Home fitness routine. I missing anything?

[Deleted]

Got some dumbbells, a mat and a focus/double ended bag + bench.

Doing:
Bicep Curl (Bicep)
Standing side+front raises (shoulders)
Bent over 1 arm row (lats)
Tricep extension (tricep)
Shoulder rolls (traps)
Sit-ups (with elbow crossover)+leg raises (abs)
Dumbbell lunges (I think all leg muscles)
Chest (flat) + incline press with dumbells (chest)

Then 5x 3 minute rounds at the bag with 1 minute rests.

Pretty sure that's everything covered but anyone see any gaps?

[Evil Inside]

There are alot of other exercises you can do. Flat/decline benchpress for example to work the different chest muscles, dumbell shrugs for shoulders, dumbell shoulder press among others, the ones I listed are among the best for building muscle. Its quite late here and I should be in bed, I cant think of anymore at the moment.

[Deleted]

Well, the shoulder rolls are like the shrugs with more motion, I hold the weights same as shrugs but roll the shoulder back, up, over, down the front and back to resting. The chest, I don't have decline covered so good spot on that, I'll work something out as hitting the bottom of the chest muscle tends to be a weak spot. Do I miss anything on the shoulders with the front + side raises (think straight arm, bring weights from hips to level with shoulder and back down front + side). Shoulder press is easy to add indd if not

For the sake of about £70 worth of kit if the list there is enough I'll be saving a fair packet on gym membership. I "feel" like I'm getting a better workout at home as there's not much time spent setting things up (just a quick change of plates for the bent over rows). I can just gogo for a good 45 minutes on weights then the bag at the end to cover some cardio. I tend to be a bit lazy about going gym too whereas I've picked up weights and/or pulled the gloves on every day for the last 5 days.

Not after getting big or anything just dropping fat (about 28% atm I'd guess) and strengthening up a bit.

[Evil Inside]

Shoulder press is generally a good addition to any workout, because it works your shoulders as well as the back muscles, triceps and your core muscles, if you do a seated variation. For triceps you can do bench dips, this also works with a chair or bed or any stationary piece of furniture. Your list so far is pretty good, and if you keep it going and eat right you'll be fit in no time.

---------- Post added 2012-05-02 at 08:34 PM ----------

Well, the shoulder rolls are like the shrugs with more motion, I hold the weights same as shrugs but roll the shoulder back, up, over, down the front and back to resting. The chest, I don't have decline covered so good spot on that, I'll work something out as hitting the bottom of the chest muscle tends to be a weak spot. Do I miss anything on the shoulders with the front + side raises (think straight arm, bring weights from hips to level with shoulder and back down front + side). Shoulder press is easy to add indd if not

For the sake of about £70 worth of kit if the list there is enough I'll be saving a fair packet on gym membership. I "feel" like I'm getting a better workout at home as there's not much time spent setting things up (just a quick change of plates for the bent over rows). I can just gogo for a good 45 minutes on weights then the bag at the end to cover some cardio. I tend to be a bit lazy about going gym too whereas I've picked up weights and/or pulled the gloves on every day for the last 5 days.

Not after getting big or anything just dropping fat (about 28% atm I'd guess) and strengthening up a bit.

There is nothing wrong with working out at home, the only problem I find is if you have problems with motivation such as myself. I've got a home gym, but sometimes I just cant be bothered. As for dropping fat the bag is excellent for this.

[LegendsnDreamz]

You seem to have a pretty good regimen going. I would strongly suggest jogging/cycling daily with it. Some Calisthenics/aerobics between days to get a good all around routine.

Swimming is great as well if you can manage it. Best of Luck!

[Deleted]

Cheers for the nods folks. Tips and extra's noted. I got a cycle that needs a bit of TLC then I might use that to cycle to work and back (desk job but has showers etc there so I can get freshened before work which might be nice, specially as summers coming and the weather should be getting better).

[Projali]

...
Shoulder rolls (traps)...

