-BB Chest Press
-DB Incline Press
-Preacher Curls
-Tricep Press Downs
-Lat Pull-down
-Cable Rows
-Overhead press
-Upright rows
-Step ups
-Bulgarian split squats
-Calf raises
3 sets of 8 reps
3 times per week
Thanks for the feedback
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-BB Chest Press
-DB Incline Press
-Preacher Curls
-Tricep Press Downs
-Lat Pull-down
-Cable Rows
-Overhead press
-Upright rows
-Step ups
-Bulgarian split squats
-Calf raises
3 sets of 8 reps
3 times per week
Thanks for the feedback
Couple of questions. How long have you been training? Why no deadlifts or back squats? What are your intensities and rest periods? What are your goals with this routine?
I would do this instead:Quote:
Originally Posted by theiowabowhunter
BB bench press
Dips
Lat pull downs
BB rows
Military press
Squats
Deadlifts
Thanks for the input guys. I'm a newbe,,,,I guess. I used to run a 4 day split about 5 years ago. I suffered a lower back injury and havn't lifted since. I have stayed active and eat clean. I have stayed at about the same weight but have gotten fat. I want to tone up and put on a little mass. I have strayed from back squats and deads cause I don't want to take a chance at injuring my back further and I'll training at home probably alone. I think SS's,,,lunges,,,etc...will get me where I want to be so it's just not worth the risk. I was thinking about super-setting these and taking a 2 minute rest between sets??Quote:
Originally Posted by PushAndPull
Gotcha, you have not workout in a few years and want to get back into shape. Fullbody routines are great for the reason you're using it for, which is basically conditioning. Here are my thoughts/opinions. There are some problems with your program. The first thing you need to address is intensity. In other words, you need to determine what weight you will be using for your exercises. Most people will start off by estimating their one rep max and then use a percentage of that as their starting point. So you might esitmate that your max bench is 200, and a good starting percentage is 65% so you use 130lbs. If you're doing a fullbody routine 3 times a week with decent intensity then you're already in shape, which is the goal. So you need the intensity to be high enough so that you can't do the routine 3 times a week. Once you find that intensity then you can begin the program. Just to be clear, once you find that intensity it doesn't change, the weight you will be using will stay the same. The progression should be in frequency. So you start off doing it only once a week untill you can do it twice a week a then finally three times, and maybe hold it there for a couple weeks.
So a typically fullbody routine, would have 3 different fullbody routines: A, B, and C
A routine would look something like this
Week 1: A
Week 2: B
Week 3: C,A
Week 4: B,C
Week 5: A,B
Week 6: C,A
Week 7: B,C,A
Week 8: B,C
Week 9: A,B,C
Week 10: A,B
Week 11: C,B,A
Week 12: C,B,A
Week 13: C,B,A
Week 14: off
Week 15: new routine
So could you guys turn me on to some good full-body routines,,,,meaning what exercises work well together.
Pushpull kind of got into this, but since you are just starting out again and have an injury history you will want to ease into things. I don't think you necessarily have to start 1 day per week, you can do 2-3 if you wanted, but you should keep the intensity down to start. Start out with a higher rep range, maybe 10-12 with lightish weight, about 65-75% of your 1 RM. You can estimate your 1RM pretty safely by using a weight you think you can do for 6-8 reps, test it, and then go online and find a chart that will give you your 1 RM (this should be very easy to find). I would stay in the 10-12 rep range for 2-4 weeks to get a good base of strength and hone your nervous system, and then you can do fewer reps for more weight, maybe 6-8 reps at 80-85% your new 1RM.
This is dependent on your goals; a strength goal= 1-6 reps at 85%-100% your 1RM, a muscle size goal (hypertrophy) = 6-12 reps at 65%-85% 1RM. This is obviously a continuum and not an "either or" thing, so perhaps splitting the difference and using a pyramid scheme would be best (ex. 3 sets, 10 reps, then 8 reps, then 6 reps of increasing weight). Rest periods are also important. For strength you want to give your muscles all the time needed to replenish energy (3-5 minutes), for hypertrophy you would want shorter rest periods (30sec-90sec). Again, splitting the difference at ~2 minutes may be fine for your goals.
As far as exercise selection, here are some of the top of my head that you could do pretty easily on your own:
choose 2 upper pushing: (DB bench, incline DB bench, DB flys, cable punches, military press)
choose 2 upper pulling: (Bent row, lat pulldown, Seated high-elbow row, pull-ups, chin ups, upright row)
Choose 3-4 lower body: (lunges, straight leg deadlift, leg press, step-ups, leg extension, leg curl, calve raises)
Superset burn at end: DB curl and dips, 3 sets no rest between.
Your body will only adapt to what you expose it to, thus continually switching lifts, even if they are very similar, is important to keep your body guessing. Do not neglect the "hard" lifts for the easy ones, but switch it up and choose from a pool of exercises versus just doing the same ones over and over again. you could also do the same ones for 1-3 weeks and then switch it up.
It is important to do large lifts that require many muscles and joints before smaller lifts. For example, you would do a squat before a leg extension, or a bench before a bicep curl. This may seem obvious but you'd be surprised what people do in the gym. There are exceptions to this but for the average lifter this is a good rule to follow.
I think that if you were to use appropriate weight and technique squats and deadlifts would be excellent lifts, but if you are uncomfortable doing them that is fine- you can still get a good workout without them for your goals.
Finally, and this is extremely important, give your body time to rest! Take a week off every 4-8 weeks. Your body needs time to recover from the stress you put it under and this rest is essential to do that and avoid overtraining. Work smarter, not harder.
Good luck!