How I Work Out!

2009-11-12T12:58:00.000-08:00

Many people have been asking me about my workouts and how I do them and I thought of posting my workouts here. I've been organizing this since then to be easily readable and everybody can follow up with what I have been doing!

Due to the nature of the life that I pursue, sometimes I have to stop working out for a while and then back on track again. When I'm back again to working out, I usually follow a beginner workout so I don't get my body shocked and run into the overtraining. I keep doing that for about 4 weeks. Then, I switch to the intermediate level for as long as I feel my body doesn't respond to the workout at this level, i.e. plateau. For Plateau Busting, Now I escalate the level towards the advanced level!

So, let's start talking about the 3 levels one by one:

Beginner Workout

As I said before, to not get my body shocked and be overtrained I start with a beginner routine such as the Full-Body routine, and I prefer to start with it. The way how I do it is to start with the big muscles then move to the smaller muscles and in circuits. So, I call it the Full-Body Circuit Training Workout.

The whole workout at this level will last for 2 - 6 weeks
Workout Duration: 30 min
Workout Days: Every other day
Circuits: 2-3 circuits
Rest between circuits: 1 – 2 min

Full-Body Circuit Training Workout
Muscle	Exercise	Reps
Legs	Barbell Full Squat	15
Calves	Standing Barbell Calf Raises	15
Back	Bend Over Barbell Row	15
Shoulders	Dumbbell Shoulder Press	15
Chest	Push-Ups	15
Biceps	Dumbbell Biceps Curls	15
Triceps	Standing Overhead Barbell Triceps Extension	15
Abs	Sit-Ups	15

*Important Note: If your fitness goal is to Lose Fat then this type of workout is of a good choice for you to help you lose fat!!

Intermediate Workout

When I'm done of performing the beginner routine, which usually takes me only 2 weeks in my case, I change the workouts to that advanced level. At this level, I always perform the so-called "Split Body Parts Workout". I've already mentioned the "Big muscle first then the Smaller" rule in the beginner routine. What I'm going to do here is following the same rule but with making a little modification to it plus it will be "Split Body Parts Workout" instead of the "Full-Body Circuit Training Workout". So, the new rule is that every time I perform an intermediate workout usually I try to start with the big muscles then move to one of the small helper muscles and that's for a number of reasons:

Some big muscles depend on small muscles to get a complete exercise movement or as it is called a full range of motion, e.g. I exercise my chest muscle first then when I'm done I exercise the triceps muscle. Since the triceps is one of the helper muscles for the chest. Hence,
The smaller muscle gets warmed up and ready to be exercised after the big one. Also,

By doing it this way, the big muscle has already been able to get its full potential contractions and range of motion.

The whole workout at this level will last for 12 – 14 weeks
Workout Duration: 60 min
Workout Days: 4 days a week
Rest between sets: 1 – 2 min
Reps per set: 8 – 12 reps

Split Body Parts Workout
Day	Muscle Group
Monday	Chest and Triceps
Tuesday	Shoulders and Traps
Wednesday	Free
Thursday	Back and Biceps
Friday	Free
Saturday	Legs and Calves
Sunday	Free

When I'm looking for more intense and more lasting workout I try to work out a non-helper small muscle as a second muscle group in my workout. Have a look at this:

Split Body Parts Workout
Day	Muscle Group
Monday	Chest and Biceps
Tuesday	Shoulders and Calves
Wednesday	Free
Thursday	Back and Triceps
Friday	Free
Saturday	Legs and Traps
Sunday	Free

Advanced Workout

Everyone after certain time of working out for long time will hit the plateau state at which no progress is noticed anymore. In this case, it's time to move to the advanced level in which techniques used for plateau busting can be found. In the advanced level, Intensity and volume are raised up , that is weight, sets, and reps. Also, Super-Sets, Giant-Sets, Drop-Sets are utilized if further intense workout is needed! In my case, to increase the Intensity & Volume of the workout I don't follow the rule of the "Big muscle first then the Smaller" and because I don't have a spotter I tend to use the Drop-Sets technique combined with the Super-Sets technique. Have a look at this sample:

Group	Muscle	Exercise	Drop-Sets# 1	Drop-Sets# 2	Drop-Sets# 3
Group 1	Biceps	Dumbbell Curls	8 4 4	8 4 4	8 4 4
Group 1	Triceps	Overhead Extension Machine	8 4 4	8 4 4	8 4 4

The whole workout at this level will last for as you like
Workout Duration: 1 - 2 hours
Workout Days: 4 - 6 days a week
Rest between sets: 1 – 3 min*
Reps per set: 4 – 12 reps*
*The more intense is the workout the more rest you will need

