# Need advise (new here)



## thisisfromwork (Jan 23, 2014)

Good day, 

To start, yes I am new here and technically my first post. I'm 24 M 5'5 and at 120 lbs. Just started last two weeks of December.

I do workout at home and I've already bought a couple of weights. Currently I have: 4 10lbs || 2 15lbs|| 2 25lbs || 2 dumbbell handles || 1 5ft. bar || 1 6ft. bar and a bench press set that lets me do inclined/flat sets and doesn't have that thing on the end where you can do legs.

I've asked some friends of mine who also train and I was given a schedule for it. (all of which takes an hour)

M - chest
T - rest
W - arms
TH - rest
F - legs
sat - 
sun - 

That leaves to the question: how could I include shoulders and back? Plus I've seen people who basically train everyday. So is it okay in my place like to leave out rest days maybe like (M - chest T - Arms)? I've also developed good appetite because of it and I'd also like to know what are the particulars like what to eat and stuff.

Thanks


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## Pinkbear (Jan 23, 2014)

Idk who you workin out with but that's a horrible routine 

Day 1 chest
Day 2 legs 
Day 3 shoulders 
Day 4 back 
Day 5 arm 

Arm day is kinda lame so you could do 

Day 1 chest/ tri or bis 
Day 2 back / tri or bis 
Day 3 shoulders 
Day 4 legs 

Eat meat.


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## thisisfromwork (Jan 23, 2014)

Thanks for the tip. About the two muscle groups in a day, I was thinking about the time. Like Do I need to do 1 hour per muscle group or just 30 min per muscle group and still sticking to the 1 hour a day training.


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## GreatGunz (Jan 23, 2014)

Start with 3 sets of 10 after a few weeks 4 sets 6-8 keep it heavy at this point.

And legs should be done on Monday in my opion, your totally fresh from not lifting the weekend.


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## thisisfromwork (Jan 23, 2014)

@greatgunz: Got it. But regarding my question above. About the time that I should allot per muscle group. Should I give 1 hour per group making it 2 hours a day or should it be just within an hour a day since it really isn't recommended to go over an hour. (unless it is).

Plus is it okay to combine shoulder and legs?


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## DF (Jan 23, 2014)

Small muscle groups ( Bi/Tri ) don't need much time.  6-9 sets is plenty.  If you are working the major muscle groups hard your arms will grow.


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## DieYoungStrong (Jan 23, 2014)

Hey bro, you're 5'-5", 120 and new. Good for you to want to start training, but you need to get a few things sorted out. I can only assume right now that your goal is to gain size?

At 120, you need to start eating everything you see. EVERYTHING. ALL THE TIME. When you're not eating, you should be thinking about your next meal. Buy a rotisserre chicken from the super market and eat it throughout the day. Don't drive by a Burger Joint without stopping in for a double cheeseburger. Wash it down with a protein shake. Take down a pizza. You really have to eat until your blue, and then eat some more. Pasta, rice, potatoes - all good for you. You're not going to get fat if you're training hard enough, and, if you start seeing to much fat gain, just dial the calories back a bit. 

I think at this point, you don't have to get scientific with Macros. Just eat everything you can eat, every 2-3 hours. If you wake up at night to take a piss, gobble down a PB&J before you go back to bed. If you're not gaining weight, you're not eating enough...it's that simple.

Your training should be all basic compound movements (squat, bench, Deads, OH Press) in a linear progression for now. Throw in some chins/pullups too. Look into starting strength. Get your form down, and go.

If you eat enough and train hard, you should be able to pack on 30-40 lbs natty within a year of so.

This is a great board to bounce questions off of guys who are glad to help a new guy. Guys who know a lot more then I do.


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## mistah187 (Jan 23, 2014)

Second the above. Keep the training simple. Squats deadz and bench. Just make sure u watch some vids and do ur form correctly. Deads will be ur best friend in a small home gym. They build ur whole body.


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## AlphaD (Jan 23, 2014)

mistah187 said:


> Second the above. Keep the training simple. Squats deadz and bench. Just make sure u watch some vids and do ur form correctly. Deads will be ur best friend in a small home gym. They build ur whole body.



