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It's been a while since I was on this board. I was just busy - but still active in my workouts. But when I couldn't workout, due to every day life demands - I tend to overdo it and become sore, not to the point of hurting - more so to the point of slight discomfort.
So I'm here for some advice on creating a practical workout routine.
I'm 40 and 5'4, 122 pounds. Since focusing on my workout as of this past summer, my target is to strengthen upper body, core, balance and waist line.
I'm happy to say that I feel my abs stronger and I do have a slight bicep bump.
My goal is to is to have a stronger arm and a more obvious mid section - what do I mean...
I would like to develop my triceps (have that 'V' look,) my grip, and get a bit more of a bicep bulge. I also want my transverse abs a little more profound, in a feminine way.
I know men excel in this area, and a 6-pack is not really ideal for a woman's body. Granted, I am a healthy eater so I know what to eat.
What I need is some routine advice. I find myself sticking to one area, like abs, for too long, if I have worked out in a while and I overwork myself. Samee thing with biceps and so on. I get influenced by those articles like '100 squats a day' type of thing and get too overwhelmed, then stop for weeks at a time.
So what are your routines? I need to mention I work out at home, not a gym, so I feel whenever I'm in the mood I just go workout despite what time of day or night.
I would like a basic routine that I can stick to and get the outcome I want. Thanks again!!
I just like to hear how you divide your workout and on what days.
Do you have any bands? They are great for tricep work and very versatile for other areas. Another good home gym purchase is a medicine ball. Unfortunately for us ladies of a certain age the triceps are tricky to get definition. Your deltoid muscles are a great place to focus as well. Its easier to get a little definition and it makes you look great in tank tops. Just be sure you use very light weights to start. It is easy to tear a rotator cuff.
Generally I do 20 to 30 minute Peloton ride then I go to my makeshift gym and divide lower body and upper body on different days. I add core in one of those days.
My home gym equipment is a bosu ball, stability ball, medicine ball, bands of different weight tensions, and some dumbbells.
I would look at some videos and even magazines to get some moves - there are some many different things you can do.
Do you have any bands? They are great for tricep work and very versatile for other areas. Another good home gym purchase is a medicine ball. Unfortunately for us ladies of a certain age the triceps are tricky to get definition. Your deltoid muscles are a great place to focus as well. Its easier to get a little definition and it makes you look great in tank tops. Just be sure you use very light weights to start. It is easy to tear a rotator cuff.
Generally I do 20 to 30 minute Peloton ride then I go to my makeshift gym and divide lower body and upper body on different days. I add core in one of those days.
My home gym equipment is a bosu ball, stability ball, medicine ball, bands of different weight tensions, and some dumbbells.
I would look at some videos and even magazines to get some moves - there are some many different things you can do.
Thanks for the reply. Yes, I have pretty much all of the above you mentioned. I'm actually looking for a daily routine program. For instance, what do you do Monday? Or do you do abs every other day? I just need to make up a solid schedule that keeps me on a routine and doesn't allow me to off-track and over-work a body area. I'm really someone who sticks to a routine, whether it's for the house, work, exercise, etc. It started somehow in college!
I need things written and then studied to memorization. It keeps me more productive that way.
To develop triceps, you need to have the base of your workouts be heavy lifts like benchpress, military press, and clean press. You do those for 1 hour. Then you spend 30 minutes doing triceps with things like skull crushers, overhead extensions, and etc. Do dips as well in between these lighter movements.
If you are doing all the appropriate exercises to build up or tone up the desired muscles (biceps, triceps and abs) and don't get the results, you may need to increase the weights, reps and sets. To avoid injuries and maximize your results, you should check with a personal trainer or reputable online sources (there are many great online videos).
I exercise mainly to stay fit, healthy and strong. I never forget the advice of my trainer when I first started to lift weight more than 20 years ago: "It's not no pain, no gain. It's no pain, no pain ;-)".
When I was going to the gym, my routine was to do have alternating days for upper and lower body workouts (after 20 minutes warm up on tread mill/ski machine and follow with 30 minutes lap swimming then 10 minutes soaking in hot tub).
We don't live too far from a gym but due to Covid, I have been working out only in our home gym.
My gym setup includes an ab/weight bench, a multi-position weight bench, a yoga mat, a jumping rope and a pull up bar.
I am of pretty light weight (~92 lbs. on 5'2" frame) so I don't have heavy weight sets. My dumb bells range from 5 lbs. to 30 lbs. The weight plates range from 2.5 lbs. to 25 lbs. (total 200 lbs.). The ankle/wrist weights are adjustable, range from 5 lbs. to 15 lbs. each.
Here is my weekly routine:
1. Morning: hike 2 miles with the grand puppies (3-4 times a week. They spend the weekends with their parents).
2. Afternoon: row (scull) 4-5 miles on the river (weather permitting). Sculling is a wonderful whole-body exercise especially for your legs, back and ab. Carrying the boat is great for your biceps, triceps and shoulder ;-)
3. Evening: 15 minutes warmup on the treadmill follow by 20-25 minutes upper body workout (ab, chest, shoulders, biceps, triceps), another 15 minutes treadmill then 20-25 minutes lower body workout (calf raise, squats, lunges, leg lift, leg extension etc.). I alternate between dumb bells and bench/weight plates and try different exercises for each muscle in each session. I only do 3 sets with 8-12 reps each. I don't want to incur pain but do try to lift until failure (8 reps with the heaviest weights then up the weights when I can do 12 reps).
