My routine, looking for advice

Fusion

Fusion

Fusion

Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
10,632
Location
Notts
Just a thread about my lifting where people can pass advice on now that I'm settled in at the uni gym. I'm training for hypertrophy mainly, though strength and retaining some conditioning is important.

Day 1: Chest/Triceps

Flat Barbell Bench Press
Dips
Dumbbell Chest Flies
Close Grip Barbell Bench Press
Cable Pushdown
Dumbbell Triceps Extension

Day 2: Legs/Shoulders

Squats (always to parallel or lower)
Lever Leg Extension
Lever Seated Leg Curl
Barbell Shoulder Press
Dumbbell Side Laterals
Lever Rear Delt Row

Day 3: Back/Biceps

Deadlifts
Close Grip Chins
Cable Front Lat Pulldown
Cable Row/Lever Low Row/Barbell Upright Row
Seated Dumbbell Curl

I've not been following the routine week in, week out for long, and so my strength is incresing each week but my bench press is lagging:

Max Lifts

Flat Barbell Bench: 60kg x 4
Squat: 90kg x 5
Deadlift: 130kg

I'm getting around to sorting the diet out but due to constraints of being in catered accomodation, I have only three meals a day excluding the Whey/Casein shake post-workout. I'm thinking that I may struggle getting the quality calories I require. Perhaps I could buy some oats and have a mid morning meal, what about for mid afternoon though? I've limited cooking facilities (read: toaster & microwave).

A little about me:

Age: 20
Weight: 83kg
BF%: Not entirely sure, at an educated guess I'd say 15%.

Thanks for reading my somewhat vague, advice-seeking retort. I'd be grateful of any assistance.
 
I realised not long after posting that I'd missed vital information! All exercises are generally 10, 8, 6. I do a few sets at less than 6 reps on the big three exercises to increase my maxes.

Although my bench pressing strength is poor, my chest development is good given my size. Shall I throw some incline dumbbell pressing into the mix? What's an optimum number of sets to be doing per muscle group? I've been training on and off for two years, more off than on unfortunately. I'm only in my second month of following this regime.
 
Hooked up with a new training partner today as he'd said that we'd do some High Intensity Training, Mike Metzner style. It was by far the toughest workout I've ever completed. The intensity was insane, after the set of leg extensions I had to physically be assisted in running over into the next room to knock out some leg presses. The routine:

Leg Extensions, supersetted with Leg Presses
Calf Raises
Weighted situps

Why the problem, you ask? Only four exercises? The Leg extensions were done not only to failure, but then my partner assisted me in doing some more reps, then he took over on the positive phase and I did negatives. Only one set was done, but it was brutal. Next he practically carried me over to the leg press machine and I started repping out for as many as possible, then he assisted me. I had to sit in the seat for a few minutes before I could get out.

The final leg exercise was calf raises on the machine, again to failure. No assisted reps. Finally I finished with a set of 20 weighted situps, easy in comparison.

That was it, only four sets. But I've never pushed myself so hard in training before. I thought I trained quite intensely, but this is a totally different level. It's a strange sensation coming off a machine and physically not being able to support your own body weight.

Before anyone mentions overtraining, we're only working out twice a week. Three full days of recovery lie ahead- hurrah!

Definitely give it a blast if you want to be shown what real intensity is. You need a dedicated partner, though.
 
Chong Warrior said:
So aren't you doing that workout from your original post now Fusion?
Click to expand...

No, I'm going to have a plug at this high intensity malarky for a while. Just experimentin'.
 
Hows this look? There's a bit less reliance on machines, and big muscle groups are given their own day. I'm thinking that it'll be quite demanding.

Day 1: Chest

Flat Barbell Bench Press
Incline Dumbell Bench Press
Dumbell Flies
Dips
Cable Crossovers

Day 2: Legs

Squats
Lunges
Leg Extensions
Leg Curls
Calf Raises

Day 3: Shoulders & Triceps

Military Press
Front Raises
Side Laterals
Shrugs
Close Grip Bench Press
Tricep Cable Pushdowns

Day 4: Back & Biceps

Deadlifts
Bent Over Rows
Chins
Upright Rows
Lat Pulldowns
 
Three sets, 10, 8, 6 as always. With bench press, squats and deadlift I like to get a few sets of less than six reps in there so I can use as much weight as possible. Sometimes finish with a single or two (maxing out), but not every time.

A three day split is probably fine, but earlier someone commented that I didn't have enough volume for the chest.
 
I'm flexible. I do three days a week at present. I was only thinking about extending to four to let me spend more time on the bigger groups, but a reworking of my three day plan (similar to in the first post) may allow this.
 
Chong Warrior said:
Example:
Click to expand...

Awesome, that looks a lot better. I've never done Barbell Step-Ups, Straight legged deadlifts or Good Mornings before, so I'll start light with those.

Can't wait to start, I'm excited about having a new routine. I'm going to be training tonight and I'll begin with a leg session, gave the back a good workout Sunday.

Cheers :cool:
 
Bench Press still a shocking 65kg, but I've bought some oats to introduce into my protein shake. Getting the necessary amount of quality calories has been an issue, this is a step in the right direction.
 
Bench is up to 70kg, felt pretty good. Failed on 75kg. With hindsight I should have tried 72.5 instead of gunning for a bigger increment. 5kg can make a lot of difference.

Nice that I'm progressing, next stop 80kg.
 
An updated, been training properly again since 8th Jan. Wasn't able to train as effectively throughout most of December due to being in Prague and at home, now I'm at uni again and have full access to quality equipment.

