Column 67 | Optimal training

ANSWER

Overall, your plan looks pretty good. The distribution of the individual exercises is fine and well chosen. What struck me as negative, however, is the fact that you don't do any leg training at all and that you do too many sets for some muscles.

An intensive leg workout is beneficial for building muscle throughout the body. It is very strenuous for the organism, and the high intensity causes the body to release more hormones - such as testosterone and growth hormone. The release of these anabolic hormones also promotes the building of the other muscles. A second important reason for leg training is to avoid an imbalance between the upper and lower body. There is nothing more ridiculous than the "pool pumper" who only trains his upper body...

You currently train on three days. So you either do a fourth day of training for your legs or you redistribute the muscle groups so that you can still manage with three days of training. The following split would be suitable, for example:

My second criticism is that the number of sets for small muscles such as biceps and triceps is too high: you do nine sets for the triceps and twelve for the biceps. That's too much! Please remember that you work on your back before training your biceps. This also trains the biceps, so only a few sets are needed afterwards to trigger a muscle stimulus. The same applies to chest and triceps training: the chest workout also puts a lot of strain on the triceps. Therefore, only a few "pure" triceps sets are required. Therefore, stick to a maximum of six sets for small muscle groups such as biceps and triceps. Ultimately, it is not the amount that matters, but how intense the individual sets are. The training duration should not exceed 60 minutes, otherwise muscle breakdown can occur due to the release of the catabolic hormone cortisol. This time period does not include changing, warming up and showering after training, but begins with the first heavy set and ends with the last training set.

You should be able to complete the specified number of sets in the given time without any problems. If this is not the case, you are taking too long a break between sets. Use a clock to keep to the break times. This also reduces the risk of injury. A break of one and a half minutes between sets is recommended.

You should do your cardio - excluding the warm-up, of course - after strength training. This way you won't lose any strength and you'll benefit from depleted glycogen stores after training, which promotes fat mobilization.

As far as abdominal training is concerned, one session per week is usually enough. Remember that even with the best training, you won't see your abdominal muscles if the layer of fat above them is too large. So, in addition to abdominal training, it is recommended to do cardio with a high pulse rate (around 140 to 150 beats per minute) to increase your metabolism and burn more fat.

Do you have to increase the training weight for every workout? My clear answer is no. This would inevitably lead to severe cheating during the exercises. This can result in overtraining and injuries. You should only increase the training weight if you can do the target number of repetitions "cleanly". Only then will your muscles be ready for a new, even stronger training stimulus.