Thread: Critique my program

Originally Posted by JerseyGuy

I am fairly new to lifting and just wanted to get some opinions on my program. I know there is a ton of stuff wrong with it, so suggestions would really help me. My goal is to gain size and strength. For each excercise I do 4 sets (10-8-6-5). I add weight on as the amount of reps gets lower. I wasn't sure of the proper names for some of the things I do, so I'll just write descriptions for those (If you could let me know the names of these that would help, too). I usaully am at the gym for 50-75 minutes depending on the intensity/amount of time I rest between sets (I try to vary this every few weeks).

Monday- off
Tuesday-Triceps
Dips
Triceps Pushdown with rope attachment
Triceps Pushdown with metal attachment
Skull Crushers
Not sure of the names of these-
Seated machine that is similar to dips in the muscles it hits.
Seated, lifting one dumbbell behind head.
Standing with back towards attachment, pulling overhead.

Wed- Back/Shoulders
Seated Row
Upright Row
Shrugs with Dumbbells
Shrugs with Barbells
Lat Bar pulldown
Seated Military Press, Dumbells
Not sure of the name of this-
Seated machine similar in form somewhat to military press.

Thurs- Legs
Leg Press
Squats
Seated Leg Curl
Seated Calf Raise
Not sure of the name of this-
Seated on machine, legs almost straight. Hits calf muscles.

Friday- OFF

Saturday- Chest
Bench Press
Laying Dumbell press
Incline Press (dumbells)
Fly Machine
Seated Bench press machine

Sunday- Biceps/Forearms
Preacher Curl
One armed Preacher curl with dumbells
Hammer curls
Wrist Curls
Inverse preacher curls (I think this is what it is called, targets forarms)
Standing curl with barbell
Standing Machine curl

I know this program is going to get ripped to shreds on here, which is good because I need help and I have the feeling that most people who are willing to give advise around me have no idea what they are talking about. Thanks in advanced...

no need to have 2 days devoted just to arms. No need to train body parts really. Try and maxamize your time in the gym and use compound movements and all the little things (like arms) will take care of themself.

If you are new to training, try a routine like this:

total body 3x's a week leaving one day of rest inbetween each day

OR

one day of upper push (chest, shoulder, tri), one day of legs and one day of upper pull (back, bi). leaving one day of rest inbetween each workout.



really focus on your form and learning the exercises.

We really need a basic workout sticky

Originally Posted by ForemanRules

We really need a basic workout sticky

you are right. maybe i should try and drum one up this weekend.

Ill take it easy on you, although im sure others will flame

Im going to assume from your introduction that you are doing 4 sets per excercise, so I have 3 words for you .... too much volume, particularly for the triceps and biceps. These are much smaller muscle groups so there is no need to do the same amount of reps/sets for these as you would for the larger muscle groups; not to mention the triceps and biceps are used as auxillary muscles when doing chest/shoulders and back respectively. Since you are new, it would be advised to do a standard push/pull routine.

Monday: Chest/Triceps, Chest 8-11 sets, triceps 4-6 sets
Tuesday: Back/Biceps, Back 8-11 sets, biceps 4-6 sets
Wednesday: off
Thursday: Legs, Quad 6 sets, Ham 6 sets, Calves 3-5 sets
Friday: Shoulders/Traps/Forearms, Shoulders 5-7 sets, Traps 4-6 sets, Forearms 4-6 sets.

Others may have other ideas for basic routines, but you get the jist. No need to dedicate 1 full day to biceps or triceps.

When I started my post, there were no replies, then I got a phone call and you guys jumped in before I posted. Glad we got some agreeance there P.

And I also concur on the basic routine sticky.

Originally Posted by PTYP

Monday: Chest/Triceps, Chest 8-11 sets, triceps 4-6 sets
Tuesday: Back/Biceps, Back 8-11 sets, biceps 4-6 sets
Wednesday: off
Thursday: Legs, Quad 6-8 sets, Ham 6 sets, Calves 3-5 sets
Friday: Shoulders/Traps/Forearms, Shoulders 6-9 sets, Traps 4-6 sets, Forearms 2-4 sets.

Others may have other ideas for basic routines, but you get the jist. No need to dedicate 1 full day to biceps or triceps.

Thanks for the input, guys--I really appreciate it. I want to clarify something, I'm a begginer, but I've been doing the routine I posted for the roughly the past 3 months and gained about 19 pounds of muscle. I think I have the form down pretty well for the excercises I'm doing, I just hit a brick wall in terms of gains a few weeks ago (I know it's because my program isn't right). I have a few more questions--I understand what you are saying about my routine (too many days on arms, not the right split, etc), and I'm going to fix that, but what about the actual excercises I'm doing. Are there key ones I'm missing or ones I'm doing that are not necessary? Also, how should I structure the sets for each body part. What I mean is, if I should do 4-6 sets for triceps, how should I distribute that to different excercises (like how many different excercises) and structure how many reps I'm doing per set? Also, is it bad that I'm not working out my abs? Before I started this program I was doing full body workouts every other day, and I did a lot of crunches and other ab excercises, but I felt like it was mostly just burning calories and not really giving me any extra muscle or helping me(my stomach is naturally pretty decent). Is it hurting my overall gains to not do some sort of ab excercises? Again, I really appreciate all of your input. I knew I was doing something wrong, but most people that go to my gym (on a college campus) break down their routines into body parts and do tons of sets per muscle group, so I didn't realize that was the problem.