If you're rolling your shoulders to work your traps, you're doing yourself more damage than good. A proper shrug is upwards because you're targeting your traps, not your delts, shoulder capsule, rotator cuff, etc.

Did you get a good range of weights on the plates that came with the dumbbells?

[Deleted]

If you're rolling your shoulders to work your traps, you're doing yourself more damage than good. A proper shrug is upwards because you're targeting your traps, not your delts, shoulder capsule, rotator cuff, etc.

Did you get a good range of weights on the plates that came with the dumbbells?

The rolls are done with the arms straight down still exactly like a shrug. It's just got a bit more motion. I might be hitting other bits. I'll go with regular shrugs.

I'm doing this: http://www.bodytrainer.tv/exercise/d..._shoulder_roll

And apart from hitting the front pec a bit too it seems to be pretty trap focused.

Plates wise it's a bit a on the low side, 4x2kg, 8x1kg and the bare bars 2kg with twist locks. I'll be adding 4x5kg giving a max of 20kg per dumbell (nother £28 and will be the most plates I can load on at once) but for how fine I can tune the weight, being able to go up in 2kg chunks seems pretty reasonable. For the time being I'm doing bigger sets (20 reps per set) to get a decent workout out of them and getting about as sore as I do lifting heavy at the gym.

If heavy would be better, for the ones where I can lift more (than I have in plates) I have some resistance bands that go up to pretty insane levels (if I set it up for standing bicep curl with the bands pinned to the floor by my foot and both handles in 1 hand (thus doubling the tension) there's no budging it.

I generally bicep curl about 12-14kg for 8-10 reps x3 sets so I'm not super heavy yet anyway. For my aims I don't think I need to go too crazy with weight so long as I'm hitting each muscle?

[Projali]

The rolls are done with the arms straight down still exactly like a shrug. It's just got a bit more motion. I might be hitting other bits. I'll go with regular shrugs.

I'm doing this: http://www.bodytrainer.tv/exercise/d..._shoulder_roll


I generally bicep curl about 12-14kg for 8-10 reps x3 sets so I'm not super heavy yet anyway. For my aims I don't think I need to go too crazy with weight so long as I'm hitting each muscle?

The problem with doing the rolling motion is you're putting unnecessary strain on your shoulder while not providing any benefit over normal shrugs. Deltoid isolation work tends to be a lot lighter than trap work simply because of muscle size and function.

With your bicep curls, make sure you're not cheating with your back in the exercise. Elbows at your side, curl the weight up and squeeze your biceps at the top of the range of motion. Return the weights to your side while providing a little resistance to gravity. You'll see people keep the weight above their elbows for all of their reps without doing a full rep. The problem you encounter there is you take a lot of the muscle extension and contraction of the bicep and redirect a lot of the work to your deltoids. Full extension after the curl with your elbows still at your side is the textbook curl.

If you can't tell if you're using your back too much or swinging the weight, do curls with your back to a wall and your shoulder blades contracted. You'd be surprised how much more you can isolate your biceps that way.

You'll probably reach the point where 20kg isn't providing enough stimulation within a decent amount of reps 8-12 with things like bench press, dumbbell rows, etc and you may need to invest in a bigger set of plates. I always recommend buying used because it's cheaper and new iron isn't really any better than used iron.

You said 5 days a week? Are you doing all of this stuff 5 days a week? You may want to put a couple of rest days in between to allow your muscles recovery time. Your muscles develop microtears in the fibers when hypertrophy occurs and they need time and nutrition to heal. That's the function of muscle development. The calorie burning is a nice part of it for people interested in the weight loss as well.

Are you changing your eating habits as well?

[mercutiouk]

The problem with doing the rolling motion is you're putting unnecessary strain on your shoulder while not providing any benefit over normal shrugs. Deltoid isolation work tends to be a lot lighter than trap work simply because of muscle size and function.

