Thoughts on my routine

[luex]

16 sets per muscle group except for arms..no rep range..going by how I feel basically...if I can do more I’ll do more but will constantly increase the weight. I set it up so my lacking body parts are early on in the week..seems like a lot of days on but I feel with this setup my muscles would get adequate rest due to how it’s set up..if you think otherwise let me know. Rest days can be put in when I’m feeling more tired/not recovered instead of just inserting them every week. What do you guys think??? Constructive criticism please!

 

[Evom1]

Reps and sets for each exercise along with tempo and rest times?

 

[luex]

Usually I do my reps by how I feel but try to keep them at 8 or above..so if I can do more I keep going. 16 sets total per muscle group..except for my arm day...now that I'm looking at it my arm day looks like it may have a lot of volume in there. Rest time is 3 mins on compound lifts such as bench and squat with a focus on strength and increasing weight, rest time on other smaller isolation movements will be around 1 or 2 mins. Tempo...haven't really thought about this one...usually I move pretty fast through the eccentric part of all movements but haven't really thought of my tempo on the decending portion

 

[Evom1]

What is your goal? Build mass?

If so, drop your rest times to 45-60 seconds MAX. This honestly has been, for me, the most important component to growing

Slow controlled negative and explosive concentric

 

[luex]

Yeah just trying to build muscle mass. I'll definitely take you up on that and drop my rest times. Routine look alright otherwise? Kinda iffy on this 7 day a week thing but I feel it would be better to do that and rest when I feel it is needed.

 

[Evom1]

To be honest, put calves and abs in on a different day. I'd make that a rest day.

Good example, Dorian Yates trained 4x a week and had 45min workouts. Go in, kill that shit and leave. Don't get caught up with the weight on the bar. Don't say oh I'll do 90 seconds so I can go heavier. You'll be glad you pushed thru! I used to take a few minutes so I could be strong every set. It was cool, but I didn't grow

 

[FourOneDeuxFitt]

Why not break up Calves and abs and hit them twice a week at the end of some of the other days you have planned out. Give yourself a full day of adequate rest outside the gym.

 

[OldmanRob]

Personally, I don't think it is a good plan.

Not efficient, no rest days but too much rest per muscle group. You don't need 7 days rest for anything unless your injured to some degree.

I would look at a better split like push pull or antagonist style workouts.

I could put your chest and back routine together and do them both on the same day in under an hour.

Not intended as a slam in any way, just seeing that you have no time off and too much off at the same time.

Your body actually needs time off to grow. If you can get that all into 4 or 5 days it will benefit you greatly.

The exercises you've chosen are all basic and proven. Those are good.

 

[luex]

Awesome replies. Thank you so much guys..looks like I will be changing this one out. I agree with your take on it @OldmanRob the only problem with say a push pull legs routine is I feel as if I can’t focus on the things I need to work on more such as my arms and chest. For a push pull leg routine what do you think is most optimal? Doing
chest/tris, back/bis, legs, shoulders/tris
Or chest/shoulder/tris, back/bis, legs back/bis, legs? I feel as if I can’t focus as intensely on my arms during this type of training which is the thing that I need to work on most.
I feel like my routine has been a sticking point for me lately..in being that I really just can’t seem to figure one out and stay with it before I decide another one would be better

 

[FourOneDeuxFitt]

Awesome replies. Thank you so much guys..looks like I will be changing this one out. I agree with your take on it @OldmanRob the only problem with say a push pull legs routine is I feel as if I can’t focus on the things I need to work on more such as my arms and chest. For a push pull leg routine what do you think is most optimal? Doing
chest/tris, back/bis, legs, shoulders/tris
Or chest/shoulder/tris, back/bis, legs back/bis, legs? I feel as if I can’t focus as intensely on my arms during this type of training which is the thing that I need to work on most.
I feel like my routine has been a sticking point for me lately..in being that I really just can’t seem to figure one out and stay with it before I decide another one would be better

I like @OldmanRob push/pull idea as well I believe it’s a solid type of training for strength and growth. Fill it up with solid baseline compound movements and some accessory work, keep a log so you can track progress over time, and watch your strength and growth happen. Sort of like the program I’m doing now and I can honestly say I’ve made the best progress with it thus far compared to anything else I’ve really put a lot of effort into. Also, how you made the comment about arm growth. My biceps always have needed “extra work”. But through the heavy compound exercises and some accessory work at the end of workouts they’ve developed rather nicely than when I used to have specifically an “arm day” and go in and smash them. You can always add some extra sets in also to stress them a bit more. Nothing wrong with that. Push day would look something like
Day 1
Chest(main)/triceps(secondary focus)/Shoulders
Day 2
back/biceps
Day 3
Legs (quad focused)
Day 4
off
Day 5
chest(main), Shoulders (secondary focus), triceps
Day 6
Back/biceps
Day 7
Legs (hams focus)
Day 8
Off

