My weight training plan now, and other exercise.

[Kuma]

Admittedly not much of a fan of it myself either Ev. Even from a powerlifting standpoint it's far too much in bodybuilding mode for me.

[Ueshirokarate]

I tend to agree with the others in regards to the isolations.

If you want to get stronger, then you only really need three exercises per lift day, doing 5 sets of 5 reps each, adding weight in increments each workout; 5 lbs each workout is good for progression.

There are good programs out there, like Starting Strength, or Stronglifts, which is what I got started with for a while, and got really good results with. Those are good beginning programs, and you can probably progress on those for a year or two, working out 3 days per week. The barbell is your friend. As you get stroger, you can add in assistance exercises to aid with the main lifts.

Also, a PROPERLY PERFORMED squat is an ACL neutral movement. I'm not telling you to do it right now; talk to your ortho first But, lots of doctors don't do squats, and automatically [and ignorantly] have the negative opinion of them that most people that don't understand the squat do.

Great post, I could not agree with you more.

[xo-karate]

I've been playing around with different kinds of workouts for 40 years - and I don't have an opinion on what is right or wrong. It just seem to be very personal thing and with very different goals.

One principle is "what you do - is what you get". If you do functional exercises, you get functional abilities. If you get tired, you get endurance. If you lift big loads, you get strength to those muscles ... and so on.

Other principle is "adaptation happens during rest". If you don't rest and eat, your body can't adapt to the stress.

So all is easy when you know what you want and need:-) Problem is that human body is a very complex machine and it's difficult to know how much core you need to make your movements happen...

One last rule - if it works for you, do it - and when it stops working change it.

Edited June 22, 2012 by xo-karate

[Ueshirokarate]

I've been playing around with different kinds of workouts for 40 years - and I don't have an opinion on what is right or wrong. It just seem to be very personal thing and with very different goals.

One principle is "what you do - is what you get". If you do functional exercises, you get functional abilities. If you get tired, you get endurance. If you lift big loads, you get strength to those muscles ... and so on.

Other principle is "adaptation happens during rest". If you don't rest and eat, your body can adapt to the stress.

So all is easy when you know what you want and need:-) Problem is that human body is a very complex machine and it's difficult to know how much core you need to make your movements happen...

One last rule - if it works for you, do it - and when it stops working change it.

Another solid post!

[Dobie1979]

Eve,

I like your upper body workout. I do pretty much the same thing, however I don't hit the flat bench everyweek. I'll do bench for a month and break for a month swapping in incline and decline. I find when I do that my bench tends to increase. I also have shoulder issues and if I do bench alot it tends to aggrivate my right shoulder.

[Doogie]

I do my workout routine similar to yours. Push routine,Pull routine and then Legs/Abdomen for the third. I stick to the 8-10 rep range which typically get both the fast twitch and slow twitch muscle fibers (it's a little more complicated than that) invovled. High reps are more for endurance, lower reps are more for explosive power. Think of a sprinter vs marathon runner.

My Push/Pull routine is

Push Routine

Bench Press

Machine Flys (could use dumbells)

Shoulder Press

Dumbell Incline Press

Tricep Pushdowns

Dips

Pushups

This starts with the heavy movement and then progressively works on the smaller muscle groups and end off with an exercise that will allow me to easily tailor it to get the muscles really exhausted (Push ups). To much heavy movements at the start fatigues the muscles and then you can't get the other supporting muscles properly exercised

Pull Routine

Seated Row

Dumbbell Shoulder Shrugs

Pull Down

Supported Barbell curls

Dumbbell Rows

Dumbbell Curls

I start this with the seated row as I have a problem with my lower back and I don't want to do this exercise later when my muscles get fatigued and my form starts to lack or muscles get fatigued to properly support.

Same concept, start with the big muscle groups and then work to smaller groups with exercises that are easy to bring about a good fatigue.

You could also increase the reps at the end exercises to get the other muscle fibers invovled. Not sure if this is the best routine, but through trial and error it works for me.