Need advice on workouts.

plug_678 · Post by **plug_678** » Wed Apr 29, 2009 5:55 am

Here is current workout schedule.

Monday- Abs
Tuesday- Chest/Triceps
Wednesday- Biceps/Shoulders
Thursday- Cardio
Friday- Abs
Saturday- rest
Sunday- Back/Abs

I am currently doing 4-5 excersises per muscle part, with 5 sets per excersise, 6-8 reps for bulking purposes, as that is aim. I also superset workouts for higher intensity.

eg chest / triceps workout:

flat flyes x 5 sets / kickbacks x 5 sets
chest press x 5 sets / dumbell extensions x5 sets
flat flyes x 5 sets / ez bar extension x5 sets
pec dec x5 sets / tricep pushdowns x 5 sets
cable crossovers x5 sets / one arm pushdowns x5 sets

25 sets for chest / 25 sets for triceps

question is....am I doing too many sets...I am doing 25 sets per muscle part, and think this is possibly too many. Should I be doing around 10-12 sets, with only three different types of lift? and heavy weights for bulking.

RK19 · Post by **RK19** » Wed Apr 29, 2009 2:53 pm

^^^classic overtraining right there. your doing 200 reps per body part

and if your doing say chest and tris thats 400 reps in one session!

go for full body mate. 3x a week 45-60mins per session.

swanso5 · Post by **swanso5** » Wed Apr 29, 2009 5:21 pm

everything RK said and no legs????

you're overtraining the wrong muscles and under training (or in your case, not training) the right one's

www.uponlinetraining.com

Heelus · Post by **Heelus** » Wed Apr 29, 2009 7:32 pm

Look at the shitty exercises, he can't overtrain on that LOL But won't have any results either ...

plug, read a bit around and on t-nation.com and then come back with a clear plan.

plug_678 · Post by **plug_678** » Thu Apr 30, 2009 1:43 am

I dont train legs because I play hockey, three times a week, which works them out adequately...... legs are very toned and quite big!

could you perhaps post an example of a full body workout ?

any advice is much appreciated !

plug_678 · Post by **plug_678** » Thu Apr 30, 2009 1:55 am

Also, could you post the number of sets, and reps with the workout...I want to bulk up basically, so need a workout that will add muscle, and not be overtraining!

Cheers.

RK19 · Post by **RK19** » Thu Apr 30, 2009 2:09 am

full body must consist of at least:

upper body push=bench press,press ups etc

upper body pull=bent over rows,db rows etc

squat or deadlift variation=front squat,hack squat,romanian deadlift,stiff legged deadlift etc

single leg exercise=lunges,reverse lunges,stepups,etc. the reps/sets wont always be the same each workout. oh and you must train your legs.

plug_678 · Post by **plug_678** » Thu Apr 30, 2009 4:04 am

ok...so basically, you would be working your arms within these lifts....cutting out direct lifts such as dumbell curls, tricep pushdowns etc....

does this style of workout still promote muscle gains as apposed to split workout on individual body parts?

so perhaps something along these lines....

bench press.....3 sets / 6-8 reps
dumbell press 3 sets / 6-8 reps

bent over rows 3 sets 6-8 reps
upright barbell rows 3 sets 6-8 reps

Front squat 3 sets / 6-8 reps

weighted lunges 3 sets 6-8 reps
leg curls 3 sets 3-8 reps

that would be working whole body.....do this three times a week?

would that still enable gains?

RK19 · Post by **RK19** » Thu Apr 30, 2009 2:02 pm

your along the right lines (apart from those leg curls) but you only really need 1 exercise per muscle group,so it should look something like this:

1*squats

2*bench press

3*bb rows

4*bb stepups

you can add in something else like lockouts or something for tris,and a core exercise. and yes it will promote muscle growth (better than splits in opinion.) you dont really need any direct arm work,if you add chinups to your routine youll be fine. but if you must then reverse grip curls and hammer curls are the best.

p.s dont do the same routine 3 days in a row. do variations of the above

plug_678 · Post by **plug_678** » Thu Apr 30, 2009 3:52 pm

ok cool, ill try it out....have you ever used split training personally...I would be interested to see what a split routine would consist of in your opinion, on terms of sets and excersises...

swanso5 · Post by **swanso5** » Thu Apr 30, 2009 11:54 pm

if not using full body then the only split you'd use is a lower/upper x 2 a week each split

even though your legs are big they might not be strong which is where deadlifts and squats are required as well as single leg work to keep you injury free

www.uponlinetraining.com

RK19 · Post by **RK19** » Fri May 01, 2009 2:08 am

yes i have. up until the start of this year i was doing splits, then switched to full body and made better gains. i dont like splits now as you cant get the full potential from them as your doing 3 or 4 lifts for one bodypart, if your doing compound lifts your numbers will suffer as youll tire easily, if you do isolations then its just pointless and you wont make good gains.

plug_678 · Post by **plug_678** » Fri May 01, 2009 7:40 am

if not using full body then the only split you'd use is a lower/upper x 2 a week each split

even though your legs are big they might not be strong which is where deadlifts and squats are required as well as single leg work to keep you injury free.

Ok Swanso....so what your saying is that if I prefer splits, then do an upper body workout, and a lower body workout.

So eg.....monday/tuesday = upper body
thursday/=friday = lower body

so how many different styles of lift would you reccomend for upper and lower body. Basically in terms of sets/reps?

swanso5 · Post by **swanso5** » Fri May 01, 2009 8:18 am

mon / fri - lower

wed / sat - upper

depends what fits your schedule

sets and reps will vary

you might have to visit here:

www.uponlinetraining.com

plug_678 · Post by **plug_678** » Thu May 14, 2009 7:04 am

RK19 wrote:your along the right lines (apart from those leg curls) but you only really need 1 exercise per muscle group,so it should look something like this:

1*squats

2*bench press

3*bb rows

4*bb stepups

you can add in something else like lockouts or something for tris,and a core exercise. and yes it will promote muscle growth (better than splits in opinion.) you dont really need any direct arm work,if you add chinups to your routine youll be fine. but if you must then reverse grip curls and hammer curls are the best.

p.s dont do the same routine 3 days in a row. do variations of the above

I am definately going to start a full body workout !

thanks for the advice....just wondering, with the excersises listed above, what would be your ideal set/rep routine for lean muscle growth?

say 3 sets / 7-10 reps?