I've been stumbling through doing, basically, "a bunch of exercises" over the past year or so. I hadn't really worked out much before and I've seen some halfway decent results but I have *no* clue if I'm doing things "smart", if I'm overtraining some groups and undertraining others, blah, blah, blah. I'd appreciate some "wiser eyes" taking a look and giving me some tips on organizing, combos, et cetera.

I'll occasionally switch up the exercises, denoted by "/". Normally go for 3 sets of each, usually 7-10 reps (except for last, which is to failure all-around).

M/W/F

Concentration curls/barbell curls/chins
Dips/weighted pulley uppercuts
Leg lifts/hanging leg lifts
Upright rows
Tricep pressdown/overhead tricep extensions
Reverse crunches/twisting situps
Hammer curls/reverse curls
Military presses/weighted pulley jabs
Crunches

T/Th/S

Seated rows
Bench press
Leg press/squats
Standing rows
Butterfly press machine/floor flyes
Standing leg curls
Back extensions/good mornings
Shrugs
Leg extensions

I do cardio 4-5 days a week, usually either 20 minutes of interval training (full-out for a minute/walk a minute/repeat) or low-intensity jog until I run out of time or motivation. Usually 45 minutes to an hour, usually 3.5 to 5 miles.

So? Look good, light, excessive, what?

Thanks,
Keith C.

IMO, yes you are over training.  You need to give your muscles some time to rest.  Working each muscle 3 times a week is too much.  I'd recommend you pick one of the routines from  [url=http://www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=1&f=113&t=183077&w=searchPop]here[/url] that only works each muscle once a week.  Try that for a month and see how you like it.

That seems way excessive!!  How you can squat 3 days a week along with all that other work is beyond me.  Here is a good split to try

Mon: Chest/Bis
Tue: Legs
Wed: off
Thurs: Shoulders
Fri: Back/tris

I do between 6-9 working sets for all body parts.

i'm hoping you mean that you do *some* of those exercises each day.  cause if you do military presses three times a week you are pushing the limits of good taste (and those of your body).

it also doesn't seem like you'd get very big w/ this regiment (of course i don't know if this is your goal).  it's already been said -

usually, lifters hit a wall when they workout like this and it takes them a while to realize that laying off for a couple of days each week is the only way to move forward.

i'd also throw in some kind of sport or activity to help w/ balance and coordination.  i play soccer, volleyball, and snowboard to help from the suicidal tendencies that repetitive workouts give me.

Gents, this is precisely why I posted. It's sort of fun in a way to kill myself like this but I started because I wanted to motivate myself into doing *something* consistently to get in shape. Now, I'd like to be smart about it and do some decent building.

I'll definitely make some modifications and lighten up a bit. As far as sports and activities go, I had been hitting a few martial arts schools a few times a week but had to back off because of financial reasons (i.e. wife & I are both laid off now).

Thanks for the tips and please feel free to keep them coming. And _twist, I apologize for the offense against good taste re: mil presses! [;)]

You don't necessarily need to lighten up, you just need to quit working each muscle three times a week.  Don't feel like you need to turn the intensity down.  You can still torture yourself, but there are much more productive ways of doing so.  Take each set to failure and concentrate on completely exhausting the muscle you are working.  That means for each set, keep pushing or pulling the weight until your muscle just quits.  If you really push a muscle to positive failure, you won't want to work that muscle for at lest 4 or 5 days.  And that's ok, because there's plenty of other muscles to work while you wait for it to heal.  If you want to continue working out 6 days a week, go for it, I do.  Just try to work each muscle once a week, or three times in two weeks.  IMO, working each muscle twice a week or more is overtraining.  Your muscles grow while they are resting, not when they are being worked.  And even if you are not interested in muscle growth, you should still give yourself time to heal.  Good luck, and remember, pain is weakness leaving the body.