Advice please...

Hiya,

I've recently started an exercise routine, which I do at home every other day using dum/barbells. I just wondered if there was any kind of order to which you should do the exercises to get the best out of them. ie: working on your arms first, then your chest, then your legs and so on.

In case in matters, I'm a 24 y/o male.

Thanks in advance.

Generally speaking (and there are exceptions), you should work the compound (multijoint) movements and larger muscle groups first, so squats go before calves, bench before triceps, deadlifts before curls. If you post your routine, level of experience, and goals, we can put it in some semblance of order for you.

Assuming you're doing a full body routine I think this will help.

Hiya,

I've been working out for about 6 weeks, and want to build up some muscle and put on a bit of weight. I'm a small build, about 5' 9' and only weigh about 9 stone. ideally I'd like to be about 11 stone (and 6' tall).

My routine is as follows:

approx 20 - 25 reps of each using 20kg weights.

Squats Step Ups Front Raise (10kg) Upright Rows (10kg) Bent Over Rows Tricep Dips Tricep Extensions (10kg) Bicep Curls (wide / std / narrow grip) (I've been using a curl bar, but I think I prefer the std straight bar. Any views?) Side Lifts Bench Press Push Ups Crunches

Any advice on exercises that I should add or remove from my routine would be appreciated.

Again, thanks in advance.

Kind regards,

You want to gain 'a bit of weight'? How about looking at those 2 stone as a START? For the stone-challenged readers, Craig weighs around 126 lbs. You should undertake a see-food diet: if you see food, eat it. In the process, you should make sure you get sufficient protein (like, 125 gms/day), but otherwise try to pack it in. With proper weight training, you'll probably grow like a weed.

That's way too many reps, if you want to build strength/muscle mass. Try to work in the 6-12 rep range. This will involve using heavier weights. Have you got more plates available? I take it you're doing 1 set of each of these (correct me if I'm wrong). You'd probably be better off doing fewer exercises with more sets.

Do what's comfortable.

OK, how about:

Squats Bench press Pullups or chinups Step-ups Shoulder press (BB or D Bent-over rows Dips (if you want) Biceps and triceps (if you want) Crunches if you want (less essential than you might think)

Of these, I'd consider the first 6 a solid core. I'd do 3 sets of each of these and see what you have left. If you find, after a period of time, that you're getting run down or no longer looking forward to your workouts, you're doing too much and should cut back (either on volume or number of days/week). In fact, I'd probably recommend starting off doing this 3 days a week (e.g. M-W-F, then resting over the weekend).

There are lots of interesting and useful variations you could do on this routine, and others might suggest some. The important thing is to do some reasonable routine persistently, keeping a close eye on your exercise form. At some point, this will cease to provide the steady gains you get initially, so you'll have to make some changes.

Let us know how it goes.

You will plateau incredibly quickly given the limit of weights you have. The number one requirement for growth is progressive loading of the muscles, ie. you must continually increase the amount of weight you are lifting. When you outgrow your dumbbells what will you do?

I highly suggest purchasing a barbell and plates, and maybe even a power rack if funding permits.

I also highly recommend performing the HST routine, which you can find at www.hsnhst.com. No other program has given me gains even resembling those that I now make on HST.