Lookinforinfo

So I work out normally about 5 days a week...

Tues/Thurs--> Arms
Mon/Wed/Fri--> Chest, Shoulders, Legs, abs

I was wondering what the affect would be if I attempted to incorporate the Armstrong pullup routine into my standard workout routine. Its a five day exercise routine which means i would be doing it ever workout day. Would this over work my muscles...any thoughts are welcome. Thanks in advance

Phineas

I have no idea what the Armstrong Pullup routine is, but I can give a shot at everything else to save our other members some time.

First off, post your stats (e.g. age, weight, bodyfat), more detail on your program (e.g. rep range, periodization, tempo, rest interval), and your goal (e.g. mass/strength? power? endurance? hypertrophy?).

Secondly, you'll find most members on here will blast you for all that direct arm training. Five days a week is already a pretty heavy workload, but all that arm work is a bit overkill considering your arms get worked hard when training larger muscles. For instance, the biceps are largely involved in such pulling exercises as rows, chinups, and pullups, while the triceps are largely involved in such pushing exercises as chest presses, bench, shoulder/military press, corner press, etc. A little direct work won't hurt, but it's more efficient to focus on compound movements for larger muscles (which also release greater amounts of growth hormones which will help growth in more than just the targeted area). When you think about the biceps (easily the most popular amongst men wanting to get "ripped") they're one of the smallest muscles on your body. Look at how small they are versus your quads. Why would you put so much time and energy into blasting them, when the work yields relatively such small gains? Think big, and you'll get big.

Thirdly, while it's good that you train legs, you're not training them enough in relation to the rest of your body. I realize your running may make this difficult, but think of it this way: your legs make up half of your body. They're the largest muscles in the body. So, (and I used to do this, too) while it may seem logical to do arms/shoulders/chest/back/legs (since you're hitting body areas evenly), the legs are as large as all those other muscles combined. A smarter way to organize your leg training would be by push/pull or quad-dominant and ham/hip-dominant movements. So, one day doing deadlifts, good mornings, etc, and the other doing your squats, lunges, etc.

http://www.ironmagazineforums.com/tr...s-cowpimp.html (Designing training routines by Cowpimp)

Cowpimp's articles did wonders for me, and they'll surely help you. Hope this helped. Good luck!

Training the mind is equally, if not more, important than training the body. If you can learn to transcend natural limitations, and force your mind into your muscle, your strength will know no bounds.

Gazhole

I think you need to totally rethink your training schedule.

You give your arms a whole two training days and then shove everything else in together? This is not productive considering your arms make up a tiny percentage of your total skeletal muscle mass, yet you are devoting most of your training time to them.

While pullups are great for back development (and judging by that split you need to do some back work) i don't see the point of the kind of frequency you want to do - that goes for everything.

Keep it simple. Train three days a week. In each session press something, pull something, and do something for your legs. Choose a different rep range for monday/wednesday/friday.

No need to overthink things or do ridiculous training frequency/volume. This is a typical workout session on that sort of set up, including an optional extra bodyweight or isolation exercise, and some cardio:

Squats - 3x5
Rows - 3x5
Overhead Press - 3x5
Stability Ball Leg Curls - 2x15
Steady State Treadmill (10:00)

You can do that in 45 minutes with a warmup and some stretching afterwards, go home, eat, and rest (read: GROW).

http://sdatrainingprograms.blogspot.com - Updated 13/11/09


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