Routine help

[eli polite]

I have been leaking in this section for about a week reading every thing I can and I'm ready to ask for advice..

Let me start by saying I'm not new to the gym between the age of 20-25 I hit the gym 5 days a week every week for 5 years straight.. I never missed a day unless I was sick. but my life was different my goal in what I was doing was different... I did 45min a day in the gym and I jogged each night when I got home..

My situation today is this.. I am self employed I have 3 kids and time is a luxury. My wife and I have decided to go to the gym every other day Friday nights are out so we have to work around that.. we have a very nice gym equipped with every thing. When we go to the gym we have roughly 2 hours to get every thing done the first 30 min we do cardio run, stair machine , bike what ever we decide to do. Than its off to the work out room. What I need help with is what muscle groups to do and a more defined routine..


I am 6'3" 230 lbs and I have a very physically demanding job I do granite work it is not un common to have to carry a 500lb granite counter top up 5 flights of stairs..so I'm not out of shape but I'm not in the shape that I would lie to be in

my wife is 5'4" 115lbs and she has never worked out so this is harder on her

We are going to work on the same muscle groups on the same day. We just want to be able to get as much out of what little time we have that we can. So any help on what muscle groups should be focused.. like DAY 1 back and chest Day 2 legs and stomach DAY 3 arms and shoulders.....

any suggestions would be much appreciated

 

[JBNj]

How many days are you working out per week? 3? Dont break down your days as day1 chest and back, day2 legs and stomach,etc. reason is your only gonna work those muscle groups once a week which isn't sufficient. Instead look for more full body workouts which you can train a muscle group multiple times a week.

A sample strength routine for me would go something like this. Dont mix the order of the lifts. Top to bottom greatest to least.

Day1
Squats (main lift)
Standing overhead press (light)
Pull/chin ups 50 total reps
2-3 Supplemental lifts targeting the weak muscle groups for your main lifts, this day will require targeting on your quads, abs, triceps

Day2
Deadlifts (main lift)
Bench (main lift)
Rows (light)
2-3 supplemental lifts targeting your weak muscle groups, this day will focus on hamstrings, abs, tricep, biceps

Day3
Squats (light)
Standing overhead press (main lift)
Pull/chin ups 50 total reps
2-3 supplemental lifts tricep, rear delt fly/face pulls, abs

* Main lifts are to be done heavy preferably in the 3-6 rep range. Total volume of reps 24-36 not including warm ups
* Light less weight are to be done in 8-10 rep range, total volume 36-50 reps not including warm ups
* You will notice for every horizontal/vertical press you will also have a horizontal/vertical pull so not to cause any imbalance in muscles front to back
* there is more over head pressing compared to benching. Benching is overated and overhead pressing is far more useful in everyday strength.
* supplemental lifts are to target certain muscle groups to help you get stronger in your main lifts.
* there is a lot of squatting or leg workouts. Your foundation starts from your legs
* standing overhead press is to be done not sitting. You lose the benifit of your stabilizers if your sitting. More stabilizers means more muscles are being activated.
* pull/chin ups for 50 total reps. Dont care how many sets it takes you. As you get stronger you will be able to do less sets, once your able to get all 50 in 3sets you can start adding weight(vest or dangling from a belt). Same thing for dips
* save your cardio for after weight training. If you want to do 5 min of cardio before to get you loose and warmedup that's ok. But you don't want to burn yourself out with cardio before hitting the iron.

Just a slice of the pie. Does not mean you won't switch to different workout schemes as time goes on.

 

[Hoppy]

My wife and I were faced with the same time issues. Working out was last on the list for the day. A few months ago I started doing Cross fit on my own at the gym and sometimes at the house. It only takes about 20-30 minutes to get a full body workout in. She could see it didn't take long so she started working out with me. Its been good in all aspects of the body, not to mention our relationship. It gives us a break from the kids too. You can google cross fit and see some of the WOD's (workout of the day) and see if its for you. There are also apps for the smart phone with info. One is "workout hero". Like I said its full body all at once.

 

[eli polite]

ill take a look.. I have mixed up the routine a bit we will see what happens