I also don't lift weight every day to allow my muscles to rest. On alternate days, I do pullups/chin ups (3 sets of 6-8 reps) after the first treadmill warmup then pushups (military style) for 3 sets of 20-25 reps after the second treadmill warmup.
As I mentioned earlier, my main goal of exercising is to stay healthy and strong. Looks are not important to me. However, it's nice to see that I have developed well-defined biceps, triceps and toned abs over the years. I was quite a weakling and hardly had any muscles before going to the gym. It took less than a year to get toned arms and being able to do pullups and pushups.
Bottom line is that you just have to develop a good workout routine and stick to it. There are many websites, articles showing what type of exercises are best for building biceps, triceps and getting toned abs.
Eating right is also important. Being prediabetic, I started a high protein, high fiber, low carb diets few years ago. I found the diet do wonder to build my muscles and eliminate belly fat (my waist line shrunk 2 inches after 6 months).
To develop triceps, you need to have the base of your workouts be heavy lifts like benchpress, military press, and clean press. You do those for 1 hour. Then you spend 30 minutes doing triceps with things like skull crushers, overhead extensions, and etc. Do dips as well in between these lighter movements.
An hour and a half workout focusing on one part of your body is bad advice. I workout for 30 minutes 2-3x per week, and I have very defined triceps and a muscular appearance. I do full body workouts, mix in compound exercises, a few kettlebell exercises, and sometimes 10 minutes on a bike after the 30 minutes of lifting weights to get my heart rate up.
Workouts don't have to be that long to see great results.
An hour and a half workout focusing on one part of your body is bad advice. I workout for 30 minutes 2-3x per week, and I have very defined triceps and a muscular appearance. I do full body workouts, mix in compound exercises, a few kettlebell exercises, and sometimes 10 minutes on a bike after the 30 minutes of lifting weights to get my heart rate up.
Workouts don't have to be that long to see great results.
If you do benchpress/military press for 1 hour then triceps for 30 minutes, you haven't just focused on just 1 body part. You hit chest, shoulders, core, glutes, and legs. But you won't have defined triceps if you don't lift heavy. Or maybe our definitions of what toned is different.
I'm 40 and 5'4, 122 pounds. Since focusing on my workout as of this past summer, my target is to strengthen upper body, core, balance and waist line.
I'm happy to say that I feel my abs stronger and I do have a slight bicep bump.
My goal is to is to have a stronger arm and a more obvious mid section - what do I mean...
I would like to develop my triceps (have that 'V' look,) my grip, and get a bit more of a bicep bulge. I also want my transverse abs a little more profound, in a feminine way.
I know men excel in this area, and a 6-pack is not really ideal for a woman's body. Granted, I am a healthy eater so I know what to eat.
What I need is some routine advice. I find myself sticking to one area, like abs, for too long, if I have worked out in a while and I overwork myself. Samee thing with biceps and so on. I get influenced by those articles like '100 squats a day' type of thing and get too overwhelmed, then stop for weeks at a time.
So what are your routines? I need to mention I work out at home, not a gym, so I feel whenever I'm in the mood I just go workout despite what time of day or night.
I would like a basic routine that I can stick to and get the outcome I want. Thanks again!!
I just like to hear how you divide your workout and on what days.
Since you work out at home, it is difficult to give you advice without knowing what equipment you have. Most people who work out at home don't have the necessary equipment and space to get a good workout. For example, I like to do pull-ups and dips. I like to do both of them with added weight using a dip belt. Many gyms do not have the facilities for these two exercises. My current gym replaced a perfectly good set of dip bars with an assisted dip/pull-up machine that is useless to me.
You want to do exercises where you do 6-12 reps to failure for around three sets. You want to do between 6 and 10 different exercises for each workout. Some people do full body workouts three times a week. Others like myself alternate between upper and lower body workouts. Don't get influenced by articles that say things like 100 squats a day. Nobody needs to do 100 squats a day. If you do three sets of squats to failure with enough weight with good form and enough weight that you're failing after 6-12 reps, you will get more benefit that doing 100 squats with no or minimal weight.
I like to mix my workout up with different equipment and exercises. My main exercises are squats, deadlifts, bench press, and pull-ups. I use barbells, dumbbells, and a hex bar. I also use different machines based on what is available in the gym where I'm working out. You don't need to go overboard with ab exercises. I haven't found a perfect ab exercise that works magic.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Geneyus
An hour and a half workout focusing on one part of your body is bad advice. I workout for 30 minutes 2-3x per week, and I have very defined triceps and a muscular appearance. I do full body workouts, mix in compound exercises, a few kettlebell exercises, and sometimes 10 minutes on a bike after the 30 minutes of lifting weights to get my heart rate up.
Workouts don't have to be that long to see great results.
If you are lifting weights for more than one hour, you're doing something wrong. I used to workout out for more than two hours a day, but I was running for an hour and lifting for an hour. I was running 5-6 days a week and lifting 3 times a week. Most people get burnt out with that kind of schedule and/or don't have the time to exercise that much. You're better off with something you can stick to for as long as possible.
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