Strength Training - Gym routines?
 

I always struggle with what to do in the gym, so I often just end up doing a few things half heartedly on the machines - chest press, shoulder press etc.

I'm looking for exercises to include in the weights bit of my workout - which is about 20 - 30 minutes - things that are easy to keep track of.

What do you guys do in the gym for strength training? I'm looking to put on muscle or at least not lose it while I'm losing weight.

I've read a few things but am wondering what others on here do.

Thanks,
Steve


Here's my routine - I've been doing it for a week:
- 30 mins running Intervals - 5min warm up - (30s sprint - 90s recover) x 10 - 5min cool down.
- 20 - 30 minutes weights
- 10 mins steady state cardio (rowing / stair master / walking etc.)

I'm thinking of something like this:
60s pressups
2x8 dumbell rows
2x8 dumbell curls
some sort of tricep
60s - crunches
2x8 dumbell shoulder press
2x8 dumbell bench press
some sort of pull exercise
30s plank

I no longer have a gym membership, I never got out of it what I wanted. I have to admit all I want is to be better on the bike and have found riding the trainer and rollers mixed with Yoga is the right mix for me.
Is there a reason you are not including legs in your workout as cyclists we need leg strength more than upper body? What are your goals? Are they cycling related or general fitness?

My aim is general fitness. Everything I've read recently said for fitness and weight loss you're better off doing weights than lots of steady state cardio. I'm doing the running because I'm training for a half marathon.

I haven't included legs because I think I get enough leg training through running and cycling - it's a good point though - maybe I could benefit from some leg sessions in the gym.

Reality is you will find what works for you. For myself, I have a body type that builds muscle, I put on too much weight with lifting. Yes it's muscle but its weight I don't want when riding. The one thing I miss from the gym is the large amount of weights to really work out the legs. Good luck in your fitness lifestyle I am sure we will both get to where we want it.

I have lifted weights for a long time and find it has benefited me greatly. If you are looking for a data base for lifting go here http://www.freetrainers.com/ You can easily customize a workout with a particular goal in mind.

I have been doing this..

I use dumbells

5x5x5 5 exercises, 5 reps, 5 circuits

5 squats

5 Pullups (ok this is the goal, I used the machine that comensates for weight and am working up to 5)

5 bench presses

5 standing rows

5 deadlift/clean/press

30 second rest

it is pretty aerobic and the focus is it is whole body workout, not isolation (like bicep curls)

ymmv

I weight train often, so with that bias in mind, i recommend working one body part at a time to maximize growth in your target muscle group. Your muscles don't degrade as fast as you might think working out this way.

Don't bother with the gym. Good old fashioned push ups and pull ups are good. If you do go to the gym, they probably have a machine that will help you do assisted pull ups, that wil help a lot. It makes it much easier to get full sets of them. Make sure you do both overhand and under hand.

I did some body building back in the day Iknow not everyone wants get arnold big but a warm up using weights for that muscle group your working out is fine. Do your weights then cardio after. you can get the most out of your muscles by working them out first when you workout cardio you work out for cardiovascular endurance. do your cardio first and your muscles will be already too tired to get them past the point to where they can really build. Even when I was bodybuilding my workouts were only 40 minutes long. No cardio in that time. I workout only one muscle group a day. 2 days on one day off. Although Ido workout bicepts and tricepts in the same day. Ill do those together but mix up the routine back and fourth. All the other muscle groups I do 4-5 exercises. That's it. 3 sets heavy weight reps are no more then 10 no less then 6. If you want to build muscle you should not be able to do 3 sets of a clean 10. If you do go up in weight but try not to add weight every set. Have a weight to where you just about come to failure every set. Also 60 seconds rest in between sets. Use this modify it there's plenty of ways to workout. I'm shareing what Ihave done. Did body building and also personal training.

I have a basement gym. Here is my winter workout. I try to make these my minimum.

5 Min on treadmill to warm up. M W F Lift
Chest/Shoulder/Back/Tri Each body part -1x12 1x10 1x8 1x6 then 2x12/2xs
Quad/Hamstring/Calf/Bi Same
No more than a minute between reps - It usually takes 30 minutes to complete.

T Th Sat Aerobic - 30 minutes minimum. Saturday is usually longer.

Sun make up a missed workout or rest.

I have gone from heavy 1 1/2 hr sessions 6 days a week to doing nothing and now I'm back to doing only 2 days per week. Over our almost finished race season, I haven't hit the weights at all as I do 6 days on the bike (road & track), but I am about to start up again. I am a big believer in doing the old compound exercises. Squats, deadlifts, overhead press, power cleans, chins and bench press. My routine as I understand it derives from the starting strength routine. I do 3x work sets of squat, overhead press and power clean with some core work on the first day, and the second is squats, bench press, deadlifts and chins with more core work after. This was aimed at building a muscle base for my track riding more than anything else. The thing is, the big compund lifts allow you to forget about other focussed lifts as they come as a secondary benefit. You can really get down your gym time by doing these. Also, even though you commonly see these exercises being done by beefcakes with heavy weight, you can get as much benefit as you need by lifting as little as you want. You should just start with a bar and then progress to wherever you feel you want to be strength wise. Once you get there, just taper off and maintain it. If you want to body build and focus on certain body parts like your arms etc, then perhaps think of incorporating other exercises once you've built a bit of a strength base.

On the note of chins, I can't do even one with a wide grip. My bar is low enough that I can cheat myself up and slowly let myself down. I made good progress on this one last winter. If you hit a gym, there are machines to help you up, or if you've got a gym buddy, they can lift your feet/legs for you to assist.

There was a guy back at my uni gym (10+ years ago now) that was really built and proportionate. All he did was squats, deadlifts and t-bar rows in the gym. Outside of that he was into a ground fighting martial arts style. You don't have to really do much in the gym if you do the right exercises.

I've tailored my gym routine to some cycling specific core-intensive exercises along with general fitness work. I agree with a couple people above who said that push ups, pull ups, chin ups are some of the best that you can do for general fitness. Another favourite of mine is the burpee, and a few variants like the push-up burpee, the chin-up burpee, and the 100yd burpee (on your "up" leap, jump forward. Do 'em for 100yds.)

For weights, I do single arm dumbbell curls, overhead presses, and overhead tricep curls. I alternate them kneeling on a Swiss ball, or doing single-leg balance on a Bosu Ball. If you lift with a partner, another great core exercise for balance is either one of the balance techniques I listed, and play catch with a medicine ball, or do twisting hand-offs with the ball (back to back, each person turns to the side, hands off the ball, and turns the other direction for the next hand-off. 5 one direction, 5 the opposite.) If alone, you can use a wall and bounce it instead of a straight on catch, and you can use a turn-and-touch against the wall to simulate a hand-off.)

Get this book, it covers everything a beginner needs to know about strength training. It covers the 4 basic power lifts(squat,deadlift,bench, overhead press) and includes in great detail how to do them correctly, how to fix common problems, what the assistance exercises and variations for each lift are and how to program them into a gym routine. Unless youre going the bodybuilder route where symmetry and size are the end goal, these 4 lifts combined with their variations, respective assistance lifts, and core work(planks, back extensions, etc..)will drastically improve your strength and your fitness.