats.
Row
Dips(weighted when you get there)
Over head press
Pull ups(weighted when you get there)

You can do pushups until you can get more than 12. Do them slow

You do not need to directly work your abs. If you want to, add resistance to crunches of all kinds, one set. Trunk curls or reverse trunk curls.

Do this ONCE a week. You should be able to do either more reps or be able to add more weight each time you lift. These are compound multi joint moves. You need the rest between workouts. Manage the calories that go in your mouth, not by exercise.

For weight loss 500 calorie deficit per day.

Shouldn't take you more than 20 minutes a week. Enjoy life in between.

Eat however you want but get at least 0.7grams per pound of lean body weight in protein or 0.4 grams of total body weight.

Do something that get's your heart rate up but where you can still have a conversation comfortably. If you breathe out your mouth, your heart rate is to high. About 3 hours per week.

Get your heart rate sky high once a week. Cardio intervals for 10-20 minutes will work.

The above is the EASY button. Barring a medical condition you will add muscle and you will drop body fat! You will add more muscle at maintenance calories or a small surplus.

Anything else you do is because you LIKE it. Extended high heart rate cardio is not muscle friendly for most of us. It leads to skinny fat.

crisanderson27

Full body heavy enough to fail in 6-12 reps. ONE SET EACH of

Leg Press or squat
Row, I prefer seated.
Bench press
Over head press
Pull down

as slow as you can to keep the the motion smooth. Most can do 3-5 seconds in each direction. Hold for 1 second when fully contracted(top of a press, bottom of a pull like a pull down or top of a pull up)

Alternate

Leg press or squats.
Row
Dips(weighted when you get there)
Over head press
Pull ups(weighted when you get there)

You can do pushups until you can get more than 12. Do them slow

You do not need to directly work your abs. If you want to, add resistance to crunches of all kinds, one set. Trunk curls or reverse trunk curls.

Do this ONCE a week. You should be able to do either more reps or be able to add more weight each time you lift. These are compound multi joint moves. You need the rest between workouts. Manage the calories that go in your mouth, not by exercise.

For weight loss 500 calorie deficit per day.

Shouldn't take you more than 20 minutes a week. Enjoy life in between.

Eat however you want but get at least 0.7grams per pound of lean body weight in protein or 0.4 grams of total body weight.

Do something that get's your heart rate up but where you can still have a conversation comfortably. If you breathe out your mouth, your heart rate is to high. About 3 hours per week.

Get your heart rate sky high once a week. Cardio intervals for 10-20 minutes will work.

The above is the EASY button. Barring a medical condition you will add muscle and you will drop body fat! You will add more muscle at maintenance calories or a small surplus.

Anything else you do is because you LIKE it. Extended high heart rate cardio is not muscle friendly for most of us. It leads to skinny fat.

My vote for one of the best posts on MFP.

Ever.

Another alternate...if you don't have a gym or weights available, is this:

Another Bodyweight Culture article, this one courtesy Cheesedog at:

http://www.bodyweightculture.com/forum/showthread.php?11058-Bodyweight-Strength-Training

Bodyweight Strength Training

People are always asking about strength training using only bodyweight. This is nothing new or revolutionary. I am borrowing HEAVILY from Rippatoe, Bill Starr, and lots of other great authors and trainers. This is your basic 5 x 5 template. (To clarify, 5x5 is 5 reps x 5 sets. The idea is to work at a difficulty level where you could only do maybe 7-8 reps on the first set, and are struggling to finish 5 reps on the last set). You would do strength training 3 times a week, say Monday-Wednesday-Friday with the weekends off. These are done "lazy circuits" style, with about 1 minute rest between each set.

Workout A
1A. Knee dominant - 5 x 5
1B. Horizontal push - 5 x 5
1C. Horizontal pull - 5 x 5
2A. Ab - flexion - 3 x 5
2B. Ab - static 3 x 30 seconds

Workout B
1A. Knee dominant - 5 x 5
1B. Vertical push - 5 x 5
1C. Hip dominant - 5 x 5
1D. Vertical pull - 5 x 5
2A. Ab - rotation - 3 x 5
2B. Grip and neck training - 3 x varies

Exercise Progressions - with regular weight training you can just add weight to the bar. With bodyweight progression is mostly about changing your leverage. These are just a few examples, I'm sure we could come up with dozens more if needed. You can always add resistance in the form of a weighted vest or backpack or resistance bands.

