I have already outlined the beginners routine. I would stay on that particular routine for 1 - 2 months before moving on to this program of which would be the next advancement.

MONDAY; CHEST & BICEPS
INCLINE BENCH/INCLINE DUMBELL PRESS
PRONE HAMMER STRENGTH MACHINE
FLAT DUMBELL FLYES
DIPS

STANDING BARBELL CURL
PREACHER CURL WITH EZ BAR
SEATED ALTERNATE DUMBELL CURL


TUESDAY; LEGS
THIGH EXTENSION
LEG PRESS
SQUAT
HAMSTRING CURL
SEATED CALF RAISES
STANDING CALF RAISES

THURSDAY; SHOULDERS & TRICEPS
SHOULDER PRESS (not behind neck)
DUMBELL SIDE LATERALS
BENT OVER DUMBELL REAR LATERALS

TRICEP ROPE PUSHDOWNS
INCLINE EZ BAR EXTENSIONS TO FOREHEAD
BENCH DIPS (hands by your side on edge of bench, feet higher on another bench)


FRIDAY; BACK & TRAPS
HAMMER STRENGTH PULLDOWNS
BENT OVER BARBELL ROWS
T-BAR ROWS
CABLE ROWS

BARBELL SHRUGS OFF RACK

With the first exercise i would always warm up with 4 sets, there after i would use 3 sets.
Reps being 15, 12, 8, 6 respectively.

I followed a similar routine like this for a further 2 - 3 years after my beginners routine.

i notice you train chest with bi`s ,and then tricepts with shoulders , back with tricepts
so bi`s  and tri`s get trained twice a week ,yep
how do you find this routine ? as opposed to training back/bi`s , and chest /tricepts .

Monday, biceps get trained directly.
Thursday, triceps get trained directly.

Monday, triceps get trained indirectly.
Friday, biceps get trained indirectly.

The purpose of this is to hammer your bis and tris when they are fresh.

When a muscle gets trained indirectly it recovers very quickly so this program works very well.

So in theory, arms only get trained directly once... not twice!

19" arms (cold) at 5ft 5 is my result!  

keiko just started on this routine last friday and it is very simular to our last years training routine
apart from last year we used to train tri`s with chest ,,,,,back and bi`s ,,,and shoulders and trap`s
so anyway both me and my training buddy are going to give this work out a go as it looks a good one
but we have added abs in there every second work out so the get attention twice a week ,
we will let you know how its going later on in the year
(it could be the breath of fresh air that we have been looking for )

Ok Skimmings, nice one. I hope it works out well for you and youre training partner!
You know where i am if you need me and good luck  

Hey been reading your website . Very intresting.

Thought the intermediate workout sounded good, so gonna give it a try. How do you know when its time to move on from beginner?Is it simply time and not being sore from the beginner workout, or something else? I've been trainin for years but got into a rut of doing the same weight all the time, so I'm trying everything to break through my plateau.

Just wondering what the hell a "prone" hammer strength chest movement is?? How long should the workout take? with 22 reps at 3 mins per set thats over an hour. How long would you rest between sets,I find 2-3 mins is best for me to lift big next set and produce weekly strength gains? For arms should 3 sets be done with pyramiding?

Cheers

Ha me to but ive been doing the beginner for about a month and a half and been doing the intermediate for...... this is my second week.

My gym isn't the best equipped with weights, what can i do instead for these exercises:

PRONE HAMMER STRENGTH MACHINE
HAMMER STRENGTH PULLDOWNS


My gym has mainly air resistance machines and just a few loose weights.

Hi guys, sorry for the late reply. Im just finding my bearings again from my keyhole shoulder op, i was discharged on tuesday and im in a fair bit of pain.

910... 4-6 weeks should be enough on the beginners program, its just so the muscles get used to being stressed at different angles.
If you are using the same weight ALL the time this is usually a downfall with your diet. Ive seen guys in the gym year in, year out and still look the same... train as hard as you want but if you aint strict with a high protein, carb and moderate essential fat diet you wont jack!
Prone hammer row, Dorian uses one in his dvd. Sat up staight with your back against a pad and the handles are in front of you, when you push out the mechanics of the machine enable you stress the pecs, inner and outer to a great degree limiting stress on the shoulder joint.
Any workout should last between 45-60 mins. I would have 30-60 secs rest inbetween sets and around 2 mins for the final all out set.
Pyramid everthing to place more stress on the working muscle with each set.
Sometimes its not the training routine but diet, any probs then post up your diet and i'll sort it for you! Good luck  

Fatal... Prone hammer, nearest to this really is flat or very slight incline dumbell flyes.
Hammer strength pulldowns i would replace with reverse grip pulldowns, hands at  shoulder width.
T-bar rows i would substitute with bent over barbell rows.

Just compromise with what you have and do the best you can!  

Thank you mate.