Etc... just be mindful of your volume and give yourself enough recovery time with rest days that’s just my opinion on that and it’s similar along the lines of the program I’m running now although I have two power Day (one upper and one lower body) and three hypertrophy days split up. For legs you can smash quads and hams together or also like you rotate shoulders and triceps one workout can be quad focused and the next can be hamstring focused. You can be as creative as you want. Doing the hard stuff and sticking to basic compounds is what proved most beneficial in my eyes.

 

[biglumber69]

My arms grew the most when I benched 2x a week and deadlift 2x a week. Sunday was heavy bench 5x5 then 3 more chest exercises. Then 2 exercise for Tris. Monday was squat and other leg exercises plus light deadlift 3 sets 8 reps. Wensday bench 3 sets by 10 reps then 4-to 5 exercise for shoulders. Friday was heavy deadlift 5x5 then 4 exercise for back, 2 exercise of his. All accessory lifts were 3-4 sets 8-12 rep rang. But should be failure. Ran this program 2 x a year for 8 weeks. Some people might like this program others might hate it but worked for me

 

[OldmanRob]

I am doing a legs heavy split as of late with antagonist for back and chest. Works for me

M) chest and back ended with squats
T) shoulders, bi's and tri's
W) legs
Th) Chest and back
F) shoulders, bi's and tri's and squats

I treadmill every morning and squeeze in and ever other day but I only do one exercise for and for 3 sets

 

[biglumber69]

I am doing a legs heavy split as of late with antagonist for back and chest. Works for me

M) chest and back ended with squats
T) shoulders, bi's and tri's
W) legs
Th) Chest and back
F) shoulders, bi's and tri's and squats

I treadmill every morning and squeeze in and ever other day but I only do one exercise for and for 3 sets

When you squat do you do heavy one day and light the other. Also on leg day do you leg press? I like the routine you post it

 

[OldmanRob]

When you squat do you do heavy one day and light the other. Also on leg day do you leg press? I like the routine you post it

I had a bad injury, broke my back in 2010, 3 surgeries since 2012 and a bad ham pull.

I can leg press heavy but the squat and deadlift ate very very difficult for me. The motion can lock me up so i decided finally I won't let this be the case any longer.

I started squats with 25s on each end but now am up to 45 and a 25 on each end.

Because of this I decided to do them with lighter weight but more frequently.

At the end of Monday's and Friday's routine I just do 4 sets of 10 to 12 reps.

In Wednesday I start with squats, the leg extensions and ham curls and end with leg press.

I should be doing sets of 10 with 225 soon, seems the muscles that assist my legs in the lower back are getting better quickly. I add 10 lbs a week.

I can lift much more but it's a crap shoot if I will walk after a work out or not.

 

[biglumber69]

@OldmanRob l have a bad back to from an injury. I am fused from L1 through s1. Having a bad back sucks but at least I can walk and I am not dead. Hopefully soon I will be back on free weights and I will try your routine

 

[FourOneDeuxFitt]

@OldmanRob l have a bad back to from an injury. I am fused from L1 through s1. Having a bad back sucks but at least I can walk and I am not dead. Hopefully soon I will be back on free weights and I will try your routine

Until then bro stick to smith machine squats. Weight doesn’t have to be crazy use 3/4 reps and blast them if you have to hit 20-30 reps per set put that work in.

 

[cflow69]

I like @OldmanRob push/pull idea as well I believe it’s a solid type of training for strength and growth. Fill it up with solid baseline compound movements and some accessory work, keep a log so you can track progress over time, and watch your strength and growth happen. Sort of like the program I’m doing now and I can honestly say I’ve made the best progress with it thus far compared to anything else I’ve really put a lot of effort into. Also, how you made the comment about arm growth. My biceps always have needed “extra work”. But through the heavy compound exercises and some accessory work at the end of workouts they’ve developed rather nicely than when I used to have specifically an “arm day” and go in and smash them. You can always add some extra sets in also to stress them a bit more. Nothing wrong with that. Push day would look something like
Day 1
Chest(main)/triceps(secondary focus)/Shoulders
Day 2
back/biceps
Day 3
Legs (quad focused)
Day 4
off
Day 5
chest(main), Shoulders (secondary focus), triceps
Day 6
Back/biceps
Day 7
Legs (hams focus)
Day 8
Off

Etc... just be mindful of your volume and give yourself enough recovery time with rest days that’s just my opinion on that and it’s similar along the lines of the program I’m running now although I have two power Day (one upper and one lower body) and three hypertrophy days split up. For legs you can smash quads and hams together or also like you rotate shoulders and triceps one workout can be quad focused and the next can be hamstring focused. You can be as creative as you want. Doing the hard stuff and sticking to basic compounds is what proved most beneficial in my eyes.

