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Anabolic Steroids

Help Forming a Good Routine

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foxace36

New Member
First and foremost, I am in it for the aesthetics. I am also natty (for now, at least). I have about a year of training behind me. A few years on/off prior to that (Never had a structured routine or diet though).

I want to start a hypertrophy focused routine that looks like this:

Push
Pull
Legs
Rest
Chest/Back
Shoulders/Arms
Legs

I have an idea of what exercises/rep scheme I'd like to incorporate, but if you guys can toss me a good program that's structured this way, that is hypertrophy focused and has a proper progression scheme (both strength and volume wise), then I'd love to hear it. I am aiming to build a well balanced and aesthetically pleasing physique.

Thanks!
 
I like to do a typical "bro split" for a hypertrophy phase. Usually 6-8 weeks of high volume workouts for individual muscle groups with rep ranges from 10-20. I also throw in tons of drop sets and negatives. Time under tension and eccentric moves are key to hypertrophy. Diet during this time is calorie and carb dense to really avoid any catabolism.

After I pack on some lbs. from the hypertrophy stage (some fat but not much as long as you're eating clean) I switch to a 5x5 type program to gain some strength and keep adding some muscle. I will typically do this for 4-6 weeks. I usually go down from 6 lifting days a week during hypertrophy to 4 major lifting days. Each day is based around a compound exercise (bench, barbell row or weighted pull up, squat, deadlift). Each compound exercise will make up the bulk of the workout and then the workout is rounded out with complimentary lifts to the respective compound lift.

After the 5x5 phase I do a deload week of light lifting just to give the body a rest. After this I will do about 2 weeks of more hypertrophy based workouts. Then I move into a solely strength based program for about 4-6 weeks. This looks like a powerlifting program with rep ranges from 1-3 on major lifts and only 3 major lifting days as it is very taxing on the central nervous system. Diet during this time is more carb restricted with carbs really only being ingested within the workout window. Calories are less than the hypertrophy stage but not by a drastic amount due to an increase in the ingestion of healthier fats (nuts, avocado, fish oil).

After this you should have added a good amount of muscle while also getting significantly stronger which sets you up for weight increases in the following hypertrophy stage (back to the beginning of the workout cycle). I like to cycle programs like this because it keeps things fresh, keeps the body from getting too adapted, and the results I see are a built, athletic look. Right now I am in the fourth week of a hypertrophy program and my split is Monday chest, Tuesday back, Wednesday quads and calves, Thursday shoulders and traps, Friday bis and tris, Saturday hammies and calves, Sunday active recovery and conditioning.
 
GrizzlyMadisonAdams said:
I like to do a typical "bro split" for a hypertrophy phase. Usually 6-8 weeks of high volume workouts for individual muscle groups with rep ranges from 10-20. I also throw in tons of drop sets and negatives. Time under tension and eccentric moves are key to hypertrophy. Diet during this time is calorie and carb dense to really avoid any catabolism.

After I pack on some lbs. from the hypertrophy stage (some fat but not much as long as you're eating clean) I switch to a 5x5 type program to gain some strength and keep adding some muscle. I will typically do this for 4-6 weeks. I usually go down from 6 lifting days a week during hypertrophy to 4 major lifting days. Each day is based around a compound exercise (bench, barbell row or weighted pull up, squat, deadlift). Each compound exercise will make up the bulk of the workout and then the workout is rounded out with complimentary lifts to the respective compound lift.

After the 5x5 phase I do a deload week of light lifting just to give the body a rest. After this I will do about 2 weeks of more hypertrophy based workouts. Then I move into a solely strength based program for about 4-6 weeks. This looks like a powerlifting program with rep ranges from 1-3 on major lifts and only 3 major lifting days as it is very taxing on the central nervous system. Diet during this time is more carb restricted with carbs really only being ingested within the workout window. Calories are less than the hypertrophy stage but not by a drastic amount due to an increase in the ingestion of healthier fats (nuts, avocado, fish oil).

After this you should have added a good amount of muscle while also getting significantly stronger which sets you up for weight increases in the following hypertrophy stage (back to the beginning of the workout cycle). I like to cycle programs like this because it keeps things fresh, keeps the body from getting too adapted, and the results I see are a built, athletic look. Right now I am in the fourth week of a hypertrophy program and my split is Monday chest, Tuesday back, Wednesday quads and calves, Thursday shoulders and traps, Friday bis and tris, Saturday hammies and calves, Sunday active recovery and conditioning.
Click to expand...

If it's not too much to ask, would you be able to post pics of your physique as well as the actual routine/exercises and rep schemes. Would be a ton of help, especially from someone as knowledgeable as you seem to be!
 
