Question: Times/hours per week at the gym and routines

[lucas]

So, how many times a week do you go to the gym, and how many hours you spend there working out? Do not count shower or sauna time. Also work out routines.

I will start. Try to go 6 times a week (although usually is 5). Spend like 1h 45 m. just working out.
The days would go like this:
day 1: chest, shoulders
day 2: back, biceps, triceps.
day 3: abs, legs, bike 20 minutes
day 4: as day 1
day 5: as day 2
day 6: as day 3
day 7: rest
When trying to get more definition, bike 5 times a week.

People tell me that it is a lot, but this is the way BB used to work out in the 80's, and they used less juice then.

[myophile]

sounds like thats a bit light on rest. yes, bb's did do training like that in the 80's - and many still do today. but if you're a novice, you're probably better off with less training. i go 3x a week, although i'm planning on bumping up to 4x a week soon.

[lucas]

Well, just doing it for almost 20 years. I'm 39. So may be I'm stuck in the past....

[biguglymofo]

I agree with myophile. Perhaps a 3 or 4 day split would be better. These types of routines were done when we new little about muscle growth. Now we know much much more. I strongly encourage you to follow a 3 or 4 day split and go at it with as much intensity as possible. Give it a try, and you'll be surprised with the results. What kind of results have you gotten in the last 20 years with your routine? After doing that for so long I'd say it's more the reason to change things up a bit.

Try a back/leg/chest split.

[lucas]

May be I should give it a try. The last big change I did was like 8 years ago, when I was doing chest/back, and shoulders/arms. When I started lifting I was 113lbs at 5'4", now I'm 181lbs at 5'4" (didn't get taller, booo...). I don't know my body fat, but still have 29" waist, and 17" arms. I want to get to 185lbs.

[wbhunk]

I usually do the following:

Day 1: Legs - 1 hr
Day 2: Back/lats - 45 min
Day 3: Chest - 35 min
Day 4: Arms/delts - 40 min

I will usually do cardio 5-6 days a week, although it's usually a half-hour on the treadmill at a brisk walk (holding heart rate between 105 - 120 bpm).

I have a repertoire of exercises for each bodypart, and I will usually perform a minimum of 3 exercises, rotating sequence--although I try to do the multi-group exercises, i.e. squats, prior to and for a longer period of time than the accessory exercises, i.e. leg curls.

Emphasis all the way through is on strict form, 1 to 2 ratio contraction to relaxation (if it takes you one second to lift the weight, it should take you 2 seconds to lower it), and really feeling the contraction in the targeted muscle. My usual time routine is to rep for 45 seconds, then rest for 1 minute, 15 seconds.