please critique my routine!

[BJJ monster]

i split my workout so i do chest/tri/bi, back/shoulder, abs/legs and i throw in 15 mins of high intensity cardio in the morning every other day or so (i start and stop cardio mostly to manage bodyfat). i do about 3 different exercise for each muscle, about 3 sets for each exercise and about 6-10 reps for each set. also, i work out around 5pm after work.

i'm wondering if i should do my w/o split twice a week(mon-sat) and take sunday off like i do now with high intensity cardio in the mornings (whenever i feel like it 3-5 times a week for about 15 mins) or if should i start a mon/wed/fri split with cardio on off days. what has worked best for you guys for maximum muscle gain without really "bulking" or overtraining? i'm kind of trying to cut (not much but a little bit) but most importantly, i'm trying to find a nice equilibrium that i can stay at. i'm eating carbs in the morning and tapering off after lunch for my diet and focusing on protein (except post w/o shake where i use dextrose).
current supps: ON 100% whey, dextrose, v-12. most of summer will be whey, dextrose, prolab creatine, diesel nos precursor.

sorry for the long post but i wanted to be thorough with my goals, diet, and workout plan. i know it probably has more to do with my body and how quickly i heal but i just want your opinions.

 

[gr81]

ther is not one certain routine that is the best. each one of those might work better for different people. It depends onwhat works best for you, trial and error man.

 

[BJJ monster]

thanks. i use the soreness factor as a means of telling i'm overtraining or not but i didn't know if that was a good thing or not. by the way, that picture is funny/freaky. i dunno what to say about it except, "ACK!"

 

[DaMayor]

I'm a lumberjack and I'm okay....I sleep all night and I work all day!
I cut down trees, I eat me lunch, I go to the lavatory.........

 

[P-funk]

Some questions:

a) how long have you been working out for
b) is what you are doing now working for you or has your
progressed slowed up some?
c) how balanced are your workouts? Can you please post an
example?

 

[BJJ monster]

a) i've been working out for 7 months

b) of course the first month is crazy progress but from then on, i've been rather random with gains. some weeks i'll add 10 lbs of bench and others, i seem to struggle with weights i've been using before (the week i added 10 pounds on bench was the week i had tubs of ben and jerry's lying around..hee hee) my body weight/fat hasn't changed much at all but over all i made good gains. (last four months, i gained 45 lbs on bench)

c) what do you mean by balanced? i do:
chest/tri/bi day:
bench
incline bench
close grip bench
skull crushers
dumbbell arm extensions
barbell curls
preacher curls
hammer curls

shoulder/back day:
pulls ups
bent rows
reverse flies
upright row
lateral arm raises
dumbbell military press
front arm raises

quad/abs day:
crunches
leg raises
side crunches
side bends with dumbbells(obliques)
squats
lunges

i've been taking too many business classes so i have a funky ass approach to weightlifting - i think in such economical terms that i'm thinking of opportunity costs of working out more or less and how to allocate my resources(weight lifting equipment and supplements) so that i can maximize my gains while still being cost efficient. i'm just glad it's the summer cuz this head needs a rest. hence the reason i came here instead of thinking it through my head and using the "trial and error" method i've been using so far. plus, i mostly have dumbbells at home so i have to primarily revolve my exercises around these (ie. dumbbell bench press) except barbell curls.

 

[BJJ monster]

oh yeah, forgot to mention...all of these work outs last no more than 45 mins. the reason i'm restructuring my workout is to make it more efficient (time/gains/supplements) since i'll be working this summer from 8am -4pm. and because i'm home from school. at school, when i started, i seriously overtrained (same thing everyday) for like 2 weeks but i still gained since i never worked out before. then i learned and did it less often, whole body work out every other day. but then i adapted even more and did a 2 day split 3 times a week until the end of school which makes me think that i must've not been training hard enough during my workouts to be able to work out same muscles 3 days a week. i went into school 10 lbs lighter than i am now but the scale is broke so i can't really tell, only estimate. my body fat looks about the same but i've been told many times by my mom and friends that i look much bigger and i get the question we all love, "have you been working out?"

 

[P-funk]

c) what do you mean by balanced?

Balance can mean a lot of different things. What type of exercises you are doing, the order in which you are doing them, how many sets/reps you are doing for a particular body part, the over all balance in terms of exercise choices for a particular body part, etc......lots of things.

Looking at your program I see some things that I would change and some things that look a little odd (in terms of exercise choices and reasons for them) to me. I don;t have time right now to type a reply but I will try and get back to this tomorrow or over the weekend with my opinions.....If you are interested.

peace,
Patrick

 

[BJJ monster]

sure sure...anything that helps. thanks a lot

 

[MeanCuts]

What happened to calves? You don't work them out?

 

[BJJ monster]

okay now i completely redid my workout. i like it, although each work out will take more than 40 mins but less than 1 hour...and just for you MeanCuts, i added calf raises! (i actually did them a while back but stopped for a while cuz i started running and they were sore) damn...i have a headache from all this fuss but it was worth it. now i feel better...thanks guys

 

[eskimo515]

what's the new workout plan?

 

[BJJ monster]

i just do a two day split and do it every other day. ie. mon - upper body, wed - mid and lower body, fri - upper body, sun - mid and lower body....and i run in between those days. QUITE unorthodox but it works fine for me cuz my body doesnt need a whole week to recoup but i've noticed that since i got home that i'm sore after my workouts and need an extra day off. this didnt seem to happen at school no matter how intense my work out was. the exercises haven't changed much (except dumbbell bench while i did regular barbell at school) and i was easily able to work same muscles twice a week (let alone 3 times) and work different parts each day resting only on sunday, but here, my soreness from the day before makes the next day work out seem less effective. that's why i go with this new format and go every other day, giving each muscle group 4 days to rest. i think it must be the v-12 and the "pump" that people talk about. it just makes me sore like i had a great work out. i feel it especially in the morning when i'm rolling around about to wake up and i think "wow, i missed that feeling" i personally think the soreness is a good thing. when work starts, i'll probably go to the 3 day split and work one muscle group only once a week...i'm ready for trial and error.