Help a beginner out... Tell me why m[28]y workout routine sucks!

[moonmonkey]

Hey everyone,

Thanks for taking the time to read this!

About nine months ago, I set myself the challenge of getting into the best shape of my life. I'm dead serious about this, I want to do it for myself, my health and my confidence. It'd be great to hit 30 in a couple of years time feeling like I've really achieved that goal. I had to take a few months out due to a hospital stay but since the new year have been consistently hitting the gym 2-3 times a week.

I haven't really had a plan. I've just been trying things out and seeing what I like.

If I'm going to reach my goals, though, I think I need to put a workout plan in place to give myself to clearer structure and some more concrete quantitative goals to measure against.

I've watched a bunch of YouTube videos and read some things, took notes and compiled together a plan.

I don't really know what I'm doing, so thought I'd post it here and hopefully people can tell me what I should do differently or if this is good.

To be clear, my goals are as follows:

(1) Health (#1 priority)

(2) Strength (Joint #2)

(3) Weightloss (Joint #2)

(4) Aesthetics (We're all a little vain sometimes, at least I'm honest!)

Me - Male 28, 1m75 (5'10"), upper 80s kg in weight

I'll be doing a rotating three focuses: A, B and C and will aim to do each once per week.

Workout A: Chest, Shoulders, Legs and Glutes

• 
  15-minute interval run
• 4x12 benchpress
• 4x12 dumbbell shoulder press
• 4x15 barbell squats
• 4x Alternating sets of...
  • 12 x Hip Abduction machine
  • 12x Hip Adduction machine
• (Should probably add something directly for the glutes?)

Workout B: Back, Abs and Arms

• 15-minute interval run
• 4x Alternating sets of...
  • 12x assisted pull-ups
  • 12x abdominal crunch machine
• 4x12 biceps curl
• 4x Alternative sets of...
  • 12x incline T-Bar row (or dumbbell row)
  • 4x12 biceps curl - lower weight
• (Should potentially add something specifically for lats or triceps?)
  

Workout C: Cardio & Full Body

• 
  20-minute interval run
• 10-minute rowing machine
• 4x Dumbbell Circuit (All lower weight but good speed):
  • 10x Biceps Curl
  • 15x Overhead triceps extension (2h so more reps needed)
  • Quick pause
  • 10x Dumbbell Chest Press
  • 10x Shoulder Press
  • Quick pause
  • 10x Calf Raise
  • 10x Goblet Squat (Which I only discovered today is not, as I've been calling it, a goblin squat...)
  • 10x Lunges
  • Longer rest
• (This is probably too much but I'm not sure what to cut)

Obviously, alongside this I'm trying to work on my diet as well (unsuccessfully because damn I love food) and generally keep active, going for walks etc, so my I have good passive exercise as well.

Sorry for the essay!

Let me know what you think. I'm really happy to hear suggestions for improvement!

 

[walkaway]

@moonmonkey A structured 3x per week full body program written by a professional would yield better and more efficient results. Ideally you want to hit each muscle group at least twice per week. There are numerous solid, professionally written programs in The Fitness Wiki posted by the bot mod.

I've been lifting for a number of years and every time I try just doing my own thing I end up spinning my wheels and getting nowhere fast.

 

[moonmonkey]

@walkaway I'll take a look on the Wiki, thanks!

The challenge for me with doing full body every time is that it just takes so long! I can end up being in there +2h, which is why I've tried to split it up. The resources I'd found had suggested splitting it up this way but others here have suggested doing an upper/lower body split, which I might change to.

Thanks!

 

[walkaway]

@moonmonkey Full body programs focus on compound movements and maybe a couple of accessory movements...generally 5-6 movements in total. A well written full body program should take no longer than 45-60 minutes, generally 3x per week. If you do a push/pull or even an upper/lower body split you should be in there at least 4x per week.

The beauty of a full body program is that normal people who have shit going on and can't spend everyday in the gym can get and stay in great shape and have great results without spending oodles of time in the gym. If you want to bodybuild or whatever, that's a different story and the only way to really do that is to pretty much be in the gym 6 days per week.

 

[harko]

@moonmonkey This is bad to very bad. Usually if you're doing a three day a week program it's full body 3x a week. Some people will do a half PPL 3x a week but that's not optimal for most people. Even a proper bro split would be better than this. You don't need adduction and abduction as a beginner unless you have a coach telling you to do it to overcome and injury or imbalance. The cardio full body day is likely a waste. Those fast paced low weight workouts don't do much for muscle growth and don't burn as many calories as people think they do.

Your warmups should be super easy. I just start with the bar and work up to my working weight but some people like a light cardio exercise first. It really doesn't matter as long as you're ready and not injuring yourself.

 

[bf2008]

@moonmonkey I think I prefer"goblin squat"

But I agree with the other comments, I would be doing 3 full body workouts or if not, an upper, lower, full body split would make more sense than how it's broken up now. I can send you something, if you're interested just shoot me a message. Good luck!

 

[moonmonkey]

@bf2008 Thanks!

If you've got something, that would be useful.

I'm not super committed to any particular arrangement of what I work on what days. This was an arrangement that I found in a video from someone who seemed to know what they were talking about!

 

[bf2008]

@moonmonkey Just sent over some ideas!

 

[cgolordshammer]

@moonmonkey I think you've got some good advice from the other comments already but I'll add in that if your interval run is anything more than a jog I'd move that to after the lifting. If you are doing intervals of sprints you are going to tire yourself out right before you start lifting weights.

Your warm-up can just be doing a few sets of light weights on the muscle group you're about to focus on.