Sample Workouts

My workouts have a cone effect. Meaning I start with the exercises that use the most muscles (compound exercise) and progress down to isolation exercises. Notice how as the exercise get more isolated there is less time for recovery since your using less muscles during one exercise.

I would recommend everyone keep a training log. Not only will this help you remember your workouts but you can see your progress set goals and set dates to workout. It should help keep you motivated and focused.

These work outs are pretty close to what I was doing before I got my surgery. The Numbers you see are just sample numbers and of course for each person’s weight being used will be different. If you’ve never lifted before I would recommend going much, much lighter. Use the first few weeks to get your form down.

These are the basic workouts I used to gain lean muscle mass. As you can see they are nothing ground breaking and pretty basic. I also made sure I kept my workouts fresh changing exercises frequently to make sure I never plateaued. For example I changed from flat to incline to decline every other chest work out. For other exercises I made sure I did a different variation every 2-3 weeks. Any questions on what to switch out and replace with just leave a comment and I’ll reply.

Also the back and shoulder days are obviously longer because there are so many different exercises that can be done for that day. If you don’t have the time to go to the gym 5 times a week you can super set legs and chest days. I like doing them separate because you can concentrate more and hit the targeted group harder if you do them separately. You will still get a great workout with super setting these days.

Core Workouts

For Core training (ab workouts) I do circuits 2 or 3 times. Right now I rotate between 3 different workouts. Two are circuits I came up with myself. Since your core is more than just your abs I make sure I include a variety of exercises that will challenge my entire core. Each of my own created circuits have about 8 different core exercises. Usually the first focuses on the full Core region, lower abs, stability exercise, Lower back, Full Core, Stability, Obliques and upper abs.

Choose a circuit and complete it 1-3 times with no or little rest between movements. When you first begin working out do the circuits once or twice. Complete at least 10 repetitions of each movement (25-30 seconds for stabilization) or as many as you can do. As you get stronger increase your reps or time in each movement. Once you get to 25 repetitions or one minute for stabilization ad another run through of the circuit. Once you can complete 3 circuits ad extra weight.

If you notice there is a lot of stability exercise included in my circuits, reason being your core is designed to stabilize; as you run, walk just about anything your core gives you a strong base to work from. According to Men’s Health Big Book of Exercise stabilization moves also work your core better faster than crunches. The other core workout I do is the Ab Ripper X from the P90X workout. It is much different than my own circuits and only takes 15 minutes, but it is a great core work out. Ab Ripper X can easily be found on the internet.

Reason why I alternate between core workouts is for the simple fact that your abs have to be dynamic for support. Your core supports you in every situation so for a better all around core you have to do different all around exercises. My circuits and the Ab ripper X will give you far better results than doing hundreds of reps of crunches or sit-ups or other core exercises.