Originally Posted by ForemanRules

Fair enough

Originally Posted by JerseyGuy

I am fairly new to lifting and just wanted to get some opinions on my program. I know there is a ton of stuff wrong with it, so suggestions would really help me. My goal is to gain size and strength. For each excercise I do 4 sets (10-8-6-5). I add weight on as the amount of reps gets lower. I wasn't sure of the proper names for some of the things I do, so I'll just write descriptions for those (If you could let me know the names of these that would help, too). I usaully am at the gym for 50-75 minutes depending on the intensity/amount of time I rest between sets (I try to vary this every few weeks).

Monday- off
Tuesday-Triceps
Dips
Triceps Pushdown with rope attachment
Triceps Pushdown with metal attachment
Skull Crushers
Not sure of the names of these-
Seated machine that is similar to dips in the muscles it hits.
Seated, lifting one dumbbell behind head.
Standing with back towards attachment, pulling overhead.

Wed- Back/Shoulders
Seated Row
Upright Row
Shrugs with Dumbbells
Shrugs with Barbells
Lat Bar pulldown
Seated Military Press, Dumbells
Not sure of the name of this-
Seated machine similar in form somewhat to military press.

Thurs- Legs
Leg Press
Squats
Seated Leg Curl Extensions
Seated Calf Raise
Rotary Calf Machine


Friday- OFF

Saturday- Chest
Bench Press
Laying Dumbell press
Incline Press (dumbells)
Fly Machine
Seated Bench press machine

Sunday- Biceps/Forearms
Preacher Curl
One armed Preacher curl with dumbells
Hammer curls
Wrist Curls
Inverse preacher curls (I think this is what it is called, targets forarms)
Standing curl with barbell
Standing Machine curl

I know this program is going to get ripped to shreds on here, which is good because I need help and I have the feeling that most people who are willing to give advise around me have no idea what they are talking about. Thanks in advanced...

On basic exercise per body part trained in a holostic manner done over 3 days per week would do you much better if more mass-strength is your goal. Your doing old school training.

How would this be-
Monday: Chest/Triceps,
Bench Press (8, 6, 5)
Incline press (dumbells)(8, 6, 5)
Laying Dumbell press (8, 6, 5)
Fly Machine (10, 8)
Dips (10, 8)
Skull Crushers (8, 6, 5)

Tuesday: Back/Biceps,
Seated Row (8, 6, 5)
Upright Row (8, 6, 5)
Lat Pulldown (8, 6, 5)
Military Press dumbells (8, 6, 5)
Pullups with hands facing me (10, 8)
Preacher curls (8, 6, 5)
Hammer curls (8, 8)

Wednesday: off

Thursday:
Leg Press (10, 8, 6, 5)
Squats (10, 8, 6, 5)
Seated Calf Raise (10, 8, 6, 5)
Rotary Calf Machine (10, 8, 6, 5)
any more ideas for legs that would make this better.

Friday: Shoulders/Traps/Forearms
Shrugs with Dumbbells (8, 6, 5)
Shrugs with Barbell (8, 6, 5)
Wrist Curls (10, 8)
Inverse preacher curls (10, 8)
I need to add to this..what excercises are good for traps and another for shoulders?


Is this any better or am I still on the wrong track?

Originally Posted by JerseyGuy

How would this be-
Monday: Chest/Triceps,
Bench Press (8, 6, 5)
Incline press (dumbells)(8, 6, 5)
Laying Dumbell press (8, 6, 5)
Fly Machine (10, 8)
Dips (10, 8)
Skull Crushers (8, 6, 5)

Just hit 4 sets on benchand maybe 3 on incline, no need to do DB presses AND bar pesses.

Tuesday: Back/Biceps,
Seated Row (8, 6, 5)
Upright Row (8, 6, 5)
Lat Pulldown (8, 6, 5)
Military Press dumbells (8, 6, 5)
Pullups with hands facing me (10, 8)
Preacher curls (8, 6, 5)
Hammer curls (8, 8)

Get rid of seated row for BB row, slide Lat pulldown up and exercise. Upright row is more of a trap/side delt exercise and military press is a delt exercise. No reason to do pull ups and lat pulldown so choose one and eliminate the other one.

Wednesday: off

Thursday:
Leg Press (10, 8, 6, 5)
Squats (10, 8, 6, 5)
Seated Calf Raise (10, 8, 6, 5)
Rotary Calf Machine (10, 8, 6, 5)
any more ideas for legs that would make this better.

Drop the leg press, do lunges or step ups instead. No need for 8 sets on calves, so just do one exercise

Friday: Shoulders/Traps/Forearms
Shrugs with Dumbbells (8, 6, 5)
Shrugs with Barbell (8, 6, 5)
Wrist Curls (10, 8)
Inverse preacher curls (10, 8)
I need to add to this..what excercises are good for traps and another for shoulders?

MOve military press here. No reason to do 2 different shrugs, pick one. Some lateral/rear delt work would be good, lat raises and/or rear delt raises will work. If you need another trap exercise, scapular retraction is good.


Is this any better or am I still on the wrong track?

This is laid out by bodypart so I hate it, but I went ahead and made some changes for you.

"lat raises and/or rear delt raises will work. If you need another trap exercise, scapular retraction is good."

can you explain what these are? Also, what is BB row?

Less machine exercises, more compound exercises, less isolation exercises. I'll go more into detail later on