I think I need to change my weight routine...

UnknownSoldier

UnknownSoldier

UnknownSoldier

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I have been doing this routing for about 6 months now and although it has been working well for me I have hit a few brick walls with regards to my upper body strength + I am getting bored of it:

DAY1 (Legs)

Squat
Deadlift
Leg Extension
Ham string curl

DAY 2 (Chest Tris)

Benchpress
Weighted Dips
Flyes
Incline Bench with dumbells (incline at about 50degs)
Abs stuff

DAY 3 (Back Bis)

Pullups (palms facing me, wideishgrip)
Bent Over BB Row (wide grip)
Seated Row (Narrow grip)
One arm DB row
Preacher Curls with EZ bar
Abs Stuff

I want to change my routine to something else...any ideas?
 
Maybe set aside 6 weeks and go at it like a power lifter, full body compound movements only so fewer exercises but up the intensity.

Squat
Deadlift
Bench
Maybe throw into there one type of row, a pullup and a stiff legged deadlift.

Do each type of exercise in the 4-6 rep range, because you'll be doing all 3 in one day i'd suggest rotating the order in which they are done to ensure that at least once a week they are getting full access to your energy reserves.

Another alternative would be 5x5 stacked training which is also great for strength gains.

Those workouts should help you increase in strength before you move back to hypertrophy specific rep ranges etc.

If you've been going at it for 6 months flat though i'd say that you need to take a break for one or two weeks. It takes discipline to stay away and the first time you go back in you might notice some decrease in strength but you'll get it all back and more after a couple of sessions.
 
DanH84 said:
Another alternative would be 5x5 stacked training which is also great for strength gains.
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I've been reading a lot about this type of training and it does seem to give very good results over the period of time that it's used. As far as I can tell, it's not a routine that you just start and keep using. There's a set time, set routine and set exercises that you must strictly follow if you want to get the best results out of it. Good luck if you decide to take this route. It seems to be a bit of a killer.
 
You should change every 4 weeks - as this is the point your body sets itself to that routine, you get more out of changing routines regularly, a surprise to your muscles gets them working harder :)
 
UnknownSoldier said:
What is this 5x5 stacked training?
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Google for "Bill starr 5x5"

It's a great method of training for upping your strength/mass based around progressive loading. You need to have some decent lifting experience before trying it though in my opinion as you need to know your 5 rep max's etc.
 
I googled it...I have a decent experience (but I guess I am still going to need to experiment to find my 5 rep max). I can do 77.5Kg 3x8 so I am guessing 5 rep max will be around....80Kg ( for 5x5 depending on the rest break).

The only real problem is that sometimes I miss a work out session which would really screw this up right?
 
Taken from other website for others who don't want to search :p

Billy Starr’s 5x5 program is one of the more classical methods of developing size and strength. Origin of it was in fifties and sixties by British bodybuilder Reg Park. He happened to be a hero of Arnold Schwarzeneggar’s. Though it was long time ago it is still highly effective. Bill Starr explained 5x5 program using 200 pound close grip bench presses. Goal was to do 5 sets of 5 repetitions with 200 pounds. If you are like most of the people you first workout will fall short a few reps in the last sets. Increase the load only if you can do a full 5 sets of 5 repeats. If you are not able to do at least 14 total working repetitions, your chosen load was too high. If the trainee was able to do 5 sets of 5 reps, in either the first workout or subsequent workouts, you should increase the weight by 5 or 10 pounds. Key was to keep adding small increments of weight until 3 week training period was over.

http://www.steadyhealth.com/Bill_starr_5x5_program_t53631.html
 
If you can lift it off the bench :-P

SO with this 5x5 regime is short term? 3 weeks? I might give it a go. I think it is exactly what I need as I think its the strength of my tris that are really holding me back. I always fail the last bit of the extension on things like the bench press. Maybe a 6 week bout of 5x5?
 
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UnknownSoldier said:
I have been doing this routing for about 6 months now and although it has been working well for me I have hit a few brick walls with regards to my upper body strength + I am getting bored of it:

DAY1 (Legs)

Squat
Deadlift
Leg Extension
Ham string curl

DAY 2 (Chest Tris)

Benchpress
Weighted Dips
Flyes
Incline Bench with dumbells (incline at about 50degs)
Abs stuff

DAY 3 (Back Bis)

Pullups (palms facing me, wideishgrip)
Bent Over BB Row (wide grip)
Seated Row (Narrow grip)
One arm DB row
Preacher Curls with EZ bar
Abs Stuff

I want to change my routine to something else...any ideas?
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That is the worst case of over training I've ever seen! You could halve that and get better results.