I'm goona give this a go
I like it , however how many sets and how many reps per exercise would u recommend to put seize and strength on

 

[FourOneDeuxFitt]

I'm goona give this a go
I like it , however how many sets and how many reps per exercise would u recommend to put seize and strength on

Chest days pick 4 exercises. Your first exercise is your main one (I normally use incline or decline Dumbbell/barbell Press) 4 sets 8-10 reps. Second exercise another pressing movement. 3 sets 8-10 reps. Third exercise another pressing movement. 3 sets 12-15 reps. Fourth fly movement. 2 sets 15-20. Now for triceps 3 exercises. First is a compound movement (weighted dips, close grip bp) 3 sets 8-10 reps. Second I normally do an over head extension 3 sets 12-15. Last pick an accessory movement 2 sets 15-20. Shoulders. 1 compound movement and 2 accessory. 3 sets 8-10, 2 sets 15-20 for accessory. Swap that out when you switch shoulders and triceps.

Back is the same as chest. 4 exercises. First one is 4 sets 8-10, second 3 sets 8-10, third 3 sets 12-15, last 2 sets 15-20. Biceps 3 exercises. Heavy cambered bar or barbell curl 4 sets 8-10,seated hammer curls 3 sets 12-15 spider curls 3 sets 15-20.

Legs you can add or adjust however. Me personally I’d go with 3 exercises for quads and 3 for Hams. Start with your compound obviously but I also warm up with leg curls and some adductor sets. First exercise is compound barbell squats 4 sets 8-10 reps. Next is another compound I normally choose hack squats 4 sets 8-10 reps, then another squat variation or single leg press for 3 sets 12-15, leg extension for 3 15-20 then stiff leg dead with dumbbells or barbell 4 sets 8-10, seated leg curls 3 sets 12-15, lying leg curls 15-20.

This is sort of what my program looks like now. Very closely related and I’ve made better progress off this than anything else I’ve ever used. I also incorporate two power days as well one for upper body (3 exercise back, 2 chest, 2 Shoulders, 1 for biceps and triceps, and 1 lower body power day (3 aid exercise 3 hams and 2 calves) rep ranges for first exercise are a maximal 3-5 then the rest is 6-10 it’s all heavy weight. But you get the idea. Any other question just pm me I don’t wanna write books on these forums haha

 

[luex]

Well I tailored my workout routine to what @FourOneDeuxFitt had suggested.
What do you guys think of it?? What needs work?

Push
Chest/Triceps/Shoulders (8-12 reps per set)
BB bench press 5 sets
Incline DB bench 3 sets
Skullcrushers 3 sets
Overhead DB extension 3 sets
Upright row 3 sets
DB lateral raise 3 sets

Pull
Back/Biceps (8-12 reps per set)
BB row wide grip 5 sets
Pull-ups 3 sets
T-bar row 3 sets
BB curl 2 sets
Incline DB curl 2 sets

Legs
(Quad focus) (8-12 reps per set)
Squat 5 sets
Narrow leg press 3 sets
Leg extensions 2 sets

OFF

Push (8-12 reps per set)
Chest/Shoulders/Triceps
Incline BB bench press 4 sets
Flat DB bench press 3 sets
Standing BB press 4 sets
Arnold Press 3 sets
Cable lateral raise 2 sets
Seated dips 3 sets
Tricep cable extension 2 sets

Pull (8-12 reps per set)
Back/Biceps
Pull-ups 4 sets
DB row 3 sets
Seated machine row 2 sets
Shrugs 4 sets
BB curl 3 sets
Concentration curl 2 sets
Hammer curl 2 sets

Legs (8-12 reps per set)
(Ham focus)
Wide stance leg press 4 sets
DB RDL 3 sets
Leg curl 3 sets
Standing leg curl 2 sets

OFF

 

[Eman]

If so, drop your rest times to 45-60 seconds MAX. This honestly has been, for me, the most important component to growing

I strongly disagree with this.

If you want to grow, you need to rest between sets. If you can perform again in 45 actual seconds, I'd question the intensity that was being used in the first place.