Best way to lift weights?

Question

Right now I lift a different body part each day for example I do chest on mondays with abs, shoulders and traps/back on tuesday, off wed, tricepts and bicepts with abs on thursday, and legs and forearms on friday. does this seem like a good way to lift. my one buddy said the best way for results is to do all push exercises in one day, pull exercises another day, etc. i used to lift chest and bicepts on monday, shoulders and tricepts on tuesday, then do that same scenario on thursday and friday but change up what type of exercises i did. what do u think the best way to lift is to get good results (i.e. get stronger as well as more defined). thanks.

Answer 1

To alternate push and pull is a good idea. For example, your biceps are a pull muscle and your triceps are a push muscle. Working them on alternate days ensures that they are each getting a good workout.
Each muscle group has a push/pull pair, and in real life situations (not targeting each at the gym) they work together. If you worked your triceps then your biceps on the same day, you might not get as good of a workout because one of the pair is already fatigued.
Of course some say it's good to do this, because a fatigued tricep means your bicep does all the work. But, that could strain the bicep, so in my experience and study, it's best to work the muscles of the pairs on separate days mainly to avoid injury.
Your own experience and trial and error will find what you like best and what gets you the best results.
To best gain definition, work the muscles with different excercises. For example, for biceps do a set of preachers, a set of barbell curls, a set of dumbell curls with a twist at the top.
To best gain strength, don't rest between sets and use weights that let you barely finish your 12th rep but always practice proper form.
To gain size, use weights so heavy you can barely finish 6-8 reps.
Good luck be safe and have fun!

Answer 2

What you want to do is group together muscles that work well together. I do chest and tricep on the same day because those are both "pushing" muscles. They work together well. On this day I would do bench press, incline, pec fly, tricep pull and pushdowns, and skull crushers. The next day I do back, biceps, and lats. Some exercises include lat pulldown, preacher curl, free weight bicep curl, 21s (where i use a bar and do 7 low to half up, 7 half up to all the way up, and 7 full bicep curls), etc.....The next day I do Shoulders. This gives me a chance to not only work on defining my shoulders, but it gives my chest/tricpes another day of rest before i work on them the next day. I use this rotation with doing abs/cardio everyday and I have had great results.

Answer 3

I lifted weights when i was 16 which was 10 years ago and now i couldnt if i wanted to. My shoulders are both messed up and i have something tore in my right shoulder. it feels like a torn rotator cuff it hurts sometimes to even move it. You have to be careful about how you do it and dont get injured like i did

Answer 4

i do upper body on mon., lower on tues, cardio on wed. then thurs back to upper and lower on fri. off sat and sun. or cardio on w/e. i do strength training so i do 3 sets of 8 at a heavy weight. if you want to be defined, go with more reps. say 3 sets of 12-15. i find that going one part at a time once a week, it's hard to go up in weight. good luck to ya. (btw, i'm Tammy's husband).

Answer 5

Try out the time-tested "Bulgarian Schedule." Of course, there are others, that you may prefer.