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How to design a customized routine

post #1 of 12
2/10/08 at 3:25am
Thread Starter 
Former college baseball player, 6 or 7 percent body fat. Now 25, 5' 8 175lbs probably 12 or 14 percent and lookin to get back in shape. I have been workin out off and on for the last year and have got no where. I have no plan and I always get frustrated because I don't have a plan. I am not opposed to the work however, I would really like to find information on how to shape a workout plan. I will say that long workouts lead me to burnout so if its possible to keep it 45 minutes to an 1hr, 4 days or less I would have a better chance at achieving my goals.

I am looking for:
Details to design the correct plan for me and to adjust it when needed
A short rundown on what I should be taking in on a daily basis to be an overall more healthy person

Can anyone help point me in the right directions?
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post #2 of 12
2/10/08 at 8:35am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike Lowry View Post
Can anyone help point me in the right directions?

Yep, whenever I'm designing a new workout for myself or someone else, I start at http://www.exrx.net/Lists/WorkoutMenu.html and pick a sensible-looking plan (e.g. three/four/five days a week etc).

Take a note of the recommended muscle groups and then pick a couple of exercises for each. Write them down with recommended reps. I find sites like http://www.bodybuilding.com is quite good - find one of their (stupidly titled) articles and take some of the exercises / reps recommendations. Yes, you're probably not a bodybuilder but these guys know a thing or two about muscle building .

Put the whole thing in a .txt file (Windows Notepad), e.g.:

CHEST
Incline bench press 15/12/10/10/8
etc.

and copy to your ipod / music player of choice.

Seriously - it makes an awful lot of difference if you have it written out in front of you. Otherwise your brain says "I can't remember if I'm supposed to do five sets or three - let's just do three."
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post #3 of 12
2/10/08 at 12:47pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by ed1234 View Post
Yep, whenever I'm designing a new workout for myself or someone else, I start at http://www.exrx.net/Lists/WorkoutMenu.html and pick a sensible-looking plan (e.g. three/four/five days a week etc).

Take a note of the recommended muscle groups and then pick a couple of exercises for each. Write them down with recommended reps. I find sites like http://www.bodybuilding.com is quite good - find one of their (stupidly titled) articles and take some of the exercises / reps recommendations. Yes, you're probably not a bodybuilder but these guys know a thing or two about muscle building .

Put the whole thing in a .txt file (Windows Notepad), e.g.:

CHEST
Incline bench press 15/12/10/10/8
etc.

and copy to your ipod / music player of choice.

Seriously - it makes an awful lot of difference if you have it written out in front of you. Otherwise your brain says "I can't remember if I'm supposed to do five sets or three - let's just do three."

What I am looking for is a long term plan. I remember when I had baseball specific workouts they would start with 3 day total body workouts with higher reps and eventually worked down to 4-5 days a week with lower reps/higher weights.

To use an analogy I am looking what makes a good design of the engine not how to fix something in it. What criteria make a good sound plan? What daily supplements should I be taking? Multivitamin? Metamucil.....lol? I hope this makes sense.
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post #4 of 12
2/10/08 at 2:39pm
I guess there's no one answer - there are lots of "good sound plans" depending on your preferences for weights/cardio, fat loss / muscle gain, etc. A decent personal trainer (everyone should have a friend who did some sort of exercise science, so you get all the advice without paying £100 an hour) will have some suggestions.

As a general rule, your four days a week is a good starting point. I'd suggest doing two routines on alternate days - so your 7 days goes: ABXABXX. This is particularly good if you don't fancy exercising on the weekend which should give you incentives to hit the gym hard on a Monday.

Your basic pattern should be fix on a workout plan (i.e. plan what Workout A and Workout B are going to be) and perform them, increasing the weights weekly by small amounts (reducing reps if necessary, but only if REALLY necessary ). Then after 6 weeks, replace a few things and start again.

As for supplements, I can't comment. I'd suggest a decent diet and proper portions will do more for your body fat / general wellbeing than anything you can buy in a tub with a picture of a huge bicep on the label...
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post #5 of 12
2/10/08 at 4:20pm
Thread Starter 
I didn't mean andro and protein per say, more like what does my body need daily to be as healthy as possible. I would like to find some good reading on nutrition and designing a program.
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post #6 of 12
2/10/08 at 4:26pm
Thread Starter 
To be more specific I have a bit of a gut and large love handles. I would like to work those down but, more important to me is gaining good overall strength. I could live with a bit of a gut for good increases in strength. Obviously having a steady workout routine for the next year would increase my strength tremendously as I have never worked out consistently for more than 4-5 months in a row.
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post #7 of 12
2/10/08 at 7:18pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike Lowry View Post
I didn't mean andro and protein per say, more like what does my body need daily to be as healthy as possible. I would like to find some good reading on nutrition and designing a program.
In my opinion, everybody should be taking a fish oil supplement, a protein supplement, eating tons of broccoli, cauliflower, and blueberries, and replacing breads and cereals with pumpkin, yams, and sweet potatoes. You're probably not used to counting calories. That's fine. Start by counting the grams of fiber you're getting each day. At the bare minimum, it should be around 25 (30 is better). For most people, it's surprisingly lower than that. If you fix your fiber intake, you'll find that you're less hungry overall and your body will be much happier.
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post #8 of 12
2/11/08 at 1:59am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike Lowry View Post
Former college baseball player, 6 or 7 percent body fat. Now 25, 5' 8 175lbs probably 12 or 14 percent and lookin to get back in shape. I have been workin out off and on for the last year and have got no where. I have no plan and I always get frustrated because I don't have a plan. I am not opposed to the work however, I would really like to find information on how to shape a workout plan. I will say that long workouts lead me to burnout so if its possible to keep it 45 minutes to an 1hr, 4 days or less I would have a better chance at achieving my goals.

I am looking for:
Details to design the correct plan for me and to adjust it when needed
A short rundown on what I should be taking in on a daily basis to be an overall more healthy person

Can anyone help point me in the right directions?

Dude,

College basketball player at 5' 8?

To answer your question, the answer is what exactly is your goal? Your basketball workout is to make you a better player but now?

You can have a full body workout in 2 or 3 sessions or do each bodyparts in each session in 3 or 4 workouts.
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post #9 of 12
2/11/08 at 2:50am
As far as weightlifting goes, I find Bill Starr's 5x5 lifting program to be terrific for beginners. Very easy and fast program that focuses on compound lifts to build a strenght foundation. I'm not really interested in bulking, so I've just continued with the program for 1.5 years now.
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post #10 of 12
2/11/08 at 4:04pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by beasty View Post
College basketball player at 5' 8?

No. You added a couple letters.
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post #11 of 12
2/11/08 at 9:42pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by beasty View Post
Dude,

College basketball player at 5' 8?

To answer your question, the answer is what exactly is your goal? Your basketball workout is to make you a better player but now?

You can have a full body workout in 2 or 3 sessions or do each bodyparts in each session in 3 or 4 workouts.

Dude,

College BASEBALL

And I can still hit a baseball farther than most guys at 6 feet I know.

Dig me
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post #12 of 12
2/11/08 at 10:00pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike Lowry View Post
Dude,

College BASEBALL

And I can still hit a baseball farther than most guys at 6 feet I know.

Dig me

Hee Hee. Sorry my mistake.
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