Project: Get Ripped!

[SoFreshSoClean]

Well now seems as good a time as any to make one of these things!

I've been a skinny bastard all my life.. I remember Mum telling me she was stoked when I worked at Maccas in highschool because that was the only thing that got me to put on weight.

I started doing weights about 18 months ago.. but due to a combination of lack of knowledge, lack of dedication and unsuitable diet I didn't really make any progress.

For a while there I did get pretty serious about running, I was running 25km a week (and wondering why I couldn't put on weight ). When I finished I weighed about 64kg.

However, since February I've been going pretty hard at it and I've managed to put on about 7kg.. There's a bit of fat that has come with it, but the way I see it I've still got more to gain from building my physique than worrying too much about my stomach for now.

Here's me now:

At the advice of some of the guys here, I've been doing this workout 3x a week. My buddy has been coming over to train with me, and that has also really helped.

3 sets of each

Barbell Squats 75kg

Barbell Bench Press 60kg

Barbell Bent Over Rows 55kg

Barbell Military Press (Behind Head) 40kg

Dead Lifts 85kg

Dumbbell Bicep Curl 16kg

Body-Weight Dips

Crunches

As far as goals go, I guess around 80kg with low body fat would be nice! I'm mainly doing it for appearance, as well as general health.

[GTR_JOEY]

so atm you are 71 kg, you wanna be a low % fat 80kg, though ur not happy with ur body fat % right now,

essentiallly u need to put on 10kg of lean muscle,

will need to be very strict on diet, routine and sleep

personally id throw the crunches in the bin, if your body fat % is low enough ur abs will show once you start giving your core a flogging from heavy deadlifts,squats,standing mill press,barbell lunges

if i was going to do bicep curls id be doing barbell,

my advice is dont limit yourself to any one routine and weight (use both dumb bell and barbell), change it up every few weeks... for example ive been doing lighter weights with more 3-4 set with reps of 8-10 , as off next week i will be doing a 5x5 routine (5 sets 5 reps)

and compound exercises are your freind, alot of your exercises already are so thats a good start

honestly i dont like routines like yours, i just dont feel like i would be able to hit each body part hard enough only doing 3 sets. Though your starting out so u will see some gains to begin with, once you platau id be changine the routine and making it more intense then 3 times a week...

thats wha i reckon anyway

[NickR33]

throw in some pull ups and your golden!

my tip is to not try and squat, bench and deadlift in the same session... rotate them and put them at the start of your session... so one day you will rock up and do squats, then maybe rows... try and do at least 4+ sets of each then move onto the other movements where you might just do 3 sets... the next session you will start with deadlifts, then do bench... deadlifting will shag your grip and make it hard to do pulling movements for the rest of that session so follow it with some push

anyway, you'll work out what order works best for you, just try and mix it up a bit... try and add a little weight every week and build up a good strength base before you start any split programs

good luck!

[-FIGJAM-]

bout the same weight as me. Looks like your body fat % is a little more though. How tall are you roughly?

I agree with the above, that routine doesnt look very challenging. As Joe said you will platau pretty quick (i'd imagine). I also dont see how you can go real heavy on the big lifts you do??

Do you go gym or just workout at home? What is your diet like to begin with?

If you want to do some cardio, look into HIIT training.

Good Luck

[SoFreshSoClean]

if i was going to do bicep curls id be doing barbell,

I'd have to buy an E-Z curl bar, using a flat bar gives me massive wrist pain for those

my advice is dont limit yourself to any one routine and weight (use both dumb bell and barbell), change it up every few weeks... for example ive been doing lighter weights with more 3-4 set with reps of 8-10 , as off next week i will be doing a 5x5 routine (5 sets 5 reps)

Yep, most nights I mix the order up, however I always start with one of the big 3 (squats, d/lifts, bench)

honestly i dont like routines like yours, i just dont feel like i would be able to hit each body part hard enough only doing 3 sets. Though your starting out so u will see some gains to begin with, once you platau id be changine the routine and making it more intense then 3 times a week...

Yeah it's been good for a few months but it's almost time to change it up, I might change to 4x a week and a split routine.. I'm not 100% sure how to go about it though

throw in some pull ups and your golden!

Yep, I'm gonna get a dip/pull up station ASAP

my tip is to not try and squat, bench and deadlift in the same session... rotate them and put them at the start of your session... so one day you will rock up and do squats, then maybe rows... try and do at least 4+ sets of each then move onto the other movements where you might just do 3 sets... the next session you will start with deadlifts, then do bench... deadlifting will shag your grip and make it hard to do pulling movements for the rest of that session so follow it with some push

I have been doing all 3 each workout but you do have a point in that I don't think I'm getting the best out of each exercise

anyway, you'll work out what order works best for you, just try and mix it up a bit... try and add a little weight every week and build up a good strength base before you start any split programs

I've been doing my best to operate under the mantra of 'if you make the reps, it's time to up the weight'.

bout the same weight as me. Looks like your body fat % is a little more though. How tall are you roughly?

