Weight Training Too Much? Too Little?

[daveb]

I am fairly new at weight training but i have recently had the luxury to lift seven days a week if I wanted to. Right now I am lifting six days a week doing antagonistic supersets. Monday is Chest/Back, Tuesday is Biceps/Triceps, and Wednesday is Legs/Shoulders then start over for thursday friday and saturday and i take sunday off. I normally do one barbell, one Dumbbell, and one cable lift for each muscle group, and I change the exercise every week. EXAMPLE- Monday Chest/Back routine. Flat Bench Press to Barbell row. 3 sets of 10. Decline dumbbell press to one arm dumbbell row. 3 sets of 10. Flat cable fly to wide grip pull down. 3 sets of 10. Thursday is Chest and Back day again but this time i start with say decline bench to flat barbells then upper cable crossovers. Every time an excercise is repeated i raise the weight and stay on that weight until i can do three sets of ten. That mixed with some cardio and a healthy diet has worked really well so far but will it work for the long run. Everything i have read says to switch up routines every six weeks or so and that is what i plan on doing. question is, Am I doing too much? not enough? Should i do more sets? less reps? more weight? More than three lifts per muscle group? workouts are pretty intense but i feel like recovery is keeping up. muscles are not usually overly sore or fatigued. I have lost a lot of weight, and fat because of the cardio, and now i am ready to put on a little mass. Thank you, DaveB

[swanso5]

Am I doing too much? yes
not enough? no
Should i do more sets? no
less reps? yes
more weight? probably
More than three lifts per muscle group? no

- cut to 4 days of wts max, 3 is probably better for you right now
- if you're not getting stronger (i.e. sets of 3 - 6) then you'll struggle to increase the wt each week...take out your isoaltion exercises and add ina strength portion to each workout

[daveb]

Please explain what you mean by taking out isolation and adding in a strength portion. Thank you.

[swanso5]

isolation exercises are single joint exercises - curls, flies, shoulder raises etc and use little wt and do nothing really, ecspecially when you're new...you're not strong on the big exercies let alone the sml one's

do 3 x full body workouts each week

do a strength portion for each day like this:

day 1 - deadlifts 5 x 5
day 2 - bench press 5 x 5
day 3 - squats 5 x 5

then add in rows, lunges, shoulder presses and chin ups to each day and you're done

do different exercises on each day

AND DO NOT CHANGE EXERCISES EACH WORKOUT

[daveb]

Confused now. So Dead lifts, bench press, and Squat 5x5's say monday wednesday and friday, for example. then add the compound exercises, (lunges, rows, shoulder presses, and chin ups) each workout day? Same exercises three days a week? Is this a routine to do for a few weeks to get stronger before doing isolation exercises?

[swanso5]

brand newie aren't you?

alright i don't give out programs anymore but try this:

mon - deadlifts 5 x 5, seated row paired with push ups 3 x 12/ max reps, static lunge paired with prone ab brace 3 x 12 / time
wed - bench press 5 x 5, romanian deadlift paired with chin ups 3 x 8, single arm db shoulder press paired with side ab brace 3 x 12 / time
fri - squats 5 x 5, db row paired with db incline press 3 x 12, reverse lunge paired with single arm 2 db shoulder press 3 x 12

eat

[daveb]

well im not that much of a "newie" when it comes to working out. just kinda new at lifting for mass the "right way" and deffinetly new to all of this lingo. Thank you for your help.

[daveb]

Wow, so after looking into your advice more i finally got it, i think. Mass is optained from training the biggest muscles, Legs, Back, Chest. And for strength on the smaller exercises compound movements are best. and eat and dont stop eating. Problem is that im in the military so cardio has to be added in as well so i stick to 1-2 days per week of high intensity for 15-20 minutes. this is the only way i can keep endurance and run time up without burning all the necessary calories. I will try this routine for four to six weeks and document the results. Thank you again.