What Mistah and GG both said.  Eat, eat and eat some more, Train Hard (training hard does not me long...) and rest.  No way should you give your chest a whole hour to work out.  So an example of Chest and Tri work out  3-4sets of Bench Press or Dumbell Press, 3-4 sets Incl Bench Press or Incl Dumbell Press, and 3-4 set of Db Flyes.  Then pick 2-3 Tricep exercise and do the same.........your workout can be completed in 60-75 minutes.


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## Stevethedream (Jan 23, 2014)

Welcome to ugbb buddy. You should definitely look into some of the threads here cuz you can find a lot of knowledgeable information that can probably answer a lot of ur questions.


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## Pinkbear (Jan 23, 2014)

GreatGunz said:


> Start with 3 sets of 10 after a few weeks 4 sets 6-8 keep it heavy at this point.
> 
> And legs should be done on Monday in my opion, your totally fresh from not lifting the weekend.



didnt mean in that order just giving a routine 
you can do this however you like but usually you dont wanna do similar muscle groups back to back

example back then legs the next day or chest then shoulders the next day
both muscle groups use some of the same muscles. no need to over work them


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## Bro Bundy (Jan 24, 2014)

find what routine works best this comes with time.Theres no wrong or right way in bb


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## thisisfromwork (Jan 24, 2014)

Thank you guys. I really appreciate the help. I'm actually trying to make a compilation of takeaways from the responses.

Had the flu for the past 3 days so now I'm going to use this information to bounce back.

- So just like DieYoungStrong said, I'd be more on eating. So at this point there are no restrictions right? Like I could just go down and order out heavy meals and stock some protein at home like eggs, cheese, peanut butter, mostly the stuff that doesn't really require minimal to no cooking would be great since I do have limited time at home since I go to work.

I also have been drinking Whey at home before workouts (just want to add to the information given on my first post)


- I kinda get Pinkbear regarding his example:

Day 1 chest/ tri or bis 
Day 2 back / tri or bis 
Day 3 shoulders 
Day 4 legs 

just want to ask though if that'd be okay for now since I really don't have anything solid to follow. Because from what I understand day 5/6/7 (I'd make day 1 Monday) would be rest in that case. Also if it would be possible to do shoulders and legs on the same day?

- AlphaD also cleared it out about the time needed to train 2 muscle groups. So as long as I do 3 sets of 10 then work it up to 4 sets of 6-8 (keeping it heavy at that point)

@Brother Bundy: Thanks. I'm also checking other threads just read up on the matter.

So those were my takeaways from the responses to my post. I will be applying the routine next week. For the food, I'd just go about it over the weekend. Am excited to try those out.


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## thisisfromwork (Feb 6, 2014)

It's been almost 3 weeks since I've started the routine that was suggested. I just want to confirm it's okay before I proceed with the succeeding weeks.

mon - chest/tri
tue - back/bi
wed - shoulders
thurs - legs
fri/sat/sun - rest

Just concerned if the three consecutive rest days are okay or do I need to do change the rest days?

As for the food, I've been hoarding stuff high in protein and calories. It's a bit over the budget but I make sure I get what I need.  I am still limited with the equipment that I have at home since my work schedule is at night. Am also planning to buy a weighing scale to monitor progress. Thanks again for the feedback


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## widehips71 (Feb 6, 2014)

There's nothing inherently wrong with the above split.  It's a very typical one.  I personally prefer to split my primary and secondary muscle groups as much as possible.  For example; when you work chest doing pressing movements, you are also working out tris.  When you work out back doing rows/pullups etc, you work the bis.  Therefore I never feel I have enough left to give full effort to the second group.


Day one    - Chest
Day two    - Back / Traps
Day three  - Off
Day four    - Bi / Tri
Day five    - Shoulders / Traps
Day six     - Legs
Day seven - Off

I like having an off day after back and legs because those tend to be the most intense workouts and put an incredible amount of strain on the body.  Also, with someone as new to lifting as you are I would generally tell them to not even worry about isolation exercises.  In other words, your results will be just fine without doing curls, shrugs, side lateral raises, etc.


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## thisisfromwork (Feb 6, 2014)

Thanks for the reply.  And yeah, it really was an improvement compared to what I was doing before. Another thing though, from the routine I mentioned, where can I add the abs? Should it be done along with shoulders or legs?


