So I was wondering if anyone has a good abs/upper body workouts for a beginner. Thanks.?
Jan.27, 2010 in
abs beginner
I’m a sophomore in high school and decided I wanted to start packing some muscle. Not a whole bunch, but just enough to look toned. I’m wondering if any one has any abs or upper body workouts for a starter and any other suggestions.
January 27th, 2010 at 11:30 pm
Have you ever looked at bikers? Cycling gets your abs in shape, not only that, but your whole body. And it’s fun!
January 27th, 2010 at 11:36 pm
Anytime you want to gain muscle mass, you need to know that not only do you need to train, but you also need to take in more protein, as protein is what your muscles build off of. Along with exercising, be sure to add as much tuna, chicken, turkey, and eggs into your diet as possible, as they are some of the cleanest sources of protein out there. Also, make sure you work each section of your upper body on different days, as muscles need to relax for up to 48 hours in order to grow. Try doing biceps and triceps (arms) on Monday, back on Tuesday, shoulders on Wednesday, Abs on Thursday, and Legs on Friday, or add some of the body parts together for certain days if you’re not able to work out five days a week. I know, you’re probably thinking, “legs?” But, it is fact that by working your legs more, you will see increase in size of your upper body! You can look online for specific exercises for each area, or in health magazines.
January 28th, 2010 at 12:03 am
Both of the above answers are great information. I would just like to build on them a little more. Yes, you want protein but at a certain point it is too much and the excess is simply stored as fat or evacuated out of the system. So add protein but only about 1.5 grams per kilogram of your body weight. From there just increase your total caloric intake to about 3500 to 4000 “healthy” calories a day in order to give the muscles and your entire body the fuel it needs to grow.
Compound exercises are the best exercises for building upper body muscle…but as stated previously, you need to be sure and work the lower body as well in order to have your upper body respond fully.
Try this routine for something to start with…
1. leg press or squat – leg press is easier on the back (you can throw in dead lifts and clean and jerk for good measure.)
2. hanging leg raises
3. flat bench barbell chest press
4. seated cable row
5. incline bench
6. lat pull down
7. bicep curl
8. tricep dip
perform 4 sets, 1 warm-up at 60% of max 10 reps and then 3 sets of 8 going to failure on the last set
The biggest thing during your workout is to push yourself. Focus on what your lifting and give it all you’ve got. Your goal is to continue to increase the weight you can lift, each workout. But caution is given to make sure you stretch and perform the exercise using correct form. Otherwise injury will keep you sidelined.
Get in some cardio to avoid adding fat while building muscle and remember, you don’t have to be in the gym 4 hours a day every day to build muscle. In fact, even 3 hours is too many. The routine above, if done correctly will help you build muscle while only spending 1 hour a day, 3 days a week in the gym. Sweet, huh? Good luck in your training.
P.S. Lots of young men have had success adding the muscle they wanted by using the information given in the links below. If you want more details on good abs and upper body workouts for beginners, you may want to take a look at them.
January 28th, 2010 at 12:33 am
If your wanting to get toned. Your best bet is to get an ab contour. Seriously It is going to be better than any manual ab work out you have ever done. I got one about 6 months ago and although I do not have a raging buldging 6 pack like they show on their commercial I have a very tight toned stomach. Check out this website for more info.
http://www.squidoo.com/Ab-contour