I have followed your beginner for about a month and been doing the intermediate for 2 weeks and i can say its doing the job nicely.

Thanks for the routine and hope you recover soon....

How do you load the weight increases?

Increase slightly on each set? The increase the start point next week?

Do you incorporate de-loading or do you go to failure on the last set and just take a week off now and again?

Got to be worth making this a sticky so it is easier to find?

Quoted from invisiblekid

How do you load the weight increases?

Increase slightly on each set? The increase the start point next week?

Do you incorporate de-loading or do you go to failure on the last set and just take a week off now and again?

A good way to find out how to increase your poundages correctly would be this method;

1st set   50% of maximum poundage for 20 reps
2nd set  65% of maximum poundage for 15 reps
3rd set   85% of maximum poundage for 10 reps
4th set  100% of maximum poundage for 8 reps (This set would be to total failure)

This is how i generally increase weight per set in a productive manner.

ive been following this for a while now and im gonna start doing some dead lifts on fri (back day),only problem is my legs still hurt on friday so could i swap round mon and tue?
one more thing,whats the prone hammer strength machine?
gaz

gaz if you dont know wahat the prone hammer strength machine is then chances you gym dont have one. there not that commen. dont worry doode not worth changing gyms for.

my gym dont even have a free bar just smith machine. i get by.

come to think of it there is loads my gym dont have. hot showers for one!!

Theres always a way around it. for instance i do chins on the smith machine bar by fixing it at the top and weighted dips on two benches. get some funny looks but dont give a fu*k.  

no what you mean dean,i use smith machine for chest and tricep dips.
no free bar (at all) what do you use to dead lift? smith machine?

im afrade so. to be honest i feel a bit safer coz ive slipped a disc deadlifting before and i have a big history of back problems so the securety of the smith puts my mind a rest a little a prevents me doing any funky movments while deadlifting.

as a lone trainer it gives me conferdance to go that little bit further when benching etc.

Any chance of making this a sticky thread under the beginner programme...plz...!

Is there any chance someone could show a good programme to follow this after a 2 month stint.....??

How long have you been traing DJANDY?

7 months now PJ

To be honest DJANDY - in my opinion that routine is advanced for someone just starting out. If you have only been training 7 months then this routine is more than enough for you to keep building your physique.

But I keep hearing that you should change your training around every 6-8 weeks. What is meant by that..??
Would that be in relation to number of reps etc then..????

Because some people believe that your body will become accustomed to training the same way and become stale. This refers to how you actually train each body part NOT your training split. Personally I more or less stick with the same workouts..... If it aint broke then dont try to fix it

PJ

me too i never change pj told me that 'dont fix what aint broken' thing forever ago. but each work out shold be harder to stop you body getting used to it. best way to do this is + more weight! every w/o for me is heavyr than the last. not always on EVERY set but at least two sets per bodypart. only needs to be a weight incress of .5 of a kg to do the trick.

I have just started on this routine, when do you do ABS?

Thanks

Im doing the same routine, i do abs twice a week and vary my days to how i feel.
After doing your legs, you might feel abs could fit in here. The last couple of weeks Ive done my abs on a monday with chest & biceps and again on thurday with shoulders & triceps.
Ive found this routine to be very good....
Sometimes I do an early morning cardio session so finish off with abs.... experiment a bit to what suits you... do them at least once a week, but I'd say no more than twice as they need to recover too....

andy i'd only train you abs once a week as there a slow twich muscle a need a week to rest. or you will end up with stronge flat abs. i'm sure you dont want that but hard bumpy abs instead. as for training on leg days ouch. i'm guessing you dont do leg raises? these would kill my legs if i'd just trained them. leg raises is IMO the best lower ab exercise!!

I didn't know you could change the shape of your abs from the type of training you gave them. Oh yes Id much prefer the shape of 6 tennis balls (or golf balls right now)...

We have a crunch board in my gym, so you kinda pull your legs in when you crunch up & you can put weight on the leg end to make it harder or weight on the top end to make it easier. I quite like this action and it a right burner too.
I always use that first 3 sets x 20 reps
Then theres a seated ab machine (cable type) where you just bend down and put the pin in to the desired weight. Again I aim for 3 sets 15 to 20 reps. And that all I normally do on the abs:

Abs doesnt get covered much as  a topic on here - so people please post your AB session and thoughts !!