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## BiologicalChemist (Feb 9, 2014)

What widehops said.....Take each of the different routine's above, write them down and mix and match..get creative, there's no routine set in stone for muscle growth. You need goals first along with motivation and patience. You sound like a beginner and you simply need to hit the gym everyday to 6 days a week for a few years until you build yourself a foundation of quality muscle. Sure you can train everyday, just don't train the same muscle group too often or you could hinder your gains and ruin your proportions. Besides simply rotating muscle groups on various days you can  change the number of reps, sets, and exercise's every couple of months. (basically your goal is to confuse/shock the muscle to stimulate growth, your muscles don't want to grow,you must give them a reason to grow and build your mental strength to overcome the pain barrier/pump). Also, its important to always use proper form to get the best muscle contractions on each rep for each lift (heavy weight isn't necessarily the answer), no swinging, this may build strength but it will eventually lead to tendon/ligament injuries and not shape the muscle. Everyone knows diet is equally as important to results, depending on your body fat, start eating more food (clean food). In the end of the day anyone can tell you these basic lifting principles but its going to be up to you to design yourself...Just do it. Gd luck.


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## DocDePanda187123 (Feb 9, 2014)

BiologicalChemist said:


> What widehops said.....Take each of the different routine's above, write them down and mix and match..get creative, there's no routine set in stone for muscle growth. You need goals first along with motivation and patience. You sound like a beginner and you simply need to hit the gym everyday to 6 days a week for a few years until you build yourself a foundation of quality muscle. Sure you can train everyday, just don't train the same muscle group too often or you could hinder your gains and ruin your proportions. Besides simply rotating muscle groups on various days you can  change the number of reps, sets, and exercise's every couple of months. (basically your goal is to confuse/shock the muscle to stimulate growth, your muscles don't want to grow,you must give them a reason to grow and build your mental strength to overcome the pain barrier/pump). Also, its important to always use proper form to get the best muscle contractions on each rep for each lift (heavy weight isn't necessarily the answer), no swinging, this may build strength but it will eventually lead to tendon/ligament injuries and not shape the muscle. Everyone knows diet is equally as important to results, depending on your body fat, start eating more food (clean food). In the end of the day anyone can tell you these basic lifting principles but its going to be up to you to design yourself...Just do it. Gd luck.



Swinging the weight won't always lead to injury and at times is actually good form depending on the circumstances. Such as with barbell curls, part of the function of the bicep is shoulder extension so a full ROM bicep curl will involve some swing in the upper arm to finish the ROM of the lift. This swinging motion isn't meant to be sloppy though. It's controlled and an extension of the lift.


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## BiologicalChemist (Feb 9, 2014)

I do abs everyday. Do 30 straight leg raises a day before or after a workout slow, controlled movements while holding at the top, don't swing for momentum. Again, patience. You can start adding a day or a few days a week using weights and resistance ab exercises once you've built a stronger core. I only train them with weights once or twice a week while always maintaining my core strength everyday with the leg raises...this goes for all exercises. (ex. always doing pullups, dips, planks, pushups, stair stepper etc.) Master your core first then incorporate the weight training and u pack on mass while keeping endurance and high metabolism.


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## BiologicalChemist (Feb 9, 2014)

Doc d is right. Its not always detrimental to you progress. For an experienced lifter you can "cheat" rep while still being self-aware of your form and limits while not hitting perfect form. I do this after my full workout of perfect reps then will cheat slightly with heavier weight to stimulate strength/test. Although, as for an amateur lifter like the original poster, I personally wouldn't recommend getting to overboard with the improper form until you've built your overall foundation. From my experience, proper form and achieving the pump is the ultimate goal..to bodybuilding that is.


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## ECKSRATED (Feb 9, 2014)

I never understood why people say an arm day is lame or not neccesarry. Especially in the sense of bodybuilding. I love arm day. I love close grip bench. If me close gripping 405 for reps is lame then maybe I'm gay or something. The stronger your tris AND bis the stronger your bench and other lifts will be. Yea your arms get worked with compound movements but they will grow even more with direct work. 

I hear guys saying "oh I don't do arms" and they have the smallest weakest arms ever. Don't make sense to me.  

To the OP, add an arm day or add them in somewhere in your split if u want big arms along with everything else.


