I'm about to start working out again after about 6 months off, I was wondering if anyone had any specific advice for me.

I'm 6'4" 200lbs, I would really like to tone up without getting a ton of mass and lose as much fat as possible. Last time I worked out I was doing 5 days a week, but after reading some of these threads that sounds like a bad idea. Any suggestions would be appreciated, thanks.

full body workout.. research it. there are tons of examples in posts on the forum.

Thanks for the reply, so I was thinking maybe one of these...

OR



Either way I was thinking one of these 3 days a week would probably be best. Or modified with someone's input obviously.

I also wanted to maybe incorporate HIIT, which I've been reading about in this forum and it sounds like a good training tool for my cardio. Any recommendations on a good time setup to be doing all of this?

IE should I do my HIIT in the morning when I wake up before going to the gym or should I do my HIIT on my weight training off days?

HIIT on off training days would be the best.

and where on earth did you find those workouts? :s
try to search "full body workout" on the search engine on the forum.. you should find some propper examples of routines.. that one had alot of isolation in it..
General rule, usually when it says "leg press OR squats" its crap.. since well, squats and leg press are two completly different things used for two different goals. they work the same muscles, but are very different.
squats are best

Random sites that I found through Google..
Anyway,

Testosterone Nation - Total-Body Training
Found that, seems like that has a lot of good info in it.

I also noticed a lot of people were recommending these exercises:
squats
bench press
deadlifts
lat pulldowns/pullups
bent over row
military press/ shoulder press

This seems like it would satisfy the exercises per session requirement. However, this leads me to my next question. ;p

Sets per Muscle Group: 2-4
Reps per Exercise: 5-18

Since I really want more tone then mass, at least for now, where should I start and what should I build towards? (if the two differ at all)

Thanks for all the helpful advice.

"core exercises" (i.e. squats, bench presses, deadlifts) will make you grow. The full body workout is a good idea after gaining some inital mass. Also make sure you do 30-40 minutes of cardio 3-4 times a week.

Popo,

Do yourself a favor: read "Brother Iron, Sister Steel: A Bodybuilder's Book" by Dave Draper

Bodybuilding, Weight Training, Nutrition and Diet Guidelines from Mr. Universe Dave Draper

This is the best weight-training book I've ever read (& I've read quite a few & tried to read a few others & found doing so difficult)... this book is an easy read... it's concise & full of wisdom (Draper tells it like it is).

Thanks for that link, I will definatly read the information on that site.

However, I'm confused after reading badgerbacon's reply. If HIIT is really the best cardio work to be doing, wouldnt that involve no more than about 15min of cardio 3-4 days a week rather than that 30-40 stuff?

Forgive my newbie-ness

So I was looking into it some more.

I was wondering what you all thought about this..

Either I'll do 6 days a week with 3 days being Full Body Workout and 3 being HIIT

OR

I'll do 3 days HIIT and 2 days Full Body Workout one week
Then
3 days Full Body Workout and 2 days HIIT the next

OR

Just three days and combine it all, but I was told HIIT should be separate.


Also, I'm still kind of up in the air on my actual Full Body Workout routine, but I'm getting closer if anyone has any more input on that it's appreciated.

i would actually do 3 days fullbody and 2 days HIIT, to start with. then you can see if you can handle it, add another day of HIIT.

about the toning, there is no such thing. Toning is the act of loosing fat to see the muscle underneath. If you have alot of muscle, but fat is covering it, you need to cut down the fat, if you are already pretty skinny, but not "toned" enough, then you need to add some muscle.
Are your goals purly for size and looks or do you want some athletic performance, get stronger, etc?

The testosterone nation link is a good one! Further down in that article under "The Total-Body Plan" there is an example workout, but for a beginner (which you are after taking 6 months off) i think he uses a bit low rep ranges since that plan isent designed for someone just starting. So id start off with something like 3x10 for a coupple of months, then maybe go down to 3x8 do that for a while.. then maybe something like 5x5. But it will depend on your goals, and how fast you get back to what your old shape was like when you were lifting.

Thanks for all the helpful advice.

no problem mate!