What a koinkeedink... I just came back from the gym... & discovered this thread

I've been going for only about a month & a half - but at least Im going...
Really my goal is to just lose some weight & tone up a bit - I'm not trying to add mass &
get ripped or anything...

any tips on maximizing my workouts? like I said - main focus is losing the fat & toning up -
I heard that its better to do more reps than more weight for that goal...

any suggestions?

 

Well since we r at it. IM 5'10 with 8.5% BF, im not gonna lie and say it was all b/c of hard work b/c its just how im built. I lift when i can, at least 3 days a week plus i lift at home (i have a few free weights). I also want to start Muay Tai training after i get back from Vacation. BUt i dont think it will happen till i leave for college (a place 2 blocks from my school)

 

how about if i want to become more cut, lean out a bit. i have pretty decent size now.. i just want to define. what do you suggest for that.

 

IM going to asume you work out 4 days a week.. if your main focus is on losing fat and toning up your going to what to keep your heart rate up, and maximize your workout.. there are a few ways of doing it, keep in mind that to lose weigh or fat you have to keep your heart rate up so when you are at the gym you want to keep moving.. one very effective way and usually what I do is super set every thing, meaning if you are doing a 4 day spit and hitting two muscle groups on the same day you never really rest and if you do its only 30 seconds to 1 minute.. for example if you are doing bies and tris you would say do a set of curls keeping reps high but never exceeding 12 reps and then follow it buy doing say a tri pull down.. another method for cutting is drop setting, this is where you start with a heavy weight and work down with no breaks for one muscle group... so an example would be on bi day you start with a warm up 2 sets light weight 10 reps, rest then do to curls and say you can get 25lbs for 10, so you start with the 25's after you do your set of 10 you put them down and pick up the 20's do a set of 10 then go for the 15's do a set of ten and so forth till you do 4 sets right in a row... another way to drop set is divide the weight in half and multiply the reps by two, so if you did 30lbs dumpbells for 10 you would do 15lbs for 20.. keep in mind with drop setting and super setting there is no break.. you break after you change excersizes not sets so you do a super set break do a super set break, soame thing for the drop set then move on..
also you want to focus on cardio if you were really a nut alot of people run or jog inbetween sets, this puts your body into overdrive and realy gives you a burn.. for example if you are doing super sets of bis and tris lets say you are doing standing curls and rope pull downs.. so you do your curls the move to the rope (no break) then instead of resting you would go right to the cardio machine say a tredmill and then do a minute of a run at say 6.5mph.. once done you go right back to your super set..

check out this sight it gives you all you need to know about any kind of workout its in my forum on bulk and breaks down everything

http://forums.bulknutrition.com/?showtopic=27870

 

i would say just about the same thing, keep reps high but dont really go beyond 12 and when i say do 12 i mean the last rep should be really hard if it is not then your going to light.. super set things, do more cardio, just try and keep your heart rate up any way you can. just remember not to over do it.. when your are cutting you want to intake less caloris then you use. if you change your work out but dont change your diet you wont get anywhere, your diet has to match your gym goals or your just going to run around in circles and that no fun.
full body work outs are ok, but once you get a really go slit and a good program going you will see results faster and wonder why you ever did a full body workout.. full body workouts are for people who want to stay fit and flexable, you wont get any bigger you will just lean out what you already have, and if you dont have much then your body or Physic may never change.

 

Just so you all know I took physiology and nutrition in college, wanted to be a personal trainer then found out there was no money in it. Now I’m in finance but I have put in the gym time and I have also put in the study time.

 

YAAAY Johnny Bravo ! ! !!

he's our resident personal trainer !
thanks for the advice. I'm going to suppliment some of those routines
into my workout. My workouts have only been 3 days a week - w/ one day of just
basketball. - Im gonna try & go 4 + the b-ball day.

I like the idea of cardio in between sets...

Good advice ! thanks !

 

If there was any money in it I would already be one.. but the average personal trainner only makes 28-35 a year and i make about that doing nothing so, yea..

but if any of you guys have questions i would be happy to answer, it was my minor in college so i know a decent amount..

 

I went to the gym yesterday and today. Yesterday I did abs, chest, and legs and today I did abs, shoulders, bi's, and tri's. I am going to repeat that over for a while until I decide to change things up. Am I missing anything? Also, is there any other exercises for the bi's besides curls and pull ups? And if I decided to take a supplement what one would you reccomend? Thanks.

 

hey man, don't do the same muscles two days in a row. when a muscle is sore, let it heal then do it again. doing it 2 days in a row
gives you a huge chance of pulling it. for bi's, I use a 45lb bar (olympic) and put 10's, 5's and 2.5's on it till i can do just a few reps.
then i do lightweight curls with dumbells etc. sit down, stand up, cable curls, hammers, ez curl bar...lots of things. read mags and get
ideas.