Introduction
I have been into fitness for many years. However, due to various factors such as innate conditions, fitness knowledge, effort level, diet, sleep, and injuries, my practice has been rather average, and there is still a big gap from my ideal fitness goal.
Here, I’d like to share my weekly fitness plan, which is carefully designed to target different muscle groups.
Monday: Pectoral Muscles
Since my upper pectoral muscles are relatively weak, I start with exercises for them. Action 1 is the upper – incline barbell bench press. I usually use the upper – incline bench press rack, but recently, I’ve been using the smith rack for this exercise. Action 2 is the flat bench press, which works the entire pectoral muscle area. I often use the flat barbell bench press rack and also the smith rack lately. Action 3 is the butterfly machine clip chest, which exercises the whole pectoral muscles or the upper pectoral muscles while focusing on the outer edge and the middle seam. Action 4 is the dumbbell upper – incline bench press for the upper pectoral muscles. Action 5 is the fixed – apparatus pushing chest, mainly for the whole pectoral muscles or the lower pectoral muscles. Action 6 is the gantry clamp chest, which focuses on the lower pectoral muscles and the outer edge of the pectoral muscles. As I’m in the stage of increasing pectoral muscle thickness, I do more pushing – chest actions. If it’s for side – weight repair, more clamping – chest actions can be done. Sometimes, I adjust one or two movements, like the dumbbell flying bird or barbell kneeling support push.
Tuesday: Latissimus Dorsi and Upper Back Small Muscle Groups
The exercises include pull – ups (Action 1), barbell dip row (Action 2), high pull – down (Action 3), seated row (Action 4), fixed – apparatus high pull – down (Action 5), and gantry straight arm press (Action 6). If time allows, I use the gantry, elastic band, and dumbbells to do l – shaped external rotation to exercise the upper back small muscle groups. I may also use dumbbell dip rowing or t – bar rowing instead, following the principle of alternating between elbow inversion and elbow back extension movements.
Wednesday: Legs (Mainly Thighs)
There are many leg – exercise movements. The main ones are barbell squat (Action 1), seated leg curl (Action 2), prone leg curl (Action 3), seated leg pinch and hip abduction (Actions 4 and 5), barbell arrow walk (Action 6), and seated leg curl (Action 7). Due to time constraints, I sometimes reduce some movements. I can use inverted stirrups instead of seated leg curls to exercise the quadriceps and hard pulls instead of exercising the hamstrings. Sometimes, I use the smith rack to do kneeling squats for the gluteal muscles.
Thursday: Triceps (Main) and Trapezius (Supplement)
As my upper trapezius is more developed, I mainly focus on the lower trapezius. The exercises for triceps include barbell narrow bench press (Action 1), standing barbell arm flexion (Action 2), rope press (Action 3), forehand straight bar press (Action 4), prone straight bar arm flexion (Action 5), and prone barbell or dumbbell shrug (Action 6) for the trapezius. I may also use dumbbells for standing arm flexion and the gantry for dip arm flexion to exercise triceps, and the seated rower for shrugs to work on the lower and middle trapezius.
Friday: Biceps (Main) and Erector Spinae (Supplement)
The biceps exercises are dumbbell arm curl (Action 1), barbell arm curl (Action 2), dumbbell or barbell hammer lift (Action 3), gantry overhead arm curl (Action 4), barbell dip arm curl (Action 5), and barbell hard pull (Action 6) for the erector spinae. Sometimes, I use the gantry or priest bench for arm curls and the roman bench for goat jerks when exercising the erector spinae, depending on the available time.
Saturday: Deltoid and Forearm Muscle Groups
The main exercises for the deltoids are smith rack seated push – ups or dumbbell front planks (Action 1), dumbbell side planks (Action 2), barbell upright row (Action 3), butterfly machine reverse flybys (Action 4), rope face pull or dumbbell dive flybys (Action 5), barbell forehand arm curls (Action 6), and barbell backhand arm curls (Action 7). These are the regular movements I do for deltoids. I also exercise the triceps femoris and tibialis anterior muscles 1 – 2 times a week, mainly focusing on the triceps femoris.
Sunday: Rest Day
Before each workout, I jog 1 km, do dynamic muscle stretching, and joint – moving, as well as equipment warm – up. I exercise the rectus abdominis on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, the internal and external obliques on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, and the transverse abdominis on other days. After the apparatus exercise, I do static muscle stretching and joint – moving, and then jog for 10 – 20 minutes to end the workout. I should schedule moderate – intensity cardio 1 – 3 times a week, about 30 minutes each time, but due to time shortage, I rarely do it, which is one of the reasons for my relatively high body fat percentage. Also, if there is discomfort in a joint or muscle, I won’t exercise the related muscles on the next and third days. In general, everyone should customize a suitable exercise plan and pay attention to the focus. For women, more hip – exercise focus is recommended, and when exercising legs, they can reduce quadriceps – exercising actions and increase hip – thrusting actions.