1. Knee Dominant -- squats, lunges, step-ups, bulgarian split squats, unilateral bent leg deadlift, partial one leg squat, one leg squat, box or stair pistols, full pistols.
2. Horizontal Push -- pushups, decline pushups, resistance pushups, side to side pushups, stair one arm pushups, negative one arm pushups, full one arm pushups.
3. Horizontal Pull -- body row, resistance body row, negative one hand row, incline one hand row, full one hand row.
4. Ab - flexion -- crunches, situps, resistance or incline situps, reverse situp, resistance or incline reverse situps, hanging knee or leg raise, hanging pikes, rollout from knees, rollout from feet, dragon flag. Also included are oblique moves like side lying crunches with or without resistance and side lying two leg raise.
5. Abs- static -- 4 point prone bridge, 3 point prone bridge, 2 point prone bridge, 4 point supine bridge, 3 point supine bridge.
6. Vertical Push -- pike pushup, hindu pushup, divebomber pushup, decline pike pushup, decline hindu pushup, decline divebomber pushup, one arm pike pushup, negative handstand pushup, handstand pushup with head touching floor, full handstand pushup.
7. Hip Dominant -- supine hip extension, good morning, one leg stiff leg deadlift, split one leg good morning, one leg supine hip extension, hyperextension, one leg hyperextension, natural glute-ham raise.
8. Vertical Pull -- jumping or assisted pullups, pullups, resistance pullups, side to side pullups, negative one hand pullups, one hand pullups. All these can refer to chinups or neutral grip pullups as well.
9. Ab - rotation -- twist crunches or situps, resistance or incline twist crunches or situps, russian twists, lying windshield wipers, standing rope rotations, hanging windshield wipers.
10. Grip and Neck Training -- for grip you can use handgrippers, deadhangs from a pullup bar (especially a fatbar or gripping a towel). For neck nothing beats wrestlers bridges. If you are involved in a striking martial art or sport, finger and fist pushups are very important also.

None of these lists have to end here. If you get strong enough you can always add resistance to your full range of motion one limb exercise. Or if you can do more than 5 one hand pushups do decline one hand pushups, or start working on one hand hindu and then eventually one hand dive bombers, and so on.


The nice thing about this routine is it scales dramatically depending on your fitness level. If you can't do even ONE regular pull up, you can scale it down and do assisted pull ups (legs on a chair), or ballistic pullups (where you jump to provide the initial momentum). It's actually easier to do properly when you're very unfit...because once you're healthy and strong...you're going to be searching for challenging enough exercises to only allow you 5 reps max by the finish of the 5 sets.

You can also add resistance to the above...depending on your strength level.

I will be completely honest, I'd rather use Pyro's method...BUT, I don't have access to a gym. The above took me from the before picture in my signature, to the after picture, in three months, six weeks of which I was on a plateau. His diet suggestions fall right in line for either exercise plan.

pyro13g

No access to gym you can get far with body weight. There are lots of ways to add resistance. I was in that boat once. Jugs of water, buckets of water, bags of stone, dirt, sand.. etc.. Carry them around, push them around, push them, pull them, roll them around. Carry them up stairs, down stairs, up a hill, down a hill. You get the point.

I walked 5 gallon buckets of water in each hand 2000 ft to my back garden(400ft round trip five times) this morning. That's quite a workout. And the dogs trying to get a drink while I carried them means I had to put them down and lift them back up.

Just use your head. Got a wagon? put stuff in it and pull it around. Got kids?.. Perfect.

And crisanderson27, you did a very nice job!

My uncle helped me get better movement out of my pitches by tying twine to a stick and sack of stone. I rolled that bag up and down as he said, adding more stone as I got stronger. Result..Popeye forearms, a killer grip, and some very mean movement in my pitches. Always wanted a rising fastball, farm boy uncle Joe gave me one.


Oh, and the stronger you get 5 moves may be to much. In that case One pull and one push for upper body and a squat or leg press for lower body. Squat hint to stay safe... Squat with body weight. As you drop down note the point at which it gets uncomfortable or requires effort to get lower(your breathing will change to get lower). That is as low as you should go. Let's be honest...we don't need to go to extreme range of motions unless we are a competitive body builder. Want to slim up then use the easy button(s). Body weight, commercial gym, home gym, or even a budget multi gym from a big box retailer. Free weights or machines really doesn't matter.

crisanderson27

No access to gym you can get far with body weight. There are lots of ways to add resistance. I was in that boat once. Jugs of water, buckets of water, bags of stone, dirt, sand.. etc.. Carry them around, push them around, push them, pull them, roll them around. Carry them up stairs, down stairs, up a hill, down a hill. You get the point.

I walked 5 gallon buckets of water in each hand 2000 ft to my back garden(400ft round trip five times) this morning. That's quite a workout. And the dogs trying to get a drink while I carried them means I had to put them down and lift them back up.

Just use your head. Got a wagon? put stuff in it and pull it around. Got kids?.. Perfect.

And crisanderson27, you did a very nice job!

Thanks man...still a work in progress lol. A two week break really seemed to solidify my results...but now I'm back to building again =p.

The resistance thing you mentioned is important. Bodyweight is about leverage...but adding resistance (my kids ride my shoulders on squats/lunges, my back on pushups...etc) makes it much easier. The key to the above being 'strength' training rather than the typical 'leaning out' that is normally attributed to bodyweight, is the fact that you shouldn't be able to do more than five reps at a time. If you can, the exercise is not difficult enough, and you need to somehow intensify it.

Also, the thing it has most in common with your weight based routine is the compound nature of bodyweight. Core stability is key, and having to stabilize your own weight throughout the exercise range of motion increases your overall gains exponentially.