ITT I give the obvious suggestions for a workout

[Tekk]

Well, Kal El has thoughtfully populated this area with, well crap. I'm glad to see some initiative here, fitness is fun and entertaining, but following some of the tips given so far is BAD FOR YOUR HEALTH. I will be correcting it. He asked me to tell him what he's doing wrong, so I will use him for an example.

First off SET GOALS

Since October, I've gained about 18lbs of muscle, and as of tonight I weight 162lbs, my goal is 175 and then i'll decide where I want to go from there.

First off, you haven't gained 18 lbs of muscle since October, doing the workout you posted, and asking for advice on how to gain weight. You may have gained some, but mostly you have developed you body's ability to store glycogen and water. Your weight gain can be attributed to that. Gaining nearly 2 lbs per week is insane, but possible. The body adjusts and this slows immensely after 8 weeks, give or take.

Secondly, DETERMINE YOUR FITNESS LEVEL

Jump in to any workout, and you will get hurt. Get a friend who lifts or preferably a personal trainer to make sure you are doing the lifts correctly. Form is so important, I cannot even explain. For maximum gains and safety, good form is what you have to have.

Steady state cardio workouts should only be used to lose weight. If you are trying to lose serious weight, cardio after a weight workout is a good way to do it. Just be careful to not overdue yourself, heart attacks will put you out of the gym for a while. Doing Steady state cardio while trying to gain weight HINDERS your gains. High Intensity Training however, is always beneficial, even in putting on muscle.

Third, SET UP A ROUTINE

This is my daily routine

Barbell curling, 2 sets of 12 reps on each weight I use, right now it's 50, 60, and 70. I'm hoping to be able to curl 100lbs by the time summer comes around.

Dumbell curls, 2-4 sets of 12 reps on each weight I used, I used 20, 25, and 30 lbs weights.

The pectoral fly machine, I do about 6 sets, each with different weight, topping off right now at 145 lbs. I have a ways to go on this one.

I use a Tricep extension machine and currently I do about 3 sets, with 12 reps, and I currently can do about 70lbs max. This is probably the most strenuous part of my routine, I think I need to do more strength training.

Every other day I also do lat pulldowns, and various different exercises that are too damn annoying to recall the names of.

As far as leg workouts go, I use the seated calf press machine. I do about 4 sets, each with different weight, I can't remember how much weight used normally, but it's around 70lbs

After targeting my arms and lets, I do some crunches on the stability ball, and then do even more on the abdominal crunch machine.

I finish my routine with at a very minimum of 15 minutes of cardio. Depending on how much time I have on a day to day basis, I do as much as 45 minutes.

Obviously my routine is broken, and any constructive criticism on how I can fix my routine would be greatly appreciated.

Edit: I've cut back to every other day with this routine, I have been overworking my body and I need to give it a rest.

This routine blows. It lacks planning and organization. I see you just realized you are over training. DO NOT TRAIN THE SAME MUSCLES DAY AFTER DAY. After you decide how much time you can allow to working out in the gym, you can build a workout to it. There are many different plans to go by, I prefer full body workouts, 2 days on 1 off. For weight loss or gaining muscle mass, this workout can be tweaked to help.

Sample Day 1 (Push Exercises)
Bench Press > Tricep Diamond Pushups
Leg Press > Leg Extension > Leg Curl > Calf raises
Incline Bench Press > Dips
Squat > Dumbbell snatch
Shoulder Press > Tricep Push down

Sample Day 2 (Pull Exercises)
Lat Pull downs > Cable Rows
Deadlift
Cleans
Bent over Barbell Row > 1 arm Row
T-Bar row > Hammer Curls
Reverse Curl > Reverse Pec Flyes

Each exercise is superset the the one > to it. Order doesn't really matter, and it is suggested you switch it up to vary the workout from week to week or every 2 weeks. For strength, aim to do 3-4 sets at 6-8 reps. For fat loss aim to do 4-6 sets at 10-14 reps.

You can add abs and cardio to each workout, or just hammer it out and let nature take its course. Since the full body movements involved, you will hit your abs during your workout. I personally add weighted ab work outs.

Leg lifts
Axe Chops
V-Ball Crunch
Trunkated crunch
Decline crunch
Mason Twist
Bicycles
the list goes on....

I usually do 6 ab exercises in a circuit, 20 reps, rinse and repeat 3-4 circuits.

For cardio, HIIT is the term. This doesn't mean running alone, it can be done on a rower, or bike, or be a girl and do it on the elliptical. The concept is simple, raise your heart rate to a maximum for a brief time, rest, repeat. Typically, people jog and warm up for 5 minutes, then sprint as hard as possible for 30 secs, slow jog 30 secs, sprint 30 secs, etc. The repeat until they have done that for 15 mins, and then finish it off with a light 5 min cool down jog. This can be simulated on the bike or rower, just bike or row as hard as possible. I started off with 30 secs on 30 off, and now do 50 secs on 30 secs off, for 25 mins. You can increase this weekly and try to progress, just be careful. If you feel like you are having a heart attack, you are doing this correctly. Wimpy bitches/ those with far too much weight can do steady state cardio after the weighted portion of the workout. Attempting this will probably give you a heart attack.

