Bad workout plan

Movemoreguy22
Movemoreguy22 Posts: 387 Member
Hi people.. is there such a thing of a bad workout plan.. I'm stuck in middle not knowing what I want to do at the mo..
just went to the gym I didn't have a plan.

Is it the case of making sure u hit everything equally. Like legs quads,hams. Chest, back .. tris, biceps etc etc
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Replies

  • Phirrgus
    Phirrgus Posts: 1,902 Member
    edited July 2019
    There are more bad plans than good ones ;)

    I like 5x5 (easy google) but here's a list tailored towards goals, beginner through advanced.

    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10332083/which-lifting-program-is-the-best-for-you/p1
  • Chieflrg
    Chieflrg Posts: 9,097 Member
    Self made plan from a recreational lifter has the least potential for success for a post novice.

    Written 5x5 programs such as Strong lift & Texas Method as well as Wendler's 5/3/1 are in my opinion the worse written programs for results for time invested on the average per lifter.

    That being said, just about any template will get you results if you are currently untrained.
  • Movemoreguy22
    Movemoreguy22 Posts: 387 Member
    The topic of good and bad workouts has led to many wars in the bodybuilding community. Everyone will swear on a certain method while bashing on another. And then you get left with ‘ol reliable’: “Do what works best for you.” It’s important to know what kind of body you are trying to achieve. When i first started bodybuilding several years ago i remember being so impatient and desperate because i wanted to be the biggest and best looking animal in the gym. Didn’t realize that being 6 feet tall and weighing only 140 pounds was going to make things difficult. So all i can share in this moment is what’s worked for me. You ready? Here it goes: One muscle group a day, Once a week. Yup. The old school way. I confirmed this recently after asking so many older bodybuilders at my gym. They all said the exact same thing. They have trained for 25+ years doing the SAME thing. Monday: Chest. Tuesday: Back, Wednesday: Shoulders. Thursday: Legs. Friday: Arms. Rest two days. Then start over, each day killing each muscle group. Of course, it doesn’t have to be in that exact order. I like to start the week with legs, making sure i get that out of the way and that i never skip it. And if you can’t train 5 days a week then pair up some of your muscle groups. I’ll usually pair back and shoulders. And of course make sure to throw in abs and cardio in there. This way has not only shown to give good results but it has also has been effective at reducing injuries and allowing muscles to heal and grow better, since you’re not tearing them up 2-3 times a week like some workout plans have you do. Muscle growth will depend on how much you allow your muscle to rest. And more importantly, be CONSISTENT. So just set your days and look up videos on youtube on how to hit that particular muscle group. Try different exercises and see which ones yield the best results. Just be patient. The results will come.

    Cheers man.. I look into that.. I'm 5ft 7 140ibs.. I normally try big compound lifts but by the end of work I'm knackered (manual labour) and then going to the gym straight after..
    But I might give this ago...
    How many excerises you recommend per body part
  • cerillo_encendido
    cerillo_encendido Posts: 74 Member
    Cheers man.. I look into that.. I'm 5ft 7 140ibs.. I normally try big compound lifts but by the end of work I'm knackered (manual labour) and then going to the gym straight after..
    But I might give this ago...
    How many excerises you recommend per body part [/quote]

    Your height gives you an advantage, it will be easier for you to fill out your frame. So do your best man. The nice thing about doing one muscle group a day is that you can focus solely on hammering that muscle. I like to do between 5-6 exercises. 4-6 sets each exercise. This is a little on the extreme side, so i wouldn’t do this much if i were you, at least to begin. Try doing at least 4 really good exercises, particularly ones that really isolate that muscle. 4 sets per exercise for a total of 16 sets. Pick a weight that allows you to do about 12-15 reps each set. To be honest I’ve gotten to the point where all my sets are burnouts. In other words doing as much as my body allows each set. This has allowed me to get stronger and constantly be burning that muscle. Try this out in the future. Don’t worry about the Weight so much. As you get more advanced you can do things like supersets or pyramids, where you go up in Weight each set then come back down. Experiment man. And listen to your body. Just try to enjoy it and don’t let yourself get burned out. And REST. Sleep as much as you can at night. You’re body will hate you if you don’t.
  • Movemoreguy22
    Movemoreguy22 Posts: 387 Member
    Cheers man.. I look into that.. I'm 5ft 7 140ibs.. I normally try big compound lifts but by the end of work I'm knackered (manual labour) and then going to the gym straight after..
    But I might give this ago...
    How many excerises you recommend per body part

