a little help here...working out

[Murphy3]

i've worked out in various ways for quite awhile...
right now, i'm working on two things.
losing about 10-15 unwanted pounds of ....hmm, how to put this.. fat.

gaining muscle mass.

so, right now, i'm currently:
lifting weights twice a week
and
aerobic workout 7 days a week (such as exercise bike or running..or stair-stepper thing)
plus
swimming 5-6 days a week (i'll swim some laps ..but mostly i'm in there to relax after working out)
plus
play basketball and/or tennis 2-3 days a week for 2+ hours

is this in any way exercise overkill or anything else?

I have been thinking about upping the lifting weights to three times a week. not sure whether or not that's a good move.

[Drbio]

I always heard that muscle mass building requires 3 days of 30+ minutes a week.

[djb]

What's your workout split look like? What are your goals (in terms of gaining muscle)? Also, 7 days of cardio is overkill. You'll burn more muscle if anything. Though I guess that wouldn't necessarily be so bad if you wanted to lose the fat FAST and didn't care about packing on the muscle right now.

[djb]

I don't think lifting two days a week is enough unless you're some hardcore bodybuilder who does HIIT and understands how to get the most out of 1-2 sessions a week. Plus with two days, that only allows one day for upper body, and one day for lower body..

[Murphy3]

goals of gaining muscle..well, there's certain areas in which i'm looking to add mass...like the delts and biceps. for some reason, i guess in the past i didn't get a good distribution of lifting done because my triceps and pecs seem to be further along than my delts and biceps.

i didn't know if the aerobic would be overkill or not since it primarily focuses on the legs..and my primary focus for gaining muscle mass is in the delts and biceps..i didn't think the aerobic would be overkill.

i'm not necessarily looking to add mass to the tricep area but if i do, i'm not going to really complain or anything..just not the primary focus.

[Murphy3]

well, dj, i do upper and lower the same day..and i do that twice a week..
should the upper and lower body workouts be separated?

[Hales233]

Murph,
Triceps are a bigger part of your arm than the Biceps...most people just lift for the guns...since you already have the triceps, once you get your biceps huge you'll be jacked.

[Murphy3]

well, i know that i'm getting old.. and i know that people don't really increase their muscle mass at around the age of 30 or so.. so, i'm trying to be in good physical shape at that point.

[Bayliss]

Lifting weights? That's a bad habit.

Personally, I don't touch the stuff.

[djb]

You should definitely split up your workout. Sounds like you're doing the same exercises twice a week (meaning, you're working the same muscle groups twice a week). For optimal gains, split up your routine, and limit your cardio a bit. Are you doing that circuit training stuff? If so, dump the machines and focus on freeweights. Compound movements like squats, bench press, and deadlifts will strengthen your entire body and promote serious muscle growth. Here's what my routine normally looks like:

day 1: chest/tris
day 2: 40mins cardio/abs
day 3: back/bis/forearms
day 4: 40mins cardio/abs
day 6: shoulders/traps/calves
day 7: 40mins cardio/abs
day 8: legs/calves

That's more or less what it looks like. You can easily create a three day split by combining shoulders with chest/tris. 3-4 days of cardio (at 30-40mins at moderate pace) should be enough to burn away the fat assuming your diet is also in check.

[djb]

My delts are also my problem area..that's why I focus a whole day on them. Just do stuff like barbell/dumbbell presses (FREE WEIGHTS!), lateral raises, and upright rows and you'll get them growing in no time. Those shoulder press machines suck because of the crappy fixed range of motion, cheating ability, and they don't work your stabilizers at all.

[Murphy3]

hmm, thanks for the advice.
to be honest, i hate working out, but, ..it's something i've been doing for awhile now..

[djb]

Once you get into a regular routine and start seeing muscles pop out all over, you won't want to stop [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

For each body part, do 2-3 exercises (preferably two) at varying reps each. Generally I stick to 6-8 reps upper body, and 8-12 reps lower body (since muscles like quads and calves need to be stressed a lot more to promote growth). Usually I finish off with a set or two of forced reps or slow negatives (using weights I normally wouldn't be able to life 6-8 times with proper form).

[PeterVecseyisdumb]

Murphy3, when you lift weights, I think you only have to work the same muscles, one time, per week. If you are lifting weights, twice per week, you could just split the muscle groups you want to work. For instance, you could do chest, shoulders, and triceps, one day. Then on the other day, you could do back, biceps, and legs. If you lift weights, I don't think it will do any good, for you to work the same muscles more than one time per week. The reason for this, is because it takes time for the muscles to heal, after you have worked them out.

[Murphy3]

i've lifted off an on since i was 12..however, alot of it was done during athletics and you never know if your coaches know as much about lifting weights as anyone else..and since graduating, i've kinda just done the same thing as always when i've worked out.

i guess i've never really known if i was working out in a way that would reach an optimal output

[reeds]

Be careful. Delts are often overtrained. There are many excercises that indirectly hit the delts-Bench press and incline press hit the front delt. Some rowing motion hit the rear delt. So many people overtrain that area. I am NO bodybuilder- but I do have a few friends that are and i have often heard them talk about this subject. I would recommend a "push-pull work-out. Chest shoulders and triceps (all Push), back and bicep (all pull) and legs the third day. Fourth day- rest.

Monday- Chest Shoulders triceps
Tuesday- Back and Biceps
Wednesday- Legs
Thursday- REST
Friday- Repeat above.

Cardio- I would go 5 days a week/30minutes a day...You will be Arnold in no time....

[Drbio]

Cardio- I would go 5 days a week/30minutes a day...You will be Arnold in no time....

Murph Swartzenegger?

[djb]

A push-pull routine is great, but I wouldn't go three days in a row without rest. I don't think it does as much for muscle growth unless you've got incredibly genetics or are on gear, since your body grows while it's resting.

Plus my back is usually killing me after back/bis day..no way I could jump into squats and stiff leg deads the next day.

[Kat]

Every "body" responds differently, listen to it. For me, the best routine was one I could stick with. Three days on, one day rest, back/biceps, chest/triceps, legs/abs, rest. 10 minutes cardio to warm up, 10-20 after depending on if I worked legs, or was just plain tired. Form is everything. So is diet. Body types differ. Triceps are a tough group as is quads (for me), I found isolation exercises the key for the stubborn muscle groups. I learned the hard way, rest is required for the muscle tissue to heal/grow. Low reps/high weight builds tissue if you allow it time to heal. But....you have to have bulk/fat to be able to lift the amount of weight required because it puts such stress on the joints and a high amount of stored energy to perform. High reps (10+) builds definition, and burns fat. Its a complicated process. Just my experience. Get to know what works for you, experiment.

[djb]

As long as you do heavy resistance training, you'll put on mass. You'll also burn fat regardless of what routine you choose (high rep/low rep) just so long as you keep your heart rate up by taking only short breaks in between sets and by keeping your intensity high. Most of my friends never do cardio yet they're still able keep their bf% low. This is due to the intensity of their training sessions and of course, their diet.

[Drbio]

working out is overated....drink beer.