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Hi Guys,

I'm new to strength training, well to building mass and want some advice. I'm a 21 year old skinny rock climber and what to put on some defined lean muscle mass, so I can be a bit more robust for mountaineering and also to gain a better physique and look better. I started lifting about 10 weeks ago and want some criticism as to how I could improve what I'm doing.

Umm the stats I know about me are: I'm 5' 11", 163 pounds: 74 Kgs, body fat 6.85 % (measured via air displacement plethysmography-so it's accurate, not like those rubbishy scales!), umm waist is 31", biceps 13", calves 17". Anyway I'm a bit of a wretch and want to get up to about 85kg.

Ok so heres what I've been doing so far, I've done a sport science degree and doing a masters in it so I should know about this, but to be honest I've learned diddly squat on strength training, have no experience and need some proper advice- I've made up a program and diet based on some basic principles I've learned.

I do: 3 sessions a week:

1= Chest, Neck and Triceps

-Incline Bench Press 4 sets x 5 reps
-Incline Dumbell Press 4x5
-Bench Press 4 x5
-Barbell Shoulder Shrug 4x5
-Dumbell Tricep Curl 4x5

2= Biceps, Back, Abs
- Barbell Curls 4x5
-Hammer Curls 4x5
- Bent Over Row 4x5
-Incline Crunches
-Weighted Crunches

3=Shoulders, Chest
- Standing Barbell Press 4x5
-Lateral Raises 4x5
-Barbell Pullover 4x5
- Bench Press 4x5

Ok so Im eating 5-6 meals a day:

1. Orange Juice, Fruit, Protein Bar
2. Protein Shake with Semi skimmed
3. Chicken Breast, cup brown rice, green veg
4. Protein shake with semi skimmed
5. Meat, potatoes/pasta, veg
6. Protein Bar

Supplements and shakes I'm taking are: Weider Protein Bars, Atlas Whey Protein Shakes, Amino Acids, & Maximuscle Ctreatmax extreme (twice a day).

I'd be really grateful if you guys could pick apart what I'm doing! Thanks

Ash

I'd look at the beginner training programmes already posted on the forum under the Training section.... Personally I think you need to do 3 sets to an exercise 3 exercises per muscle group and about 8 - 10 reps.... try to eat 2-3 grames of protein per kg of body weight a day... And remember rest is as important as training...

What do they teach your guys at Uni these days???

Thanks for the reply!

Is 8-10 reps better for mass building then?  Yeah I was a bit disappointed that thus far I haven't had been taught much on this kind of training. It's predominately exercise physiology and clinical stuff like disease.

Also has anyone done the UKSCA strength and conditioning qualification, is it hard?

Add a protein shake 30mins pre bed.

Your last rep in each set should be struggling. never able to complete four sets of 10 10 10 10.
Your diet is pretty good. will add more shortly.

also i do my shrugs on my shoulder day, although I think most people do them with their back - iv never heard of doing them on a chest day.... some other guys may clarify this a bit more for you...

abs on chest day, coz you tend to stress your abs a lot when bench pressing....

you only need to do your chest once a week, if you do it properly you will need the week to recover from it...

if you want to boost your shoulder day add some front raises and or arnold presses (i love them)

iv also notice you havent got anything down for your legs... dont avoid working your legs it most important... you cant have half a fit body plus you will look daft with a well build upper body & skinny legs....

testosterone plays a big part in growth - squats really boost your test levels because of the the stress they cause the body... so at the least add leg presses - leg curls and calf raises...!

bearly any carbs in there no nrg=no strenth.
im in no way putting you down mate well done for asking for help god knows were always doing it, but to be honest in my oppinion your work out is all over the place im not sure what these principals are please tell??

you need to train your whole body. not nessacerly in one day but you work out just covers as andy said upper body. even if you have huge legs you will benafit SO much from training your legs.

you do between 8-10 sets on your biceps on the same day as you back in which your doing 5 sets of bentover rows.
that is far to much in my oppion for such a small mucle group and just 5 sets for you back which is a huge group???

what you need to do is read in to the muscles them selfs and there grouping and then devise a work out based aroud work and rest. work each muscle hard but dont kill it. and then rest it aproprately.

which muscle groupes should be trained with which is a topic of convosation that could go on and on and on and on and on....my personal opinion and its my personal opinion coz its what works for me and very might not work for othes is_
                 mon. chest
                            Back
                            traps

                 wen. quads
                           hams
                           calfs

                 fri. sholders
                        triceps
                        biceps

                 sun. abs

Cheers fellas,

OK So I'll add some squats in and some leg work, I didn't know that about the testosterone, thats pretty interesting. I'll revise my workout into the proper muscle groups, I wasn't really sure about that so kinda just mixed and matches, so thanks for the pointers. I'm going to do my whole body too now, what back  exercises are good?

I find that the flat bench press, doesn't seem to work my chest all that much. I'm making sure my technique is good, what other ones are good for the chest? Also I've heard that the pecs are a relatively slow developing muscle?

Thanks again

i agree flat bench gives me man boobs to much lower pec development. i do incling bench press dips and dbell flys.

as for back exercises. go for bulking movments like wide grip chins, dead lifts and bentover rows.

well done on the form its sooooo important for development and also injury provention.

post you revised work out for all to see.