With your bicep curls, make sure you're not cheating with your back in the exercise. Elbows at your side, curl the weight up and squeeze your biceps at the top of the range of motion. Return the weights to your side while providing a little resistance to gravity. You'll see people keep the weight above their elbows for all of their reps without doing a full rep. The problem you encounter there is you take a lot of the muscle extension and contraction of the bicep and redirect a lot of the work to your deltoids. Full extension after the curl with your elbows still at your side is the textbook curl.

If you can't tell if you're using your back too much or swinging the weight, do curls with your back to a wall and your shoulder blades contracted. You'd be surprised how much more you can isolate your biceps that way.

You'll probably reach the point where 20kg isn't providing enough stimulation within a decent amount of reps 8-12 with things like bench press, dumbbell rows, etc and you may need to invest in a bigger set of plates. I always recommend buying used because it's cheaper and new iron isn't really any better than used iron.

You said 5 days a week? Are you doing all of this stuff 5 days a week? You may want to put a couple of rest days in between to allow your muscles recovery time. Your muscles develop microtears in the fibers when hypertrophy occurs and they need time and nutrition to heal. That's the function of muscle development. The calorie burning is a nice part of it for people interested in the weight loss as well.

Are you changing your eating habits as well?

Fair enough on the shoulder rolls, I'll hit regular shrugs and work with that
For form on the curls - it's pretty good there's no swinging etc and the weight goes to full "slack arm" down position at the end of the rep (with a little tension kept in if i'm doing the both arms bit of the exercise. I do a couple of sets with both arms and a couple alternating). I'll try against the wall but I think i'm good and free standing I'm having to at least engage core to keep me stable.

Agreed on plates etc. I will have a look around for cheap but price wise my local place seems "ok" 5kg plates are about £6 each, new. I have no fear of old metal though so I'll stick my nose in a couple of muscle shops around and see if they have a notice board. I guess ebay and the local ads in the paper would be worth at least a quick glance too

The 5 days a week was just a "new toys" bit of enthusiasm, I've been doing about 3 days on average per week at gym for around a year (doing wavelengths "fat loss for noobs" splits from the bodybuilders forum) so i'll probably settle back down to splits and burn energy on any extra days at the bag. Best exercise is a (smiths) squat at about 110kg but chest and arms need a bit more work at the moment.

Eating habits - a little. I'm trying at least but I have a sweet tooth that's a real pain in the ass. I'm rather used to the idea i'll need to up the cardio to see big changes, the bag was a pretty recent purchase and is in my room about 2m from the computer so no excuse to avoid it. I generally don't mind donning gloves and doing a little at the bag so far whatever my mood otherwise. I'll be doing my best to get the eating down nicely.

To be clear on that too, i'm far from crazy. I eat a decent breakfast (generally wheatbix or similar "healthy" cereal), greek yogurt for snacks, generally avoid fizzy drinks, fairly easy on fruit juice etc and otherwise decent. Certainly a lot better than some and even tho I have a bit of a weakness for the odd bit of cake or similar, overall I think my calorie intake isn't high. I've kept notes before and even with a fair chunk used on something silly I still generally average around 1800 a day so a little more cardio should see that happily balanced.

For macro's I do try and take a low carb, high protein option and I make use of the odd shake to get a bit more protein down me if eating isn't an immediate option.

[bray2160]

Personally, I like P90X more than any other weight loss product because it's convenient. I can use it at my leisure and it's probably one of the only programs that I've actually seen work. I know people who are currently on the system and have lost tons of weight. Their bodies are more defined as well.

[freelapdance]

If the dumbells are heavy enough you should do squats and deadlifts. Maybe drop the tricep extensions and do military shoulder presses. Are you planning on doing everything in one session or some sort of split?

[Sinshroud]

If you are looking for more exercise ideas that make use of only dumbbells and bodyweight you can check out the Bodybuilding.com Exercise Database and play around with their filters, for example here is dumbbell and bodyweight workouts for the biceps muscle group.

http://www.bodybuilding.com/exercise.../muscle/biceps



You can then click on an exercise and it will provide image instructions, text instructions, video instructions, and you can also see ratings and reviews that other members have given that exercise.

