Originally Posted by trav1809

Hey guys and girls, just wondering if you could take a look at my diet, weight program and everything else that I do in a typical day in regards to reaching my personal fitness goals. First off, I should let you know that I am 27 years old, 6’-1” and about 226 lbs. The last body fat test that I got said that I was about 15-20 %. I have been working out seriously for the last year and a half, and not so seriously for most of my life (since high school anyways). I have some fat around the mid section that I would like to loose, and I would also like to gain some good size and strength. I would say that I have an Endomorph – type body. I will try and take some pics soon, if I can get my wife to take some for me (she finds it odd that I want to posts pics of myself on the internet wearing only shorts)

Anyways, here’s a look at what my typical day might look like on a workout day.

Wake Up Around 5.45 (or whenever my 8 week old says its time to get up)

Take 1 ea. 200 mg Caffeine tablet, 1 ea. Omega 3-6-9 Gel Cap, and 1 ea. High Potency Multi Vitamin with 500 ml of water

First Meal (Around 6.30 am) Bowl of Special K, or Kashi Go Lean Crunch Cereal with 1 cup of Milk and Two Small No – Fat YogurtsI like Fiber 1 as the cereal to go for. Very high in fiber and virtually no sugar. How much protein do you got there?

Second Meal (Around 8.30 am) 1 scoop of ON Whey with 1.5 cups of Milk. Need to get you some efa's here. Also some type of complex carbs, ex:yams, sweet potato, oats.

Third Meal (Around 10.00 am) 1.5 Cups of Oatmeal with 1 tablespoon of Brown Sugar and 1 cup of Milk. More protein definitly! Maybe a can of tuna or 4 ounces of chicken. Sorry I see your eating tuna the next meal, maybe some chicken or egg whites. Dont forget your efa's

Fourth Meal (Around Noon) 1 small can of Chunk Light Tuna with Low Fat Mayo, toasted on 12 grain whole wheat bread. 2 Tangerines, Some CarrotsThis isnt to bad, but dont foeget efa's yet again

Fifth Meal (Around 3 pm) ½ cup dry roasted peanuts or whole grain pita with natural peanut butter.You still probably only got like 16 grams of protein here, you need to get more!

Sixth Meal (Around 5.30 pm) Take 1 ea. 200 mg Caffeine tablet and 1 serving of a Fiber Supplement (Metamucil). Whole Wheat Pasta with Chicken Breast or T Bone Steak with Potatoes or Lean Ground Beef (typical ‘meat and potatoes’ type diners with a serving of veggies…too many different things to list)Looks ok to me, if you get a steak, then efa's are not needed since you get plenty of fat from steak.

One Hour Before Workout - 5 grams of Creatine Mono. with 25 grams of Dextrose and Water

Pre Workout Shake (Around 6.30 pm) 1 scoop of ON Whey Protein, 1.5 Cups of Milk (1% Milk) blended with water, ice and some fresh fruit (typically 6-7 strawberries)Add some oats here. Complex carbs are very good for post as well.

On the way Home From gym - 5 grams of Creatine Mono. with 25 grams of Dextrose and WaterIf you could use your shake here with your dextrose it would work best.

Post Workout Shake (Around 8.00 pm) 2 scoops ON Whey Protein, 2 cups water, See last one

Seventh Meal (Around 10.30 pm) 1.5 cups of Low Fat Cottage Cheese, or Whole Wheat Pita with Natural Peanut Butter.I wouldnt eat the pita here, to close to nappy time. Instead the pb and the cottage cheese are a great idea. Or maybe a steak. You decide.

I normally try to get to sleep around 11.30 pm (or whenever my 8 week old says its time to go to bed)

So that’s a pretty typical eating day for me. This is how a typical workout meal day would be broken down.



Here is what I do as far as working out goes. I currently have a four day program, and I try to get to the gym 4 times a week if possible

Anyways, here is what I do (all exercises are done 3 sets of 8 reps, and I normally have to struggle to get the 8th one done):

Thursday – Chest and Triceps
Flat Barbell / Dumbell Bench Press *alternate every month or so.
Dumbbell Decline Press
Incline Barbell Bench Press
Weight Dips (Leaned Forward as much as poss.)
Dumbell Flyes or Pec Deck MachineDrop this
Triceps Pull Down Drop this
Overhead Triceps Extension
Close Grip Bench Press
**Chest Needs alot of WorkChest does not need this much work! This is overtraining at its best. Whats the sets and reps look like?

Saturday – Back (Upper and Lower) and Biceps
Barbell Deadlift
One Arm Barbell Rows
Dumbell Shrugs
Straight Bar Lat Pulldown
Seated Row (Machine)
Upright Rows (Smith Machine)
Weighted Chin ups
Incline Bench Hammer Curls
Straight Bar Curls
Reverse Straight Bar Curls
Pick 3 back exercises and use em. Again overdoing it. Pick one vertical and one horizontal, along with the deads. If you would like to shrug here its fine as well. I normally dont do more than 3-4 sets of curls, remember unless you are fuled by steroids you are looking at overtraining.

Sunday – Shoulders and Abs
Overhead Seated Barbell Press
Lateral Raise
Front Cable Raise
Standing Overhead Dumbell Press
Bent Over Dumbbell Rear Delt Raise
Weighted Sit Up on Decline Bench
Kneeling Cable Crunch
Hanging Knee Raise
Weighted Machine Crunch
Pick 1 press, along with side raises and some front raises, this is plenty. I know my abs require alot of work so this looks fine to me.

Tuesday - Legs
Barbell Back SquatAlternate front squats with back squats
Standing Calf RaiseDo these last.
Seated Leg ExtensionI dislike these very much, they do nothing for power.
Dumbell LungeLove em, not enough people do em.
Hamstring Leg CurlsDrop these and do some stiff leg deadlifts
Barbell Good Mornings


As far as cardio goes, I go for a 45 minute walk (brisk) 4 times a week, hit the stationary bike once and a while and normally play hockey once a week for 1.5 hours or so. I plan to step up the intensity of the cardio over the next month or so.

Thanks for taking a look at this for me, and if anyone has any criticism (negative or positive) that would be greatly appreciated. Have a great day all…..

Originally Posted by trav1809

Here's what it looks like with the revisions. I have trouble with the less is more thing sometimes. Normally I do 3 sets of 8 reps of each exercise.

Thursday – Chest and Triceps
Flat Barbell / Dumbell Bench Press Do DB's for a few weeks and then do BB.
Dumbbell Decline Press I would much rather do incline presses, however do you realize you can do incline presses on shoulder day as well. Inclines are great for shoulders to.
Incline Barbell Bench Press
Weight Dips I would keep the dips and drop the other 2 tricep exercises. And I am thinking this workout is a good one.
Overhead Triceps Extension
Close Grip Bench Press
**What if I took the 3 presses (flat, incline and decline) and only did 2 of them every workout? I could alternate them for some variety every once and a while. Or is one better than the other ones in your opinion? I like to use the same exercises for a month and then switch it up, however it is up to you.

Saturday – Back and Biceps
Barbell Deadlift
One Arm Dumbell Row
Close-Grip Front Lat Pulldown
Dumbell Shrugs
Weighted Chin ups
Straight Bar Curls Drop this lift and the incline hammer curls. The chins will do plenty for your biceps, along with all the rowing and pulling movements, you will have to trouble with those arms of yours. I once took 3 months off of training arms all together and they grew almost an inch!
Incline Hammer Curls

Sunday – Shoulders and Abs
Overhead Seated Barbell Press
Lateral Raise
Front Cable Raise
Weighted Sit Up on Decline Bench
Kneeling Cable Crunch
Hanging Knee Raise
Weighted Machine Crunch This is fine with me, but I like to take 2 days for abs and do one day of weighted abs and the other day as non-weighted abs. If you decide to do this your weighted ab day should be 2 exercises and about 6 sets total.

Tuesday - Legs
Barbell Back/Front Squat
Standing Calf Raise Again move this to last
Seated Leg Extension Drop these all together and add stiff legged deadlifts.
Dumbell Lunges
Barbell Good Mornings the most underatted lift in weight lifting, well right behind hyper extensions! Come to think about it, I would add some hypers in here and alternate good mornings with hypers (weighted hypers).

**how come no one likes Seated Leg Extensions? Are they really that bad? Not so much bad, but they do nothing for strength! I am all about strength. Lets face it none of us will ever be pro bodybuilders, so why train like it? Hell I have seen bb'ing mags have workout for legs and it has leg extensions for 6 sets!!! That is ridiculous. And this is why I hate magazines!

**I could get some more EFA's by flaxeed (oil) or nuts right? Oh definitly! I have read before flax oil, actually increases estrogen. However I still use it, but not no where near as often as I use fish oil.

Originally Posted by trav1809

so here is what my slightly revised and much trimmed workout program looks like:

Thursday - Chest and Triceps
Flat Bench Press (Alternating DB's and BB's every month or so) 4-5 sets
Decline DB Press 2 sets
Weight Dips 2 sets
The decline press and dips will both hit tri's hard and lower chest

Saturday - Back and Biceps
Barbell Deadlift 4 sets
weighted chins 4 sets
Lat pulldowns I'd drop these unless you need them to complete your sets of pull ups
One Arm DB Row I love these, just concentrate hard on pulling with back as these are easy to do alot of bicep pulling 2 sets
DB Shoulder Shrugs2-3 sets


Sunday - Shoulders and Abs
Overhead Seated Barbell Press 4 sets, also when you build up your core strength and get your seated form perfect trying standing ones. They hit abs hard.
Incline BB bench I bumped these up - 3 sets
Side Lateral Raise2 sets
Front Cable RaiseI would drop these since the workouts above will smash your delts
Weighted Decline CrunchThese are great. 3-4 sets
Cable CurlDo you mean the rope pulldown crunches? You can drop these
Hanging Knee RaiseGreat exercise 2-3 sets
Machine CrunchDrop these. You already did crunches. You wouldn't bench press then go jump on the bench machine for more sets. Abs are no different (well maybe a little but you see my point)
I would add dumbbell side bends 2-3 sets

Tuesday - Legs
Barbell Squat - Alternate Front and Back
DB Lunges
BB Good Mornings
Stiff Legged Deadlift
Standing Calf Raise
The leg workout looks great but it looks like ALOT! I'd get half way through that workout and puke. If this works for you by all means but remember to keep it intense. I would alternate some of these exercises though and just do 2-3 + your calve raises for a total of about 8-12 intense sets.

With my old routine i was doing 3 sets of 8 reps for all of the exercises I did. Now that I have trimmed up the routine a bit, should I go heavier with less reps (5-6) and throw in another set?