i have the body of a god, too bad its buddah. so let's design a workout program?

its a bit of a read, so i broke my post down into sections to make this more skim-friendly. 


brief introduction:
what's up guys. my name is john (depen is my dj alias). i'm 22; i just graduated from college in scranton PA. i found a job, moved into an apartment, just joined a beginners/intermediate "judgment free" gym and i could use some guidance in putting together a workout plan


past lifting experience:
in 2001 i started to highschool and wrestled in the winter season as a heavy weight (265lbs freshmen!) and couldn't keep up with the cardio. that spring in 2001 up i threw shotput for outdoor track and feild until graduation 2005. for practice our coach focused on the benchpress as our saving glory. we did some squat and pull-down lats on the side, too. 


our benchprss training was:
monday (heavy day): four sets, five reps. if we finished our first set clean, then we increase weight five pounds than next week. 
thursday (light day): four sets five reps, generally fifteen pounds less than monday. 
similar regiment for squat, (three sets, five reps), and pull-down lats (five sets, five reps). 

my max out on bench was 285, squat was 345. mind you i weighed about 260. so i had muscle, just hardly any definition which was frustrating in itself... then again, i was up till 3a.m. on the phone with girls so i wasn't sleeping well and surely contributed to my lack of performance in the gym after school (just in case you were wondering why the stats were so modest)

in college: i realllly slacked. i'd lift for a month and stop for another eight. i put on a lot of weight. did some running for a summer, and dieted on and off. cut from 320 to 285ish


where i am today
i'm out of school, cooking for myself and money is a little tight--so its easier of course to eat poorly on a tight wallet than spending the extra few bones for fruits and veggies. but budgeting and maintaining a diet is a huge goal of mine. my cardio is another challenge. i forfeit to catching my breath and giving my legs some rest after jogging for around five minutes. because of my previous training, i feel like my coach built me for short bursts of power and my endurance is zilch. 


future goals
firstly, i would absolutely LOVE to get rid of my "moobs." haunting since highschool, i know diet is the best way to melt the extra chest fat, but i was curious to ask for ideas on how to help encourage the deterioration of the moobs? i would love to get some more tone and definition in my arms, considering i have a pleasant ring of flab around what's left of my tri and bi ceps. six-pack abbs aren't a concern (i think i'd perfer a solid stomach--a build similar to Tank Abbott's. so abb exercises too?). legs/back/shoulders weren't ever a main focus but core workouts would be great. i mean i can squat, but my form is rusty (probably weaker back muscles. i always feel like buckling, even with a belt)


where you come in(?)
i'm laying it all out there. i wasn't sure if the forum encourages a before photo, but i'm all down for it. i guess i need the works: a working diet, cardio, and a work out plan. 

i can get to the gym at least four of the seven days of the week, and i hope the time i spend shouldn't exceed more than two hours (including warming up, lifting/cardio, and cooling down). i don't have a work-out partner (yet), and the gym has dumbbells, lots of cardio machines and lifting machines too. 

i hope i covered the basics. i'll be sure to frequent the forum for updates and other tidbits of success and achievement from others. thank you guys!

If you want tone all I can say is to workout regularly. I've read and heard a lot, and believe that tone is caused by the muscle twitching (flexing) on its own, and that happens when said muscle is stressed regularly.

Since you're trying to cut down fat I would recommend personally a 3 day full body routine with heavy compound movements, no isolations because they're garbage. If you want to develop some real world strength to impress the ladies after your fat is gone I would recommend incorporating Dips, Pull ups and Chin ups into your routine and keep replacing the weight you burn off with a weighted belt. Being able to do 5 pull ups at 285 then dropping down to say 200 and being able to do weighted pull ups of almost 2 45s would be VERY impressive imo.

Here's a sample routine I would use to go about your goals, I'm not sure wether or not your goal is fat loss, hypertrophy, strength or just all around fitness.

A
Squat 3x6-8 60 seconds rest
Dumbell Bench Press 3x8-10 30 seconds rest
Dumbell Bent Over Row 3x8-10 30 seconds rest
Military Press 3x10-12 30 seconds rest
Knee Raise 3xFailure

B
Deadlift 1x6-8 (work your way up to your working set with 2-3 lighter warmup sets of 5 reps, but not too light, or too heavy, the point is to get the blood flowing without exhaustion.
Wide Push Ups 3xFailure
Pullups 3xFailure
Dips 3xFailure
Chinups 3xFailure
Plank 3x30 seconds

C
Squat 3x5 180 seconds rest
Barbell Bench Press 3x5 180 seconds rest
Barbell Bent Over Row 3x5 180 seconds rest
Shoulder Press 1xFailure

This workout can probably be blown out of the water by some other members but I see no one posting so I figured I may aswell.