I would highly recommend staying away from weighted shoulder rolls, they are just disastrous. Rather stick to normal dumbbell shrugs and add variations in such as leaning backwards or forwards slightly, sitting down, holding the weights behind you or using a changing your grip style / forearm angle - just make sure the movement is smooth and follows the same path both up and down. If you feel any resistance at specific points other than right at the top or "jumps" / "clicks" then stop immediately.

Also keep in mind that squats and deadlifts are two of the 4/5 most fundamental exercises for overall growth and strength. You can do both of those using dumbbells.

[Deleted]

May I suggest the 'Russian Twist' and 'The Plank' as additional exercises for your core, very easy but effective exercises

[dercaderca]

Something I like to do when I lift at home is hit the bag with dumbells. I started with 5 pounders and worked my way up to 8s and eventually 10s. Its a really good workout and will really kick your ass(in a good way).

Other than that, I'd suggest some chest flys. Maybe some deadlifts too, most people use a BB but I honestly prefer to use DBs, so you can do that too.

[Clevername]

Way more legs, just a couple lunges is not adequate in my opinion. Get a jump rope it is a very inexpensive good means to a decent leg workout; I'd suggest a barbell too for deadlifts, cleans and front/back squats but that's a bit bigger investment monetarily. I'd also say a pullup bar is a must but that's just me.

My home gym consists of a Squat rack, barbell, flat bench, jump rope, pull up bar, collection of kettlebells and a weightvest... I really don't need anything else. A weightvest is an awesome investment in my opinion.

[handsdown]

Way more legs, just a couple lunges is not adequate in my opinion. Get a jump rope it is a very inexpensive good means to a decent leg workout; I'd suggest a barbell too for deadlifts, cleans and front/back squats but that's a bit bigger investment monetarily. I'd also say a pullup bar is a must but that's just me.

My home gym consists of a Squat rack, barbell, flat bench, jump rope, pull up bar, collection of kettlebells and a weightvest... I really don't need anything else.

You have the perfect at home gym
I was going to say pull up bar as well; if you have difficulty with pull ups, resistance bands can help ease into it, or do negative pull ups. Jumping pull ups have helped me as well - did them every time I passed the door way. For chin ups, once you master 8-10 those in body weight, add a weight belt or weight vest .. you won't need to be doing curls any more. Definitely try to incorporate compound movements more if you can.

[Deleted]

I'm slowly building up a home gym and I've currently got:

Tractor Tyre, sledgehammer, Squat rack, 1 barbell, 150kgs bumperweights, 26kg KB, 32kg KB, gymnast rings, Pullup bar, weightvest, skipping rope.

All in all cost me about £600 - biggest outlay being the bumperweights and olympic bar. All I need now is a suitable location to hang a climbing rope and I never have to step foot in another gym ever.

OP, try adding a whole new dimension to your training - supplement your weight exercises with bodyweight ones - superset them, triset them. Mix it up. I heard a quote once that said "To get strong lift weights 3 times a week standing up"... I don't really work on isolation exercises anymore and I've noticed big gains in overall strength and athleticism rather than just looking "buff".

Deadlifts, squats, DB cleans, snatches, Pullups, Muscleups, Clean&Jerks - get them all in there and mix it up!

[freelapdance]

I don't really work on isolation exercises anymore and I've noticed big gains in overall strength and athleticism rather than just looking "buff",

This. Multi joint exercises are you friend. Damn you Reqq for having such a sick home gym. Oh and to the OP don't try and do EVERYTHING. Start with squats, deadlifts, bench press. Then work in pullups and dips.

[Deleted]

Damn you Reqq for having such a sick home gym.

ha! I'm quite lucky a lot of the stuff I managed to get for free through the military - old 4tonne truck tyre, knackered old squat rack and sledgehammers. My brother spends £60 a month on a gym because "its got a pool, sauna and free towels" lol. I've built my own gym for the same cost as 10 months membership. You don't get a free towel or a pool but you can run to the beach and throw yourself in the sea if you like...