Thread: Design A New Routine!

Glancing at your numbers in your exercises, I would check your form.

For example,

Looking at these numbers
Flat Bench: 145
Incline: 110

Then these numbers look to high
Chest Flys: 42.5 per side
skull crushers: 77.5

There is likely a form issue here, unless the bench is done with DB's

how many speeds does your blender have???

Originally Posted by PushAndPull

Glancing at your numbers in your exercises, I would check your form.

For example,

Looking at these numbers
Flat Bench: 145
Incline: 110

Then these numbers look to high
Chest Flys: 42.5 per side
skull crushers: 77.5

There is likely a form issue here, unless the bench is done with DB's

Wow... pretty sharp assessment(sincere). With the flys, I guess it is more of a bearhug press motion than a fly motion, and with the skull crushers, I don't lock my elbows in place, I lower the whole curl bar down past my head slightly because it seems to put less stress on my elbows and medial head and seems to work the long head area of the triceps better. My bench press numbers have never been all that great. If you look at my pic, I feel that my triceps have a nice shape to them, just my humble opinion. Thanks for your response.

Originally Posted by MyK 3.0

how many speeds does your blender have???

HaHaHa! Well, to quote David Lee Roth: "It's not if you win or lose, it's not how you play the game........It's how good you look!" So I picked the blender that looked the best...2 speeds with ice crush function.

Quite frankly it will be difficult to put together a solid bulking routine without squats and deads. Will you eventually be able to start these lifts after you fully heal or are they a no-go for you for good? Provide this info so we can better suggest something for you that might work.

Alright, lets try and figure out how to increase your bench.
I think the four biggest factors are: Chest, triceps, back, and shoulders.
Triceps and I would even say your shoulders are not your problem areas, and yet your upper body lifts reflect someone whose priorities are their shoulders and triceps. In other words far too many exercises for them and not enough for your chest and back. My advice drop all the tricep exercises and have at most two shoulder exercises. For your back you should add lat-pulldowns or better yet pull-ups/of any grip variation [chins and the rows would elminate the need for isolation work on your biceps (which aren't lagging anyways) ]. Use heavier weight on your bench and rows, and accordingly reduce the reps/sets. Correct your form on the flys, which probably means lowering the weight, but you'll get a better, safer chest workout by doing this. Get a real lower body routine, if not at least do something for your lower back, good mornings are good for this. Make sure your diet is good (diet forum).

Originally Posted by CaptainNapalm

Quite frankly it will be difficult to put together a solid bulking routine without squats and deads. Will you eventually be able to start these lifts after you fully heal or are they a no-go for you for good? Provide this info so we can better suggest something for you that might work.

Sadly, it's a no go forever. My disk between L5 and S1 is only half the thickness of the other disks, a result of it rupturing, and it wasn't from lifting weights. So there really isn't much of a disk left at all. No allowance for heavy pressure from above. I am fully healed though, no pain, and it has been a couple of years since the surgery. I know it will be harder to bulk, but it's my only choice. I think I can safely do lunges while holding dumbells low. And I can do modified squats with an exercise ball behind my back against the wall, again holding dumbells low. And leg presses on the machine, with my back safely against the back rest. Then there are leg extensions which aren't a problem, as well as leg curls, and machine calf raises. If you can come up with a killer lower body combo plan, that would be fantastic! I would be very stoked.

Thanks

I'd toss in pistol squats for sure. Can you sprint at all? Sprints are awesome for leg development while bulking. Also glute ham raises for hamstrings are the SHIT.

Originally Posted by PushAndPull

Alright, lets try and figure out how to increase your bench.
I think the four biggest factors are: Chest, triceps, back, and shoulders.
Triceps and I would even say your shoulders are not your problem areas, and yet your upper body lifts reflect someone whose priorities are their shoulders and triceps. In other words far too many exercises for them and not enough for your chest and back. My advice drop all the tricep exercises and have at most two shoulder exercises. For your back you should add lat-pulldowns or better yet pull-ups/of any grip variation [chins and the rows would elminate the need for isolation work on your biceps (which aren't lagging anyways) ]. Use heavier weight on your bench and rows, and accordingly reduce the reps/sets. Correct your form on the flys, which probably means lowering the weight, but you'll get a better, safer chest workout by doing this. Get a real lower body routine, if not at least do something for your lower back, good mornings are good for this. Make sure your diet is good (diet forum).

