Gym/Cardio Question

[jargan83]

Morning All

If this seems long winded I apologise.

So late November I partially hyper extended my knee while playing touch footy rounding out what was a very lousy 2018 injury wise for myself.

My physio has cleared me to start riding my bike again as well as some interval stuff on the treadmill.

Anyway I've changed things up in my routine and have been getting up at 5:30am and going to the gym first thing in the morning before work (used to go late say 7:30/8pm).

I usually ride to work and was wondering if weights then cardio (15km ride) will upset anything or will it be fine? Or should I do the weights after riding home in the arvo? Not keen purely because the gym is busier in the arvo from what I've seen.

 

[Smack]

I'd probably do light cardio on leg day if you are coming off an injury.

 

[Game_Breaker]

Cardio after a weights session works best for me
I want to expend energy on strength training first so I can get more out of it.

 

[Walter sobchak]

I cycle nearly every day and used to lift weights(bench press, barbell curl and dumbbells) at my brothers home gym but plateaued at 90kg with the bench press.

I’ve always wanted to know how many days of the week should you benchpress because I was usually doing it nearly every day??

 

[Game_Breaker]

I cycle nearly every day and used to lift weights(bench press, barbell curl and dumbbells) at my brothers home gym but plateaued at 90kg with the bench press.

I’ve always wanted to know how many days of the week should you benchpress because I was usually doing it nearly every day??

You need to give your muscles time to recover, so benching almost everyday is counterproductive

Twice a week is my preference with couple of days in between for recovery, some might go for 3 times a week, while for others once a week is enough

 

[Walter sobchak]

You need to give your muscles time to recover, so benching almost everyday is counterproductive

Twice a week is my preference with couple of days in between for recovery, some might go for 3 times a week, while for others once a week is enough

Thanks for the advice marra. That’s interesting because the only reason I would bench nearly everyday was because that and along with barbell curl and dumbbells was the only piece of gym equipment I had access too!!!

I used to do 6 sets with 6 reps in each set until I felt comfortable before adding more weight and like I said I hit a plateau around 90kg when I couldn’t do more than 3-4 reps in each set.

 

[Smack]

I cycle nearly every day and used to lift weights(bench press, barbell curl and dumbbells) at my brothers home gym but plateaued at 90kg with the bench press.

I’ve always wanted to know how many days of the week should you benchpress because I was usually doing it nearly every day??

You can work on 3 day or 5 day splits, but as GB said your muscles need time to recover. Even if you hit each group once a week, you will see results.

• Day 1: Legs/Abs
• Day 2: Chest
• Day 3: Back/Abs*
• Day 4: Rest
• Day 5: Shoulder/Abs*
• Day 6: Arms
• Day 7: Rest

 

[Smack]

also when you plateau, you need to add more weight AND hit your muscles with something they have never seen before, as per arnie 'shocking the muscle'

 

[Walter sobchak]

You can work on 3 day or 5 day splits, but as GB said your muscles need time to recover. Even if you hit each group once a week, you will see results.

• Day 1: Legs/Abs
• Day 2: Chest
• Day 3: Back/Abs*
• Day 4: Rest
• Day 5: Shoulder/Abs*
• Day 6: Arms
• Day 7: Rest

Sounds like good advice. Thanks.

I’ve hit upon a routine of cycling 5 times a week(after work) split between long distance and hill climbing as that is what I’m mostly into and benching 3 times a week(in the morning before work) with other little exercises between benching. See how this goes

 

[Smack]

Sounds like good advice. Thanks.

I’ve hit upon a routine of cycling 5 times a week(after work) split between long distance and hill climbing as that is what I’m mostly into and benching 3 times a week(in the morning before work) with other little exercises between benching. See how this goes

Check out the mecca for lifting, https://www.bodybuilding.com/index.html

Also good idea to try new exercises and watch on youtube for the correct form, as form is the most important for gains and to avoid injury. Avoid the ego lifting jerks!