Cardio Training

Briefly, for those whose goal is to lose fat then my rule is to use Cardio Training as an extra tool to help you burn fat and not as an alternative of Weight Training. So, Weight Training is still the essential type of training whether to gain muscle or lose fat. Although Cardio Training can be advantageous to those whose goal is gaining muscle. Huh!! How come?? Yes, when you perform some kind of Cardio Training on a regular basis your endurance will increase. Now, one reason why your endurance would increase is that the Mitochondria, where Glycogen the main body energy is stored, will be larger and more dense. Hence, a larger amount of Glycogen would be stored upon replenishment. Imagine how a lasting intense workout you would be performing if you got more fuel!! You can choose any kind of Cardio activity you like. Usually, I prefer to perform the HIIT Cardio Training type on the elliptical machine!

Body Parts Exercises

To make things even more clear about my workouts, I thought of writing down the exercises of every muscle workout that I do when I go to the gym:

Chest
Exercise	Sets	Reps
Barbell Bench Press	3	12 10 10
Barbell Incline Bench Press	3	10 8 8
Barbell Decline Bench Press	3	10 8 8
Bodyweight Dips	3	8 6 5
Pec Deck Fly	3	12 10 10

Biceps
Exercise	Sets	Reps
Dumbbell Curls	3	12 12 12
Incline Dumbbell Curls	3	12 12 12
Preacher Curls	3	12 12 12
Hammer Curls	3	12 12 12

Shoulders
Exercise	Sets	Reps
Military Press	3	12 10 10
Machine Press	3	12 10 10
Side Lateral Raise	3	12 10 10
Rear Delt Raise	3	12 10 10
Barbell Upright Row	3	12 10 10

Traps
Exercise	Sets	Reps
Barbell Shrugs	4	12 10 10 10
Barbell Shrugs Behind the Back	4	12 10 8 8
Cable Shrugs	4	12 10 10 10

Back
Exercise	Sets	Reps
Lying T-Bar Row	3	12 10 10
Close Grip Pull Down	2	12 10 10
Front Lat Pull Down	4	12 10 10 10
Rear Lat Pull Down	4	12 10 10 10
Seated Cable Row	4	12 10 10 10
Hyperextension	1	12
Stiff-Legged Deadlift	3	12 10 10

Triceps
Exercise	Sets	Reps
Triceps Extension Machine	3	12 10 10
Overhead Extension Machine	3	12 10 10
V-Bar Push Down	3	12 10 10
Reverse Grip Push Down	3	12 10 10

Legs
Exercise	Sets	Reps
Leg Press	4	12 10 10 10
Leg Extensions	5	12 10 10 10 10
Leg Curls	5	12 10 10 10 10
Thigh Abductor	3	15 15 15
Thigh Adductor	3	15 15 15

Calves
Exercise	Sets	Reps
Standing Calf Raise	3	12 10 10
Donkey Calf Raise	3	10 8 8
Seated Calf Raise	3	10 8 8

*Those highlighted exercises are not performed when working out at home and that's due to the lack of the required machines for them!

In a Nutshell

As I said before I'm not an expert in the area but I'm a huge fan of it. So, all that I wanted is just to share with you What I do and How I do it.

Enjoy and have your comment!

About

2009-11-05T15:54:00.000-08:00

Hi there! Welcome to the "Fitness Lover" blog. My name is Husain Al-Khamis, and I'm a huge fan of "Health & Fitness". I got my B.S. Degree in Computer Science in June 2008. The nature of work that I pursue is Applications Development, more interesting to me as a Java/J2EE Developer. Besides, I also enjoy working as a Linux OS Administrator, guess what?? The most popular distribution that every Linux geek has heard of and most likely has been using is called the Ubuntu OS!! I advise you to give it a try, you will love it!

"Health & Fitness"! Reading, writing, pursuing, helping others in this area has been a strong interest to me, and this is my favorite hobby! My blog, the "Fitness Lover", will be aimed at 3 topics related to "Health & Fitness": Training, Nutrition, and Motivation.

Whether you want to lose fat, gain muscles, get toned body, have ripped abs... you name it. I believe that performing a workout hard, dieting properly, and being motivated/determined in doing that is the key in hitting whatever your "Health & Fitness" goals are!

So, if you are into "Health & Fitness" area, Fan of it, or somehow connected to it, then you might consider the “Fitness Lover” blog as one of the "Health & Fitness" sites that you would like to keep track of whether to get useful information or share what you have by leaving a comment here.