2 day 5 x 5

Day 1.

Squat
Chins
OHP
Preacher curls
Abs 1

Day 2.

Deadlifts
Dips
Face pulls
Shrugs
Abs 2

EDIT: Also, make sure you've got your diet sorted too. Lots of good carbs and protein.

Lift big, eat big, rest big. Do it right and that's all you'll have to do.
 
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I wouldnt say that I overtrain...first of all I take breaks ( every month or so). I started in October and I could do this (3 sets of 8):

Bench 62Kg
Squat 80Kg
Dead 90Kg

By the end of dec:

Bench 80 (PB)
Squat 110Kg
Dead 122.5Kg

IT works quite well but I have hit a brick wall with benching plus the 5x5 routine is much harder...
 
Skunkworks said:
This is also horrifically over training.
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Neither of those workouts are overtraining as long as they are sleeping and eating properly. These are bodypart once per week splits. If they were hitting each of those bodyparts in that manner more than once per week I would agree with you.

Lets look at "Unkown soldiers" workout as an example...

Chest = 12 sets per week (9 sets of compounds)
Biceps = They are getting hit on the rows + 3 sets of isolation per week.
Legs = 9 sets per week (6 sets are isolation) 12 sets if you include the deadlifts.
Back = 12 sets per week for upper back (probably don't need quite that many) + 3 sets of deadlifts per week for lower back.
Abs = Twice per week.

I don't see any problem there at all. 9-12 sets per week for large muscle groups is fine and around 6 per week for smaller muscles on top of them getting hit in the compounds is okay also.

If you are hitting each bodypart more than once a week then yes you need to decrease the volume on each day to avoid overtraining. As to which method is best well it depends on the indivudual.

As long as your lifts are increasing and you are growing, you aren't overtraining. Unkown soldiers - I would suggest looking at your diet as well if you have stopped gaining. Eat more. :p
 
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GordyR said:
Neither of those workouts are overtraining as long as they are sleeping and eating properly. These are bodypart once per week splits. If they were hitting each of those bodyparts in that manner more than once per week I would agree with you.

If you are hitting a bodypart more than once a week then yes you need to decrease the volume on each day to avoid overtraining. As to which method is best well it depends on the indivudual.

As long as your lifts are increasing and you are growing, you aren't overtraining.
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I can't really be bothered debating it, but you seem to have a classic "new guy" attitude. We'll just have to dissagree.
 
Skunkworks said:
I can't really be bothered debating it, but you seem to have a classic "new guy" attitude. We'll just have to dissagree.
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What a load of tosh! Actually it's you that seems to be buying in to the whole "overtraining" scare that has been going around recently. Overtraining is a very real phenomenon and is something to be concerned about but it's more often than not down to ones CNS being fried rather than the muscles themselves being hit with too much volume.

For pure mass gain I am a huge proponent of 3 full body workouts per week, 5x5, progressive loading based purely around 3 compound exercises. I put on 25 lb's lean mass doing just that but it certainly isn't the only way to train! I also put on 40 lb's lean mass while on 4 day split's not too unlike the ones posted above.

And besides, everyone responds differently. I have to hit my triceps pretty hard twice a week (shock horror) for growth whereas my biceps grow fine with just heavy rows and chin ups once per week. I know other guys who's Tri's blow up with nothing but benching. I've been there, tried that, it didn't work for me so I hit them harder and they balooned.

Try taking a look at the routines of competing natural bodybuilders. You will likely be shocked at just how much volume they perform in their workouts.
 
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GordyR said:
For pure mass gain I am a huge proponent of 3 full body workouts per week, 5x5, progressive loading based purely around 3 compound exercises. I put on 25 lb's lean mass doing just that but it certainly isn't the only way to train!
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Fair comment, but that's nothing like what has been posted above.
GordyR said:
I also put on 40 lb's lean mass while on 4 day split's not too unlike the ones posted above.
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Beginner gains.

When you’re built like nothing you can make impressive gains on the worst of routines. But try keeping up ANY kind of progress beyond 3 months.

Example:

wintereverlong is doing 3 compounds and one iso for chest on one day. Whether you think so or not, that is inefficient training and is just asking for injury. Doing one chest compound every 3-4 days would be far more efficient. Muscles do NOT take seven days to recover.
 
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