    Your height gives you an advantage, it will be easier for you to fill out your frame. So do your best man. The nice thing about doing one muscle group a day is that you can focus solely on hammering that muscle. I like to do between 5-6 exercises. 4-6 sets each exercise. This is a little on the extreme side, so i wouldn’t do this much if i were you, at least to begin. Try doing at least 4 really good exercises, particularly ones that really isolate that muscle. 4 sets per exercise for a total of 16 sets. Pick a weight that allows you to do about 12-15 reps each set. To be honest I’ve gotten to the point where all my sets are burnouts. In other words doing as much as my body allows each set. This has allowed me to get stronger and constantly be burning that muscle. Try this out in the future. Don’t worry about the Weight so much. As you get more advanced you can do things like supersets or pyramids, where you go up in Weight each set then come back down. Experiment man. And listen to your body. Just try to enjoy it and don’t let yourself get burned out. And REST. Sleep as much as you can at night. You’re body will hate you if you don’t. [/quote]

    I feel my body hates me now. Always walking like a zombie from wake
  • cerillo_encendido
    cerillo_encendido Posts: 74 Member
    Haha yeah it can be like that sometimes. We just gotta do the best we can. Hope everything works out for you.
  • Cahgetsfit
    Cahgetsfit Posts: 1,913 Member
    @cerillo_encendido I also prefer one body part per day. I've tried everything else - doing push/pull etc etc, but the thing that has given me the best results personally has been killing the ONE body part per session.

    I do mix back and bis and chest and tris though because I can't always get in a 5th gym day just for arms. On the occasions that I can do a 5th day, I tend to either have a "fun" day, or do a second leg day with more of a glute focus because I hate doing legs and glutes so I look like a Spongebob, or a "broette"

    Yep - i'm the only female out in gym land who HATES doing effing booty crap!
  • Cahgetsfit
    Cahgetsfit Posts: 1,913 Member
    And I want to add something else - once I learnt how to "turn on" whichever muscle group I was working on for the day, my gainz made major improvements. It's worth looking into that.

    map the muscle, activate it, kill it, then finish off with a low weight high rep isolation finisher until you're trembling and just can't anymore.
  • cerillo_encendido
    cerillo_encendido Posts: 74 Member
    @Cahgetsfit Thank you for reinforcing the benefits of this training. Seems like there’s only a few of us left out here who stick to one group a day. And it’s refreshing to hear that there are females that train this way too. Didn’t think any existed. Lol no, what i mean by that is every female at my gym trains booty every single day. Like if that’s all that matters in life: Booty gainz. Ha. But yes i agree with you: train till failure towards the end of your workout. And by the looks of your profile pic it’s worked! Keep it up!
  • Movemoreguy22
    Movemoreguy22 Posts: 387 Member
    Cahgetsfit wrote: »
    And I want to add something else - once I learnt how to "turn on" whichever muscle group I was working on for the day, my gainz made major improvements. It's worth looking into that.

    map the muscle, activate it, kill it, then finish off with a low weight high rep isolation finisher until you're trembling and just can't anymore.

    I think that's a problem I have had, not switching the right mucles on..
    When i bench press I would just lift the weight rather than lifting with the chest. I think I was lifting more with the shoulder..

    But I find the back the hardest to switch on
  • Cahgetsfit
    Cahgetsfit Posts: 1,913 Member
    @Cahgetsfit Thank you for reinforcing the benefits of this training. Seems like there’s only a few of us left out here who stick to one group a day. And it’s refreshing to hear that there are females that train this way too. Didn’t think any existed. Lol no, what i mean by that is every female at my gym trains booty every single day. Like if that’s all that matters in life: Booty gainz. Ha. But yes i agree with you: train till failure towards the end of your workout. And by the looks of your profile pic it’s worked! Keep it up!

    Dude, I absolutely HATE booty workouts. OMG - can't think of anything worse!!! I'm probably the only female in the world that has this problem though. I do it because I have to, but leg day is always the day I skip if I need to skip a day LOL! I'm totally a broette.

    I really really need to do legs twice a week though now, because it's becoming increasingly obvious that my legs/booty are nowhere NEAR my upper body in terms of definition and size... heh. So I need to bite the bullet and get on it. I do have gigantic calves already though, so that part is taken care of - I don't have stick legs, just very not defined legs.
  • Cahgetsfit
    Cahgetsfit Posts: 1,913 Member
    Cahgetsfit wrote: »
    And I want to add something else - once I learnt how to "turn on" whichever muscle group I was working on for the day, my gainz made major improvements. It's worth looking into that.

    map the muscle, activate it, kill it, then finish off with a low weight high rep isolation finisher until you're trembling and just can't anymore.