DIET

You can work out hard, improve in weight, but if you ever want to see the results, diet is key. Diets do have to be personalized, but understand this, your diet needs proteins, carbs, and fats. Yes, all 3 to succeed. Workouts are free online, diets you have to pay for for a reason, and that's because its what really matters.

Resting is where you see results for gaining weight. So rest days are key. You aren't going to gain weight without gaining fat. Deal with it. Diet right and you will gain minimal fat.

Ending note:

Since I don't care that much, I really just threw this sample out there without really thinking about it. I will suggest for workouts and readings from famous people, read anything by Lyle McDonald, Arthur Jones, or Ellington Dardin. These people do workouts and diets professionally, and have been training idols and advocates for years. Good luck to all who embark on a new fitness journey, its not easy.

"If you've never puked from doing barbell curls, you aren't doing them right." ~Arthur Jones

[Mr. E]

Wow, good job at being a pretentious asshole dude.

Everybody's body is different, and no workout universally works for everyone. Kal El found something that works for him, and if it works then you can't say it blows. I know that my workout routine and diet would probably not work for most people, but through trial and error I have found a combination of diet and exercise that trims me down while allowing me to gain strength (which is what I am going for).

Also, your different reps for different results spiel is poorly explained. Low reps, high resistance for power. Low reps (but more than for power), a little less weight for strength. Lots of reps and a manageable weight for muscular endurance, and medium reps, medium-high resistance to lift for hypertrophy.

With the proper diet and supplements you can work every muscle group every other day and see significant gains. In fact, I've done it. So you can take your high and mighty 'this is the only way' shtick and hit the road.

[Kal El]

I'll say thanks and..

Wow, good job at being a pretentious asshole dude.

[Pepsi]

You know, this could have gone in Kal El's thread...

[djwolford]

I can honestly say that I've never puked doing curls, but then biceps aren't exactly something that I focus on.

I have puked pretty violently after a set of squats though.

[Tekk]

Wow, good job at being a pretentious asshole dude.

Everybody's body is different, and no workout universally works for everyone. Kal El found something that works for him, and if it works then you can't say it blows. I know that my workout routine and diet would probably not work for most people, but through trial and error I have found a combination of diet and exercise that trims me down while allowing me to gain strength (which is what I am going for).

Also, your different reps for different results spiel is poorly explained. Low reps, high resistance for power. Low reps (but more than for power), a little less weight for strength. Lots of reps and a manageable weight for muscular endurance, and medium reps, medium-high resistance to lift for hypertrophy.

With the proper diet and supplements you can work every muscle group every other day and see significant gains. In fact, I've done it. So you can take your high and mighty 'this is the only way' shtick and hit the road.

Everybody is different and does respond differently is correct, but training happens to be the exact same for everyone. You tear muscles, and it rebuilds bigger and stronger. I'm not spouting off anything new here. To think there isn't a superior way of training is blatantly naive. This is all documented, researched, and reiterated by many people. The 'no workout works for everyone' is bullshit. They need very little tweaking. If a system isn't working, chances are its not the system, its the person performing it. People fail to realize, you are damaging your body training. Mentally, you may feel good about it (I know I do), but physically, you should feel like shit depending on your goals. Kal El has a ridiculously ambitious goal, not unattainable as far as I know, but will be really difficult in the time frame given.

Kal Els original post did say he was training daily, edited to say he slowed down to every other day. That is correct, he was way overtraining. My statement mentions that training the same muscles everyday, which his post did in fact say at first, is not the way to reach your goals. Yes you can train every other day and see results for a period of time, but the body adjusts. Training blocks are typically 8-12 weeks for a reason, change is needed.

Recovery takes time once you get large enough. Look at old school body builders Casey Viator, Sergio Oliva, the way they trained. 2 Full Body workouts in 10 days. Neither full body workout took more than 30 minutes. Sergio's arms were bigger than his head was long. Admittedly, Sergio was on steriods, but that's a feat that has yet to be reproduced by today's macho drug inhibited builders.

So yes, pretentious asshole, sure. Knowledgeable about workouts, systems, and ways to get results. Damn well believe it. And I'm giving it away free. I think I'll stick around and make some real mega posts to inspire, instead of just correcting the shit posted.

[Kal El]

I'm slowing down to 3 days a week tops, and I'm giving my body a few week long rest from any major exercising, the only thing I'm doing to keep myself from lapsing into laziness is just swimming laps whenever I have free time from work (which is like once every three days).

The routine I was doing, worked, but it doesn't work anymore. Considering I was on that routine for about 9 weeks, I figure it's time to retire it and develop something new, which I'm researching and planning what routine I want to start on when I begin a regular 3x a week routine beginning Thursday.

[Tekk]

My roommate is on a 5x5, 3 times a week, about an hour in the gym. He's a hard gainer, don't know where you fall, but its definitely working for him. More so, the diet plan is what you will have to follow.