Gym

I go to total fitness prenton 4-6 times per week with friends to lift weights.

I am more interested in building muscle and some strength rather than maxing out strength alone or powerlfiting, so keep that in mind when reading...

Less obvious advice for a beginner

The aim of the game is to contract a particular muscle or group of muscles as much as possible on a given movement.

To avoid wasting time on a movement that isn't achieving this aim:
If you don't feel a "pump" during a movement or soreness after (could be 2 days later) it, stop doing it.
You either aren't doing it right or it doesn't work for your musculoskeletal structure.

Meaning you aren't going to build muscle or strength where you mean to.
To fix this either learn to do it right with the help of the internet, or find an alternative movement that you can "feel".

You will build a better mind-muscle connection as you gain experience with more movements, and in time it will become a lot easier to tell if you are working the desired muscle and therefore which movements should and shouldn't be a staple of your routines.

Current routine

See my Hevy below for up to date session record.

• Currently doing a mix of push/pull/legs and upper/lower split.

  I focus on lifts which use muscle groups that feel most recovered on the day or need most work in general.

• I've found hitting my whole upper body 3-4 times a week to be quite effective so far, and as someone who's neglected legs for a while it has been fun to get back into those lifts.

• I aim for around 12 reps but slightly outside of this is fine. Andy Galphin, PhD, professor of kinesiology advises if you want to build strength do less than 12, if you want to hypertrophy do 12-30, so don't overthink your reps too much.

• I have experimented with much heavier weights and of course the beginner's favourite 5x5 routine but have had much better progress, and less injuries with higher reps and less barbell work.

• Sauna after every workout because it feels great AND helps build muscle by increasing inflammation which aids hypertrophy. Avoid prolonged cold shower after sauna as this does the opposite.

Hevy

Hevy is a brilliant app for tracking workouts and making sure the lads aren't slacking. It is the exact app I was looking for to record my workouts.

Follow me @the_punisher.