Bodybuilding for the Beginner!

hey i dont know how to do dips for chest, is my chest day overworking my triceps?
i havent gained a lot of triceps since i started... neither did i on the chest... my legs took it all i think..

should i drop an exercise?
if so, which one..

thanks a lot

[edit] i just worked out my pecs and tri's and my tri's got a big pump and i didnt feel dead at the end this time (no more power in arms)... it might be okay now then

what's your current routine (to the rep & set?) for chest?

Also when dipping for chest you flare your elbows to the side (not to bend towards your back) lean forward and concentrate on contracting your chest to perform the lift over and above your triceps and shoulders that should come into the movement more at the halfway point.

i currently try to lift my feet as high as i can in my back and it seems to work much much better for my pecs...
last work-out:
Bench 145 lbs 4x6
Dips 4x7
DB fly 25lbs 4x8
Skull Crusher's 75lbs 3x6
Close-Grip bench press 105 lbs 4x6

And my skull crusher was kinda not so well done so it will stay the same next week, everything else is increasing..

One more question:
If I find my squat a bit easy on 145 lbs should i increase weigth by 5 10 or 15?
Seems like 5 would be a breeze 10 about ok but 15 could be possible i think...

the routine looks fine and if you're gaining then it's working. The thing to remember is to concentrate on the pecs performing the work during the lifts. The tri's will exhaustr quickly though being a smaller muscle group.

Start with adding 10kg to the squat. If this is OK and comfortable then add another 5Kg on top of that.

forgot to add. With that chest routine try dropping the close grip bench and just do skullcrushers for 3x sets. See how that works out as your tri's will already be heavily worked from chest.

well i just re-did the routine:
Bench 150 lbs 6-6-6-5
Dips 4x8
DB fly 30lbs 4x8
Skull Crusher's 75lbs 3x6
Close-Grip bench press 110 lbs 6-4-3
well i had so much problem already lifting the bar off the rack on the first try because i felt myself overworking.... so i think it is good idea to drop the close-grip too as it seems all I do is overtrain on it... although i did get a huge pump (relatively, but the biggest i ever had)

You recommend adding 25 lbs at once on the squat?
woah, okay, will do...

and also my chest and tri's didnt get much gain but my legs seem to have taking all the gains (9 pounds since beginning of september) should i worry about the no gain in chest or should I just be happy with the leg gains and think the chest will pick-up once the legs are at a decent size?

I was squatting 95 lbs with pain september 1st and benching 140 lbs....

Try rthis routine for chest and see how you get on -

Flat Bench - 3x6 reps
Dips for chest - 3x6 reps
Dumbell incline flyes - 2x6 reps
Skullcrushers - 3x6 reps

That should be plenty. How much and how often have you been eating as well.

Also patience is a virtue.... things will become more noticable at around the 2-3 month mark.

seems very good!!!
I need a weight belt for the dips though right?
Need to get one if i do... or i can try for 3x10 next week until I get one...

about food:
Morning: Cereals ( 150g + fill bowl with milk) and 2 glasses of milk (1 with 22g proteins (29*.75))
Diner: 1.5 chicken breast+veggies(carrots+califlower+brocoli), 2 rice cakes
Supper: Either 220g steak+veggies or I eat with my dad a meat meal
Before bed: 250g cottage cheese
And: 150g peanuts and 133g tuna during the period that need it, none of my school day are the same so these 2 change around a lot...

Pre-workout scoop (29*0.75)
Post-workout (legs, tri's and bi's days) 2 scoops and shoulder 1 scoop

My cereals are musli something... bought from a nature shop no sugar added with some nuts in it.. and the morning milk averages to 500-750g

[EDIT2] as you can see this is low in cooking as i study the rest of the time...

[EDIT] I've also started benching when i was 14 at 45 lbs irregularly and last year i benched with 60g proteins per day 3x per week for a whole year and added only 15 lbs on bench in a year... so even the little i gain on i right now is good since im making big progresses elsewhere

Diet looks OK though I'd like to see a little more protein when you wake up (whey in water) and also mid morning & mid pm. Basically proteion of some kind every 2-3 hrs.

Other than that keep up the good progress.

ok one more scoop of whey in water at morning!
one in water and one in milk from tomorrow morning!

the peanuts are the mid-am and tuna mid-pm but i just switch them around because i have school morning or afternoon and peanuts looks somewhat better than eating tuna in class, the max i ever spend without proteins is 4 hours and that is on thursday's because i have a 3h30 lab and the time to get prepared and ask questions around it...

also im doing my chip-ups the wide grip toward the wall and not me, is that the rigth way?

yep. that's right.

