Please help with opinion and tips

by Josh B.
(USA)

First off I'd like to provide the details before the criticism comes. I work on remodeling job, (currently about to find something else and I believe I have a job), and I've developed bursitis in my shoulders and elbows, and a little bit of tendonitis in my wrists (from elbows).

I'm almost better, and I'm about to start a new program. I was going to stick with a moderate weight, start off light of course, but keep my rep range in the 10-15 range. I'll keep my sets at how I feel that day. I'd like to get up to 3 sets an exercise, but I'm starting at 1 and working my way up. Here is my workout, if you have exercise substitution opinions please feel free to tell me if you think an exercise would be better on me because of my tendonitis/bursitis. I'm 17, so I'm not too interested in hurting myself of course.

Monday:
Squat
Lateral Raise
Curl
Abs

Tuesday:
Cardio (20 mins)

Wednesday:
Bench Press
Single Leg Squat/Wall Sit-option
Close Grip Pushup for triceps unless someone has a better exercise for my elbows
Abs

Thursday-rest

Friday:
Hack Squat
Incline Bench Press
Pullups
Abs

Sat. & Sun.-rest

Follow this program for 3 weeks then take a week off, then follow for 3 weeks, then take a week off. Take every fourth week off so my joints have plenty of time to heal and I hopefully wont have tendonitis/bursitis again.

What do you think? I'm looking to have a look like Taylor Kitsch from the TV show Friday Night Lights, or like Rain Bi from Ninja Asassain, or like Bruce Lee. I'd be happy if I could get those looks.

I have my diet down, I'm also going to supplement a mass gainer in there as well, seeing as I have a hard time gaining weight, but not a hard time adding muscle

Aaron's Answer…

OK, you've got the most important aspect down: determination! Now, lets channel that into a more sensible approach to your workout.

1. First Off, Rest!

Bursitis and tendonitis aren't any fun, but you must rest to get better. If you keep stressing your joints you will get seriously hurt. You're young - don't be stupid.

If possible, find another job or take some time off. And, ideally, go to a doctor and have him/her check out the bursitis.

Also, check out the muscle pain and recovery page here to see if icing or heating helps, or if your issues are trigger point related. This shouldn't take long, and could really help your recovery.

Believe me, I know how painful and frustrating this can be. I've had tennis elbow and chronic knee pain in high school and about half of College. I was able to heal it, but it was horrible. You just have to let yourself recover, and find out as much about your injury (and how to cure it) as possible.

2. Once You've Healed, Start A Relaxed Program

Your program looks OK, though I'd just do 3 exercises a day. Only be in the gym for 45 minutes, work hard, and then get out of there.

And make sure you are truly sure that your arms and shoulders have healed. All those bench presses and push-ups look dangerous.

If your arms haven't healed, consider just doing lower body exercises till they are healed. Squats are great for this.

3. Get Ripped With a Good Diet

Getting ripped is more a function of having a low body fat percentage than lifting heavy. And you get a low body fat percentage by…

1. Eating Right,

2. Doing Intense Exercise

&

3. Restricting Your Calorie Intake

So, as for eating right...

Eating right means eating close to raw foods that will not spike your insulin. In a nutshell, carbs and refined sugars cause your insulin to spike. Insulin will cause you to put on fat. So, more meat and animal/vegetable fat - less bread and carbs. And absolutely no cakes, cookies, etc.

Check out this six pack abs diet and the other pages about getting a six pack for a more comprehensive plan.

Rule of thumb: If it once grew, walked, swam, or flew it's good. If it comes out of a plastic wrapper, it's bad.

On intense exercise…

Intense exercise gives you the most bang for your buck in terms of time spent vs. returns in muscle building, increase in metabolic rate, and burning calories. HIIT training is good for cardio, and remember to keep all your workouts short and sweet.

And as for calorie restriction...

On the pages about six pack abs, you'll be able to calculate how many calories you use each day. Undercut that by about 500 calories, through diet and exercise. That way you'll lose about a pound a week of fat, not muscle, assuming you're doing some weight lifting to maintain your muscles.

Here's how ripped I got on a good diet over the last 7 weeks, working out only twice a week with multi-joint exercises and a little ab work. It's not where I want to be in the end, but 8.3% body fat ain't too shabby.

Diet has more to do with looking great than spending 10 hours a week at the gym

I hope this helps,
Aaron