The first workout focuses on hypertrophy in the 8-12 rep range with lower rest to keep the intensity up while building muscle, the second workout; B is focused more on Body weight resistance, which is the best kind, especially when you have loose fat because it can pull you in a direction and just counterbalancing that will activate more fibers, and offers a more natural movement.

The final workout is more strength orientated then anything, sort of like Starting Strength which I would recommend doing if you want Strength, I just started and I'm very pleased with where things are going.

I used to be REALLY overweight (260 lbs) and now I'm 190 and I still have some fat in my nipples, lower tummy and butt from when I was extremely obese, you can't focus on just one area but rather your body burns the fat evenly or however your body burns its calories.

I'd stick to your goal of sorting a budget for a good diet as its very important in the role of change,Stackatk achieved brilliant results on his transformation so far so i'd check out his workout for sure.

Im pretty new to taking this serious myself so i cant give much helpful advice except i think a good cardio routine would benefit you also.

stackatk


If you want tone all I can say is to workout regularly. I've read and heard a lot, and believe that tone is caused by the muscle twitching (flexing) on its own, and that happens when said muscle is stressed regularly.

Since you're trying to cut down fat I would recommend personally a 3 day full body routine with heavy compound movements, no isolations because they're garbage. If you want to develop some real world strength to impress the ladies after your fat is gone I would recommend incorporating Dips, Pull ups and Chin ups into your routine and keep replacing the weight you burn off with a weighted belt. Being able to do 5 pull ups at 285 then dropping down to say 200 and being able to do weighted pull ups of almost 2 45s would be VERY impressive imo.

Here's a sample routine I would use to go about your goals, I'm not sure wether or not your goal is fat loss, hypertrophy, strength or just all around fitness.

A
Squat 3x6-8 60 seconds rest
Dumbell Bench Press 3x8-10 30 seconds rest
Dumbell Bent Over Row 3x8-10 30 seconds rest
Military Press 3x10-12 30 seconds rest
Knee Raise 3xFailure

B
Deadlift 1x6-8 (work your way up to your working set with 2-3 lighter warmup sets of 5 reps, but not too light, or too heavy, the point is to get the blood flowing without exhaustion.
Wide Push Ups 3xFailure
Pullups 3xFailure
Dips 3xFailure
Chinups 3xFailure
Plank 3x30 seconds

C
Squat 3x5 180 seconds rest
Barbell Bench Press 3x5 180 seconds rest
Barbell Bent Over Row 3x5 180 seconds rest
Shoulder Press 1xFailure

This workout can probably be blown out of the water by some other members but I see no one posting so I figured I may aswell.

The first workout focuses on hypertrophy in the 8-12 rep range with lower rest to keep the intensity up while building muscle, the second workout; B is focused more on Body weight resistance, which is the best kind, especially when you have loose fat because it can pull you in a direction and just counterbalancing that will activate more fibers, and offers a more natural movement.

The final workout is more strength orientated then anything, sort of like Starting Strength which I would recommend doing if you want Strength, I just started and I'm very pleased with where things are going.

I used to be REALLY overweight (260 lbs) and now I'm 190 and I still have some fat in my nipples, lower tummy and butt from when I was extremely obese, you can't focus on just one area but rather your body burns the fat evenly or however your body burns its calories.

this sounds good! REAL good to get me started for the next three to six months (being realisitic) before i narrow in on problem areas. big kudos to you bro, and i'm glad the workout worked well. 

wantabs makes a good point--i can't forget about cardio and diet. anyone have adjustments they've made in their lifestyle to accomidate cardio and diet?

I always have hated cardio but HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) really melts the fat off your body because the human body is made for short bursts of powerful activity. Ever notice how animals are like this? Or when a Lion and Tiger fight they'll go at it then walk around each other and paw at each other keeping the fight to a minimum, it looks like they're resting.

A good HIIT running routine is something like this, I prefer to do it on off days but doing it every day for fat loss would help tremendously.

5 minute warm up
1 minute at 8km
1:30 minute at 4km
1 minute at 10 km
1:30 minute at 4k

Repeat that four times for a fat blasting workout (I got it from a book, I can't remember which one though, I read millions of them in my schools library)

I never followed a specific diet, or I'd probably be jacked by now, but keeping to healthy foods (My idea of healthy foods are chick peas with olive oil (I eat it every day), chicken, vegies (corn doesnt have a lot of nutrients but its still good, rice, broccoli, spinnach, swisschard) just anything that has a good amount of protein.

