Inconsistent gym workouts. anyone got a routine???

[Mattyluv Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Mattyluv]

Hello Evyerone-
I hit the gym about three-four times a week. I am 5'6" 130lbs.
Fairly muscular but also kinda scrawny, sorta like a semi-buff skinny hipster kid.

I would like to really rock my gym workouts this summer.

What i do or try to do when I go to the gym:
I usually do about 30 mins of fat/burn cardio on a treadmill with a THR of 145. (I usually accomplish this every time I go to the gym)

After that I sort of use the upped body circuit that my gym has setup.
Mostly weight machines for shoulders, abs, and chest. 10 reps 3 sets each.
I usually do about four or five separate weight excercises, kinda picked out of a hat,
maybe quick crunches thrown in between some reps
this lasts about 25-30mins.
then I stretch for five and kick it.

as you can see I am fairly inconsistent.

I like the lean tone upper body toning look guys in H&M catalogs have.
Can anyone recommend me an upper body workout that'll make me be more consistent??
I'm sure inconsistency is why after a long time of going to the gym, I am not getting the results I thought I would get.

Thanks
Mattyluv

[remek Founder Find all posts View Profile Close 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.

[Mattyluv Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Mattyluv]

Thanks remek, I'll take a look at these for sure- the ABS diet looks very thourough - exactly what I'm looking for.

to answer your question - my diet is pretty good - Very diverse with a lot of natural ingredients, vegetables, grains - no corn syrup (ok some ketchup).
Whey Protein powder shakes at least four times a week.

Thanks man

[NLarge Member Find all posts View Profile Close NLarge]

Bodybuilding.com is my favorite bodybuilding info site and store. You will have to peruse their articles but they have recommended workouts for every body part, articles on motivation and nutrition for different bodybuilding goals, like mass gain or lean muscle gain.

Nutrition wise, my main staples are a good whey protein, pre- and post-workout drinks (for creatine and recovery), branched chains (BCAAs), and a carb powder. Everything else just tweaks your system.

Consistency is more a mental state. You have to motivate yourself to improve and increase the weight and complete your reps no matter how hard you struggle. Full body circuits are not your best bet. Try to break up your workouts to different body parts throughout the week. I have a leg day, chest day, arms, shoulders, and back and my workouts usually last an hour. Separate days allow your body to recover the rest of the week while you work the other parts.

[Lazy 8 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Lazy 8]

And don't forget your form in performing exercises. Cut back on the weights and make sure you perform the movements correctly (good form) and you will get quicker benefits than overloading the weights and using bad form to complete your sets. I've seen so many guys struggling with bad form and I want to tell them what's up but I never do.

[kevinthos Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close kevinthos]

I recently joined a gym and have developed a pretty good routine for myself. I stopped working out about 2 years ago and it feels great to get back into it. Getting enough sleep is really important and also a good diet like everyone has said is vital. It was recommended to me to ingest one gram of protein a day per pound of bodyweight, or 1 gram per pound of ideal bodyweight.. ie if you weigh 200lbs. and want to weigh 180 get 180 grams of protein a day. Also don't overtrain, if you work out your chest one day don't do tricepts the next because you use your tri's for the chest workouts. I wouldn't do shoulders right after chest either. My workout is Day1 chest and tri's Day 2 Back and bi's Day 3 legs and Day 4 shoulders. Good luck!

[Neo22 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Neo22]

Although I'm not a big advocate of it, I'm going to recommend crossfit (crossfit.com) to you. It's simple and they post workouts on the site six days/week. Most workouts are done for time and/or reps, so it's easy to track your progress. For someone who has experience working out, but has been inconsistent, this might keep you motivated enough to stick with it. I'm partial to (mountain)militaryathlete.com workouts. They're much more well rounded, diverse and involve a lot more strength training.
If you want to focus more on strength, look for stuff by Bill Starr. He's old school, but his approach will get you doing the lifts you need to do and it'll get your strong. I also used the Bigger Faster Stronger routine for a bit while in high school and saw great results with that. Of course then, my hormones were seeping out through every orafice, but it would be good looking into it nonetheless.

[bodeen Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close bodeen]

Hello Evyerone-
I hit the gym about three-four times a week. I am 5'6" 130lbs.
Fairly muscular but also kinda scrawny, sorta like a semi-buff skinny hipster kid.

I would like to really rock my gym workouts this summer.

What i do or try to do when I go to the gym:
I usually do about 30 mins of fat/burn cardio on a treadmill with a THR of 145. (I usually accomplish this every time I go to the gym)

After that I sort of use the upped body circuit that my gym has setup.
Mostly weight machines for shoulders, abs, and chest. 10 reps 3 sets each.
I usually do about four or five separate weight excercises, kinda picked out of a hat,
maybe quick crunches thrown in between some reps
this lasts about 25-30mins.
then I stretch for five and kick it.

as you can see I am fairly inconsistent.

I like the lean tone upper body toning look guys in H&M catalogs have.
Can anyone recommend me an upper body workout that'll make me be more consistent??
I'm sure inconsistency is why after a long time of going to the gym, I am not getting the results I thought I would get.

Thanks
Mattyluv

T-Nation is great site with many different fitness trainers, different diets and routines. I have had great results. Not just for body builders.

[gwnhwyvar Banned Find all posts View Profile Close gwnhwyvar]

I'm going to recommend crossfit

I'm with Neo - did the routine thing for quite a while but it got old and stale and boring, no matter what I did to try to get excited about it. So now I just do whatever I feel like doing on a given day - could be pumping some iron or going for a job. Kinda let my body tell me what it wants to do for some exercise instead of me telling my body - make sense? hope so!

[Neo22 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Neo22]

I'm with Neo - did the routine thing for quite a while but it got old and stale and boring, no matter what I did to try to get excited about it. So now I just do whatever I feel like doing on a given day - could be pumping some iron or going for a job. Kinda let my body tell me what it wants to do for some exercise instead of me telling my body - make sense? hope so!

After I was through with my sports days, I started doing what I felt like I was up to for that day too. I thought it was good for the short term, especially since I was moving around and traveling a lot then, but I'm still old school. I like programs, going through cycles (not steroid cycles). I like periodization, tracking my progress, etc. If you want to know how much I squatted in September 1996, I'm sure I could go to my folks' place and find my old log book and let you know.
As a person who has been involved in athletics, lifting, hiking, and so on, for a while and already having built a solid foundation, crossfit was a poor choice on my part. It was like taking two steps back.
If you are inconsistent, I think it is imperative that you push through those plateaus and keep on keepin' on. I don't necessarily like training, but it has become habit at this point for me. Just pushthrough it. If you have a goal, or something else to work for, that will only aide in becoming consistent.

[Pauli Member Find all posts View Profile Close 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 AdministratorPE Gym EditorPEGym Hero ☺ Admin of the Month Mar 2015 Find all posts View Profile Close 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 Banned Find all posts View Profile Close 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 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close 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 AdministratorPE Gym EditorPEGym Hero ☺ Admin of the Month Mar 2015 Find all posts View Profile Close 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.