I'm not a big believer in the IIFYM diet for a number of reasons. First my body is highly reactive to sugar. So for me personally I consider glycemic index an important factor with carbohydrates. Simply put, sugar makes me gain fat when consumed at inappropriate times or in large amounts. Second, I'm a big believer in a diet that is holistically healthy, not just hell bent on adding muscle. I think that a diet that not only promotes muscle gain and leanness on a macro level, but also is abundant in other helpful things such as antioxidants, anti inflammatory nutrients, healthy fats, etc. keeps you leaner and makes you feel better so you can kill it in the gym on a more consistent basis and prevent injury. This mindset comes a lot from my athletic days where eating was more geared towards performance rather than looks. I understand the idea behind "a calorie is a calorie" but our bodies are complicated and unique things that react differently to all sorts of food and the way our body is going to utilize a calorie or store it can depend on the composition and factors around that calorie I think. But hey, if you can follow a macros diet and enjoy all kinds of delicious food while seeing gains, staying lean, and feeling good then I would say hell ya and I would also be a bit jealous. Eating 5-6,000 calories of "clean" food is definitely not easy and it takes budgeting, planning, and effort but I see better results and feel better so that's my preference. I also like it because I don't feel the need to meticulously count my calories. I know that if I'm eating 95% "clean" then I won't be affected much by going overboard on calories which I do sometimes because I love to eat. Also makes cheat meals heaven on earth.
 
GrizzlyMadisonAdams said:
I like to do a typical "bro split" for a hypertrophy phase. Usually 6-8 weeks of high volume workouts for individual muscle groups with rep ranges from 10-20. I also throw in tons of drop sets and negatives. Time under tension and eccentric moves are key to hypertrophy. Diet during this time is calorie and carb dense to really avoid any catabolism.

After I pack on some lbs. from the hypertrophy stage (some fat but not much as long as you're eating clean) I switch to a 5x5 type program to gain some strength and keep adding some muscle. I will typically do this for 4-6 weeks. I usually go down from 6 lifting days a week during hypertrophy to 4 major lifting days. Each day is based around a compound exercise (bench, barbell row or weighted pull up, squat, deadlift). Each compound exercise will make up the bulk of the workout and then the workout is rounded out with complimentary lifts to the respective compound lift.

After the 5x5 phase I do a deload week of light lifting just to give the body a rest. After this I will do about 2 weeks of more hypertrophy based workouts. Then I move into a solely strength based program for about 4-6 weeks. This looks like a powerlifting program with rep ranges from 1-3 on major lifts and only 3 major lifting days as it is very taxing on the central nervous system. Diet during this time is more carb restricted with carbs really only being ingested within the workout window. Calories are less than the hypertrophy stage but not by a drastic amount due to an increase in the ingestion of healthier fats (nuts, avocado, fish oil).

After this you should have added a good amount of muscle while also getting significantly stronger which sets you up for weight increases in the following hypertrophy stage (back to the beginning of the workout cycle). I like to cycle programs like this because it keeps things fresh, keeps the body from getting too adapted, and the results I see are a built, athletic look. Right now I am in the fourth week of a hypertrophy program and my split is Monday chest, Tuesday back, Wednesday quads and calves, Thursday shoulders and traps, Friday bis and tris, Saturday hammies and calves, Sunday active recovery and conditioning.
Click to expand...
Forgive my ignorance but what is a "negative"?
 
When I refer to a negative it is a slow tempo eccentric part of a rep. For example, at the end of a dumbbell bench press set, I set my goal of 10 reps, I get my 10 and have some extra juice so after my tenth rep I slowly lower the dumbbells down for a ten second count and then put the dumbbells down. I usually use negatives on my final reps of a set and I include them on my drop sets as well. Negatives or eccentric reps are proven to be great for hypertrophy as they increase the muscle's time under tension. I love them because they give you a good burn and are a great set finisher when you won't be able to finish a rep with good form. Obviously not recommended for exercises like a barbell bench press where you wouldn't be able to get the bar back up if you don't have a spotter. I sometimes do entire workouts based on negatives where I will do sets of 8 reps with ten second tempo negatives on every rep. You will have to lower the weight and it seems like a set takes forever but the time under tension for the muscle is greatly increased compared to a regular tempo set.
 
Question was already answered I didn't read the whole
Thread before replying no disrespect meant to OP you answered 100% on point.
 
Last edited:
If I understand this right, it looks like you lowered your carbs during the pure strength phase. I'm curious to see your reasoning behind that. Is it to ingest more fats to help your CNS?
 
foxace36 said:
First and foremost, I am in it for the aesthetics. I am also natty (for now, at least). I have about a year of training behind me. A few years on/off prior to that (Never had a structured routine or diet though).

