Hi all, I am new to the forums and have posted in the new guy section with a slight overview of what I have been doing to date. I have now read quite a few threads about diet and workout plans etc and have decided to use some of this advice and see if it will give me better results in terms of my goals. These goals are to reduce my BF% (I am unsure what this exactly is at this point but the man boobs speak for themselves) and build / tone muscle. This isn't for any body building or competition purposes but just for confidence and asthetic purposes.

I am currently 5" 8' and weigh 85kg, the weight itself doesnt bother me too much its the distrubution of weight and the BF%. I have removed soft drink and most sugar from my diet in the last 3 years but it is still not that great. Through what I have read and discussed with some friends, I have changed my diet to :

Breakfast - Cereal with milk (used to eat no breakfast)
Lunch - Sandwich on wheat bread usually tuna/tomato or ham/salad
Dinner - whatever is at home (usually meat/3 veg or spaghetti)

I have been going the gym fairly 3 days a week for the last 6 months or so with the occasionally short breaks depending on life situations and have had some change but not quite the change I am after. My previous routine was 1 day each of arms, chest and back with a 1 hr weights and 1 hr cardio in each section.

I have now changed my routine based on what I have read to a 2 day split push / pull cycled over a 2 week period since I can only go three days a week. Each routine will hopefully include 30 minutes of HIIT on the bike if I can or if I find the new routine too tiring I will move the HIIT to off days and run down the local field. Since I am making this change I thought I would track this in a Journal to see if I am making progress and get your opinions on what I am doing. The post below is the first workout of the new routine.

Wednesday 26/3/08

First day of the new workout. I go with a mate so we help each other and take our rests as the other does their sets. All weights are in kilograms since I am in Australia. I do 3 sets of 10 reps of each exercise.

Bench Press :
1 x 40
1 x 50
1 x 60

Seated Row :
1 x 46
1 x 48
1 x 53

Pec Fly :
Would normally use the machine for this but since it was taken I did it with free weights which I didnt find as useful across the chest but killed my triceps.

3 x 17.5 (in each hand)

Chin Up :
I cannot lift my full weight in chin ups yet so I use the assisted chin up machine. As such the following weights are the assisted weights that I used for each set.

1 x 33
1 x 26
1 x 19

Lateral Raises :
I am not sure if I am doing this correct but I am holding a weight in each hand and lifting out to both sides in a crucifix kind of way.

3 x 10

Military Press :
I had a sore left delt for this one, not sure what I previously did that got me so sore.

3 x 25

Tricep Extension :

3 x 15 (for each arm)

Bicep Curl :

1 x 30
1 x 35
1 x 37.5 (struggled to get this last set out since I was so tired)

Shrugs :

3 x 60

After this I tried for the first of my HIIT sessions on the bike and got 3 sprints in before I felt like throwing up. I dont know if I was going too hard or the fact that I ate before goign to the gym held me back but I struggled.

Home for protein shake and then sleep.

Soccer training Thursday night and indoor soccer Friday meant no gym till Sunday so here is the next installment and the second set in the routine. Again all weights are in Kg and all sets are sets of 10 reps.

Sunday 30/03/08

Squat :

I dont think I was doing this right as my balance was all off and I must have had the bar sitting wrong on my shoulders cause I sent pins and needles into my left hand.

1 x 60
1 x 70
1 x 75

Straight leg dead lift :

Straight leg bend over and then lift the bar straightening the legs. I think this is the correct way to do this but it goes against everything I have been told in regards to picking things up and lower back problems.

1 x 60
1 x 70
1 x 70

Leg press :

I was supposed to do lunges here but my left hand is still kinda numb (infact its still numb like an hour afterwards) so I went the leg press option.

1 x 120
1 x 140
1 x 160

Sitting leg curl :

1 x 47
1 x 54
1 x 59

Horizontal calf raise/press :

1 x 95
1 x 105
1 x 115

Declined sit ups :

On a declined bench going parallel to the floor then bringing the opposite elbow to knee.

3 x 30 reps

Side bends :

My gym has a slanted machine that puts you in the position for this one and I have my arm hanging with a 10 kg weight.

3 x 15 reps on each side

Little stiff in the legs after this workout since I havent done much legs before and the squats really got me. My left arm is still numb which is kinda annoying and worrying. Protein shake feels great.

Next workout is tomorrow back to the first routine.

Are you including the bar in your weights?

Hey Phate,

Yeah I am including 20kg for the bar in these weights. I would be much more impressed if I wasn't

Monday 31/03/08

Legs still tired from the leg set on Sunday but feels like a good burn and thankfully I dont have a numb left hand anymore. Sets of 10 reps again.

Bench Press :
1 x 40
1 x 50
1 x 60 (only got out 8 of these, my bench is really struggling)

Seated Row :
1 x 48.75 (dont ask why they have wierd weights this is mx on the machine)
1 x 53.75
1 x 58.75

Push Ups :
The Pec Fly machine is never free so I did push ups instead.