    I think that's a problem I have had, not switching the right mucles on..
    When i bench press I would just lift the weight rather than lifting with the chest. I think I was lifting more with the shoulder..

    But I find the back the hardest to switch on

    Have a look at @coacheugeneteo on Instagram for all your muscle mechanics needs (ie - switching on, etc). Since I did his workshop and started to implement his stuff I have made really visible progress with my *kitten* muscle groups. My chest now has striations when I flex it. I have chesticles!!!!

    Currently working hard on hamstrings.

    Shoulders have also markedly improved.
  • Movemoreguy22
    Movemoreguy22 Posts: 387 Member
    Cahgetsfit wrote: »
    Cahgetsfit wrote: »
    And I want to add something else - once I learnt how to "turn on" whichever muscle group I was working on for the day, my gainz made major improvements. It's worth looking into that.

    map the muscle, activate it, kill it, then finish off with a low weight high rep isolation finisher until you're trembling and just can't anymore.

    I think that's a problem I have had, not switching the right mucles on..
    When i bench press I would just lift the weight rather than lifting with the chest. I think I was lifting more with the shoulder..

    But I find the back the hardest to switch on

    Have a look at @coacheugeneteo on Instagram for all your muscle mechanics needs (ie - switching on, etc). Since I did his workshop and started to implement his stuff I have made really visible progress with my *kitten* muscle groups. My chest now has striations when I flex it. I have chesticles!!!!

    Currently working hard on hamstrings.

    Shoulders have also markedly improved.

    Thanks I have a lookie... I did arms yesterday arms are feeling a little sore.. Might mix abs with shoulders or do abs with back dont reply no yet
  • Movemoreguy22
    Movemoreguy22 Posts: 387 Member
    Haha yeah it can be like that sometimes. We just gotta do the best we can. Hope everything works out for you.

    Did leg workout today , their like jelly but seemed to take forever I mean like hours forever
  • kimondo666
    kimondo666 Posts: 194 Member
    i approve what cerillo said, i do this workout 5 times a week, each part in other day, And ya can fully focus on what are you doing instead of overworking some parts. I got some newbie little gains, while slimming down a little. Been just working 4 months like that, but there is progress.
  • Movemoreguy22
    Movemoreguy22 Posts: 387 Member
    kimondo666 wrote: »
    i approve what cerillo said, i do this workout 5 times a week, each part in other day, And ya can fully focus on what are you doing instead of overworking some parts. I got some newbie little gains, while slimming down a little. Been just working 4 months like that, but there is progress.

    I feel better for it for my 1st week, so quite happy that cerillo mentioned it... what I think I'm gonna do is I'm hitting 15reps this week and maybe the next week drop it down too 10 and then the following mate 5 to 8 reps and than go back up to 15
  • jacqueliny
    jacqueliny Posts: 7 Member
    I have a biceps soreness that really doesn’t go away. It gets less sore after time off on the weekends. I have a physical job ... cleaning houses ... my goal is to build muscle. When is soreness too sore to work out? I have trouble discerning that. Should I concentrate on the muscle groups that aren’t sore only? I’m not sure what to really ask. I’m 5 days into counting my macro’s.
  • Cahgetsfit
    Cahgetsfit Posts: 1,913 Member
    jacqueliny wrote: »
    I have a biceps soreness that really doesn’t go away. It gets less sore after time off on the weekends. I have a physical job ... cleaning houses ... my goal is to build muscle. When is soreness too sore to work out? I have trouble discerning that. Should I concentrate on the muscle groups that aren’t sore only? I’m not sure what to really ask. I’m 5 days into counting my macro’s.

    how much bicep work do you do in your workouts? One thing I notice. lot of newbies do is a bazillion bicep curls instead of other movements which also work out the biceps secondarily.

    You can work sore muscles even if they're sore.

    But if you're not already following a proper structured program (whichever one you prefer), then you should really look into it.
  • Pipsqueak1965
    Pipsqueak1965 Posts: 397 Member
    I hate legs/bottom workouts too! Much prefer upper body - but I'm the same as Cahgetsfit - I need to work much more on my legs as they are lagging behind quite a lot! (I do struggle with legs due to chronic knee pain too, because I am veh veh old :().