I want to start a hypertrophy focused routine that looks like this:

Push
Pull
Legs
Rest
Chest/Back
Shoulders/Arms
Legs

I have an idea of what exercises/rep scheme I'd like to incorporate, but if you guys can toss me a good program that's structured this way, that is hypertrophy focused and has a proper progression scheme (both strength and volume wise), then I'd love to hear it. I am aiming to build a well balanced and aesthetically pleasing physique.

Thanks!
Click to expand...
Dont make your own program.
If you want some thing good use a program that incorporates high frequency, deloads and periodization.
This is some thing you may like:
Dual-factor Bodybuilding routine for Intermediate and Advanced lifters

Layne Norton on training
 
If you're able to go 5 days a week then I'd do something like this

Monday chest
Flat bench
Incline bench
Decline chest press machine (if your gym has 1)
DB incline press
DB flys (1 week incline 1 week flat)

Tuesday back
Bent over rows
Rack pulls
Tbar rows
Close grip lat pulldown
Wide grip cable rows

Wednesday arms
Tricep
Seated machine dips
Skull crushers
Reverse grip cable push down
Normal grip cable push down
Over head cable extensions
Bicep
Barbell curls
Ez bar curls
Concentration curls
Cable preacher curls
Hammer curls

Thursday shoulders
Seated barbell press
Seated DB press
Side lateral raises
Front lateral raises
Behind neck cable pull down

Friday legs
Squats
Leg press
Hack squat machine
Pendulum squat (if your gym has the machine, it's brutal but effective)
Leg extensions
Laying leg curls

Weekend rest
If you can only go 4 days like myself then do the same routine but

Monday chest/tricep
Tuesday rest
Wednesday back/bicep
Thursday shoulders
Friday legs
Add core to any of these days you want to really

And on all exercises 4 sets 12/10/8/15-20 (they're the rep ranges I like to do)

A training partner who likes to push you to breaking point also helps, well it does me.
Hope this helps.
 
Sirius Seagrim said:
If I understand this right, it looks like you lowered your carbs during the pure strength phase. I'm curious to see your reasoning behind that. Is it to ingest more fats to help your CNS?
Click to expand...

Two reasons for trading out fat calories for carbs. As I said before my body is pretty sensitive to carbs and during the strength phase I limit my conditioning and have long rest periods in between sets. Volume is also lower during this time. This leads to lower heart rate and calories burned during workouts. I find that when my carbs are lowered outside of the workout window I can prevent increases in BF during the strength phase. I'm sure I could see bigger increases in strength if I continued with high carbs but for me the trade off in increased BF versus strength gain is not worth it. I try not to let my BF get too high to prevent extended "cutting". The second reason, that you alluded to, is the increase in healthy fats helps the CNS and hormone production. Also heavy strength phases are strenuous on joints and the fats help with that in my experience.
 
KenVar said:
If you're able to go 5 days a week then I'd do something like this

Monday chest
Flat bench
Incline bench
Decline chest press machine (if your gym has 1)
DB incline press
DB flys (1 week incline 1 week flat)

Tuesday back
Bent over rows
Rack pulls
Tbar rows
Close grip lat pulldown
Wide grip cable rows

Wednesday arms
Tricep
Seated machine dips
Skull crushers
Reverse grip cable push down
Normal grip cable push down
Over head cable extensions
Bicep
Barbell curls
Ez bar curls
Concentration curls
Cable preacher curls
Hammer curls

Thursday shoulders
Seated barbell press
Seated DB press
Side lateral raises
Front lateral raises
Behind neck cable pull down

Friday legs
Squats
Leg press
Hack squat machine
Pendulum squat (if your gym has the machine, it's brutal but effective)
Leg extensions
Laying leg curls

Weekend rest
If you can only go 4 days like myself then do the same routine but

Monday chest/tricep
Tuesday rest
Wednesday back/bicep
Thursday shoulders
Friday legs
Add core to any of these days you want to really

And on all exercises 4 sets 12/10/8/15-20 (they're the rep ranges I like to do)

A training partner who likes to push you to breaking point also helps, well it does me.
Hope this helps.
Click to expand...

5 exercises for major muscle groups and 12 exercises on arm day... hell yeah.
 
I like to hit body parts 2x week. So i switch up ppl and upper-lower.

Im a bit older with some nagging injuries and post surgeries. So breaking the total volume up for each bp into 2 workouts is easier on my joints than 1 day of large volume
 
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