@bridgida I’ve used this to great effect from the r/fitness wiki:
Push:
Chest press
Incline fly
Shoulder press
Overhead tricep extension
…
Pull:
Pull ups - 3x max
Bent over row
Reverse fly
Shrug
Curl variation
…
Legs:
Goblet squat
Lunges
Stiff leg deadlift
Calf raise
…
Done as: P/P/L/Rest/P/P/L. Or P/Rest/P/Rest/L/Rest/Rest even.
3x12.
Start with very low weight and know the form. Overload as tolerable. The wiki has overloading, deloading, and other misc info. It’s a great DB program. You can toss core in any day and for cardio maybe lots of walking. I put on some decent muscle with that (and creatine) before moving on to other things and broader approaches. I did substitute DB flies for cable flies since they just felt off.
@tonyangiano Thanks for the detailed advice. Would this be done as supersets or one exercise, then another, etc.? And, as for time between sets, would that be determined by my own comfort or would you recommend a specific amount of time?
For me though I found the following to be best for my body and programming:
-quick 5-10 minutes light cardio warmup (push-ups, treadmill, jump rope, anything at all!) to get the blood flowing
-further warmup more relevant to the exercise. For example, if doing 3x12 dumbbell bench press at 70 pounds I’ll do a few sets/reps ramping up to it starting with 10, 25, 50 or whatever. Those aren’t part of the 3x12 at 70#. This is the main warmup for me but much faster than a long dynamic stretches or some complicated warmup. I also switched the Arnold press to regular shoulder press and db flies to cables due to some shoulder popping. I made sure to practice the form a lot as some can be tricky. It’s a fun program and quite effective IMO. It was absolutely perfect for me when I started and was new to lifting.
@bridgida Callisthenics is the absolute best for overall strength imo. Nobody needs to be able to lift obscene amounts of weight in one specific direction. Stuff like pull ups, dips and chin ups give you great control over your own body and are much less likely to cause injury as well. Plus they give you great grip strength. If you want functional strength I think a pull up bar is the way to go but it's also good to try a wide variety of types of exercise to make sure you're ready for whatever life throws at you.
@nazkid I agree that, in some cases, those exercises you list can be very useful in daily life. I used to be able to do 15-20+ pull ups a few times a day. Now, I can’t do one. Any suggestions on developing those muscles? Any resources for general calisthenics routines?
@bridgida You can start by using resistance bands and doing dead hangs. Also if you have a low pull up bar you can kind of practice the pull up range of motion but without your feet leaving the ground.
It's kind of crazy to me that you lost all that strength, do you have any idea why? To go from 15-20 to 0 is quite a big jump. I think you should consider if there are dietary factors or maybe something like sleep. 7-8 hours sleep in a completely dark room is really important.
@nazkid I was doing a bunch of pull ups like that back in 2009/2010. Starting in 2011, I started letting myself go BIG TIME. Did things here and there to try to maintain, but the laziness, meeting & marrying my wife, becoming a father, changing jobs three times, changing my entire career path, a wicked bout of tennis elbow, a hernia that I’ve been told I can exercise my way out of, and COVID have all combined to make me what I am today - obese and weak. Hence this drive to turn things around, which is why I’m now in my third month of working with a dietician, being more mindful about my diet, and trying to nail down a workout program that I feel balances my needs while being able to do it at home with the equipment I have.
