My life changing workout routine

[Psyklonus]

Hello everyone, how are you all?

I would like to share a little information about myself. I am 23 years old, male, from Australia. About 2 years ago I started a mostly cardio based Muay Thai class where we focused on technique (of course) but didnt do sparring or ringcraft.

When I started, I weighed about 120kg (265lb) and alot of that was fat.
Now I am about 92kg (200lb) but my body fat percentage is down to about 12%

I am pretty happy with my results so far, with only about 6-8kg of bodyfat that I would like to get rid of, which I was thinking of doing the detox diet to shred this down

Now this is where I get to the bit about my goals.

I want to get as light as I can, with as much lean muscle as I can get onto my frame. Basically, I dont want to be all juiced up, because I want to have incredible explosive power, good mobility and flexibility and also a great range of motion, in particular I want to have a strong core (back and stomach). I do want to be as strong as I can though. The problem is since I wasnt physically active at all before I started I dont have much in the area of back muscle at all. I also have gotten a lower back injury from some very intense left punches whilst not warmed up. I feel like the muscle may just have some pinched nerves or something, and I have been trying to strengthen it by doing dead lifts and also leaning over holding 7.5kg plate in front of me and leaning from side to side, it seems to work but hasnt taken the pain away at all. I was thinking about seeing a chiropractor and getting a massage.

My martial arts goals are training for REAL LIFE SURVIVAL. I have been supplementing my Muay Thai with boxing in the ring but am finding it a little irritating getting hit all the time and it almost seems like I can feel myself getting dumber =)

I am going to start Ninjitsu soon for the weapons training, and also for the art of ninjitsu including stealth etc. So you could say that my original goal of weightloss has gone out the window, with only a few kg left to lose and now I am pretty serious about building strength and learning usable survival techniques as opposed to ring fighting styles.

I recently bought some gym equipment.

http://www.comcen.com.au/~buddy/weightbench.jpg
http://www.comcen.com.au/~buddy/totalgym.jpg


I also have a curl bar, some skipping ropes, and an assortment of plates which are; 2x20kg, 2x10kg, 2x7.5kg, 6x5kg, 4x2.5kg, 4x1.25kg, and intend to by a swiss ball and medicine ball very soon.

Can anyone give me some advice on what training routing I should start, including the weight, reps and sets and also frequency.

As well as this, some diet recommendations would be great also, including opinions on the detox plan

Also, any advice on serious stretching exercises would be great as well.

Thanks for reading, if you made it this far, you're already my friend! =)

[MartialJac]

I had to go to an Ostiomyologyst?? he is also a nutritionlyst (is that a word?) who treats loads of Thai Boxers and he gets everyone on Udo's oil you can get it on ebay you feel fitter and stronger and it is great for the joints omega 3s etc

[watto86]

I don't want you to take my word for gospel. But if you're looking to strengthen your core and back some more. I recommend kettlebells. I'm still somewhat of a fatty (lost about 8 kgs so far), but my back is stronger than ever.

[ItalianStallion]

Cant tell you the weight but start with 3(sets)x12(reps)...say 2-3 fullbody workouts a week. Give your body a few months and then you can move on the the allmight 5x5.

[Crimson_Stone]

If you can do 20 perfect pushups and 30 ass-to-grass squats then...

I suggest designing 3 different routines (A,B,C) for each week. Start each routine with some sort of full body compound lift (deadlift, clean and press, snatch, etc...) Then move on to something like pullups, lunges or squats. The next four exercises can focus on areas you want to improve (bench press, shoulder press, bent-over row, woodchoppers, etc...) Do each routine once per week.

On the days you don't lift focus on body weight routines. One routine can focus on higher reps. Second routine can focus on explosive power (medicine ball throws, squat jumps, etc...). The third can focus on change of direction exercises or plyometrics (clapping push ups, football drills, agility drills, etc...)

Examples
Lifting Routine:
1-Arm Snatch
Overhead Squats
Incline Bench Press
Bent-Over Barbell Row
Weighted Crunches
Farmer's Walks

Bodyweight Routine:
Burpees or 8-count Body Builders
Pushups
Squats
Situps
Russian Twists
Birdges - hold for time

[TheMachine]

You might want to invest in a power rack soon

[Psyklonus]

Thanks guys thats great.

As far as the workouts go is there anywhere I can look up what these actual exercises are? A lot of that stuff is like another language to me =)

[ItalianStallion]

Thanks guys thats great.

As far as the workouts go is there anywhere I can look up what these actual exercises are? A lot of that stuff is like another language to me =)
http://www.exrx.net/Lists/Directory.html
Havent checked but all the exercises mentioned here should be there

Edit: some more
http://www.crossfit.com/cf-info/excercise.html

[Psyklonus]

This is the plan I going to start

Workout 1 Monday, Workout 2 Wednesday, Workout 3 Friday

Strengh And Mass For Athletes (complete)!
From The Bodybuilding.com Workout Database

Workout #1
EXERCISE
Incline Bench Press - 3-6 Reps, 4 sets
Skull Crusher - 6-8 Reps, 3 sets
Incline Db Flyes - 5-9 Reps, 4 sets
Pull-ups - failure Reps, 3 sets
Deadlift - 6-8 Reps, 4 sets
Upright Row - 3-6 Reps, 3 sets

Workout #2
EXERCISE
Clean & Jerk - 1 Reps, 6 sets
Squats - 6-8 Reps, 4 sets
Splits - 6-8 Reps, 3 sets
Stiff-Legged Deadlifts - 6-8 Reps, 4 sets
Bent-over Bb Row - 4-6 Reps, 4 sets

Workout #3
EXERCISE
Push Press - 3-6 Reps, 4 sets
L-lateral Raises (dumbbell) - 6-8 Reps, 4 sets
Close Grip Bench Press - 4-6 Reps, 3 sets
Db Hammer Curl - 3-6 Reps, 3 sets
Pull-ups - Failure Reps, 3 sets
Bb Shrugs - 6 Reps, 3 sets
Reverse Preacher Curl - 4-6 Reps, 3 sets
Bb Bicep Curls - 3-6 Reps, 3 sets

Now thats the program I got.

My questions are ;

Is everything being covered here or am I leaving something out?
What does pullups failure reps mean? Just do them till I cant do any more?
What type of weight should I be starting with?
How often should I increase the weight, and by how much?

Does anyone have any suggestions or tweaks to this routine?

[Psyklonus]

Hey guys anyone got any input onto the weight I should start with for these routines?

Thanks

[harhar]

For your #3 workout, only do one of the three variations of curls. Also, dont do failure pull ups so often. Take one out of either #1 or #2. If you want to keep both, try sets that are a couple reps before failure (failure means as many as you can while keeping form).

And I might add some high rep, light romanian deadlifts to that workout. The last set should only be a slight struggle. This is for your lower back health.

If you're new to some of the exercises, do 2-3 sets of each and go for higher reps. Ease into the workout.