I'd be VERY interested in ab exercises. Especially as mine haven't been exercises for say. 20 years! I'm frightened that I get a hernia if I start wrong.

i would steer clear of sit ups and leg raises jon start out flat on you back right leg strate out. left foot flat on the floor so you left nee is bent pointing up, then lift you right leg so that its 45 degrees from the floor slowly lower it untill its 6 inches from the floor then raise again.

its an easy way or doing legraises that wont kill ya. go easy with them just 3 sets of say 20 at 1st.

jon to you train at home or in a gym? if in a gym what equip have they got for abs??

sorry andy but i'm a nuts and bolts guy kinda guy so i'm gonna ask y the fook are you using macheens to train abs???????????????

i take it you mean as oppose to sit ups and leg raises etc?? i tried doing sit up on one of them large gym balls but thought i was gonna go arse over tit on it it so never touched one of them again. normal situps well i suppose theres not an excuse.
as my gym as the equip then why not use it, thats what i pay my membership for, my abs sting like a b**** when iv finished so they must but working the bad boys.... the crunch board hits them them hard from the bottom and the top, as i said you have to pull your legs in as the same time you raise your stomach up...
im not too keen on leg raises, i tried them a few times, by hanging in arm slings from the "pull-up" bars and trying to raise my legs up straight, im not actually strong enough to do this so i could only raise my knees up with bent legs.... this i felt was too easy, so couldnt seem to find an happy medium.
when i first started training i wasnt very consistant with abs, and missed a few sessions over my first few months, but since xmas iv been regular with them...
im always up for learning new exercises hence the time i spend on here....

whats your ab routine, as i wrote earlier id like to hear how other do there abs.... nuts & bolts...  

Thanks DEAN, thats the sort of trining I did in the army. Great results then.  I go to a gym, Andy, but am falimiar with Deans, "Nuts and Bolts" routine. Thanks guys.

hey guys, dont want to sound like a twat being the new guy and that(first post eh!), but i find the abs machines and that are a bit shite tbh, for my abs i get alot of use out of the exercise balls, crunches and pull ins on em work wonders for me, and hanging leg raises really get the burn going on, im still a bit of a fat bastard but if im aching this much after it must be doing the trick

Quoted Text

exercise balls

Jamie, I fall of them!  

haha it takes a while to get used to, but when you see 80+ year old woman doing crunches on em you  kinda have to up the ante!

what i do for work is decline bench sit ups x5 sets x 25 reps

secondly.. get a mat..lie down and raise one leg straight up (well its kind straight)..hold it for 1 seccond then lower the leg..repeat with the next leg.

3rd exercise is the device you use for chin ups/tri pushups..forgot name.. where you hold your self up! basicly you stick your legs togther and lift them both up.

Another bench situp is when you do the actually situp twist your abs and turn your right elbow to your left knee.


Remember to tense your stomache as your doing it.. alot of people do the exerices..without tensing the actuall muscle.. and this goes for every bodypart.. when you do chest ...tense ur chest as you do it..

Thanks Tank. I'll try those exercises.

Also.. as im sure most people do tri pushdowns standing up.. when your doing that.. really tigten your stomach as your doing the exercise. something a few trainers have mentioned. deff feel it

Quoted Text

as im sure most people do tri pushdowns standing up

Yep, thats what Ive started doing. Also do the "tri dips" its like "push ups" but back to front, Hands resting on the edge of the bench, and the back facing the bench. {If you can work that out!   }

Just had a great 90 minute session in the gym!  That days rest yesterday did me good. I went like a train.  Instructor said that the 4 pounds I seemed to have gained yesterday might be muscle (!) I'm beginning to see some form of shape taking place in my body, though the layer of fat is still covering the muscles and those damn love-handles are still there. Perhaps a dose of LURV will get rid of them!  

yeh i feel your pain jon, i feel as strong as i ever have, only been at it 5 months but already see serious shape taking place, and managed to over double my bench press in the last 4 months, yet im still a tubby git hehe, losing fat and gaining muscle at the same time is nigh on impossible!

core stability ball are awsome for abs just sitting on them while you watch the t.v dose wonders.

i cant physicaly do 'sit ups' i used to get sooooo much stick in the army for it but i have so many problems with my lower back i just cant do the action. luckly sit ups are pants for building 'abs' oyu are much better of doing crunches. think of your abs as mini biceps. they work very much in the same way. to build them you need to flex them, sit ups dont really do this where as crunches do. but when you move your crunches on to a CSB (core stability ball) your not only working to upper layer of abdomanal muscles but also useing the under layer know as the core muscles to keep your self balanced. this improves the upper layer pretty much in the same fassion working your bicep brackies pushes your bicep major out to give you a good peek. do you follow??

and leg raises!! well IMO the daddy of abs exercises!! just because you find them easy bending your knees andy dont mean there not getting a good w/o! i used to do kiteboarding and noticed all the lifting my feet in jumps was working my abs better than anything else. my ab workout looks like this-

leg raises 3x25
CSB crunches 2x30
side bends 2x30

only once every 6 days. i do it like this so i'm never training them on the same day any week. stops me becoming set in my ways. i put girly ankle weights on as they get stronger. but i only train them in the summer if i'm lean enough   my are quite well developed and become used to training quite quick so if i train them all year round it all becomes a bit stale. i've not trained them since june last year b4 i went to ibiza. i'll probaly start in a few weeks if i've lost enought fat.

im gonna start following th