Hi Scott!

First off I’d just like to say that I love your YouTube videos, they inspired me to re-join the gym after 15 years! :)

A little bit about me. I’m 34 years old and I’m from Ireland. I’m a Video Game Developer so I spend 10-12+ hours in front of a PC most days of the week. I used to play soccer 2-3 times a week but I haven’t played regularly in the last 6 months as I was diagnosed with gout, which I always get in my ankle or knees and when I have a gout attack I can’t walk for 3-4 days… It sucks big time!

Here’s my info:

Age:  34

Gender: Male

Height: 177cm/5’11”

Weight: 164lbs/74.4kg

Body Fat: 20.1%

Macros: Protein 198g, Carbs 273g, Fat 66g

Calories: 2476/day

Goal: Gain muscle!! And strength

Injuries: broken left ankle twice (last time was about 7 years ago)

So today I went to the gym for the first time after re-joining. I was in a gym when I was like 16-19 years old before, so about 15 years ago. My gym gave me a program so I started with Chest day today. It went horrible! I failed so bad and was so embarrassed...

Here’s what happened. I started with Bench Press. I didn’t know how much weight to put on, so I started with 20kg plates, so I think it was 40kg + the bar (20kg)?

That’s like.. 100lbs I think for you guys. I tried my first rep and couldn’t lift it back up and someone had to lift it off me! Then I tried 15kg plates, couldn’t lift that either! Then I tried 10kg and I got 4 reps and failed the 5^th rep… After this I couldn’t do any more, my program said I had to do 5 reps by 5 sets…

Next I moved on to incline dumbbell press. I tried with 9kg dumbbells and my left arm couldn’t lift them after 3 reps. I went down and down and then with the 4kg one I could almost do 10 reps (I think I got 8 before my left arm gave up again). Next was dumbbell press and dumbbell fly superset. I stayed with the 4kg dumbbells. I could do the dumbbell flys, but couldn’t do the press.

I was so embarrassed at this point because the free weights section was packed as it was 6pm. After this was cable crossovers, I did those ok with 30kg weight. My program said to do smith machine barbell press and push ups too but I skipped both of these because my arms were dead and I was already so embarrassed I didn’t dare attempt it :( I ended up leaving the gym early and only completing at most 50% of my routine. I felt like shit man..

Here’s my program that they gave me. I think they give it to everyone, I’m not sure if it’s good for a beginner like me or if it’s too hard or I just am doing it wrong… It's a 4 day program with abs every day

Chest Day

Bench Press 5 x 5

Incline Bench (smith machine) 10 x 4

Dumbbell Press, Dumbbell Fly 10 x 4 superset

Cable Crossover 10 x 4

Decline Cable Crossover 10 x 4

Push ups to fail x 3

Abs

Plank to fail x 3

Sit ups 15 x 3

Back Day

Lat pull down 10 x 4

Hyperextension, Single arm row 10 x 4 superset

Low row (wide grip) 12 x 4

Pull ups to fail x 3

Barbell row 10 x 4

Deadlifts 6 x 4

Abs

Recline abs 10 x 4

Ab machine 15 x 3

Leg Day

Leg Press 10 x 4

Leg Curl, Leg Extension 4/4/4 (pyramid down) x 4 superset

Single leg deadlift 16 x 3

Lunges 10 x 4 (can’t do these cos of my left ankle)

Abs

Russian Twist 20 x 3

Ab Machine 20 x 3

Shoulders, Bicep, Triceps Day

Shoulder Press 4/4/4 (pyramid down) x 4

Side Raise, Front Raise, Rear Delt Fly 10 x 4 superset

Cable Curls 16 x 3

Tricep Pushdown 16 x 3

Tricep Dips to fail x 3

Hammer Curls 10 x 4

Dumbbell Curls 10-1

Overhead Tricep Extension 10 x 4

Abs

Recline abs 10 x 4

Ab machine 15 x 3

Does this program seem ok for a beginner? I really don’t know if I just did it wrong or if it’s too much for someone like me. I felt so weak afterwards, like I failed miserably :(