As a beginner is power factor training ala pete sisco worth doing or should it be left to the more advanced so to speak?
Thanks for the excellent guidance so far by the way!

Im having problems finding how to do each of the exercises. Is it possible to have each of the exercises as a hyperlink to how to perform it?

Its hard to find them using these (http://www.muscletalk.co.uk/m_189786/tm.htm)

Thankyou

It would be much easier if you just told me what exercises you don't know how to do.

personally I'd say when styarting out stick to the basics then look at the alternative methods 5x5, westside, power factor, HST, etc for when you are fully plateaud and gains come to a stop. You need to find out more how your body works, what perfect form actually feel s like and have your muscles and connective tissues adapt to new loads you are putting on it. KISS - Keep It Simple Stupid

Ok, i'll try to go through them myself and post them here. See how many i get right

Any that are incorrect, or i have left out, could u please correct them?

Here goes:

SATURDAY - Chest/Tri
5 Min warm-up
Dumbell Flat Bench - 4 sets 6-8 reps
Weighted Dips For Chest - 4 sets 6-8 reps (last set to failure)
Incline Dumbell Fly- 4 sets 6-8 reps (last set to failure) (Lay so head is at the top of the bench)
Skull Crushers - 3 sets 6-8 reps (or close grip bench press)
overhead cable presses 3 sets 6-8 reps (last set to fail) (or close grip bench presses)


SUNDAY - Back/Bi
5 min warm-up
Deadlifts 4 sets 6-8 reps (last set to failure)
Bent Over One Arm Dumbell Rows 4 sets 6-8 reps
Lat pulldowns 3 sets 6-8 reps (last set to fail)
(I would prefer you to do chins instead though if you are strong enough to lift your bodyweight)
Barbell Bicep curl 3 sets 6-8 reps
One arm Dumbell Hammer curls 3 sets 6-8 reps


MONDAY
REST & Cardio (30 mins swimming before brekkie approx 40 lengths)

TUESDAY - Delts/traps
5 min warm-up
Seated Dumbell military press (Sit on Bench while executing) - 3 sets 6-8 reps
Lateral dumbell raises (side) 3 sets 6-8 reps (last to fail)
Barbell Shrugs 5 sets 6-8 reps

WEDNESDAY
REST & Cardio (30 mins swimming b4 brekkie)

THURSDAY - Legs & Abs
5 min warm-up
Barbell Squats 4 sets 6-8 reps
Stiff Legged Dead Lifts 3 sets 6-8 reps
Calf Raises 4 sets 8-10 reps (last set to fail)
Weighted Swiss Ball crunches 4 sets 6-8 reps
hanging leg raises 4 sets 6-8 reps
Dumbell side bends 3 sets 6-8 reps

FRIDAY
REST & Cardio (30 mins swim b4 brekkie)

There we are, that took me quite a while!!

If you could help correct these, and then update your front page post, i think it will help us beginners out.

pretty much covered it all. Just a couple of things though...

Incline Dumbell Bench press - the link shows decline (head below hips). Easy to adjust so head is above hips (no more than 40 degree angle)

Barbell Curl - Your link shows dumbell curl. Same thing though with a straight bar barbell. Remember to keep form strict (no wobbling or swining of the weight)

Good luck mate.

You sy we should practice until we know what is perfect form...
would preacher be better than barbell crl for a beginner then? and i DO have a preacher curl station at home somewhere under a table

I'm new here and have been researching bodybuilding on the internet recently because I wanted to start bodybuilding. I have used free weights in the past but I did'nt really know what I was doing, (am I glad I found this site or what!). I plan to start Cashman's excellent sounding beginners routine.

I would like to ask Cashman a couple of questions if a may; I am a student and have a free weights set and a bench in my (crappy) student room. I can't afford to join the gym to be honest and wondered if there are any alternatives to Weighted Dips and Lat Pull Downs?

There also seems to be a variety of ways to perform sit ups (crunches). Do you sit up completely so your torso is close to your thighs or not?

Cheers!

lat pulldown -> pull-ups (weighted if needed)

as for crunches i bend my back and try to put lift emphasis on the upper abs and bend more in that area, not lifting the whole torso..

and do the side bends, i now have my obliques sticking out very well and give my 12%BF tummy area a good look, even though the waist is wider!
When i get to 8% those will look good!!!

Btw how much weight is an OK side bends?
Im going for 75lbs next week, I seem to have no probs getting my crunches and side bends weight up every week... from 45lbs