Finally nailed my form on deadlifts and squats, these exercises take a while to master. Concentrating on upping the weight now, was happy that today I managed a personal best squat of 120kg. My target for the next six months is 140kg. Deadlift max is still 130kg, going to try higher on Friday. Deadlift target is 150kg. Bench still at 70kg, not tried higher. Target is 80kg.

Did a couple of barbell push presses today aswell, 50kg is fine. 60kg is a no-no! Aiming to notch 60kg in the near future.
 
Last edited:
Not done SLDLs, but started Good-Mornings for the first time yesterday and started with just the bar. Did:

20kg x 10
30kg x 10
40kg x 10
50kg x 10

Will likely go up to 60kg next week. An effective exercise, I'm not flexible enough to get my back parallel though!
 
Thought it would be better to update an older thread than start a new one. Starting a journal to keep track of things.

Age: 21
Height: 5ft 11"
Weight: ~83kg, give or take a kg or two. Will measure tomorrow.
Bodyfat: Educated guess of around 14/15%

The aim is to add some quality mass. I have bodybuilding and aesthetics in mind rather than powerhouse strength.

The main stumbling block with my training is that I'm at uni in catered halls, and so get Breakfast and Dinner provided. Meal times are fixed and there isn't always an ideal option available that provides a good balance of nutrients. Nevertheless, I do my best with whats available. I'm going to get myself in gear and buy some whey protein too, the only supplement I use at present are multivitamins.

I'm certainly running in a calorie defecit. I've got a fair knowledge of training and diet, it's just putting it all into action. I'm hoping that by posting this Chong Warrior et al can all get on my case and push me to do what I know I'm capable of :p :)

Current routine:

Monday: Chest & Triceps

Dips
Flat DB Bench
Close Grip BB Bench
Incline DB Bench
Rope Pushdowns

Wednesday: Legs & Shoulders

Squats
DB Shoulder Press
Good Mornings
DB Lateral Raise
Incline Rear Delt Raise
Leg Extensions

Friday: Back & Traps

Deadlifts
DB Rows
Narrow Grip Chins
Seated Cable Rows
DB Shrugs

Monday 14th May 2007: Chest & Triceps

Dips:

3 x 10

Flat DB Bench:

22.5kg 10, 10, 9

Close Grip BB Bench:

30kg x 10
40kg x 8
50kg x 5

Incline DB Bench

20kg 10, 8, 6

Rope Pushdowns

Setting 7 x 10
Setting 8 x 8
Setting 8 x 10
 
Wednesday 16th May: Legs & Shoulders

Squats:

70kg x 10
80kg x 10
90kg x 8

To parallel each time. Felt pretty good.

DB Shoulder Press

20kg x 10 (easy)
22.5kg x 9
22.5kg x 4

Last set I was aiming for 6, but got stuck fairly early on. My front delts still ached this morning from Monday which may explain it.

Incline Rear Delt Raise

7.5kg x 12
10kg x 10
10kg x 8

Leg Extensions

49kg x 10
56kg x 10
63kg x 10

DB Side Laterals

10kg x 10
10kg x 10
10kg x 10

Good Mornings

20kg x 10
30kg x 10
35kg x 10

Not bothered about pushing lots of weight with these, just like to feel a good stretch.
 
Forgot to say, weighed in yesterday too, 82.5kg. Been taking 50g of whey/casein mix every day this week, 90% of which is protein.
 
Friday 18th May: Back & Traps

Deadlifts:

40kg x 10
40kg x 10
60kg x 10
60kg x 10
80kg x 10

Stayed light on these because last time I had a spot of lower back pain due to poor form, so in this session I focussed my efforts on getting the technique right.

DB Rows:

22.5kg x 10
25kg x 10
27.5 kg x 10

Will finish with the 30's next time.

Chins: 10, 8, 5

DB Shrugs:

25kg x 10
30kg x 10
30kg x 8

30kg is about right for me in this exercise.

Seated cable row:

Setting 8/20 x 10
Setting 9/20 x 10
Setting 10/20 x 8

Lord knows who uses the full stack on this thing, you'd need to be Yates or Coleman to budge it!

Wide grip lat pulldown:

35kg x 10
42kg x 10
49kg x 10
56kg x 7

Back kept upright, not like many I see who lean right back.

Note to self: EAT MORE! I should be taking in over 3,000kcals a day, right now I'm only doing around 2,500. It's not enough, I had mild shakes today in between exercises.
 
Monday 21st May: Chest and Triceps

Didn't enjoy this workout particularly as the gym was full, every bench occupied by the usual chest and biceps crew. Had to hang around in parts to get on equipment, and ended up benching last. Mondays are always packed in my gym, must be peoples' conscience taking hold after a weekend of binging.

Dips 3 x 10

May have to start getting a weight belt soon, as they're becoming quite easy

Triceps Pushdown

Setting 8/15 x 10
Setting 9/15 x 10
Setting 9/15 x 10

Still couldn't get on a bench, so did:

Standing Dumbbell Triceps Extension

17.5kg x 10
20kg x 10
20kg x 10

Finally people started to vacate;

DB Flat Bench

22.5kg x 10
22.5kg x 8
22.5kg x 8

DB Incline Bench

20kg x 10
20kg x 8
20kg x 6

It's finally clicked why my benching strength is so poor, and its simply incorrect technique. I'm pressing with too narrowly, the DB's are too close together when my forearms should be parallel to the floor. The way I've been doing it is more like a close grip bench, and is involving the tri's too much.

Oh well, I've only been training on-off for 3 years :rolleyes:

Just shows how long bad habits can persist for if they aren't put into check. I knew something was up when I could shoulder press the same weight I bench :D
 
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