I watched a video of yours where you say that compound exercises are better for a beginner and this program I think has a lot of different exercises and focuses on specific body parts each day. I think you said something about fully body workout being good for beginners to get their overall strength up first? Cos I really felt like shit after how bad I failed today, I’m nervous about even going back to try anything to do with my arms… they must be super weak but I’m a sporty guy normally. They didn't show me how to use any of the gym equipment or give me any advice on what weight I should be using or anything really.. I watched your videos for all that info which were super by the way!

Also, I’m finding it a bit hard to get 198g of protein now that the doctor told me to cut out red meats and any high purine food due to the gout and high uric acid levels. He basically told me to stop having red meats, fish and absolutely no seafood/shellfish. Also to eat only wholewheat pasta/rice/breads. And not have processed foods or gravy/sauces unless I make them myself. My diet was pretty good already so it’s not a massive change, but now that I’m managing my macros I’m struggling to get that amount of protein without red meats.

Oh also, I should say that I really felt that my arms/shoulders/back were really tired from 'Chest Day' but my chest wasn't... Is this normal for a beginner? I tried to flex my chest in every exercise but I guess I don't have much muscle there to feel it? It was mostly my arms and shoulder that got tired/exhausted! I think i was using proper form too. Should my arms and shoulders get tired before my chest on the exercises in my chest day routine I listed above (as a newbie)?

I’d really appreciate any advice you can give me on my routine, being a newbie and my macros :)

Thanks so much,

Mark

@MarkMc Hey Mark! So glad to hear you are back in the gym after a bit of a lengthy lay-off.. haha. That's cool you are a video game developer too! Developed any games I might have heard of?

Sorry to hear about your first chest workout too.. it's never fun when you get trapped under the bar on the bench press haha, but it happens to the best of us! Probably all of us at one stage or another.. at least you know you were pushing yourself, and have a better idea of where to start next time!

That program doesn't look too bad really.. although I would have your deadlift first on your back day, and squats on your leg day. Really, that's a pretty poor program for not including squats, UNLESS you can't squat, and the gym knew that? Otherwise, squats should DEFINITELY be in there. Have you looked at my PPL program on the site for comparison? More focus on your compounds there, while keeping a similar rep and set scheme. https://muscularstrength.com/Push-Pull-Legs

And you don't necessarilly have to start with that.. maybe something like the home program would be good for you to work your way back into the gym life? https://muscularstrength.com/12-Week-Home-Program

That sucks about your gout, and that does take away some protein options. But if you can still have chicken, dairy (Greek yoghurt is a great protein option), beans, protein powder and even something like tofu, then hopefully you should be able to increase your protein intake.

You probably just need to work on your mind-muscle connection more to 'feel' your chest working. But it is quite normal that your arms take a beating as a newbie. Your forearms won't be used to all that gripping, and your triceps probably fatigued quite quick as well. They will both improve over time.

As for macros.. have you used the calculator on the @mealplan page to get an idea of a starting point?

Hope that all helps!

Hey Scott,

Thanks for the response!

Yeah I worked out my macros from your youtube video originally. They were Protein 198g, Carbs 273g, Fat 66g, 2476 calories.

I just did the calculator on the mealplan page and it came back with Protein 197g, Carbs 293g, Fat 72g, 2606 calories. So they were pretty close it looks like! :)

I can squat, I told my gym that the only exercise I couldn't do with my left ankle was lunges cos the bend is too much for it, but squats are fine! I'll maybe add them in myself in I keep with this program. Although your PPL looks way better to me. And that's good advice to try the home workout plan for a little bit at first. I do have a bench press and kettlebells/dumbbells at home too so I think it would be good to practice on those for perfect form initially!

