Just this week I finally signed up to a gym. After rummaging M&M for a few tips I put together:

Upper body - Monday & Thursday
Bench Press
Shoulder Press
Pull Down
Seated Row
DB Curls
Twisting situps

Lower Body - Tuesday & Friday
Squat
Deadlift
Calf Raise
Leg Press
Shrugs
Weighted Crunches

Cardio on weekends


I'm 19 years old, 68kg (150p), 182 cm (6') & 12% bf.


I've been eating fairly non-stop (every 2 hours) over the past few days, without recording calorie content etc.

It generally consists of:
8am: Musli + Banana + Honey + Scoop of whey
10am: 2 eggs + 2 egg whites + Cheese + Spinach on wholegrain bread
12pm: apple + tin of tuna (30g of protein)
2pm: Left overs (i try to find a bit of meaty dinner)
4pm: Whey shake (1 scoop whey + banana + 25g honey + 5-10g sugar)
6pm: Whatever's for dinner (eg. green chicken curry with veges, last night)
7pm: Bowl of fruit salad
9pm: tin of tuna (30g of protein)
11pm: A scoop of casein whey before bed

I keep a bowl of cashew nuts & raisins in my room for snackage



What's the verdict? I know I should be eating more, next week I'll fry up some chicken for extra meat.

My goal is primarily muscle gain...


Mum's yelling at me, i'll report back.

Nobody?

There are people much better qualified to answer this than me, but if your goal is to put on muscle then you need to eat over mainenence, the easiest way to do this'll for you will probably be to eat more calorie dense foods (natural peanut butter, olive oil), you should also be taking fish oils.
You could do with consuming a load of simple carbohydrates around your workouts (the cheapest way is to buy glucose (dextrose)) from your local supermarket) and have about 100 grams with your whey after your workout, you could also have some before and during. You can also buy protein and carb powders which'll taste nicer but probably be more expensive.
If your main goal is to gain weight I'd drop your cardio right down.
I don't realy know about split routines using machines, I'm sure someone else will give you feedback on your routine.
Good luck

How experienced are you lifting? Are you new (6 months or less), or have you been lifting for a while without seeing results? Find a calorie counter program and figure out what you're consuming on average. Nutrihand or Fitday are both good websites for that.

I'd prioritize pulling movements a little more in the upper workout day. For example, bench, rows, shoulder press, pulldowns/ups, and have the same number or more working sets for pulling movements as you do pushing (if you do 3 for bench, at least 3 for rows, if 2 for shoulder press, at least 2 for pulldowns). Also work on doing bentover barbell rows and overhand pull ups instead of a machine row/pulldown.

For lower body day, traditional squats and a form of deadlifts are all you need (romanian DLs, SLDLs, etc...), except for calves obviously. No need for leg press or hack squats and such.

EDIT: I haven't done shrugs on a consistent basis for about 4 years, and most people say they are my best attribute. I wouldn't waste the time on them on leg day (or upper day for that matter).

Forgot to mention anything on the diet...opt for lower glycemic index foods for breakfast, such as oats or Avant Research Supercarb. What the deuce is musli? A banana is a little high on the GI scale, and will probably mess with your blood sugar. If you want to eat a fruit, eat an apple at this time.

I'm assuming the 4pm whey shake is around your workout, correct? Try to stay away from table sugar, other than that, whey+banana+honey should be fine postworkout.

Kelly Baggett has some incredible insight on the subject:

http://www.mindandmuscle.net/authors/KellyBaggett

I'd also check out Marc McDougal - he my dog.

http://www.mindandmuscle.net/authors/MarcMcDougal

In particular the things that have really caught my eye as a trainer are the suggestion of concentrating workout splits based on planes of movement. I plan on attacking my vertical plane with Marc's rundown one of these days as this seems to be a plane that I'm significantly lacking.

I'd also suggest making your goals a lot more specific and in a certain time frame. Not that you have to achieve them, but setting goals is incredibly motivating and it also requires careful planning. You either plan for success and settle for failure IMO.

We really need to know how new you are to lifting as well. Like Ardvics asked, 6 months or less? If so, you only really need 3 workouts a week, so I would workout mon/wed/fri using the upper/lower/upper split, and the next week you can do lower/upper/lower. I've been working out 7 years now and I still see the most benefit from lifting just every other day.

EDIT: The most important thing, especially if your new, is to keep it simple. As Ardvics meant to say, the KISS method.

1st month, so I'm very new.


Greater emphasis on compounds is the main message I'm getting.

That & eat more


Thanks for the help guys, I'll tell you how it goes .

You got it, but also make sure that you are taking multi/fish oil and getting enough rest. Good luck

After a little more experience & research, I've identified myself as erring towards the hardgainer profile.

I'm not just whinging, I've always been an endurance type, whilst relatively weak explosively/moderately.

This means I need greater time to recover yeah?


With that in mind, I'm divided between a 3 day push/pull/legs routine, or maybe just 2 days.

I'm tempted to opt for the former, in which case I was thinking that separating push & pull (upper body) with lower body will give my upper body longer to recover.


This isn't how it's usually done, am I missing anything?

I would do full-body 2-3 times a week.

Also, try to squeeze more monosaturated fats in there (olive oil, peanut butter, etc). Monosaturated fats help boost testosterone.

You will not build strength nor LBM effectively if only lifting twice weekly (discounting HIT,which a novice should not use).On te contrary as you are young with high test levels you should be building up your strength/explosiveness now,this is what you were alluding to in your other thread WRT your age being a prime window for long term body composition benefit.

Immerse yourself in McDougal's and Baggett's articles.

As of now,I'd lift thrice weekly,full body and high reps with moderate weight.You should be able to do 2x12 benching or so without feeling like the 12th rep on the final set is near failure.IOW,do not lift overly taxing poundages.

Do this for a couple weeks,then get on a McDougal or Baggett routine.I'm sure they have written up split s for those just starting out so you could use such a split in place of what you're currently doing instead of the brief outline I've given above.They'll suggest something very similiar,just with much more detailed instructions.

Is this the first time you've ever embarked on a complete routine with squats, deadlifts etc?

How strong are you?

A hardgainer with some training experience can respond well to that push, pull, legs 3 times per week split you mentioned. Many successful powerlifters use that split their entire careers. However, if you're more of a raw beginner you need more frequency to master the movements and train your nervous system.