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Monday 5 December 2011

Routine for Beginners

A lot of people who are new to training are often lifting weights with no direction. Unsure of what they are doing or trying to achieve they are not pushing themselves to the limits of their potential. If you are one of these people here is a sample routine for you to try.

Bodybuilding:

Day 1:

Chest : Decline Bench press 5 sets in the 8-10 rep range
Incline Dumbbell Press 3 sets in the 8-10 rep range
Parallel dips 3 sets to failure

Triceps: Over heard extensions 3 sets in the 8-10 rep range
French curl into close grip bench press supersets.
Tricep pull down 3 sets in the 8-10 rep range

Abdominals: Sit ups 3 sets, the last one till failure
Leg raises 3 sets 3 the last one to failure

Day 2:

Rest

Day 3:
Back: Bent over Rows 5 sets of 8-10
dumbbell pull ups 3 sets of 8-10
Lat pull down 3 sets of 8-10
Chin up 3 sets to failure

Biceps: Hammer curls 3 sets of 10
Concentration curls 3 sets of 10
Ez bar curls 3 sets of 10

Day 4:

Abdominals: Sit ups 3 sets, the last one till failure
Leg raises 3 sets 3 the last one to failure

Day 5:

Legs: Squats 3 sets of 10-12
deadlifts 3 sets of 8-10
Legs extensions 2 sets of 10
leg curls 2 sets of 10
Calf raises 3 sets of 12-15

Day 6:

Rest

Day 7:

Rest

Frank Zane High Def Body Review

This is a review of Frank Zanes latest book High Def Body. For those of you who do not know who he is, Frank Zane is a 3 time Mr Olympia and has one of the most aesthetic bodies I have ever seen, look him up!

The book is one of the most comprehensive and complete I have ever read on the subject of bodybuilding. This book covers a wide range of subjects and information that would be useful to anyone who does any form of training.

Some of the subjects he covers are weight training for men, women, children and the elderly, diet, supplements, posing, psychology, cutting weight, bulking up and steroid effects to name a few. There is actually much more covered in the book. Frank Zane has been training for many years and built the best body in the world at one time BUT some of the methods he endorses will not be for everybody. We all have different genetics and need different things sometimes in our training.

One of the most useful things I found from this book was the tips on injury prevention, something I feel anyone who trains should pay attention to as injuries don't just affect  your training but can in some cases affect your everyday life.

His ideas on the psychological part of training are great also and I am already seeing the benefits from some of the techniques Frank covers in the book.

If I had to make criticism of this book I would say some of the pictures (which are great, and there are lots of them) are awkwardly positioned on the pages making you have to read around them. Also, some of the advice on training could perhaps seem a little dated to some. Frank is not trying to reinvent the wheel here and the exercises and routines he suggests are basic.

Overall this is a great read and I feel EVERYONE who reads this will learn a lot from it. Frank answers almost all the questions you could ask about bodybuilding. I'm very impressed with this book and would give it a solid 9/10. I hope this review has been of some help, thanks for reading!