I have another question if you don't mind? My left tricep is still fairly sore after working out on Tuesday. My right arm is fine but my left is sore when i bend it past 90 degrees still. It's been 3 days now since the workout and I'm just wondering if you think I may have done something to it or if it just needs a bit more time to recover than my right arm? My right arm is my dominant arm so maybe the tricep is just a bit more used to being used? It's not extremely sore, but when i try to bend it it is definitely sore. If I bend it fully, through the soreness and do that a couple of times it eases up but it will be sore again in 10-15 minutes if I try to bend it passed 90 degrees again. If I just squeeze the muscle with my hand when my arm is straight I can feel the soreness in the muscle but it's not a major pain and eases again if I massage it. Just wanted to make sure I didn't do some damager by accident!

@MarkMC Nice, the numbers were really close! And they both look like good options where you should be getting enough protein and the carbs aren't too high. As long as you are gaining weight with the first set of numbers (at just under 2500 calories), you can stick with those. Then when you hit a plateau, you can move up to the second set, and then keep progressing from there as needed.

Definitely add in the squats as well! You'll only need 5lb or 10lb dumbbells for the home program so you should be good to go with that!

I'd say it's just because your right arm is dominant. It probably didn't have as much trouble with the weights you were lifting if it's stronger, whereas your left arm probably worked a bit harder being a bit weaker. As long as it's only sore when you bend it (and stretch the triceps), then it should be OK in a few days. If it stays sore for a week, or shows any bruising, then it might be something more than DOMS. But it just sounds like DOMS to me.

Awesome! Yeah I have 5, 10, 15 and 20lb dumbbells at home :)

That's good to hear about my arm, it's actually improved in the last 4-5 hours a lot too so i think you're dead right with that assessment!

Will post some pics tomorrow on my profile so I can track the change in the 12 weeks! Get rid of that skinny-fat :D

@MarkMc Great! Hope you're ready for another week of hard training 😁 Say good-bye to that skinny fat look!

Hey Scott, I have another question related to this so I thought I'd put it here rather than make a new thread.

I'm doing your home workout routine now instead, I just feel more comfortable with it at the minute than going to the gym. I'm keeping at it though, did the first full week now and loving it!

I was just wondering if it's counterproductive to add more isolated exercises afterwards? As in, I really struggle with the close grip push ups, I have to go to my knees to even do one of them, my triceps must be really weak haha.. which might explain why I can't bench 40kg too like in my first post! But I feel like after the 20 minute routine, my triceps aren't fully exhausted. My shoulders are completely gassed though, those last lateral raises are torture haha! (sidenote: whoever invented the laying T-extension is the devil xD ) My biceps and chest are also on fire after the 20 minutes.

But I was just thinking if I added maybe tricep dips or something to focus on triceps would that be overkill? Or even if I added a 3rd day of upper body? Like day 1 upper body, day 2 lower body, day 3 upper body + abs? It's just that I'm feeling really pumped after the 20 minutes, but not even slightly sore the next day? I have noticed gains in my chest/shoulders/biceps though, but my triceps seem to be a real weak point for me

Obviously I don't want to over-do it so I'm asking for advice :) Still loving your content man, it's so motivating! Also, I made those breakfast pancakes you did a video on with Erica, they were so damn tasty!

@MarkMc That's fine man, the home program will be a good building block for you if you decide you do want to get into more gym/weighted workouts!

If you feel like your triceps can handle a bit more volume, and they are an area you're really trying to work on, you can definitely add another exercise at the end of your workout. Some dips or a few more sets of close-grip push-ups would be good, and you can add them onto your ab workout too - maybe don't do the full uper body workout with abs, just do some extra tricep work for now?

Remember that you don't HAVE to be sore to be growing muscle. Being sore usually comes from doing something new, giving your muscles a new stimulus. If you're not sore, but you're still getting stronger and noticing improvements, then you're on the right track 😊 

The pancakes are so good right?!