Routine in sets.

[epimetheus]

I never have had a trainer, in the month or so that I have been working out, but with some questions answered by a friend of mine who took weightlifting in highschool I devised a sort of work out routine. And alot of searching on the internet has giving me alot of information on proper techniques and such, but I have yet to see anything on how to lift.
I kind of gather that when a person starts out lifting, he or she starts with a low weight and does a warm up set or two, before going to his/her work out weight. However, my friend says when he was working out he got the best results from this.

Set 1- Mid weight, 12-15 reps, good warm up
Set 2- Increase weight a bit till fail or near fail at 10 reps
Set 3- Add a smidge more weight, fail at 8 reps.
Set 4- (I usually only do 4 sets if it is a large muscle group) more weight, fail at 6 reps.

I usually wait 30 seconds in between set 1 and 2, and anywhere from 1-2 mins in between the heavier sets.
My routine has been changing pretty quickly as I learn more and more about proper form, About adding another set every other week or so, and so on, but so far this has not changed. Is this a good way to do things, or should I stick to 60-80% of max on every set, sticking to one weight. (other than my warm up set)

 

[pumpit]

Don't worry about putting more sets on your workout that will be too much, but instead focus on increasing the weight by a pound each week for 12 weeks then take a week break and keep going.
I would stick to about 60-70% of your max if you go higher it might damage your joints,ligaments or tendons!
Hope this helps and please let me know how you got on

 

[Arnold]

What you said all makes sense. I typically do around 8-10 sets for large muscle groups using 2 different exercises. I stay in the 6-8 rep range after a warm-up set. Sometimes I pryamid, other times I get to a heavy wait and stop.

 

[Scotty the Body]

I do pretty much the same thing for warm up, 2 sets with a light weight stretch in between sets.
Just remember that a warm up set is ment to "warm up" the muscle and joints get the blood flowing, you shouldn't be stressing the muscle to much otherwise you won't have the strength for you heavy sets.

 

[epimetheus]

Scotty: Yes, I try to keep my warm up light, but I must admit there has been a few times I put too much weight on. I try to be careful, as it does tire me out too fast and I feel like I have not gotten anything done.

Prince: 8-10 sets? wow.


I have my weekly routine set up like this:

Monday- Chest, shoulders, 15-20 min light cardio
Tuesday- Legs, Abs
Wed- Arms, back. 15-20 mins Cardio
Thurs- Legs, Abs
Friday- Chest, Shoulders, 15-20 mins cardio
Take off Sat and sunday

I am trying out a 5 day routine after a couple weeks of doing a 3 day split and feeling like I wasn't getting anything done. I think if I upped my sets per day I would be overtraining. What do you think?

 

[Scotty the Body]

More isn't better for B Building, your muscles grow out of the gym not in. What are your sets per day like now??

The routine you just gave there is gonna lead to overtraining, you'll see that after just 2 weeks of it, the weight your able to lift will start to drop, you'll probably start having a hard time sleeping and probably get sick because your nervous system will be totaly drained.

 

[Robboe]

I do 4-6 sets for large parts and anything from 1-3 for smaller parts eg 3 for shoulders, 1 for biceps, 2 for triceps...

5 weight training sessions a week isn't favourable.

 

[epimetheus]

What is optimal? Should I go back to a 3 day split? Mon/Wed/Friday, or do a 4 day?

 

[Robboe]

4 max. The choice is yours whether you do 3 or 4.

I'm doing great with 3 right now.