This is fantastic! It is true about the neglected exercises. I do most workouts at home where I have two benches, one for bench press, the other for dumbell work. I don't have a lat pulldown machine, and have failed to install a pull-up bar, to top that off, I can't do overhead presses. So that explains it. But I do have a membership to a gym, so I'll just have to go there more often, for the leg work as well. I guess I really have to focus on the bigger muscle groups now, especially since I'm going on a bulk.

Ok, I'm ready to hear the winning routine...

Originally Posted by Built

I'd toss in pistol squats for sure. Can you sprint at all? Sprints are awesome for leg development while bulking. Also glute ham raises for hamstrings are the SHIT.

Nice!! Pistol squats have never in my life been part of my routine, I'll do them the next time I workout! I'm afraid to do sprints (because of said injury). Glute ham raises look awesome, I've never tried those!

Just a side note, and this is really jumping off topic for a second, but in my opinion, there is nothing sexier than women who compete in the 100 meter sprint. They have the best legs in the world.

I feel honored to be receiving everyone's feedback. Thank you.

I don't have your particular injury, but I do have a grade I anterolisthesis at L5-S1, and while jogging would be horrible, I have had ZERO back problems from sprinting. As an added perq, sprinting works my abs. I find most crunch-type movements unpleasant to painful on my back, so this has been a real concern for me.

Do you have a GHR at your gym? You can use a bosu ball if you don't. Just tuck your legs under something like the padded leg piece from the leg extension machine and you're good to go. (load the pin to the heaviest setting and toss a few 45-lb "friends" onto the seat to hold the leg extension machine steady while you do these, trust me on this... )

Originally Posted by Built

I don't have your particular injury, but I do have a grade I anterolisthesis at L5-S1, and while jogging would be horrible, I have had ZERO back problems from sprinting. As an added perq, sprinting works my abs. I find most crunch-type movements unpleasant to painful on my back, so this has been a real concern for me.

Do you have a GHR at your gym? You can use a bosu ball if you don't. Just tuck your legs under something like the padded leg piece from the leg extension machine and you're good to go. (load the pin to the heaviest setting and toss a few 45-lb "friends" onto the seat to hold the leg extension machine steady while you do these, trust me on this... )

Sprinting works the abs??

Upper body workout routine



Day one of upper body

For pull-ups/variations try for 5 reps each. Your legs should not move during the pull! and try to get full range,all the way up, all the way down, try not to pause but if short pause is necessary to get an extra rep, that's cool.

The order is from hardest to easiest
2 sets of pull-ups
2 sets of chin-ups
2 sets of neutral grip pull-ups

alternative (only if you cannot do the routine above)
3 sets of lat-pulldowns
3 sets of reverse lat pulldowns

It's possible that you could do some pull-ups/variations but not all. In that case use common sense and mix and match. For example,if you could do a couple of sets of neutral grip variations(they're the easiest) or some other mix then follow them up with the difference in lat pull-downs (so if you did 3 sets of pull-ups/variations you would then finish with 3 sets of lat pull-downs/variation) progress this way untill you can drop the training wheels(lat pull-downs).

Rows
2 sets of barbell or dumbbell rows
2 sets of seated pulley rows

Done


Day 2 of upper body (does not have to be the next day, just somewhere in the week)

2 sets of flat bench
2 sets of incline bench
2 sets of dips
2 sets of flys or cable crossovers.
3 sets of corner press
1 set of lateral raises (till failure)

Done



Since you have a back/spine injury, which I have no experience with, i'm not going to recommend good mornings or a lower body routine. Perhaps Built will be so kind as to design one for you.

Originally Posted by Phineas

Sprinting works the abs??

Sprinting works the abs like a sonofabitch!

Originally Posted by PushAndPull

Since you have a back/spine injury, which I have no experience with, i'm not going to recommend good mornings or a lower body routine. Perhaps Built will be so kind as to design one for you.

Patrick Ward already did this about a year ago:

Training around a back injury