As a developer , we like something simple and working.
I have been workout 15 years, went through LOTS of videos and articles, been with personal trainers, I just want to piece together everything works for me, If you are thinking to start pick up workout , or struggling what you are trying is not getting enough result ,this article is for you , to save your time and money .
Every bodybuilder will focus on 2 things, Diet and Training .
Let’s talk about Diet first.
Diet
Counting calaries ? low carb ? vegeterian ? keto? gluten free ? I have been wasted A LOT time and tired from all these.
Let me try make it simple .
It is about only 2 things.
- Balance
You do not have to count calories for everything you eat , don’t have to count how many grams you have to eat to grow or how many meals you should eat everyday .only need to remember : balance .
Balance = protein + carbs + vitamins+minerals+Omega3+Nuts
A Easy plan :30g protein (lunch, dinner) + multi colors vege (daily) + fruits (3 time a week) +Fish (3 times a week) + Nuts(daily)
I know it’s hard to get all these from natural food every day during office hours . I will take vege+minerals supplements when some days i am not getting enough vegetables (it happens); or when i not take enough protein, take one 30g of protein shake; or when i can not get fish, will take Omega3 (this is IMPORTANT to brain health) If you also a developer, do not forget care about our brain health, which we used much more often than body !
Before you start workout ,you need understand different food nutrition profiles, know what you are eating.
As a sample. Here is my one day of meal: Breakfast: cup of Americano ;Lunch : Salad+30g protein shake. dinner : chicken pasta+ 30g protein (pre-workout) + fruit+ fish oil supplement
Note : lunch I keep it lightweight, so that I could focus my coding better in the afternoon; before you train, I recommand to take pre-workout protein .
2. Intermittent Fasting
When you are not hungry, do not eat .
You must have heard of 8–16 intermittent fasting. It worked very well to me . I skip breakfast ,just because I am not hungry in the morning.
Eat the food you like
Your plan must be effortless, no need any suffering or determination .
If anyone come to tell you boiling chickenbreast + broccoli every day, do not try . you will not get what you want , and end up with anxious . trust me, you may not want to touch or even look at the food after weeks or a month.
you want to plan something you can enjoy every meal, which means you can eat whatever you like ,but here is a 80–20 rule, 20% eat “junk” (actually they are not , just not so nutritious , but these food indeed make you happy), 80% eat clean, focus on nutrition . you do not have to remove beers, , pizza, cake ,icecream, donut from your life. but you should know what you are eating . for happiness or nutrition ?what exactly you could get from this food .
That’s all . It’s simple , In short , 80% clean (take suppletment when natural food not enough) + 20% whatever you like + only eat when you hungry .
Now let’s talk about training .
Training
Here is the menu i have been used in my training days .
If you could join a Gym
- Lock your phone before you start workout, concentrate your taining time.(focus)
- Every sets rest make it < 1.5minite (intensity)
- keep your training time 35–50 mins (efficiency)
- Train with your partner if you can (support)
There are many exercises . here I just shortlisted those works the best to me .
FULLBODY
Deadlift
Back straight . you can do with dumbell as well . but make sure someone is checking your movement or record yourself and watch what you are doing ,do not arch back .
There is another one great workout ,farmer walk , if you can get that equipment in your gym must try it !
LEGS
Squat (make sure you are supported)
Similar to deadlift. this movement need support ,make sure someone behind you when squating your MAX .
BACK
Pull-ups
If you can not do it , can start with lat pulldown until you could do a pull up, or using resistance band . to me ,this is the best exercise for back .
Lat pull down
Try different grips, close, wide to target different back area. make sure someone supprting while pulling MAX
Seated Row
Another my favorite back exercise . this is for thickness .
you do not have to do the same ,you can try different machines (every body is different, and thats why there are so many in gym) , find the ones could make your back feel most burning .
Dumbell row
One more , back .
CHEST
Incline bench press
Dumbell version works best for me. you may try different angle , to get the best result (to me it is 30 degree ).
Dips
This will build your lower chest + triceps . a great exercise for street workout as well .
I do not train middle chest any more ,because the chest shape does not looks nice after i tried flat bench press .
SHOULDLER
military shoulder press
I tried seated dumbell press, but still prefer this one . again , when pressing MAX , make sure you are supported .
Side Raise
Low weight, 10–12 reps until failure .
BICEPS
Barbell curl
It simple and works . the Curved bar works best for me .
TRICEPS
I get amazing triceps growth from this exercise .everytime my triceps feeling burning. you could try dumbell version as well .
Some tips.
While doing your training , keep the rest time between sets as short as possible, to maintain the intensity ;you can use dropping set or super set to reach failure (until you can not do any single rep);when you want grow, do less reps higher weight, when shrink, more reps 80% max weight ;do not over training .
Training frequency
I do 3–4 times a week , to avoid over training. you could go with :
either Train Rest Train Rest Train Train Rest , or Train Train Rest Rest Train Rest Rest. up to you , but when your body not recover yet, do not train (even take 3 days rest is ok), if you still train, could be a wasting of time. unless you want to shrink (even so, do not exceed more than 5 times a week).
remember , workout should help us to reduce stress , but not increasing stress .
Training mode
Grow . During this mode, your focus is eating more than you burn so that you can gain muscle( try eat as clean as possible, so that in shrink mode it will be easier). training days :
you can try pull-push-leg combination, which means pull (back+biceps+deadlift) day + push(shoulder + triceps + chest) day+ leg day . or chest+back day, leg day, arm day .
remember change your routine when you reach limit, because your need to avoid body adaption .
Shrink . After growing some weeks, your body fat may be catching up ,specially when you diet not clean enough. now you need burn more than you are eating .make sure you take enough protein so that you will not lose muscle
The best i recommend is fullbody training , means touching every muscle , rest less between every set (which means < 30 seconds) , each set do more reps with lower weight( means 80% your MAX weight) . e.g. if you squat 100kg 5 reps, now try 80% 12 reps .
here is an example day of my fullbody training : squat 4 sets (MAX 80kg) , Deadlift 4 sets (MAX 100kg) + pull up 4 sets + dips 4 sets + biceps curl 2 sets + triceps curl 2 sets.
How often to switch mode
It depends , for me it could be 5 weeks to 2 month . I monitor my body fat ,if body fat < 15%, grow; otherwise shrink .
Street workout
If you do not want to sign up a gym , yes , you could finish a great workout with bars as well. but the results may not that great as you are getting from gym . because this is FREE . try these 4 exercises :
Pull up
push-up
Dips
Jump squat
Usually i do 4 sets, 10–15 reps each , 30s — 1min rest between every set. 3–4 times a week .
Home (body weight) workout
Yes you can do workout at home as well with your body weight only .below is the list i do during my travel or when i can not go gym .
Ab roller (try do it standing)
Squat
Push up
Pull up (install a pull up bar if you can)
15–20 reps * 4 sets each .
Cardio
You could have noticed i have not talked about any cardio . I tried a lot , in terms of efficiency , only find butterfly swimming make sense , but not everyone can get into swimming pool easily .
many sports are great to play to have fun ,I also play basketball sometimes, just for fun .for body building, i just find it not so efficient .
More options
Yes if you do not want to share machines with others , Yes you could also setup your home gym if you want (I did it recently) .
I installed a pull up bar at cooridor , with rings (for dips) , adjustable bench , one set of adjustable dumbells (pair of 40kg) , one squat rack .
Thats all ,I hope this could help with your training .
have a great workout today!
