[TxRedMan]

whodatdare: [ QUOTE ]
Hello TxRedMan,
I recently joined a gym and want to start a workout program to buid up my upper body. I will be lifting 3 times a week, and am wondering if you could give mesome suggestions on what exercizes to concentrate on. I want to build up my bi's, tri's delts, lats, back and pecs. I will be using Cybex machines to start with. Any suggestions? And thank you in advance.


whodatdare

[/ QUOTE ]

my first suggestion is that you commit to at least 4x/week. 3x/week isn't enough days to work out the muscle groups you mentioned above. my next suggestion is that you hit legs as well. i also want you to use free weights, in fact, i insist that you use free weights for the core of your program so you don't waste your time in the gym using machines that do not develop real world strength and that give you a false sense of muscular development.

a little story:

when i was a freshman in high school i was bench pressing on a smith machine. i didn't know the difference. i thought i could lift 280 pounds, and i thought i was very strong. then during football workout we went to maxout on bench press. i couldn't do 225 that day, and from then on i never touched a machine unless it was to further exhaust a muscle group that i had already worked out with free weights first.

your lats' are your back for the most part OP, just to clarify, your lats are the muscles that spread sort of like wings when you flex your back. they're the muscles you use to do something like pull ups or pull downs, and rows, too.

i do not want you to be afraid of using free weights. you will thank me for this later. i understand that a lot of beginners are afraid of using free weights as they can be fairly intimidating to an uncoordinated lifter, which is why i also insist that a beginner use a light weight for a high volume until they have gained the proper form to lift heavier.

free weights are to steroids what machines are to OTC supplements. free weights will get you bigger, stronger, and more in shape exponentially faster than machines.

please take this advice.

for biceps you'll want to try the following exercises, and pick the ones you like the most.

barbell curls
alternating dumbell curls
preacher curls
hammer curls

i want you to either do barbell or alternating dumbell curls as your first exercise. for the first three weeks, i want you to be doing 1x15 as a warmup, 2x12, 3x10, 1x8.

then you will do hammer curls (just like an alternating dumbell curl, but w/ your palms facing inward) 1x12, 3x10, 1x8.

after that you can go to any bicep curl machine and do two sets of 10 reps.

i want you to stick to that basic workout for biceps for three weeks, them PM me the results and how you feel with it and we'll move on.

delts-

military press- this is where you are seated in a chair that has a back to it and you lift the bar over your head with your shoulders.

this lift takes a long time to master and perform correctly, but it has tremendous benefits when done properly.

if you can only do the bar 15 times, this is fine, and will constitute your warmup set.

then find a weight that you can do 12 reps with w/o assistance, and perform 4 sets of 12. do not strain on these sets. the weight needs to be a weight that you could do 15 reps with if you had to.

upright rows

grab a barbell and pull it up to the tip of your nose.

1x15 1x12 2x10

shoulder shrugs

2x12 2x10

use that same protocol for back with these exercises

deadlift (follow instructions for military press, and research this thread for advice on form)

lat pulldowns

barbell rows

(purchase a weight lifting belt for deadlifts)

chest and triceps:

barbell bench press

after a thorough warmup, find a weight that you can handle for 15 reps. 2x12, 2x10, 1x8

focus on using perfect form. take the weight down slow and in control. keep your ass on the bench. try and explode at the bottom of each rep, but maintain control of the weight. do not increase weight on bench until you have perfect form. you can't put the cart before the horse in weight training, or you run the risk of getting hurt.

incline dumbell bench press: this exercise is great for developing strength in the stabilizer muscles that you use in overhead lifts and in bench press. 4x10 1x8, again, focus on learning perfect form.

pec deck: 3x10 1x8

narrow grip bench press

i want you to pause at the bottom of each rep, not letting the weight to sit on your chest, rather, holding the weight at the bottom for a pause (one second), then exploding upwards, but still in control.

2x12 w/ a weight that allows you to do 12 fairly easy reps

2x10

1x8

i do not want you reaching failure on ANY of your reps for the first three weeks.

triceps pushdowns

3x12

2x8


keep your back straight and don't bend or heave or cheat in any way, only use your triceps to push the weight down.

if you can workout 4x/week, use this scedule


day 1

chest/tri's

day 2

shoulders

day 3

off

day 4

back/bi's

day 5

off

day 6

legs!!!

day 7

off

REPEAT!

START DOING LEGS NOW SO YOU WON'T REGRET NOT DOING THEM WHEN YOU STARTED!!!