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## BiologicalChemist (Feb 9, 2014)

Agreed with ECKSRATED^^ Close gripping 405 for reps lol damn. Isolation is necessary and will add to your compound lifts, everything is connected nothings off limits


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## grizzldsealpoacher (Feb 9, 2014)

I pump this guys routine like I am him or blowing him but I only recommend it b/c I used it with freaking amazing results especially in the beginning all the way to about 1.5 years before I staled 

go on youtube and look up novice 5x5 program by jason blaha you follow it to a T you will get great results


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## thisisfromwork (Feb 24, 2014)

@BiologicalChemist :



> I do abs everyday. Do 30 straight leg raises a day before or after a workout slow, controlled movements while holding at the top, don't swing for momentum.



-- Will be including this to my warm-up excercises. But I have to ask about the abs, I've read that you should treat it as a regular muscle and like do it "once a week". I'm not so sure about that though.



> From my experience, proper form and achieving the pump is the ultimate goal..to bodybuilding that is



-- yeah, Since I've studied proper form, lifting weights have become easier. The only thing I would need is a spotter since I would also like to break my lifting limits.

@ECKSRATED 



> To the OP, add an arm day or add them in somewhere in your split if u want big arms along with everything else.



-- yeah, since I've been doing 4 consecutive days, and 3 days for rest, I find it hard not to pick up a dumbbell and do curls.

@grizzldsealpoacher 

- Thanks. Will check the video and give it a try.


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## captainamerica18 (Feb 27, 2014)

It can be done with almost any compound movement since they all involve your core.


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## Hotmess (Feb 27, 2014)

DieYoungStrong said:


> Hey bro, you're 5'-5", 120 and new. Good for you to want to start training, but you need to get a few things sorted out. I can only assume right now that your goal is to gain size?
> 
> At 120, you need to start eating everything you see. EVERYTHING. ALL THE TIME. When you're not eating, you should be thinking about your next meal. Buy a rotisserre chicken from the super market and eat it throughout the day. Don't drive by a Burger Joint without stopping in for a double cheeseburger. Wash it down with a protein shake. Take down a pizza. You really have to eat until your blue, and then eat some more. Pasta, rice, potatoes - all good for you. You're not going to get fat if you're training hard enough, and, if you start seeing to much fat gain, just dial the calories back a bit.
> 
> ...


 
Damn I wish I was him.


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## JAXNY (Feb 27, 2014)

I had a buddy like you way back in the day. sounds like you may have a fast metabolism and you are going to be a hard gainer. but if your heart is really in this and you can stick with it being dedicated and disciplined you can get as big as you want. keep in mind this will take time it doesn't come quick so don't give up. do some research and get your self a good training program together and set a long term goal and then break that goal down into multiple short term goals. there are a lot of professional videos on you tube where you can pick up routines, exercises, form and techniques from. I would recommend you sign yourself up at a gym. memberships are cheap. watch and learn from the experienced guys in there, make some friends and ask questions. 
and by all means stay away from that friend of yours that gave you that horrible schedule. good luck to you, a lot of valuable info right here for you as well. just ask don't guess.


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## JAXNY (Feb 27, 2014)

thisisfromwork said:


> Thanks for the reply.  And yeah, it really was an improvement compared to what I was doing before. Another thing though, from the routine I mentioned, where can I add the abs? Should it be done along with shoulders or legs?


                                                                                                                                                                                                                              your abs are the only muscle in your body that can be done every day. so do them as much as you want.


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## thisisfromwork (Mar 11, 2014)

> I had a buddy like you way back in the day. sounds like you may have a fast metabolism and you are going to be a hard gainer. but if your heart is really in this and you can stick with it being dedicated and disciplined you can get as big as you want. keep in mind this will take time it doesn't come quick so don't give up. do some research and get your self a good training program together and set a long term goal and then break that goal down into multiple short term goals. there are a lot of professional videos on you tube where you can pick up routines, exercises, form and techniques from. I would recommend you sign yourself up at a gym. memberships are cheap. watch and learn from the experienced guys in there, make some friends and ask questions.
> and by all means stay away from that friend of yours that gave you that horrible schedule. good luck to you, a lot of valuable info right here for you as well. just ask don't guess.



@jaxny: Hey, thanks again for the tip. I just had this minor setback. I moved to a new place and now I don't have the option to cook my own food (up until I'm able to get a refrigerator and a stove to cook stuff). So my question here is, since I'm on a temporary situation were I would need to rely on mainly fast food/stuff from 711, what'd be your recommended food items?

Also, I've seen a nearby gym at my new place. So I'd just sign up there.


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