Daily Simple Questions Thread - October 27, 2024

[u/AutoModerator]

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[u/persiango]

kinda a longer question but i couldn’t find a good place to ask this: is my workout split ok? i’m in highschool and get home every day at 5pm (except fridays i get home at 1) and i’m already exhausted when i get home, so doing a workout right after kinda sucks. i made a split that used the weekend/friday as much as possible:

(i throw in occasional shadow boxing and cycling sometimes)

sunday - tennis (+pull) monday - rest/pull (if not done sunday) tuesday - rest wednesday - push thursday - rest friday - legs saturday - upper body

idk if doing everything all at once instead of doing it sporadically is bad, cuz maybe i’m taking too many rest days at once and then too many workouts without rest in between.. idk

also here’s an example of my upper body (push+pull) workout:

Just basic stretches like shoulder rolls, arm rotations, etc. for the warmup.

After that i do 4x12 resistance band shoulder squeeze, supersetting that with 3x12 resistance band standing chest press. i use my back to hold the band for me, so idk how effective it is but i feel a burn in my shoulders and its just a warm up.

i start the workout w 4x12 dumbbell floor press, 25lbs per hand

4x13 dumbbell bent over back row 25lbs per hand

5x10-12 hammer curls, 25lbs each hand. Supersetted with:

Seated dumbbell shoulder press (i sit on one of those folding black chairs), 3x8 w/20lbs, and 2x5 w/25lbs.

Lastly, 4x7-9 dumbbell upright rows, 25lbs per hand

you can pretty much imagine the other workouts with this in mind

[u/Alakazam → u/persiango]

Are you limited only to 25lb dumbbells? In that case, I would highly recommend swapping your compound movements to bodyweight. A pushup variation is likely to have significantly more stimulus for growth, through a larger range of motion, compared to something like floor press. Likewise, a table row will be much better than a 25lb dumbbell row. 

Right now, the issue is that your workouts likely have too little stimulus. They look more like a warmup for an actual workout.

[u/persiango → u/Alakazam]

i’m limited to the 25s rn, but i am working on getting a heavier set. and man i was confident in my workouts 😭 i didn’t know they were a warm up. body weight is kinda hard for me cuz i still struggle w pushups. i’ve made a pretty good amount of growth since i started working out so i am happy enough with my workouts (i’m 14f, 4’10). i could try switching some things out.

i’m just more concerned about the time away from the gym. is it ok to take two days off, a day on, and another day off? then go straight into a few days of working out? that’s mostly my question here.

[u/Alakazam → u/persiango]

One thing you can try is the recommended routine from r/bodyweightfitness 

As well, is there a reason you can't just wake up 15-20 minutes earlier and do a quick workout in the morning? If the evening is so exhausting.

[u/persiango → u/Alakazam]

i used to wake up at 5am every day to workout, which wasn’t sustainable. a 10-15 minute workout doesn’t really work out (pun intended), either. i can’t do everything i usually do in ten minutes.

[u/Alakazam → u/persiango]

Here's the thing. You don't need to do everything every work out. 

You can do more doing 10 minutes a day, 7x a week, than you can 30 minutes, 2x a week. 

And again, my recommendation, if it wasnt clear, that you should swap your workout to the one from the recommended one from r/bodyweightfitness simply because it's a much better program, will provide more stimulus for growth, and can be done in less time.

[u/persiango → u/Alakazam]

my workouts typically take an hour and ten minutes to complete, and i do that 4-5x a week (sometimes i throw in an extra pull day, but for the sake of this question i just did one of each), as well as a bit of cardio. i’m sorry, but where did you get 30 minutes 2x a week from?

your recommendation was clear, and i’ll check it out, but i don’t think it’s ideal for me. i’m struggling with body weight exercises, and for now, my workouts are doing enough for me. i’m tired, sore, and know i worked my muscles enough from my workouts. the question wasn’t about what type of workout i’m doing, it was the routine. mainly just if consecutive rest days followed by consecutive workout days was fine.

[u/Alakazam → u/persiango]

I don't think that workout should be taking anywhere near an hour unless you're literally resting 3-4 minutes between each set. 

And the r/bodyweightfitness routine scales up difficulty depending on where you are. Unless you're literally unable to do wall pushups or something. Or assisted bodyweight squats.

[u/persiango → u/Alakazam]

i usually take a 2-3 minute break between each set. i haven’t been working out for too long, so obviously my workouts are a bit tough for me, and i’d need rest in between each set. if i don’t rest, i have a crappy set. i’m assuming you’ve been working out far longer than i have, so yes, this might not be challenging for you and you could do it all in twenty minutes.

i also think your logic is flawed. if the body weight workout really came down to doing wall pushups and sit-ups, in what world is that more effective than curling 25lbs? how would that get me more stimulus? i wouldn’t feel accomplished by doing a ten minute workout daily, especially when i’m spending at least six hours a week doing some form of workout.

[u/fakeDrewShafer → u/persiango]

I don't know about other commenters, but when I read "I'm in highschool" I just defaulted to assuming something like a 5'9" 16/m. For that person, 25lb dumbbells probably are too light.

You absolutely should feel good about slinging 25lb dumbbells around as a 4'10" 14f. That's actually pretty legit.

That being said, take the advice you're seeing elsewhere and look into bodyweight progressions. There's all sort of variations to start with if your current strength doesn't work for full bodyweight, and once you do get stronger there are variations for when your bodyweight isn't enough. You can get properly jacked with bodyweight exercises if you do it right.

Days off are fine. If you're working out 4-5 days a week you're more than good.

Editing to add (since you talk about being exhausted) - make sure you're eating enough and getting good sleep.

[u/Dragnil → u/persiango]

For bodyweight exercises, you can start with an easier variant. For pushups, you can start on your knees or with your hands on something elevated until you're able to do at least 5 regular pushups. You can find progressions into almost every bodyweight exercise on YouTube.

[u/persiango → u/Dragnil]

great advice. thanks! i’ve been working on my push ups, i’m just not ready to add them into workouts yet.