Gym Routine Rules of Thumb
The sample gym routines provided on www.gymprofessor.com take certain factors into consideration. Although there's many different ways you can train, you should consider these factors and follow the suggested general rules of thumb.
Gym routine factors:
Exercise Choices
The exercise choices should be appropriate in relation to both the participants ability
and goals. For example, a soccer player may perform exercises that mimic movements used on the pitch, whereas
a strength athlete is likely to perform mainly compound exercises.
Exercise Order
With many muscle
groups working together to perform an exercise (whether in unison
or other), it must be considered the roles that these muscle groups play
and the subsequent order in which we perform exercises within our gym
routines. For example, as our core muscles (lower back & abs)
stabilize us during most exercises, ab and lower back exercises should
be performed at the end of a workout.
The exercise
diagrams on this website indicate the functions different muscles
play during exercise, which will help toward designing your own gym routines.
GP NOTE: Examples to avoid with exercise order has just been added to
the Q
& A page.
Sets &
Repetitions
Although some people are predisposed
to be or look a certain way, thanks to their genetic make-up, our body
still adapts to the stimulus we place upon it, thereby making it more
efficient. So, in terms of sets & repetition ranges, these should
be relative to our goals. For example, many would-be bodybuilders like to perform an infinite number of repetitions in order to feel a "pump".
Given that this "pump" is lactic acid buildup, they are increasing
the endurance capabilities of their muscles by attempting to lift the same weight for a longer duration each time.
Their muscle will only adapt & grow if their weight
training warrants it - frequently & consistently subjecting the
muscles to a greater load. The sample gym
routines provided suggest what I (GP)
would call "sensible" set & repetition ranges. With the
aforementioned in mind, you should also take note of the suggested working
load (1 RM %)
on the sample gym routines.
Training Days
You should avoid over training,
but be aware that not training often enough will not bring about the desired physiological changes. Again, this subject is open to debate, but certain circumstances
will indicate whether you are training too little or too much. For example,
a common under-training mistake for a gym newbie to make is to revert immediately to a split
routine, whereby they train a body
part once a week. Their muscles ache for several days afterwards and
yet the weights they're lifting remain the same. Why? They are not training
frequently enough for their muscles to warrant adapting (growing) to cope with the load being lifted, therefore,
each week they suffer the same muscle soreness and can only lift the same weight.
In this instance, a greater frequency of training (perhaps each body part
twice a week) and an increase of dietary protein would be advisable.
For further information & ideas on structuring your weight training, please consider purchasing the forthcoming Gym Professor eBook (most likely titled "The Complete Training Book"), which will provide easy-to-use process maps with hundreds of gym workout routines for you to follow (whatever your ability, sport or goal). For news updates, please join the Gym Professor FREE Newsletter.
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