Im brand new to the board and wanted to add my official "help me with my training program" thread. Ive read every single thread on this board that has to do with split routines, full body routines, "getting started", and "need help". Ive gotten a ton of useful information, many different workouts, and alot of opinions on what one should be doing when getting back into training. That being said, here is my dilema. Every time I look at a workout I think, "Thats the one for me!" Then I read the next one and think the same thing again. Then I read about a 3 Phase workout program in my Mens Fitness and wonder if thats what I need to do. It all boils down to that fact that Im confused, and Im hoping that some of you can help me out.

Every post I read about someone trying to get back into training advised of a full body routine/3 days a week. Weekends are out for me so that seems like it would fit well into my schedule. I just dont want to start off on the wrong foot and do things that are counterproductive. Ive been out of the gym about a year, but I have trained in the past. I dont want this thing to get out of control so I will step back and get some opinions on what Ive written up to this point before posting further. Any information would be greatly appreciated. Once again, these boards are a source of great information and are a one stop shop for just about anything you'd want to know about. Thanks in advance.

[This message has been edited by Beav (edited 02-06-2003).]

Personally I'm not a fan of the full body workout. Although I would say there could be something to be said about it if you are just starting out and want to get your muscles used to working out. From there think about what muscles you want to work out the most, the exercises you enjoy, etc. Look at all those routines and pick and chose from all of them the things you like and the things you want to try and go with them. There is no reason you have to use a routine someone came up with. I don't, never did. I come up with my own stuff and when I see or hear of something that interests me I'll add it and maybe subtract something else from my routine to keep changing things a little bit all the time. How many days should you work out a week, when should you rest, etc. There are only general guidelines to these things. It depends on your schedule, your body type, the effort you're willing to give, the amount of time you want to spend at the gym, the rate at which your body recovers. A lot of these things you find out through the course of understanding your own body and how it works. To do this you read information and talk to other people (more so people with bodies built like you are that have been where you are now). Don't take everything you read as something that will work best for you. Try many different things and then go with what feels right for you and what you feel is giving yourself results. You should see results in any given workout within 3 months if you are training hard enough and eating a decent diet.

The full body thing seemed a bit watered down to me as well. Some of the ones Ive seen didnt even have bench presses. I have one workout that I keep going back to because it seems to be the one that I compare the others to. Going on the guidelines that you have mentioned this is the one I would call my "favorite". It incorporates exercises Im familiar with, and ones that Ive been successful with in the past. I will list it below for review and suggestions.

Day 1 - Back/Shoulders:
Close Grip Lat Pull Down 4 Sets - 15(warmup), 8-12
One Arm Dumbell Row 2 Sets - 8-12
Seated Military Press 3 Sets - 8-12
Standing Lateral Raise 2 Sets - 8-12
Bent Over Lateral Raise 2 Sets - 8-12
Crunches 3 Sets - 15-25
Cardio

Day 2:
Cardio Only

Day 3 - Legs/Calves:
Leg Press 4 Sets - 15(warmup), 8-12
Dumbell Lunge 3 Sets - 10-12
Leg Extension 2 Sets - 10-12
Lying Leg Curl 2 Sets - 10-12
Calf Raises 3 Sets - 12-15
Cardio if able http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/biggrin.gif

Day 4:
Cardio

Day 5 - Chest/Tris/Bis:
Bench Press 4 Sets - 15(Warmup), 8-12
Incline Dumbell Press 3 Sets - 8-12
Reverse GripBarbell Curl 3 Sets - 8-12
Dumbell Curls 2 Sets - 8-12
Triceps Bench Dip 3 Sets - 8-12
Tricep Pushdown 2 Sets - 8-12
Crunches 3 Sets - 15-25
Cardio

Day 6 and 7: Rest

I wont start out at the number of sets listed above, but will cut back to 1 or 2 per excercise for a month or so. I will also play with the excercises a little bit once I start, but the basic outline will be the same. The cardio was something I added and will be moderate until I get back in the swing of things.

I'm probably not the best to ask about your routine. See, most people, me especially, look at that routine and think so ourselves, "I wouldn't do that". Doesn't mean it wouldn't work but it's just not the way I train. Looking at it though I would say it's scientificly solid. In other words, yes, I think it would work.

I do:

(I always start with the higher reps and then go to lower reps as I get fatigued)

Chest/tris
3 sets dumbell incline bench 5 to 8
3 sets dumbell flat bench 5 to 8
3 sets dumbell decline bench 6 to 12
3 sets skullcrushers 6 to 10
3 sets cable pulldowns for tris 8 to 12
3 sets cable pulldowns with a different dilly 8 to 12
3 sets dumbell flys 6 to 10 (sometimes flat, sometimes incline)
Ab exercises

Back/shoulders/bis
3 sets arnold presses 6 to 10
3 or 4 sets bicep concentration curls 5 to 10
3 sets lat pulldowns on hammer strength machine 8
3 sets iso lateral rows on hammer strength machine 8
3 or 4 sets preacher curls using dumbells 6 to 10
3 sets of ? (laying face down on bench and lifting dumbells up like reverse dumbell flys) 8 to 12
(sometimes) 3 sets of barbell bicep curls 6 to 10
Ab exercises

Legs
4 to 6 sets of squats 8 to 12
4 to 6 sets of straight legged deadlifts 8 to 12
3 sets of seated calf raises 20 to 25
3 sets of standing calf raises 8 to 10
2 sets of leg lifts 8 to 10
3 sets of leg curls 8 to 10
Ab exercises
(I usually split legs into 2 days woth of workouts)

I rarely if ever do cardio. I take 2 days a week off normally so I end up doing 1 of those routines twice a week and normally it's a different one every week. I do very little for my shoulders and traps since they are very pronounced on me and need very little work.

I wish I could rarely do cardio. Your workout was kind of like the one I was doing when I quit going to the gym about a year ago. Everything I read says to ease back into a program and not try to do the same thing you used to. But at the same time I dont want to do one exercise per body part once a week. Thats why I was leaning towards the one above. Thanks for sharing.

Yeah, easing in is the way to go to start back otherwise you have to deal with too much soreness. If I've taken some time off I just try to start off pretty light and gauge my soreness and just keep increasing sets and weight, usually only takes about 2 weeks to get back into the swing of things for me.

IMO, if you're just getting back in to training, you should do 3 full body workouts per week to start. You need to get your body used to working out again and that means first building up your core strength and getting used to the movements again. I'd recommend the bulk of your work out to consist of compound free weight exercises. Stick to chins, dips, chest presses, dead lifts (normal and stiff leg), squats, shoulder presses and rows in the main. After a couple of months, you can think about moving on to a split routine. This is just my opinon mind, and I'm sure other's will disagree. Personally, I like full body workouts as well as split routines and I don't limit my self to having to chose only one. Done properly, a full body workout can hit your muscles just as hard as a split routine, so I've found doing periods of each works well for me.

[This message has been edited by Endorphin Junky (edited 02-07-2003).]