Is 3 days a week enough?

[rjr5353]

Been lifting for 4 months now, but only going to the gym 3 days a week. My question is: Is this enough time in the gym to build your body? Will it be quicker if I go to the gym more often? Listed below is a sketch of my routine, Please help me out a bit here, Ive been doing this for 4 months and dont want to waste the valuable time I do have. Alll excersizes are done in the order in which they are listed below. I have changed the excersizes up...So this is what I am currently doing.

Sunday - CHEST/Shoulders/Triceps
BenchPress 4x10
Incline Dumbell press 4x10
Machine Fly's 4x10
Dumbell Military Press 4x10
Skull Crushers 4x10

Tuesday - LEGS\ABS
Squats 4x10
Leg Extensions 4x10
Hamstrings (dont know the name of the excersize?)
Calve Raises 4x10
Weighted Decline Situps

Thursday - BACK\BICEPS
Bent Rows 4x10
WideGrip Lat Pulldowns 4x10
Dumbell Curls 4x10
Chin ups 4xExhaustion

So is this enough? I have been seeing gains, but Im not sure if the gains are what they are supposed to be after lifting for 4 months and having a pretty good diet.

 

[bulletproof1]

start with describing "pretty good diet."

 

[rjr5353]

Well not pretty good, but pretty damn solid...Ive already posted it in the nutrition section when I first started and got really good advice over there....I made some changes per their advice and they approved it...

 

[CowPimp]

That is a very common 3-day split. Absolutely nothing wrong with a 3-day split. Also, I think your volume looks pretty good.

My only suggestion is that you replace wide grip lat pulldowns with deadlifts. Bent rows and chinups both hit your lats pretty good. Also, I don't know what you're doing for hamstrings, but my two favorite exercises or good morning and straight-legged deadlifts. Reverse hyperextensions look nice too, but I workout at home and don't have access to that equipment.

 

[yellowmoomba]

That is a very common 3-day split. Absolutely nothing wrong with a 3-day split. Also, I think your volume looks pretty good.

My only suggestion is that you replace wide grip lat pulldowns with deadlifts. Bent rows and chinups both hit your lats pretty good. Also, I don't know what you're doing for hamstrings, but my two favorite exercises or good morning and straight-legged deadlifts. Reverse hyperextensions look nice too, but I workout at home and don't have access to that equipment.

I agree with CowPimp SLDL's are great for your hams.

I like Pullups though so I'd to two sets of Deadlifts and two sets of Pullups instead of 4 sets of Pullups or switch the two exercises every other week

 

[rjr5353]

Great , thansk for the added info guys....Im just wondering, with the ideal diet in place and this particular routine, in a four month period , how "big" should you have gotten? I guess theres no good way to answer this question as it would be different for eveyone...I have seen size and strength gains but not exactly what I expected....I was hoping for the overnight miracle to happen I guess....I am now back to reality in that I know it takes time and patience to acheive the "big" status....Im only 164 pounds though anyway....Probably just not in my genetics.....

 

[P-funk]

I like three day a week splits. You have a good plan with the push/legs/pull split. I also like total body for variation, especially when I mix some olympic lifting in.

 

[P-funk]

Great , thansk for the added info guys....Im just wondering, with the ideal diet in place and this particular routine, in a four month period , how "big" should you have gotten? I guess theres no good way to answer this question as it would be different for eveyone...I have seen size and strength gains but not exactly what I expected....I was hoping for the overnight miracle to happen I guess....I am now back to reality in that I know it takes time and patience to acheive the "big" status....Im only 164 pounds though anyway....Probably just not in my genetics.....

Yes time and pateince my freind, Rome was not buit in a day. Don't be so quick to count your genetics out either as you have only been traning for 4 months.

 

[DOMS]

... but my two favorite exercises or good morning and straight-legged deadlifts.

I concur. I think Good-mornings are one of the best exercises for hamstrings.

 

[Mudge]

If you can fit your routine in an hour 15 or less approximately 3 days a week and cover the body, yes.

As for the routine you posted, I dont like it

 

[Mudge]

Yes time and pateince my freind, Rome was not buit in a day. Don't be so quick to count your genetics out either as you have only been traning for 4 months.

Yep! You may spend your whole life constantly changing your routine and diet, trying new things out. Or after 5, 10, 20 years, you may find something you like and almost stick to it to a T for the remainder of your training.

Either this becomes your lifestyle, or you will probably end up quitting discouraged like so many others. Stick to it, evaluate things as you go along, but dont expect miracles in any length of time.

Dont forget, diet diet diet.

 

[redspy]

I run a 3-day split very similar to this, although I do a lot of exercise rotation. The only thing that caught my eye was lack of direct posterior deltoid work. This area will obviously receive stimulation from your back work, but a shoulder that is muscularly imbalanced may increase risk of injuries further down the line. JMO. Good luck with the routine.

 

[rjr5353]

What would be an excersize that hits the direct posterior deltoid?

 

[rjr5353]

I want to also change the order up in my excersizes as well, do you still recommend to hit the core muscles first? Like hit the chest before you hit the triceps and the back before you do the biceps? Or can i work my biceps first then hit the back?

 

[Mudge]

Back needs a lot of weight, if you tire your biceps out before your back, then all your rowing movements are going to die.

I go big weights first, puny weights last, always.

I dont do any pre-exaustion stuff either like cable Xovers before bench.

 

[redspy]

What would be an excersize that hits the direct posterior deltoid?

Check out some exercises on this page - http://www.exrx.net/Lists/ExList/ShouldWt.html#anchor1934542

 

[Mudge]

PLEASE revise your program, 4 sets for chest and 12 sets for shoulders? 4 sets of leg extentions? Too many IMO if you like your knees. I'm guessing you are young, only based on me not yet being 30 and how my body with true hardcore training reacts to such things.

Back day almost looks ok for me, but I can't do that many pulldowns either, dont like them at all even for a single set anymore. Dont need em either! If you aren't deadlifting you are going to have to make up for it elsewhere, good mornings and shrugs should get you going.

I think the routine in need of rebuild.

Just my thoughts.

 

[CowPimp]

PLEASE revise your program, 4 sets for chest and 12 sets for shoulders? 4 sets of leg extentions? Too many IMO if you like your knees. I'm guessing you are young, only based on me not yet being 30 and how my body with true hardcore training reacts to such things.

Back day almost looks ok for me, but I can't do that many pulldowns either, dont like them at all even for a single set anymore. Dont need em either! If you aren't deadlifting you are going to have to make up for it elsewhere, good mornings and shrugs should get you going.

I think the routine in need of rebuild.

Just my thoughts.

He is doing 8 sets for chest and 8 sets for shoulders... Bench press and machine flys for chest, incline DB press and DB military press for shoulders. Also, the incline DB press could be more for the chest depending on the angle of incline. When I do incline work I only use a 15 degree angle or so.

However, I do agree that the program could use some tweaking.