<div style='font: 9pt ; text-align: left; '>Okay. I'm currently trying to build mass and power, and here are a few things that overarch everything I do:
-I work each muscle group once a week (excluding abs).
-I do five minutes cardio to warm up before doing anything.
-I do three sets of each exercise, minimum 8 reps per set, going to muscle failure or 12 reps each set, whichever comes first (excluding my non-weighted ab exercises, which I do three sets of 30 each). When I finish 3 reps of 12 sets at a certain weight, I increase the weight the next week.
-I get one minute of rest between sets.
-I get some protein into me within an hour of finishing my routine for the day. Nutrition is incredibly important when you're working out anyway, and this is one thing you want to make sure you do.
-I arrange my routines for each muscle group to do the hardest ones first.
-I finish each session with 10-30 minutes of cardio.
-I don't always do the same cardio every day - I alternate between the treadmill, stationary bike, and elliptical trainer (and don't jog/treadmill on the same day you work legs).
-I change around which exercises I do and in which order every 8 weeks or so. Learn some other exercises for each muscle group in two months or so, and switch things around - your body gets less acclimated to your workouts that way.
For you, here's some stuff I'd keep in mind:
-You're not really going to add all that much strength if you don't add mass - strength is mostly proportional to the number of muscle fibers you can bring into play at once.
-Rest and nutrition are paramount to mass/strength gains. If you don't eat right and/or enough, working out isn't going to do you any good. The recommendations I've read say go 20 calories for each pound of bodyweight (for athletes, that is). And eat 5 or 6 smaller meals a day - you speed up your metabolism and discourage fat gain that way.
-Stretch. Before and after working out is a good idea.
-The "8 minimum to failure or 12" I do is pretty standard bodybuilding practice. This is reasonably intense - i.e. the muscles you work one day <i>will</i> be in pain the next day. If you don't want to go that intense, try 15-20 reps/set with lighter weights and go fast (while keeping form, of course) - your exercises take on a plyometric characteristic that way. (I'm actually going to change my workouts to that sort of methodology once ultimate season begins in April.)
-I'm just going to tell you what exercises I'm doing right now to give you ideas. 3-5 exercises per muscle group once a week is really what you want to do - any more than that and you'll be overworking yourself.
With that said, here's what I do at the moment:
Monday - Abs
Flat Bench Butt Lifts
Front Lying Swiss Ball Rolls
Ab Machine (weighted)
Swiss Ball Crunches
Waist Bends
Tuesday - Back & Triceps
1 set Narrow Unassisted Chinups, 2 sets Wide Assisted
Seated Rows
Narrow Pulldowns
Hyperextension
Narrow Assisted Dips
Rope Pushdowns
1 Arm Overhead Extensions
Wednesday - Abs
Thursday - Legs & Shoulders
Smith Machine Squats
Wide Walking Lunges w/DBs
1 Leg Curls
Standing Smith Calf Raises
Leg Extensions
Shoulder Press
Side DB Lift
Smith Upright Rows
Rear Deltoid Flys
Friday - Abs
Saturday - Chest & Biceps
Smith Bench Press
Elevated Feet Pushups
Flat Bench Alt DB Press
Pectoral Flys
Cable 2-Arm Curls
Alternating DB Incline Hammer Curls
Concentration Curls
Reverse Curls
Sunday - Rest
Good luck!
<i>-57</i></div>
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