The 16-week plan

I posted about this earlier and included a link, but here's a writeup of the plan SAJ and I are following right now.

Day 1: chest, biceps, calves

Curls with dumbbells

Curls with bar

Standing calf raises

Bench press

Day 2: back, triceps, hamstrings

Military press

Shrugs

Overhead tricep extension

Lat pulldowns

Hamstring curls

Day 3: chest, calves, shoulders

Standing calf raises

Pec fly

Front arm raises

Side arm raises

Incline bench press

Day 4: quads, triceps, back, biceps

Quad extensions

Tricep extensions with rope

Reverse pushups

Tricep press with bar (close grip)

Pullups

As I said, the program is divided into four 4-week sections. For the first section, you do 5 sets of 18-20 reps of each exercise, at weights that are somewhat light -- but heavy enough for you to feel fatigue at the end of the set.

The second section is 4 sets of 15 reps, with weights that are heavy enough to cause grimacing at the end of the set.

The third is 3 sets of 10 reps, with weights that are so heavy that the last rep is literally all you can manage. If you feel like you can handle more, you should add weight.

Last section is 2 sets of 5-8 reps, with every single rep feeling extremely difficult. SAJ and I are going to have a good time with that one, grimacing and groaning and spotting each other!

The website says that you should start the program all over again at the end of the 16 weeks ... I'm not sure if either one of us will be up for that. Gaining a good chunk of lean muscle mass might help sway me, though.

We're now in week 5 of the program and there's already a significant different in the amount of weight I'm lifting. I've increased my amounts in nearly every exercise -- and I'm guessing I'll have upped every one of them by the time we get to the end of this week. I'm looking forward to seeing how far I can take it. Although I always smirk at people (mostly men) who flex in front of the mirrors at the gym, I have to confess that I like seeing defined muscle on my body when I'm lifting weights. Now if I could only get some of that definition on upper legs ... a girl can dream.