I think 173cm. Yeh, not stoked about body fat.

I agree with the above, that routine doesnt look very challenging. As Joe said you will platau pretty quick (i'd imagine). I also dont see how you can go real heavy on the big lifts you do??

It's been OK for a few months but you're right it's time to make it harder. Will also add that I play indoor beach volleyball once a week, and have also started running twice a week for 15-20 mins. Saturdays I do an extra set of everything. Wouldn't mind getting into HIIT though!

Do you go gym or just workout at home? What is your diet like to begin with?

I workout at home. Currently I've got a bench and a squat rack, but I'm also getting a dip/pull up station. My diet is pretty spot on during the week, not so much on the weekend

Uni finishes up for the semester this week so that's one less thing to worry about also!

Edited June 4, 2012 by SoFreshSoClean

[RB25 SKYLINE]

if u wanna get big u gotta eat big plenty of quality carbs a good souce of protein and sugar after a workout to get ur inslin levels up.eat roughly every 3hrs and dont miss a meal.take food with u and if u cant heat it up harden up and eat it cold,oh and lift big always fail on the last set

[Birds]

If you want a 2 day split for 4 x a week, I can help you out with that.

[SoFreshSoClean]

If you want a 2 day split for 4 x a week, I can help you out with that.

Sweet man, I'd appreciate that!

[Birds]

PM coming your way.

[SoFreshSoClean]

PM coming your way.

Cheers

[TM7GTR]

Just stumbled upon this thread. Any updates?

If you're trying to gain weight why are you doing cardio? That's just smashing away your calories in vs out for gains, and imo you're better off gaining the weight at a steady rate rather than trying to "lean gain"

Did you start the 4 day split Birds gave you?

Is this split upper and lower x 2 a week?

So many questions..

[SoFreshSoClean]

Just stumbled upon this thread. Any updates?

If you're trying to gain weight why are you doing cardio? That's just smashing away your calories in vs out for gains, and imo you're better off gaining the weight at a steady rate rather than trying to "lean gain"

Did you start the 4 day split Birds gave you?

Is this split upper and lower x 2 a week?

So many questions..

It's been a shitty few weeks for exercise. I tweaked my lower back doing deadlifts, and that made doing anything pretty painful for a couple weeks, so I just stopped. Then the end of uni hit hard and I spent a lot of time finishing assignments and crud.

Last week I spent trying to build back to where I was, definitely feeling much better.. I actually think having a break helped my bench confidence a lot, I'm able to get a few reps of 70kg out now.

I haven't heard from Birds, so some time this week I'm gonna work a 4 day routine out for myself

[Birds]

Yeah I probably should have sent that PM lol. The important thing is it's there now...

[SoFreshSoClean]

Yeah I probably should have sent that PM lol. The important thing is it's there now...

Haha all good man, thanks heaps!

I'll have to change it up a bit though, I don't own half of those machines

[Birds]

Forgot you work out from home...as long as you're getting the same motions it's all good. Can substitute where needed.

[SoFreshSoClean]

Unhappy! I've managed to strain a muscle in my back again

Going to speak to my cousin who's a sports physio about recovery, I'm pretty bummed out!

[TM7GTR]

damn son that sucks.. I know what it's like to get injured again just as you recovered and thought good progress was starting to happen.. head up, soldier on

[SoFreshSoClean]

damn son that sucks.. I know what it's like to get injured again just as you recovered and thought good progress was starting to happen.. head up, soldier on

Yeah I'm spewing, especially because it's Uni break and I was looking forward to getting stuck right into training again.

Talked to my cousin, basically it's no exercise for a week, no weights for at least 2 weeks, and no lower back training for at least 3.

Ah well, good excuse to play Xbox

[Dani Boi]

Your routine looks almost identical to starting strength, I would just run that program for 4'ish months or until you keep stalling. No your body wont adapt to it because it's all about progressive loading.

Yes you squat 3x a week and you also squat, bench and deadlift 3x a fortnight

Edited July 11, 2012 by Dani Boi

[TM7GTR]

While starting strength is a good program it's flawed in the sense that not everyone has the same fitness goals, and it doesn't cater for such goals. It's like if a PT were to give every single person that walks into the gym the same damn program... bit useless for some goals really. Try something new