My workout differs a bit more.

I play football as an O-Lineman so I mostly workout to gain strength/acceleration. It is good to have endurance but in Varsity football you really need acceleration and leg strength to rush the D-line or hold them in place.

Before you do any extensive and heavy exercise always prepare days ahead. Drink much water and make sure to increase your calorie intake if you are trying to gain muscle. You will be burning fat and using energy constantly, the last thing you want to do is pull a muscle or feel weak during or after a workout. Also make sure to stretch after a workout, new research has concluded that stretching before a workout can actually cause more pulls and injuries. Make sure to do dynamic stretching after doing any activity (in this case, weight lifting/running)

Protein shakes come in many different varieties. I usually drink simple breakfast shakes or eat protein bars before going to lift. This is because I am always hitting my calorie intake and sometimes over exceeding. To prepare for exercise its always nice to have pasta for dinner or something that will give long term energy. Cut the soda's and snacks. I have my cheat days here and there but the last thing you want is to ruin your gains.

Here are my workouts

Monday, Wednesday, Friday: Weight Lifting for 2 hours (Monday = Upper Body, Wednesday = Lower Body, Friday = Casual lifting;both upper & lower)

For upper-body (One workout I do that really works the whole upperbody)

Bench Press: 5 sets, 15 reps (For last set I usually do as much weight as I can for 20 reps. If I go over 20 I go up 10 pounds, if I hit 20 I am finished, if I dont hit 20 I go down 10 pounds)

Lateral Pull Down: 5 sets, 20 reps (DONT PULL YOUR BACK ATTEMPTING MORE WEIGHT THAN YOU CAN HANDLE. You are cheating yourself if you use more than your lat's and biceps. Also do not use momentum, after 1 rep let the weight stop and go for another.)

(Those are only 2, there are much more but you will possibly know what others I do for Lineman strength)

Lower Body

Power Cleans: 5-7 sets, 5 constant reps (Stand with bar, than touch ground and clean; repeat for first 3 sets and go up 10 pounds each time (I usually start at 135 and go up from there)) 4th set and up go for individual reps (Meaning you do not start by picking up the bar and using momentum to clean, you just clean once, place the bar on the ground, stand, and clean again.) Do this for 3 reps and for the last set attempt doing two reps with the heaviest you can do. If you wish you can do a finish set and go light to end it.

Squats: 5 sets, 15-20 reps (These are pretty straight forward, make sure you have a belt and a spotter if needed and also have your feet straight. Squat and bend legs at 90 degree angle; use an object that hits your 90 degree bend if you need to be certain you are hitting 90 degrees)

Leg-Press: 5 sets, 20 reps (Straight forward)

Again many more but those are some examples of what I do.

For Acceleration training I do some simple but helpful workouts. Always try to incorporate agility training into workouts. This will help you with stability and also surprisingly, acceleration.

Shuttle run: 20 yard overall distance. Start in the middle of the 20 yards, pick a direction, touch the end cone you chose, run to the opposite cone and touch ground, and finally pass the starting middle line. Perfect things to use for this is a football field with yard lines and cones. Make sure to go low when touching the line so you have more leverage and wear cleats if doing on grass/turf. Never slow up and go balls to the walls.

10 yard "Getoffs": Basically these are 10 yard sprints but with a lineman twist. You start in your stance (In my case a 3 point stance (O-line)) and drive up. You must stay low and push hard. Do this about 20 times. Never cheat yourself.

Another general exercise you can do would be plyometrics which involve a HUGE variety of rigorous training. You must go hard when doing these, if you dont you will be losing possible gains and hurting yourself in the long run.

You will see many things such as Squat Jumps, Burpees, vertical hops, etc. These may seem very easy but do these for about 45 seconds going up 5 seconds every set with only a 60 second rest in between each exercise and you will feel the pain, especially if you are a lineman. Do about 6 sets of some exercises you find online or suggested to use. Try to involve around 6 exercises in each set and do the same ones each set. Again do dynamic stretching after you finish all the sets.

