Help if ya get a chance please

nobbo

First off, Id just like to thank all the posters on here because Ive learned so much about my traning, how to change it and make it more effective and Ive seen good results. Thank you.

Right, Ive been consistent in the gym since last July. I had been involved in martial arts since I was young but coming upto to the leaving cert I slacked off and before I knew it i was a fat 85kgs. Anyway, started in the gym in July with a friend and by september I was down to 76kgs and then started college. Since then Ive been on/off training but still kept the weight at about 76kgs, which is in reach of 73kgs. I need to stay about this weight for judo.

What I find is that every week is that I slack on one aspect of my training ie One week the diet might be badish, fix that the following week but then might slack on cardio in the gym. Thats one thing I have to fix asap.

Details-
Height: 178cm
Weight: 74ish
Age: 18

I generally hit the gym 4 days of Monday to friday then nothing over the weekend(might want to change this).
I always do a full body workout, or else I dont feel like i worked hard enough. Do the usual weights cardio core routine... But I never have a set program for a few reason, but always make sure I hit all the muscle groups. I find I get bored quite easily with a set program, also the gym is always busy and cant always get into the free weights so vary it.

Back: Use the seated row machine, lat pulldown and upright row or else do chin up varying the distance between my hands.

Chest: One thing I always keep the same, db chest press and flys, flat and incline. If i get near a bench i bench press.

Legs: Leg press, leg curl and leg extension.

Biceps: Curls(vary the type)

Triceps: Tri extension or skull crushers

Cardio: I do two different cardio exercises when I do cardio and alternate the workouts. The first cardio workout would be HIIT followed by a hill program on a summit trainer in the gym. The HIIT would be on a bike with 40s on level 8 keeping the rpm over 100 followed by 20s all out. Do that usually about 5-6 times and always screwed after it. The second cardio workout would start with 20 mins on level 15 hill on the bike, followed 15mins on the crosstrainer hill program level 15. On the crosstrainer i sort of do intervals. I try to go all out when the resistance increases in intervals.

Core: Would start by doing crunches on an exercise ball, then double leg lifts, oblique twists, back extensions. 2 min break. Then do v sits, crunches with legs up and hips off the ground, oblque twists and more back extensions. All are weighted exercises usually with medicine balls.

Diet could do with some work I think
Porridge and toast/yogurt for breakfast
Sandwhich(turkey/tuna) if have a break in college before lunch.
Lunch would vary alot depending on where i am but always meat veg and pasta/rice
Dinner would be chicken/salmon/turkey/beef with brown rice pasta and veg
Would usually have some toast or a yogurt then before bed.

Thanks for reading all this and would appreciate any help/advice ye could give me!

J-Fit

The diet doesn't look horrendous and you've successfully dropped a fair bit of weight yourself so I’ll give you a bit of training advice. Four days per week is fine if you feel you can manage it and it is not interfering with your Judo in terms of recovery. It looks more like a bodybuilding split than a full body programme but a word of advice I will give to you is this:

By all means, put it in the programme, but always have a reason for doing so.

Case in point – seated row. Do you know why it’s there? Do you do much concurrent sitting and pulling in the sport of Judo? If so, great selection. If not, get rid of it! Obviously, you’ll do a lot of pulling, but you might not do that much sitting so on that premise you can eliminate leg extensions, hamstring curls and pretty much every other exercise in which your feet are not in contact with the ground.

You need multi joint exercises that involve a large cross-section of muscle mass. Sure you do leg press, but there a better alternatives in bi/uni lateral squat variations that will help you generate real lower body strength and are very challenging. Bench press is a good exercise for you and will give you much a much bigger bang for your buck that flys, although they can be utilized for shoulder rehab which can be important for Judo guys.

To cut a long answer short, rid yourself of all machines as much as possible and attempt to keep your feet on the ground as much as possible. Have a look at adding med ball, plyos and later Olympic lifts to your programme and you have the ingredients to improve both your sporting performance and your physique in one go. There is a reason that top athletes look as they do. Your cardio looks ok but would be more challenging if you switched to rowing machine, hill runs or even fight specific circuit training. You can safely drop the crunches from your routine without ever missing them too.

Doug Cartel

If your doing judo, heavy squats are the way to go. So many throws involve something approximating a squatting motion.

Stay away from the machines, it's important that you build up your stabiliser muscles and sense of balance using the free-weights.

nobbo

Thanks for the replies and any more will be appreciated.:)

Well, you would do a fair bit of pulling while sitting and on your back, like you would in BJJ.

So drop machines? So basically the big lifts, squats deads and benching? I am planning on doing something like starting strength after April(have a big comp then and cant afford to risk putting on too much weight, as Ive heard on here people see massive gains on these programs). Or is that an ignorant view? Will I put on as much weight as I think?

I suppose I should squat since all my favourite throws are the big throws. Ive always wanted to try squats, so this could be the motivation I need to start squatting.

TommyKnocker

nobbo wrote: »

T I am planning on doing something like starting strength after April(have a big comp then and cant afford to risk putting on too much weight, as Ive heard on here people see massive gains on these programs). Or is that an ignorant view? Will I put on as much weight as I think?

No expert here, but IMHO no weight routine on its own is going to give you massive weight/size gains.

Weight/size gains will be achieved from the diet you use along side your weights routine.

Just my 2 cents worth.


Best Regards,

M

J-Fit

B-Builder wrote: »

No expert here, but IMHO no weight routine on its own is going to give you massive weight/size gains.

Weight/size gains will be achieved from the diet you use along side your weights routine.

Just my 2 cents worth.


Best Regards,

M

This is for the most part, correct. Olympic lifts and the big exercises will not necessarily make you bigger if your loading, reps and diet are appropriate. Don't fall into the typical "Do loads of bench, squats and deadlifts and drink lots of milk" trap that is often bandied about. Assess more coldly, what the requirements of your sport are and select appropriate exercises. The power lifts may well be good for you but you aren't a powerlifter so variations of the movements may be more productive. For example, given the huge stabilistion requirements, I would choose a heavily loaded swiss ball dumbbell bench press instead of standard bench press. It may require a little more digging on your part. Then again, there's no need to overcomplicate things either. Something is better than nothing.