I want to change up my routine

[rgprestige15]

Hey guys, I am looking for some suggestions to change up my routine a bit. I feel I have hit a plateau and can't seem to make more gains in terms of size and strength.

In my current routine, I work out 3-4 days a week. I have been doing a pyramid type thing where I increase the weight and lower the reps. A rough example for bench would look something like this:

Day 1- Chest (135x16 (warmup),205x12, 225x8, 245x6, 275x4)
Day 2- Squats/Quads
Day 3- Shoulders and back
Day 4- Deadlifts/Hams

I usually do 3-4 different lifts for each day following this sort of pattern. I can write a more detailed routine, but I just used this as an example for time sake.

I have been reading about dividing push/pull, and upper/lower body workouts in the same day. Can anyone recommend a good way to divide this up that was effective for you? I am curious how effective this would be. Also, I am thinking that I should quit the pyramid routine and just calculate weight/reps based on a % of my 1RP Max.

Kind of off topic, but does anyone throw cardio in the mixture?

 

[Marat]

Also, I am thinking that I should quit the pyramid routine and just calculate weight/reps based on a % of my 1RP Max.

Check out 5/3/1 by wendler

Kind of off topic, but does anyone throw cardio in the mixture?

What are your goals with the cardio?

 

[rgprestige15]

Check out 5/3/1 by wendler

What are your goals with the cardio?

Mainly to take a stab at staying lean while building and all around health.
I have been doing nothing but lifting for 6 months now and running a mile is a lot harder than it should be.

 

[Marat]

I don't know much about track and field but if you want to improve your conditioning, I recommend looking into GPP (general physical preparedness) activities.

Running hills and pushing a prowler/sled are some examples.

 

[rgprestige15]

I checked out the 5/3/1 and I am very interested. Looks pretty legitimate and seems very easy to track your progress. I understand how to calculate the weight on the core exercises, but what about the supplemental sets that you are suppose to do subsequently? Are you using the same weight for each set in those? Also seems like the routine would take you 45 min in the gym tops.

 

[Marat]

seems like the routine would take you 45 min in the gym tops.

I train alone and in an empty gym and it takes me a bit over an hour. The 5x15 sets take a bit of time to recover from. The 5x10s aren't a cake walk either.

The rest of your question is covered extensively in the book.