 

[Walter sobchak]

Check out the mecca for lifting, https://www.bodybuilding.com/index.html

Also good idea to try new exercises and watch on youtube for the correct form, as form is the most important for gains and to avoid injury. Avoid the ego lifting jerks!

Will do and thanks again.

I’ve been there and done that regarding trying to lift too much too soon and actually ended up hurting my wrists and shoulders in the process

 

[Iafeta]

I cycle nearly every day and used to lift weights(bench press, barbell curl and dumbbells) at my brothers home gym but plateaued at 90kg with the bench press.

I’ve always wanted to know how many days of the week should you benchpress because I was usually doing it nearly every day??

As above mate, definitely not every day. Remember when you lift weights you break down the muscle. You literally create small tears.

So you need to give the muscle time to recover and grow as a result. And then back you go.

In terms of plateau, it’s one of the greatest challenges I find. I try to do constant overloading by doing 2 weeks of reasonable weight and high reps. Then two weeks of medium and weight and say 6 reps. Then two weeks of heavy lifting where you can only do 1-3 reps per set. If you are plateauing at 90 doing day medium sets, I reckon you could get that to 100 on low rep sets. Then the next time you come back through the cycle it’s 105. Then 110 etc. Always working though on your form. Also I try to match my food to this. So when I am on heavy, increase my good carbs and general calorie intake.

Then I will throw is some stuff that is completely against the rhythm. So throw in some HIIT body weight routines etc.

Hey I could be completely wrong and I’m certainly not a massive muscle head. I’m fairly average but I too hit a lot of plateaus and I’ve found this has helped me continue to overload and therefore break the muscle more.

 

[Walter sobchak]

As above mate, definitely not every day. Remember when you lift weights you break down the muscle. You literally create small tears.

So you need to give the muscle time to recover and grow as a result. And then back you go.

In terms of plateau, it’s one of the greatest challenges I find. I try to do constant overloading by doing 2 weeks of reasonable weight and high reps. Then two weeks of medium and weight and say 6 reps. Then two weeks of heavy lifting where you can only do 1-3 reps per set. If you are plateauing at 90 doing day medium sets, I reckon you could get that to 100 on low rep sets. Then the next time you come back through the cycle it’s 105. Then 110 etc. Always working though on your form. Also I try to match my food to this. So when I am on heavy, increase my good carbs and general calorie intake.

Then I will throw is some stuff that is completely against the rhythm. So throw in some HIIT body weight routines etc.

Hey I could be completely wrong and I’m certainly not a massive muscle head. I’m fairly average but I too hit a lot of plateaus and I’ve found this has helped me continue to overload and therefore break the muscle more.

Interesting stuff. Thanks mate and I’ll definitely try this out. I’ve just started to bench again after a 4 month layoff and can’t believe how hard it is to get where I was before I stopped(90kg). After 2 weeks I’m currently benching 60kg and adding 1.5 kg(each side) when I feel comfortable.

That being said I’ve definitely lost some weight in between the lay-off due to all the cycling and I don’t feel as strong.

 

[Walter sobchak]

Can anybody give me any good advice/tips on the ideal number of sets and reps with bench press??

 

[myrrh ken]

Can anybody give me any good advice/tips on the ideal number of sets and reps with bench press??

https://www.t-nation.com/training/ditch-the-barbell-bench-press

 

[jargan83]

Some great advice in here guys, thanks.

 

[jargan83]

You can work on 3 day or 5 day splits, but as GB said your muscles need time to recover. Even if you hit each group once a week, you will see results.

• Day 1: Legs/Abs
• Day 2: Chest
• Day 3: Back/Abs*
• Day 4: Rest
• Day 5: Shoulder/Abs*
• Day 6: Arms
• Day 7: Rest

I’m still rehabbing that knee injury and the Physio hasn’t cleared me for a lot of leg stuff yet.

Should I treat leg day as rest of work something else?