3 x 20 (only made it to 15 in the last set)

Chin Up :
I cannot lift my full weight in chin ups yet so I use the assisted chin up machine. As such the following weights are the assisted weights that I used for each set.

1 x 33
1 x 26
1 x 19

Lateral Raises :
3 x 12.5 (in each hand)

Military Press :
3 x 30

Tricep Extension :
1 x 18.75
2 x 21.5

Bicep Curl :
1 x 30
1 x 35
1 x 40

Weight doesnt include the bar as I am not quite sure how much it weighs.

Shrugs :
3 x 80

Felt pretty good after this workout actually. I think I can definately push it up a bit next time. Protein Shake went down a treat.

I'v been assuming the easy bar weighs 2.5 kg in bicep curls mate

Wednesday 2/4/08

Squat :

I dont think I was doing this right as my balance was all off and I must have had the bar sitting wrong on my shoulders cause I sent pins and needles into my left hand again. I am very worried about this as my friend seems to think I have just pinched a nerve but it lasts almost 2 hrs each time and one of the trainers sugested I might have something wrong with my 5th and 6th vertebrae. I would appreciate any thoughts from someone who has heard of this before or knows what they are talking about.

1 x 60
1 x 80
Didnt get out the last set because of the left arm.

Straight leg dead lift :

2 x 60
Didn't get out the last set because I could barely grip the bar and almost dropped it on my second set thanks to my arm.

Leg press :

Again I had to miss lunges because of the arm, it is really dissadvataging this second routine.

1 x 120
1 x 140
1 x 160

Sitting leg curl :

1 x 54
1 x 61
1 x 68

Calf Raise :

1 x 40
1 x 50
1 x 55

Declined sit ups :

1 x 30
1 x 40
1 x 50

Hanging leg hip raise :

3 x 10 sets

Arm is worrying me. Protein shake was good. Hope to hear your thoughts.

Indoor soccer on Friday night (joke of a game against a new team so not really much effort involved unfortunately) and outdoor soccer first game of the season on Saturday which was quite difficult and hot.

Sunday 6/4/08

Bench Press :
1 x 50
1 x 60
1 x 65

Seated Row :
1 x 55
1 x 60
1 x 65

Pec Fly :

1 x 61
1 x 72
1 x 79

Chin Up :

1 x - 26
1 x - 19
1 x - 12

Lateral Raises :

3 x 30

Military Press :

3 x 30

Tricep Extension :

1 x 21.25
1 x 23.75
1 x 25.00

Bicep Curl :
Normally use the handy grip bar sitting down with the angled pad for bicep curls so as to reduce body movement anc concentrate on biceps but the spectacular amount of guys doing biceps and checking themselves out meant this was taken so used a free bar standing up. This really causes pain in my forearms though.

3 x 35

Shrugs :

1 x 80
2 x 100

Having a look around the shops with a mate afterwards so didnt get home for my normal protein shake. Instead tried some protein drink at the gym (musachi or something like that) which wasn't bad but caused a very dry mouth. Tuna + avocado sushi for lunch, Yum.

Good work man, where do ya hail from? Looks like you could switch a couple of exercises round in your routine, remember compounds before isolations! Otherwise good work.

I am from Australia, how about you mate?

I am open to some suggestions, this is a routine which I kind of tossed together from information gained from reading a whole bunch of posts from the forums. Previously me and Skinner (my workout mate) were basically doing top half only and I now realise a lot of repeat excercises on the same muscle groups which would have done nothing.

I am relatively happy with this so far and it definately works out all muscles much better than I have done before but I am sure it could do with some tweaking. I really need an alternative to squats or atleast a squat I can do without having the bar across the back of my neck as this is causing medical issues.

have you tried front squats?

try this news mate
Barbell Front Squat

Tuesday 8/4/08

All weight is still in Kgs which for those that dont know you times by 2.2 to get Lbs.

Squats
First attempt at front squats because of my neck problem. Hard keeping the bar up on the shoulders and chest in the front. Very tiring between my shoulder blades because of this hold I think.

1 x 40
1 x 60
1 x 70

Stiff Leg Dead Lift
1 x 70
2 x 80

Lunges
Did this with a front quat hold on the bar. Had trouble with balance.

1 x 40
1 x 50
1 x 60

Seated Leg Curls
1 x 61
1 x 68
1 x 75

Calf Raises
1 x 50
1 x 60
1 x 70

Decline Sit up (45degrees)
2 x 30reps with 10kg weight
1 x 30reps no additional weight

Hanging Leg Hip Raise Throw Down
3 x 11reps

Side Bend
3 sets of 10 reps on each side with additional weights as follows.

1 x 10
1 x 12.5
1 x 15

Legs are very sore after this. Did some much needed stretching and Protein Shake went down well.

With your arms crossed high like that I was expecting you to nod your head and grant me a wish......all you need was a little genie beret