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Well it has been about 3 weeks since I started working out. I have seen some results in my body but in the last week and a half I have not felt sore after my workouts or the day after the workout. I do the same full body workout 3 times a week (MWF) and I have increased my weight by 10lbs every week. When I do the workout I feel tired and I struggle to finish everything off so I know it is not easy for me. Now I don't know if not feeling sore is a good thing or a bad thing but I need some advice before I head into the wrong direction.

Thank You
Marko

You will never get as sore as you did when you first started. There should be a tight or slightly sore sort of feeling. Since you are saying you are not getting that and you struggle to finish your workout, let me ask this. How long does your workout take? How many sets do you do of everything? Depending on your answers and your goals, it may be time to split your workout and add some sets. Can you do 4 days a week? an upper/lower or push/pull twice a week might be good. If you can't do 4 days, you could split your workout into 3. Then do 2 of them each day, so you do each one 3 times in 2 weeks.

Okay Here is my workout:

Squat 3x15
Straight Leg Deadlift 3x15
Calf Raise 3x25
Bent-over Row 3x10
Barbell Upright Row 3x12
Bench Press 2x15
Inclined Bench Press 2x15
Barbell Curl 3x15
Started Yesterday: Sit ups 3x50

To answer your question, I do feel a little tight around the chest and around the vaines around the elbows are just a little tight and they have started to show pretty good.

Another question, how long do I have to wait till the real results come out. I am not in a hurry, but it would be nice if I were to look buff by May or June at latest. I am also 200 lbs 6'0" and almost 18 yrs old.

Whoops I forgot to log in again before posting, but this is the thread I made before starting this a month ago

http://www.exrx.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=87

Hi Marko - interesting plan. One thing is ambigous - do you mean you have increased the weights you are lifting by 10lbs per week or that you have put on nearly a kg in weight for 3 weeks running?

if it's the latter then you must be eating some serious food because the reps you are doing are too high to pack on any muscle.

doing this routine three times a week will get you 'buff' to a certain degree but you'll probably find that this week or next week you won't experience the same kind of burn as you did the first two weeks as your muscles will adjust to your regime.

doing 2 sets of bench press with 15 reps will tighten your muscles but unless you're a hulk to begin with you wont add anything to what already their.

if you're 18 and weight 200lbs you've probably got a head start on most of us. try changing your routine to:
squats 3x8-10 reps
bench press 3x8-10reps
bent-over row 3x8-10reps etc etc

it'll be harder work but might take you less time to actually perform it!

I agree with Ragu. I would just add that, for the situps, do them weighted and on some sort of a decline. If you do abs with straight leg DL you can probably get away with just 1 or 2 sets. Your workouts should be under an hour. They get exponentially less affective after an hour. I would think you are probably doing enough volume, and it sounds like you are getting the feeling you should get. I think an upper/lower or push/pull split would be the best for you, if you can do 4 days a week. If you can't do that, split your program into 3 parts. Then do 2 parts each day.

I increased the weight I was lifting by 10lbs each week. I actually lost 5 pounds according to the scale today but my goal is to lose another up to another 10lbs to get down to 185.

I am interested in the split program but I don't know how it works. I have looked at some templates but it doesnt make sence. If I could do those on MTWR that would be great because it is hard for me to get in and do it on Fridays.

It is not necessary to feel sore in order to make gains.

If you workout hard, yet you don't feel sore the next day, it means your body has taken in your excercise. You feel sore when your excercise exceeds what your body can handle.

Soreness, to me, is a barometer of how my body is adapting to the changes. If I am not sore, I know I can work a bit more. If I am incredibly sore, that just means I'm working too hard.

Do you mean Mon Tue Wed Thu for the 2 day split? You can do that. If you are talking about Mon Tue Wed for other one, it won't work. The other one requires a day off in between. You could do a 3 times in 2 week plan with that though. Let me know which/how many days you are talking about.

Okay, I am can do it any day of the week. Just give me what will work best and I will find time for it! Hopefully we can get it figured out by monday so I can start it this week.

Well 4 days would be better, but I didn't want to give you a 4 day routine if you are only going to go 3 days a week. Since you are still fairly new to this, 48 hours is all the rest you need. So if you do upper, lower. upper. lower, it won't matter what day you do them. Just don't do the same part of your body 2 days in a row. For upper it's chest, back, shoulders and arms. For lower it is lower back, abs, butt and legs. You can do it any 4 days you like really. Remember 8-10 reps. Also after you do your torso, you will find you don't need as many sets for arms. Just 1 set on abs. Maybe ad a set of pullovers or pulldowns for lats. A set of shrugs and a set of front raises might be good. Or instead of front raises you could do a set of shoulder press and drop your uprights down to 2 sets. Doing 1 of your curls sets with reverse grip would be good. One isolation set for triceps would be good at the end. Give that a try and see how that does.

If you really can't do 4 days, then do upper, lower, upper one week and lower upper lower the next week. Then it won't matter what days you do it.

Okay, I think I got ya. But just to get it cleared up.

Monday: Upper
Tuesday: Upper
Wednesday: Rest
Thursday: Lower
Friday: Lower
Weekend: Rest

I will start with Upper tonight. So if there is any changes I don't screw it up.

Thank You very much sonnygll!

No, That is the 1 thing I was telling you not to do. Other that you can do it any day. Try this:

Monday: upper
Tuesday: lower
Wednesday: rest or cardio or intervals or anything but lifting
Thursday: upper
Friday: lower

I dont know why but I kept reading this sentence as;

Just DO the same part of your body 2 days in a row.

so thats what threw me off...

Okay I will start that routine tonight!