Inconsistent gym workouts. anyone got a routine???

[Pauli]

Get a good gym partner, you will be able to push yourself alot harder and they will assist in keeping you on track with good technique during your exercises. Just don't get my gym partner, the way he trains me it is as though he is hell bent on pushing me mentally and physically to a inch of my life every session.

I have never ever done leg exercises at the gym which i probably should, i hear it help with the rest of your body......

I don't do any cardio vascular in a matter of fact, if you want to put on more weight, be it muscle or fat, i'd stop that for a few months and use your time pumping more iron, once you have bulked up more then go do some girl exercises to strip the fat and reveal your newly made muscle.

If you have to run, do 10 minutes to warm up, with sprint, slow, sprint, slow, sprint cycle to maximise effect.

Might work for some people.

[Pegasus]

Ah now let me see ,you have never done leg exercises in your heroic workouts.
You don't do cardio and advise against it, until after you look like Arnold, but then go and do some girl exercises.
Seen many bulk up only a few cut up, surprising how little was left- unless they were on drugs.

[MoreGains]

I'm unsure of the exact setup of your gym, but the first step I'd highly suggest is to simply swap the structure of your workout and complete your resistance training prior to any cardiovascular training. Cardio has a lesser muscular demand, and by doing it first you are pre-exhausting yourself for a resistance session and getting less from it than you could be. However resistance training first should still allow you to perform cardio work at roughly the same intensity. The second suggestion I'd make is to try and move from machines to free weights. This will allow a lot of the muscles that are required to stabilise the movements to get brought into play as unlike machines free weights do not have a pre-determined path of movement and smaller muscles are brought into play to create this. Many of the websites suggested, bodybuilding.com and tnation are great. Depending on your time and gym history and your goals, the workout will vary greatly. Again someones already said diet and as a PT I tell clients its always about 80% of the battle so if you can nail that, you are certainly on the right path. Periodization and a log book are great tips, should really help you keep track and ensure you are improving each week. Consistency is much easier to achieve when you have to admit on a bad workout you are going backwards, as generally its a mental thing and when you are aware you've done it before you will work your hardest to ensure you can do it again. Best of luck with it.

[power lifter]

mark rippetoes starting strength with a gallon of milk everyday added to 3 high cal meals a day should do the trick.

ditch the cardio, do the prgram like this

monday workout A, wednesday workout B, friday workout A. the next week itd be monday workout B ect. u alternate every day

[Pegasus]

I like rippetoe's stuff, especially for a skinny kid. Don't agree with everything he says, but that would be a good direction to go in at this point.

[SouthernJoe]

+1 for rippetoes... his simplified program put 53 lbs on my frame of which I've only lost 7. very successful run. s

[RockofFox]

Originally Posted by remek

Matt: How's your diet? This could be affecting your results more than anything.

As for a good workout, here's a few that I've tried in the past with good results that don't take too much time (the time part is key for me):
The Abs Diet: Circuit Training - Sample Workout Plan (really good cardio + muscle workout in one)

Tim Ferriss Workout: From Geek to Freak: How I Gained 34 lbs. of Muscle in 4 Weeks (I didn't see nearly the same results as he did, but I don't think anyone else did either. Either way, it was a good workout for a minimal amount of time).

5x5 Stronglift Workout: StrongLifts 5×5 Beginner Strength Training Program | StrongLifts.com


Big Al is a good guy to talk to about strength workouts. He has several good routines.

As a qualified Personal trainer I have seen many workouts come and go. WHat I like about the last 2 workouts is that they use compound exercises primarily. Thats the key to a muscular physique, is the big lifts. The bigger the lift, the more beneficial. Stick to those that you know work, every weigh lifter has overheard a massive guy talk about how much they love squats and deadlifts, and for good reason, they are the best at building muscle. Just because you dont want good legs is no reason not to squat. I wont go into the technical reasons why bigger, multijoint compound lifts are better for gaining size, just understand that it is the case, and do them!!!