Thread: Hows my routine?

Lots of push movement, too little pulling movements, too much iso, squats & deads back to back days twice a week seams a bit much...

I'd say it needs work but Gaz is much better at dissecting a workout and making recommendations so I'll exit stage left.

Should I take another day off or should I splt the squat and dead days farther apart?? Thanks for the response rahaas

help plz gaz.

Taking another day off would help allot. Rearranging your routine following these guidelines for a 3 or 4 day split would be best: Designing a Split Routine
Do this and eat right and you will see much better gains.

If strength gains are part of your goal, I think a full-body routine 3 times a week might be a good thing.

Something like Rippetoes might work decently.

I'm not seeing any pattern in these workouts at all, but i don't reccomend squatting and deadlifting twice each in one week.

Keep it simple, especially if your goal is strength. Lifting in a lower rep range, and using some form of linear periodization will likely help you.

Do 3 days a week, each session at a lowish volume. Make 4 workouts and cycle them, something like:


Workout A:
Bench Press
Overhead Press
Dips

Workout B:
Squats
Lunges
Step Ups

Workout C:
Bent Over Row
Pullups
Dumbell Rows

Workout D:
Deadlifts
Good Mornings
Hyperextensions


Work the first movement in each session at a fairly high intensity. and the other lifts should be something less, like accessory work, 3x10/3x12 or something.

The main lifts could either be 4x4, 6x3, 3x3, anything really. Or you could apply a basic linear periodization scheme to those lifts only.


Taken from Cowpimp's thread:

Week 1: 4x12 @ 65%
Week 2: 4x10 @ 70%
Week 3: 3x8 @ 75%
Week 4: 3x5 @ 83%
Week 5: 3x3 @ 88%
Week 6: 3x2 @ 90%
Week 7: 2x2 @ 95%
Week 8: 1x1 @ 100%
Week 9: 1x1 @ 105% - Attempt record


Obviously, if you're doing 4 sessions, cycling through 3 days a week there will be overlap (youll be doing a week 1 workout for Workout D on the second week of training etc) and this won't work, so instead of "Week 1" etc, just work through that periodization plan each time you do the session, whatever week its on.

If you want to add an isolation movement to each session, go ahead. But it should fit into the "theme" of that day.

Just some ideas to chew over.

If you want to get stronger, plan for it, don't just do 3x10 and try to add weight to the bar.

Alright thanks, sounds like solid advice. The reason I have most lifts 2x a week was because earlier this year I had a lot of gains with my bench press doing that twice a week. I would bench like 3x10 @ like 185 lbs one day and then another day I would go like 3x3 or 4x4 @ like 255-260. It worked out great for my bench press, and my 1x10 personal best went up like 15-20 pounds.

Will this not work for my other workouts? Or do I just have too much in one week?


ALSO Do you have any tips for good mornings? I've never done them and they seem a bit risky.

Bench is one thing, Squats and Deadlifts are another.

It CAN be done, but with the amount of volume and frequency in that program you posted it wouldn't be possible i don't think.

I did a program where i was doing Bench, Bent Over Row, Squat, and Deadlifts 2-3x a week, but that was ALL i did each workout. One day was 4x4, the next day was 3x10, and the other day was like 2x6 or something. Really low volume, varying intensity, and one "back-off" day.

Even then it wasn't a great program.

The key is stimulate not annihilate, go to the gym, do some solid work, and get out in good time so you can rest.

For Good Mornings, especially since you haven't done them before, start out light. I like to put a slight bend in my knees rather than keeping my knees straight (easier to keep lower back from rounding). Treat it similar to an RDL, and hinge at the hips, letting your torso go as close to parallel with the floor as possible. If thats only 45 degrees at first, thats fine - you just need to work on flexibility.

They're a good movement, but i think people go far too heavy on them sometimes.