changing workout

[Alliep]

Hey guys!!  I need to change my workouts.  I have always done 5 days of weight training and am seeing a lot of people in my gym doing different body parts during there workouts however; I was always told to only do everything seperately.  Day 1, Legs.  Day 2, Chest and tri's.  3) back  4) back  5) Delts.  So my question is this....what do you think would be a great way to get my workouts showing quicker and better results?  Thanks again.

[willtme]

You first have to define what your goals are.  You train differently for strength, mass, endurance, and speed training.

[Alliep]

Well I am thinking I would only want to compete in Figure.  I could do the body building thing howere; I'm not so much liking that look for me personally.  I am looking to have that lean look.  I just want to be ripped.  I just need to change up my work outs and was wondering about mixing different body parts each work out if that would be such a good idea?  Thanks so much.

[willtme]

It's a common misconception that women will get "big" from weightlifting.  Building mass muscle depends on testosterone largely, with some additional genetic factors.  If you are looking to get "ripped", you should go for weight-training and moderate cardio.  There are so many studies out there claiming to have found the best way to gain mass, strength, lose weight, or increase stamina.  But there are always contradictory studies suggesting that they are wrong and that another way is better.  

So, my advice is to stick to the basics:
When you lift, your muscles need time to recover.  You have to feed them the proper nutrients for them to grow.  You also must get adequate rest since muscle growth occurs while you sleep.  

For the workouts, concentrate on 2-3 muscle groups each day.  Start your workout with the largest muscle group you are working out.  Then work your way to the smallest muscle group.  You use smaller muscle groups while working out the larger ones, so working the smaller first will cause your large muscle group workouts to be less effective.  For example:  if working out your back muscles and arms during a day, do your rows and pulldowns Before you do biceps.  

There's fairly good support for working out each muscle group twice a week.  Some people do splits (working out certain muscle groups on certain days of the week), others do a full body workout when they lift--I would recommend splits to maximize protein synthesis and recovery.  So, maybe you could do Back, biceps, and calves on one day, chest, shoulders, and triceps on the next, and then Legs and calves again the third day.  Give yourself a day of rest and then repeat the cycle--or mix it up.  

For adding cardio into your workouts, it is best to do it at a different time of the day.  This has to do with availability of muscle energy and production of post-workout hormones.  But, if you like to do cardio at the same time as your weightlifting (since you're already sweaty), then it is best to do it after your weightlifting session.  

Post-workout nutrition is very important to gains and recovery.  There are different ratios out there regarding carb:protein intake post-workout, but be sure that you get plenty of these to ensure adequate recovery.  

There's not a "standard" number of sets and reps, or even how many exercises to perform per muscle group.  I will say, do more than one set, and more than one exercise per muscle group.  Basically it comes down to "you get out of it what you put in"--so push yourself everytime.  Push yourself to do more weight or to do an extra rep--set "mini goals" and keep trying to improve.  

"Traditional" ideas of weightlifting say that to gain mass you lift heavy with few reps, for strength and toning, you lift lighter weight and more reps.  I'm personally not convinced by this and I recommend doing what I wrote in the last paragraph--just to push yourself.

Try to keep track of your progress and with some time you will find out what works "best" for you--and that is what's important.
Good luck in your goals.  

[zen trickster]

follow the muscles/veins....biceps through your pectorial.  tricepts through your back and shoulders.   Try doing barbells twice a week (once on your bicep through your pecs; an once through your tricepts through you back/shoulder)   the rest subsutute straight bar and machines.