weight training

[stephen2504]

i like going to the gym monday to friday for about an hour or so. does this routine sound ok

monday chest
tuesday shoulders
wednesday legs and abs
thursday arms
friday back

for example would doing 10 different exercises on shoulders be ok .and would 10 different exercises on chest be ok and so on

would appreciate any advice

[dr b]

Offhand I can't think of 10 different shoulder (or chest, or..) exercises that you could do. So I can't really see how you should sped and hour just exercising shoulders. Another flaw I see here is that you go a week between, say, ab exercises - that's not enough ab (or chest, or...) work!. Also, there is no cardio work here.

I would recommend instead a more balanced weights workout (do all 5 areas you talk about above) on say M W F and then run or bike or stairmaster or what have you on Tu Th. (On some weeks do 3 cardio & 2 weights to mix things up).

My bona fides: been running/lifting/swimming since I was 18 (now 48); this routine works very well for me. Also, I have recently tried the following: go 5 weeks on weights at 100%; on the 6th week drop down to 75% of your usual weight. This keeps your muscles working but gives them a bit of a rest and you come back for that next week feeling much stronger.

[dr b]

"should sped and" = "could spend an"! Sheesh - "preview, then submit"

[Velvetee]

You only really need to do about 4 different exercises for a particular body part. It might be a good thing to change your routine ocassionally, as your body will adapt to what you are doing.

Try doing Supersets one week followed by Giant sets the next week and Pyramiding the week after. This keeps variety in your sessions and challenges the muscle groups.

Also now and again do functional and compound exercises. You could try doing dynamic lunges coupled with a shoulder press or bicep curl. Or perhaps squats with a front or lateral raise.

Cable machines are great too. If you workout at a gym, perhaps get a trainer to show you things you can do on cables with a One vest, if you have one available.

[Velvetee]

P.S, it really is NOT necessary to do abs more than once per week. Alot of the things you do, partcularly functional exercises will incorporate core muscles anyway. Ab exercises are completely overated. Correct technique will always bring abs into play.