Bula

[Killer T]

Hi All, it is great to see a site like this based in NZ. I have learned a lot from the forum, its a good resource.

[deegee]

Welcome, always good to see new members posting, what are your training like ? Any short or long term goals ?

[ExpensiveUrine]

Bula!

[Killer T]

Bula ExpensiveUrine.

I am pretty much a novice at this, but the moment I am trying to lower my fat level. Currently it is around 20% (plus :shifty:) , but I would like to bring it down to around 15%.

I am still learning, so any pointers on the workout below, that I am currently on, would be good. Any pointers on food would also be good.

Mon, Wed

Cardio:

20Mins

Chest:

Bench press 5 x 6-10

Flat bench flyes 5 x 6-10

Cable crossovers 6 x 10-12

Back:

T-bar rows 5 x 6-10

Seated pulley rows 6 x 6-10

Deadlifts 6 x 15

Legs:

Hack Squats 6 x 8-12

Leg press 6 x 8-12

Leg extensions 6 x 12-15

Leg curls 6 x 10-12

Tues, Thurs

Cardio:

20Mins

Biceps:

Barbell curls 6 x 6-10

Seated dumbell curls 6 x 6-10

Dumbell concentration curls 6 x 6-10

Triceps:

Rope pulldowns 6 x 6-10

Rope extensions 6 x 6-10

One-arm triceps extensions (dumbell) 6 x 6-10

Shoulders:

Seated barbell presses 6 x 6-10

Lateral raises (standing) 6 x 6-10

Rear-delt lateral raises 5 x 6-10

Shrugs 5 x 6-10

[Pseudonym]

Welcome mate. We're more than happy to help you out.

You've got a good range of exercises in that routine, but the split (exercise arrangement) is a bit unusual. Did you get the routine from somewhere, or is it one you designed yourself? Are you taking each of these exercises to failure?

[Killer T]

Thanks Pseudonym.

This routine was designed by a friend of mine. Can you please explain why the split is unusual, so that I can tweak it. Each exercises are not to failure.

Cheers.

[Pseudonym]

Well, first of all, your friend may have had a very good reason for giving you that routine - so don't feel you have to change based on my comments.

Having said that, here's my take...

You're doing chest, back, and legs all on the same day. Now, apart from these being big muscles and therefore pretty tiring to work, you've also got the issue of secondary muscles being hit at the same time. When you exercise the chest, for instance, your triceps and shoulders help push the weight (hopefully not as much as the chest, but they're certainly doing work). When you do the t-bar and pulley rows for back, you also use your biceps to pull with.

This means that your biceps, triceps and shoulders are getting hit every day - and that will make recovery difficult. I'm not sure how much you know about this, but our beginner's guideexplains the basics here.

Now, if you're not doing the exercises to failure, it could be that you're not causing enough damage to the muscle to need that extra recovery time. And if this is your first routine ever, it may be quite helpful to do exactly what you're doing, just to get a feel for the exercises and movements before you start pushing too heavy.

Hope that helps.

[Killer T]

Thanks Pseudonym, that does help.