Help with training programme

[Chevelle]

Well I have been training for about 9 months now. Usually go to the gym about 5-6 times per week, setup like this. But gains have not been as good as i was hoping.

Day one upper body (back, shoulders, bis, tris, chest, shoulders)

Doing basically one exercise for one muscle group

Day two Lower body (Abs and legs)

2 exercises for abs and 2 for legs

Now I hear alot of people training only 2 groups a day e.g. Back and biceps then changing to say triceps and shoulders the next day.

My programme thus far as all been setup by a personal trainer claiming you need to train everything 3 times a week at least to get gains?

I push myself really hard at the gym but only get very slow gains.

What i am wanting to know what setup would work better? do i need to focus more exercises on single muscle groups e.g 4 exercises for biceps and 4 for back on say a monday, than say 4 exercises for tris and 4 exercises for chest on a tueday etc etc and rest them longer before training that specific muscle group again?

Any help would be great, its hard to stay motivated if you dont see the results.

[soundsgood]

Sounds like you are overtraining your muscles Chevelle

The general school of thought is that if you're hitting the weights hard you should only hit each muscle group ONCE PER WEEK.

Rest is also very important for muscle growth.

An example split might be (use mine as an example)

MON - CHEST & BICEPS

TUES - SHOULDERS

WED - REST

THURS - LEGS

FRIDAY - REST

SATURDAY - BACK & TRICEPS

SUNDAY - REST

Also a good idea to throw a bit of cardio in there depending on what you're trying to achieve.

The other very important factor is Nutrition. Your diet plays a huge part in you're muscle development. You need to be getting at least 2g of protein per kg of body weight into you daily and preferably in foods like steak, chicken etc. Drink lots of water, get lots of sleep and you should start to see the results :grin:

[Chevelle]

Thanks for that. It seems strange a personal trainer would set me up on that kinda plan? How many excerises should i be doing for each muscle group?

I started as 88Kgs of prue blubber, then dropped to 73kgs when i started training, now i am up to 82kgs with a much lower Bodyfat level.

But still want to get bigger with a slightly lower fat% I havent had a measurement for a while.

I kepp my protein levels high, have protein shake an hour before and straight after training. Also have one when i wake up and just before i go to sleep. I make sure that every meal I have has some form of protein in it usually being chicken or tuna etc. What other things would assist?

If i only do the current plan I have twice a week then i would feel that I would lose muscle size resting 1 week between. So thats why i think i must have to push each uscle groupe harder then rest for longer etc?

[Varven]

Your trainer was not misleading you!!

Look at the volume he/she had you on ... it was pretty low.. so frequency of 3x a week is pretty good and overall must have been a good entry programme....

judge your results... theyve been great!!

youve gone from fat to muscly and lean!!

You've just started to stagnate now cause your body is used to the training.. so time to hit it with something new.

Soundsgood's high volume routine would be a good start.

However, it is ALL in the diet.

You can have the PERFECT training routine and utmost intensity in the gym, but with a crap-o diet it's going to give you NOTHING.

I highly reccomend putting up your diet here.

[soundsgood]

Day one upper body (back, shoulders, bis, tris, chest, shoulders)

Doing basically one exercise for one muscle group

Sorry you're right Varven, I skipped over the volume level. You're trainer wasnt overtraining you if you were only doing one exercise per muscle group. But nevertheless you've platued and should consider a new programme like the 4 day split (realise I didnt throw abs in the but you could do them every second workout).

For each muscle group you'd do 3 - 4 differerent exercises, hitting that muscle in slightly different ways. 1 - 2 warmups sets then 2 -3 working sets on each exercise. How many reps per set? Up to you, depends on what you're trying to achieve.

Resting that muscle group for a week after is a good thing mate. You wont lose muscle size, it will increase. Your muscles grow during rest, not during the workout.

But yeah post up your diet, and any supps your using. It looks like you have made some great overall gains in the short time youve been working out.

[jesses]

Yep my trainer put me on the same thing. Its good for overall fitness, athleticism that sorta thing. But to build size and really grow you need the rests in between. What they have given you has obviously worked but for big muscle gains its time to switch it up to a bb style workout. soundsgood's workout is a good split and i agree with varven, post up what you eat and when you eat it as this is very important

[mollswan]

sack that trainer!3x a week.lol

[Chevelle]

To be honest my diet is probably part of the issue, but its not knowing what to eat is more of the problem.

Morning

Wakeup protein shake bout 33g

1/2 savoury scone

Morning tea

Ham and egg sandwich

Banana

Lunch

chicken salad/ wrap with salad and some form of meat in it.

Afternoon tea

Protein shake or can of tuna

apple or banana

Dinner

Chicken or beef of some form of dish to try and make it interesting but i always make sure there is plenty of protein

Then have a protein shake before I go to bed.

Now this is the usualy programme with of course the odd variation for convenience of course but more or less its the same most days.

This is slightly changed from what I used to do. I have added a lot more protein and have noticed some subtle changes.

I generally try and avoid carbs where I can especially late at night.

As far as suppliments, I take L-Cartenine before training as well as the protein just to try and keen myself balanced. Is there any other suppliments i should be taking? I hear creatine is good for strength but i really just want size and not water weight if possible.

[musclenz]

Depending on your personal goals, I would suggest that your PT's theory of training every body part 3 times a week is very unusual. Most BBers train each body part once or at most twice in the same split of say a 7 day period. Soundsgood has given you an example of this. One leg & back days you might only train those on their own hitting in up to 5-6 exercises of say 3 sets 8-10 rep range.It is important to look at the compound movements for overall mass gains. ie DL's squats etc Also I think your daily food intake is a bit low in calories. Its important to have sufficient protein but also carbs & good fats. You need to be getting up or over 4000Cal ED to be making progress at your weight.

[soundsgood]

I generally try and avoid carbs where I can especially late at night.

.

You're trying to put on some muscle right? Dont avoid carbs, just eat clean ones like brown rice, kumara, wheat bread etc. This will give you more energy when working out, so you can push more weight and in turn gain muscle :grin: