Basic Weekly Plan

[Grey]

Background

I'm 25, 5'7" and 150 pounds. My resting heart rate is 90- which worries me. I've never had any medical problems whatsoever. When I was 18 I was on my Air Force base run team (2 mile runs for the competition). During that time I was working out way too much and taking too many supplements. My friends did all the planning. Essentially I just lifted / ran / ate what they told me to. After that I quit working out. 2 years ago I maintained a dumbell workout for about 6 months with decent results, but quit that a year ago. Now I do nothing. I take a multivitamin that I remember to take about every other day. I eat things like lean cuisine, lean pockets, sub sandwiches, and pizza almost exclusively. I sit at my computer all day and I'm starting to get a little pudge under my chin and on my stomach.

Goals

Appearance. That's the most important, with health improvements being less important. I'd like to put on some upper body muscle which is visible with a shirt on, lose this fat, and get my 6-pack back.

Secondly, as I said my heart rate worries me a little bit. I take ADHD medication occasionally, and that pumps my heart rate up to levels I am really not comfortable with.

As a bonus, it would be nice to be able to compete well in a triathalon or marathon (it seems training for a triathalon is better for your health than a marathon but I'm not sure about that).

Equipment

I have two sets of interchangeable dumbells, a bench, and a bike in my house. I also live near a trail which people use for running / biking. I will not be going to a gym. So my routine should involve only dumbells/running/biking. The dumbells can weigh a lot so that is not a limitation.

Synopsis

I'm a noob at this. I don't even know where to start. I want someone give me a weekly plan to follow starting tomorrow, and I'll work from there.

[Thremp]

Do starting strength with dumbbells.

[Grey]

[ QUOTE ]
Do starting strength with dumbbells.

[/ QUOTE ]What is that? Google isn't helping.

[Thremp]

http://www.startingstrength.com/

Look at some other threads that have people doing this exact same program. Possibly reading more and posting less would have been a good idea, since essentially your comment of "someone give me a week plan to follow starting tomorrow" is a very poor idea. Why not instead learn what fitness is all about and take a little time learning about it and how to achieve your goals?

www.crossfit.com (http://www.crossfit.com)

www.t-nation.com (http://www.t-nation.com)

Both of those will help out as well.

[Grey]

The "give me a weekly plan and I'll work from there" means I want to start right away on something basic, before spending time doing a lot of research. Of course I will do the full research eventually but I don't want to waste a week or two doing nothing.

Thanks for the links though.

Edit: I'm not finding a starting strength dumbbell workout anywhere. Any link to that?

[Thremp]

Grey,

Anything is better than nothing. Riding your bike where ever you want, doing GPP with your dumbbells, etc are all great things to do. But yeah, it doesn't take long to read up on a basic diet and beginner's plan. Maybe 3-5 hours of diligent work can get you to plan a diet and workout into your schedule for the next 2 months.

[theblackkeys]

[ QUOTE ]
The "give me a weekly plan and I'll work from there" means I want to start right away on something basic, before spending time doing a lot of research. Of course I will do the full research eventually but I don't want to waste a week or two doing nothing.

Thanks for the links though.

Edit: I'm not finding a starting strength dumbbell workout anywhere. Any link to that?

[/ QUOTE ]
Starting strength is a barbell program, but you can adapt it to dumbbells.

Here's a good starter guide to the program.
http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=998224

[Grey]

Okay here's what I have planned:

Monday - chest and triceps

flat bench dumbbell press - 4 sets
incline bench dumbbell press - 3 sets
flat bench flyes - 2 sets

skull crushers - 3 sets
single arm overhead extensions - 3 sets

Tuesday - legs

squats - 4 sets
lunges - 3 sets
stiff legged deadlifts - 4 sets
standing calf raises - 4 sets

Wednesday - off

Thursday - shoulders and traps

seated dumbbell press - 4 sets
single arm lateral raises - 3 sets
shrugs - 4 sets
(At the time I'm writing this, this actually IS my current shoulder workout.)

Friday - back and biceps

deadlifts - 4 sets
bent over rows - 4 sets
single arm bent over rows - 2 sets

standing dumbbell curls - 3 sets
preacher curls - 2 sets

Saturday and Sunday - Off

So how should I work cardio into this? I think I'd like to run a couple days a week.

[thirddan]

from turbulence training blog (by craig ballantyne)
its a bodyweight circuit that can be adapted to dumbbells

"Here are my Bodyweight Circuit guidelines again:

When putting together a BW circuit, I like to go in this order:
# Squat (total body warmup)
# Lunge (pause at bottom to stretch psoas and rectus femoris)
# Pushup (upper warmup)
# 6 main exercises, alternating between lower body & Upper body exercises
# Finish with 2 ab exercises

You can do all of the above as 1 giant circuit, or split it up into three components like this:

A - Warm-up exercises (Squat, lunge, pushup): Go through each 2 times

B - 3 pairs of upper-lower exercises for main cardio effect: Go through each 1-3 times

Here's a great possible routine:

* Siff Lunge
* Decline Pushup
* Bulgarian Split Squat
* Inverted Row
* Step-up
* Shoulder-Press Pushup

C - Finish with 2 ab exercises: Go through each 1-3 times.

You can use specific tempo for each exercise, or simply use a 1-0-1 tempo for each exercise to achieve a continuous flow with each exercise for a heart-pumping cardio effect - and this allows you to do more reps per set. "

maybe something like this to start the fatloss depending on whether you are dieting for weight gain or loss...if you are looking for weight gain then something like starting strength is prob better...but i dig the full body thing over hte split thing, at least for starting out and learning about your body...