Well Thats what I do most days. This is for a football player who plays line. This is not all I do but they are examples. Hope this helps someone.

Whey wrote

i dont want to get big i want to be toned if that helps any

You should consider looking at lean muscle builders. Proteins which are low in fat and carbs but high in proteins are the ones which should be considered by you. This is as the protein would help for the repairing and rebuilding of torn muscles whilst the low calories and fat means that you wouldn't be gaining the unwanted mass. You should browse through the products of USN, Whey and Maximuscle. Stores like Holland and Barrett will charge a considerable amount more when purchasing, therefore you will certainly find better deals online. Places which I browse for supplements are dolphin fitness, SK sports and amazon,

thanks man this helps alot i am new to working out so i appreciate your help

JFRO wrote

Whey wrote

There are many exercises which could be added to this, however each to their own. Hopefully this specific workout routine will work best for you .. Secondly

JFRO wrote can anyone recoomend me a good protein drink?

What is your goal of achieving as just saying protein is too brief. There are many supplements which are used towards progressing to achieve different outcomes.

i dont want to get big i want to be toned if that helps any

To build muscle you need to be in a calorie surplus so firstly you should find out what your maintenance calories is, you will be able to find calculators online to assist with that. Secondly you want to be eating about 300 or so calories above your maintenance and increase calories accordingly as the weight rises. You don't need to be concerned with "healthy" and "unhealthy" foods as it won't affect fat gain regardless of what you eat as calories determine the weight you gain.

As a beginner it's possible to lose weight and gain muscle at the same time however after the noob gains stage you need to be in a calorie surplus to build muscle. To lose fat you put on you simply change your calories to about 300 or so calories below maintenance.

Basically all that matters for building muscle is, Calorie Surplus, 1g protein/lb of bodyweight and following a good workout program.

As for protein shakes I wouldn't recommend expensive brands, go for cheaper but reputable brands as generally protein is just protein. All the protein shakes are doing is assisting you in your protein goal of 1g/lb bodyweight.

James_Mac wrote

JFRO wrote

Whey wrote

There are many exercises which could be added to this, however each to their own. Hopefully this specific workout routine will work best for you .. Secondly

JFRO wrote can anyone recoomend me a good protein drink?

What is your goal of achieving as just saying protein is too brief. There are many supplements which are used towards progressing to achieve different outcomes.

i dont want to get big i want to be toned if that helps any

To build muscle you need to be in a calorie surplus so firstly you should find out what your maintenance calories is, you will be able to find calculators online to assist with that. Secondly you want to be eating about 300 or so calories above your maintenance and increase calories accordingly as the weight rises. You don't need to be concerned with "healthy" and "unhealthy" foods as it won't affect fat gain regardless of what you eat as calories determine the weight you gain.

As a beginner it's possible to lose weight and gain muscle at the same time however after the noob gains stage you need to be in a calorie surplus to build muscle. To lose fat you put on you simply change your calories to about 300 or so calories below maintenance.

Basically all that matters for building muscle is, Calorie Surplus, 1g protein/lb of bodyweight and following a good workout program.

As for protein shakes I wouldn't recommend expensive brands, go for cheaper but reputable brands as generally protein is just protein. All the protein shakes are doing is assisting you in your protein goal of 1g/lb bodyweight.

thanks man and thanks to everyone who has posted so far really helping me out to now what i have to do to reach my goals

Keep in mind this workout is for swimming... a sport where you need more lactic acids in your muscles than size. If your looking to gain muscle mass fast then this isn't the workout for you.

JFRO wrote

Whey wrote

There are many exercises which could be added to this, however each to their own. Hopefully this specific workout routine will work best for you .. Secondly

JFRO wrote can anyone recoomend me a good protein drink?

What is your goal of achieving as just saying protein is too brief. There are many supplements which are used towards progressing to achieve different outcomes.

i dont want to get big i want to be toned if that helps any

If you want to be a *** and get toned just do push ups and cardio. If you want to get big then lift some iron.