Big Book of Exercises and Tony's Routine

Hey Tony,

Im 24 yrs old, 283 lbs and am looking to lose weight. In the past I have lost 40 lbs. and kept it off for approx. 6 months. I unfortunately I have since regained the weight. I am looking to re-lose the weight again. When I lost all my weight previously it was in part to eating a lean diet with a structure of 1800 calories, exercising daily and keeping my attitude positive. I guess my question now is I am trying to figure out a workout routine that includes weight training and I have the Men's Health Big Book of Exercises. I was wondering if your routines were based off these or maybe you use this as a reference or guide. Also I am planning on losing fat, toning up and gaining muscle. Would you be able to provide a sample routine that you think would work for myself. I have been reading your blog up to this point and appreciate all of the information and am intrigued by your success. Keep up the good work. Thanks!

ANSWER: 

Hey there.  I have actually not heard of the book of exercises and the program that i currently use is of my own creation.  It is a basic 5 day weight training split where each day focuses on 1-2 muscle groups.

each exercise is 3-4 sets 6-12 reps with 1 minute rest periods between sets except deadlifts which is 2 minutes of rest. you should be near failure on every set on your last rep.

Back- deadlifts, bent over row, t-bar row, lap pull down wide grip, lat pull down close grip, seated cable row.


shoulders/traps- barbell military press standing, dumbbell military press seated, side raises, front raises, dumbbell shrugs, upright rows, barbell shrugs.


biceps/triceps- rope pushdown, close grip bench press, skull crushers, superset straight bar pushdowns medial grip then lateral grip then underhand lateral grip ( 8-12 reps per grip with 10 second rests in between each grip change).


legs- 9 sets of front squats 6-15 reps, stiff leg deadlifts, feet together leg press, weighted lunges, leg curls.


chest- flat barbell bench, incline barbell press, dips, decline barbell bench, flyes.

this routine has a lot of sets and a lot of volume which burns a ton of calories.

this routine has allowed me to burn a lot of fat off my body while cutting and gain a significant amount of muscle while bulking.

Tony isn't a licensed nutritionist yet, so he can't give anyone advice on what  to do.  Please consult your doctor for his professional opinion on a diet/nutrition program that will work for you.

Tony's blog is a journal of his experiences and what has worked for him.   He lists general guidelines and suggestions only.  He is NOT a professional.