I think High Protein meals are supposed to be like, 25% protein, 65% carbs 10% fat whereas Low Protein meals are 15% protein 70% carbs 15% fat or something like that.

Another thing, if you're doing the workout and you can do well in every area but you're not even breaking a sweat, then go harder.

I.e. say you get to the wide push ups and you're doing set after set and not busting a sweat, super set it with another body weight exercises that work the pull muscles like pullups or chinups.

Just for reference I consider Pullups to be more for Lats and Chinups to be more for Bicep because most people lift with their biceps for pullups, but really both exercises work both. The way I have the bodyweight exercises set up is so one is for your chest more then triceps (wide push ups) ones for lats more then biceps (pullups) then tricep more then chest (tricep dips) and bicep more then lats (chinups).

Pullups and chinups are a test of strength because they simply require much more, I know a lot of people who can do pushups like they're nothing but hang em from a bar and watch them swing their feet trying to get up. lol

Good luck, and I'd suggest keeping a training journal, either private or public just so you can see how far you have come.

Another thing, when I first started working out I was actually stronger in some areas then I am now but that's because I changed from my more natural strength build to a all around better build, but try and keep improving both your strenght, muscle mass and fat loss, don't focus on one.

okay!
 
so i'm working out. i opted for a lean mass protein shake, amp for lean mass. thoughts?
 
the gym that i signed up i don't think is really free-weights friendly. instead of have just a bench with the 2 inch olympic bar, its (i forget the name, the guy told me a smith something) just a bar on a track, where lets say if i'm benching and i think i'm going to fail, i would just twist the bar and the hooks in the track lock it in place. i'm not very fond of it, but more particuarlly, is it safe to use with squat? it felt terribly, terribly unnatural--however mucho cool for the military press.
 
i think i'm still a little too heavy for my own good for knee raises. before i really feel a burn, my arms feel like they're going to give out from holding up my body weight. should i just opt for crunches until i can hold my own body weight? crunches in the sense of a flat bench, where i tuck my feet into two pads to hold them in place (evelavted), and i start in a sitting up-right position, lower myself, and come back up?
 
likewise, i use assitance for pull-ups and chin-ups. i like your idea about adding on weight when losing it. should i lower the resistence to achieve that? i'm not sure
 
i'm hella sore, and it feels hella good. i really apprecaite all the help!

I'm sure everyone else will bash the Smith Machine (that is indeed the bar on the track that twists) but the only time I have ever hurt myself lifting is when I was on vacation and the hotel gym didn't have a squat rack and I tried to squat on the smith machine.

One of the reasons the big three are so good (Squats Deadlifts Presses) is that they are compound movements that use a bunch of different muscles.  Using the smith machine restricts range of motion and essentially stabilizes the bar for you which means your lifts are not as effective.

Oh and 99% of the time, the only judgment that goes on comes from you judging yourself.  People who are more experienced/in shape lifters won't judge you because they are too busy concentrating on their workout to really care.

Monday A
Squat 3x10  Low Weight/High Rep
Bench press 3x5
Dips 3 sets to failure
Deadlift 3x5

Wednesday B
Squat 3x5  Low Weight/Low Rep
Military Press 3x5
DB Row 3x5
Chin Up 3 x failure

Friday A
Squat 3x5  High Weight Low Rep
Bench press 3x5
Dips 3 sets to failure
Deadlift 3x5


ABA     BAB     ABA      BAB

V,
    You're the Clipart Photoshop GOD!

 

so then should i supplement an excercise for the smith machine squat and bench press?

i know there are machines at the gym...

DePen


so then should i supplement an excercise for the smith machine squat and bench press?

i know there are machines at the gym...

Unfortunately there is no replacement for freeweight squats, bench presses, and deadlifts.

Do they have any barbell-ish weights at all?  If they don't have a squat rack, you might be able to convince one of the trainers/staff to put the bar on your shoulders for you?  I don't know how safe that is.

Would you be interested in professional help?

Troponin Trainer and Nutritionist

hey john, just follow virt's suggestion. it's your best bet. you can also search this forum and find the same **** repeated all over again. there is nothing like a 3X a week full body thing to start out with. 4 day or 5 day splits are also great, but need some math to get the right workout for you. a 4 day push pull maybe? your call. also you might want to do HIIT to get rid of the flab fast. since you say you are big on short bursts of speed, HIIT might just be the thing for you.
good luck!

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