Help with my exercise plan!

tony2009

Okay, so I've been doing strength training for a while now, but I don't really see the results I'd like to. I do believe it's because I'm doing almost all of my exercises every time I go to the gym, so I've reached a plateau. I've decided that I'm not going to do as much when I go to the gym, but rather switch up my exercises into a 6-day routine. But I'm not sure if this is the right approach or not.

At the gym I go to we have the following:
Free weights with flat benches that elevated to sitting benches.
A few cable machines
Pec-Fly Machine
Seated Squat Machine
A leg-extension machine
2 Bench Presses
A curl bar


Here is my preliminary workout plan. Any advice is appreciated!

https://spreadsheets.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AjTirM4vxEijdHc4Y2wtVlRrQnlFWVo1VG40VkNQR0E&hl=en_US&authkey=CNzt2Eo

sbademan

Here's a website that can help you come up with a new exercise routine. It gives you several different options for each area you want to focus on. Videos & written tutorials make it easy to follow.

http://www.sparkpeople.com/resource/fitness_plan_generator.asp

Gilbrod

Up the wieght every 3 days. I have been doing the same excersises since January. I have yet (thank God) to hit a plateau. Not only am I continuosly burning calories, but I'm also gaining muscle and strength. You might also wanna add some cardio. That'll get your heart rate going.

tony2009

I do cardio almost everyday, I get plenty of that. And I do up the weights, but the upping has gotten slower as they have gotten heavier. Just trying to confuse the body a little bit to get it up this hill.

_Tristan_

Strenght training or getting stronger? If you are looking to do the whole body strength training then you are on the right track but if you are trying to improve size then you have to focus your efforts on different areas and usually go until failure. Which one is it?

tony2009

Well, I'm kind of looking to do a little of both. I'd like to drop some fat lbs off and gain some muscle weight/be more tone.

_Tristan_

OK, now that we have that figured out you have to decide if you want to commit to getting bigger or losing weight. Remember, muscle weighs more than fat so you are going to gain weight.
Take a look at this: http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/luis6.htm. This was not my workout but its close. Workouts are divided into parts so that you can concentrate on that area: chest, shoulders and tri’s one day, back and bi’s on another day, legs and abs on another day and arms (hated that day). Anyway, building muscle is all about moving weight so get as much as you can do as many times as you can. Try to make the recommended amount of times but also try to go up.
When I was into getting bigger I did cardio one or two night a week because the rest of the time was burning out muscles which require a lot of calories. This brings me to another thing you should know. Protein! Look it up or go to a fitness store and ask questions. You’ll need it.

Hope this helps....

freerange

Google Strong Lifts 5x5

_Tristan_

I just read your profile and it looks like you're more into running. If you are then you can still use the same workout basics (dividing your workouts up) and just not move as much weight. You want to be lean for running.

Normalg

I've seen many trainers have theri clients get on the treadmill or eliptical for about 10 minutes to up the their heart rate before strength training, it might help out some.