Stu @ M Developments

iTrader: (12)

Ok, been at the gym for 2 weeks now and got my routine pretty sorted and it is as follows:

Pedal Bike.
5mins on level 5 at 80 - 90 rpm, heartrate around 140.

Rower:
1000meters at level 8.

Crunches.
30 3 sets

Pec Deck:
40kg x8 3 sets

Lat pulldowns seated:
50Kg x8 3 sets

Leg extension machine (up)
40kg x8 3 sets

Leg extension machine (down)
40kg x8 3 sets

Shoulder Press machine:
40kg x8 3 sets

Leg press. Horizontal:
50kg x8 3 sets

Tricep Pushdown:
50kg x8 2 sets

Tricep pullup:
50kg x8 2 sets

Dumbells:
Bicep curls, 2 sets of 8
Side extensions, 2 sets of 8
I forget the weights as they arent clearly marked, will check tonight and note them in my phone.

Any comments at all, any important musclegroups i may be missing out on that i could maybe do with the machines available to me?

RstNut

Very similar to my routine! Try doing the work out in a different order some weeks, so it dosent get boring. Keep at it, you seem to be enjoying it, alot of people would have had enough by now

Kieron

Seems a good starting block. I take it you are trying to put on a little muscle size with the machines as your reps hover around 8? If purely toning/fitness then you need to increase the reps and drop the weight.

I would eventually look to increase exercises the larger muscle groups like your back. You only have lat pull down for that and I think some sort of rowing exercise would be good. Seated rows possibly? Possibly add a chest press of some sort it there too? There are no calf exercises in there either, this can be incorporated into the leg press.

What is a tricep pull up?

Keep up the good work!

Paul Eggleton

The only thing I would suggest Stu is to replace the pec deck with proper bench press. This is more of a basic exercise and will train more of your chest. Pec deck is more of an isolation exercise, which has its place, but I don't think it should be in your routine.

The only muscle group not specifically targeted is calves. Can you hold onto something like the shoulder press and raise up on tip toes. Or and probably easier is to do the horizontal leg press but put your toes on the lower edge of the foot plate. Keeping your legs virtually straight you can then train your calves by pushing your toes forwards. Try different positions: toes straight, toes out, toes in.

Go quite heavy as well as your calves work constantly as you walk around so they need a lot of stress to get them to grow.

Glad its coming together

Stu @ M Developments

iTrader: (12)

Thanks for your replies Kieron

Do you mean something different to teh one im allready doing?


Sadly this Gym has nothing like that, so i may come home and do some on my own bench after every session.


Hard to describe. Its a freestanding machine with belts attatched to weights and you can pull either from the bottom of the machine or the top. The top i grasp a bar and do kind of, reversed bicep curls, pulling downwards. The alternate ones i suppose are more like bicep curls, but with more strain to keep the weight at chest height, does that make sense?

Thanks for your replies too Paul.

Would teh stepper or X Trainer work for this as i added 5 mins of that in on Friday.. bloody hurt

Kieron

Sorry, didn't explain myself very well there. By a rowing exercise I mean with weights rather than on a rowing machine. Either seated rows or any other machine for your back which entails pulling the bar/weights towards you (i.e opposite to chest press). Its a bit hard to tell you what to do without knowing the equipment your gym has. Epecially as it doesn't appear to have anything for training the chest other than a peck deck.

I understand that machine But I still don't have a clue as to what your doing for "Tricep pullups" I can only imagine its either bicep curls or standing rows (for your delts & Traps)?? Either way neither are doing your triceps Actually you may be able to use this machine for your seated rows, does it have foot rests?

The stepper will exercise the calfs but you still need to be doing weights on them as with every other bodypart you are training. The stepper alone will not be enough and your calfs will fall behind. As Paul has said incorporate calfs into your leg press. Extend your legs out straight and lock them. Then support the plate on the front of your feet and tiptoe. You should also allow the weights to push your toe back towards you which will give a nice stretch and also allow full movement of the muslce when you then tiptoe again.

Stu @ M Developments

iTrader: (12)

I think i understand what you mean, the row machine i use has a variable resistance fan on the cable and handle, so you can vary the weight that you have to pull when rowing, is that a similar thing? Its variable from 1 - 10 and i use 8 at teh moment, its quite hard to pull, especially if trying to do it fast.


Its probably my own ignorance then as i thought since the work was essentially the opposite of a tricep pulldown it would be a pull UP Sounds like simple Bicep Curls then
No footrest that i noticed, will check tonight though.

Will do the calfs on the legpress, that seems the simplest idea so far

Thanks again for your time and knowledge.

Kieron

I think you will find the settings on your rowing machine are for resistance when doing cardio? This is what I mean, the link gives you a couple of variations and I just typed Seated Rows in good ole Google:

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/schultz60.htm

It does kinda sound like a bicep curl to me. Are you using the top pulley or the bottom one? Just remember that all muscles contract (apart from the heart) so all your tricep does for example is straightens the arm from bent at the elbow. The opposite to to that movement (bending from straight) will be generated by contracting the bicep, not by the tricep at all. They work in pairs, one contracts whilst the other relaxes.

NP! The time is free and the knowledge aint worth nothing anyhow!

Stu @ M Developments

iTrader: (12)

Ah, i understand a lot better now, especially teh seated rows, and sadly, theres nothing at our current gym that could help me do anything like that just yet... However, i have done the calf exersizes as suggested and they are really sore tonight.

I use the top pulley for the pulldowns and teh bottom pulley for the bicep curls. I have started using the bottom pulley for other movements today as well after seeing some chap do a few interesting things... I guess teh machines are quite versatile and you just need to get some idea of what you can and cannot do.


It is worth something to me Keiron, the same i guess as if your motor broke and you didnt know what was wrong but i did, the knowledge is then worth something to you as well. Hopefully one day i can help you out and we can trade back up to equal.

Kieron

The understatement of the year mate. There are so many things you can do and many ways to work each muscle. Its all a learning curve and I still have a lot to learn too. Don't forget that what you can do on a machine can be mimicked with freeweights and vice versa.

Have a quick flick through this site I found off google. There are some ideas there for sure. Its quite good as it will show you the muscle by name and also what exercises will work them. Hope it helps as I have not gone through it properly, I was just trying to find the upright rows for you..

http://www.exrx.net/Lists/Directory.html

Stu @ M Developments

iTrader: (12)

Excellent, a usefull site there, cheers

I feel rather bloody sore today as it happens so im going to concentrate on rowers and x trainers every day now until friday then do pure weights and see how i feel with that. Cheers again for everyones kind advice.