Routine Shakeup

[canuck_newbie]

Well, it???s time for a shake up in my work-out routine. I???ve hit a plateau, results wise, and my motivation has taken a downer.



Here???s some background, as well as my present routine. I???m thinking of going back-and-forth between my present routine and a new one every four months or so, to keep things fresh.



September 03 ??? Walked into the gym for the first time in years. Weighed in at 147.5 lbs. (6??? tall). Diet consisted primarily of stale coffee, cold pizza, and beer ??? very carb heavy. Trainer at the gym puts me on a 3-day split (Upper, Middle, and Lower) that was heavy on machines, with little or no free-weights. Got my diet back on track and started to slowly put on weight (no supplements).



January 04 ??? Weighed in at 164.5 lbs. on January 3rd. Did a bit of research and had some of the ironmagazineforums.com folks critique a new routine. Added whey protein to my diet (20g in the morning, and 30-40g in a pwo shake). This is my PRESENT routine:



Day One: Chest and Bis (total 26 sets)



Bench Press (Flat) ??? dumb bells, 3 sets

Bench Press (Incline) ??? dumb bells, 3 sets

Bench Press (Decline) ??? bar bell, 3 sets

Pec Flys, 4 sets

Bicep curls, 4 sets

21s, 4 sets

Abs ??? crunches, 2 sets

Abs ??? leg lifts (parallel bars), 3 sets



Day Two: Back and Tris (total 28 sets)



Pull-downs, 4 sets

Seated rows (machine), 4 sets

L. Back Extensions, 4 sets

Tri pull downs, 4 sets

Skull crushers (followed by narrow grip press), 4 sets

Tri dips, 3 sets

Abs ??? crunches, 2 sets

Abs ??? knee lifts (parallel bars), 3 sets



Day Three: Legs and Shoulders (total 29 sets)



Hack Squat, 4 sets

Leg Extensions, 4 sets

Ham curls, 4 sets

Calf Raises, 4 sets

Shoulder Press ??? dumb bells, 4 sets

Shoulder Raises ???dumb bells (to front), 4 sets

Abs ??? crunches, 2 sets

Abs ??? obliques, 3 sets

What's missing here, that should do into a new routine?


On a lot of the exercises, what I land up doing is going heavy for the first 3 sets, and then light for the last one.



I start off each work-out with 20 minutes on an exercise bike. Between my workout, my bike time, and stretching, I am in the gym for about 1 ½ hours.



I REALISTICALLY go to the gym 3 and maybe 4 times per week.



June 04 ??? Weighing in at about 172 lbs (starting to notice some unwanted flab). Start to feel that I am plateuing. Added extra vitamin C and E to my diet, in addition to my morning multi.



July 04 ??? Want to shake up my routine. Planning to add creatine to my diet. If I can reach about 180 lbs. by the end of the year, and keep my flab under control, I???ll be happy. Not planning to become Mr. Universe here ??? the long-term goal is 190 lbs, low BF, and over-all fitness.



This post is getting long. I???ll repost my diet and thoughts on a new routine shortly. I could use everyone???s help in coming up with a new routine and critiquing my routine once it is in the draft stages.



Eric

 

[canuck_newbie]

I'm thinking of keeping the same style split.

Day One: Chest and Bis

Seated (Incline) Alternating Bicep Curls
Preacher Curls
Forearm Curls (my 21s have hit forearms, but I haven't been doing any specifically forearm excercises)

Day Two: Back and Tris

Deadlifts
Upright Rows

Day Three: Legs and Shoulders

Leg Press
Shrugs
Standing Side Lateral Raise

That's all I've got (new excercises) so far. I'd want to flesh this out a lot, obviously, and keep some of the excercises (bench press, hack squats) that I'm already doing. A total of 25ish sets is realistic, and I'd like to keep to that range. I also expect that my 3 or 4 days per / week will stay constant.

As a general observance, I've made my best gains so far on my chest, in both mass and the weight that I'm lifting. Shoulders are probably a close second. I'm lifting a lot more with my legs, but they still look like they belong on a chicken. My arms are lagging (I'd like to focus more on my arms), and my back, well, it's sort of hard to see.

Any thoughts? What excercises would you never leave out of your routine? By looking at my present routine, is there something that I am obviously missing?

Thanks,
Eric

 

[yellowmoomba]

You could switch things up a bit with a :

PUSH/PULL/LEGS routine

PUSH
Chest, Delts (front/med), Triceps

PULL
Back, Traps, Rear delts, Biceps

LEGS
Quads,Hams, Calves

I use this approach most of the time. Also consider checking out GoPros P/RR/S routine. I had good results using it last year.

 

[rockcrest]

P/RR/S

 

[CowPimp]

I would try to incorporate as many compound exercises as possible. As well, you should try to do a different split. Alternate rep ranges as well. Since you are a newbie (Sort of), I wouldn't recommend P/RR/S just yet, but you might want to try the toned down P/RR variation. You would be surprised at the difference the alternating of rep ranges and lifts every week can make. Something like this, based on a push, pull, and legs split:

Power

Chest, Shoulders, Triceps:

BB Bench Press x 3
BB Incline Press x 3
Dips x 3

BB Military Press x 3
BB Upright Rows x 3

BB CG Bench Press x 3
Tri Dips x 3

Back, Biceps:

BB Deadlifts x 4
BB Bent Rows x 4
Wide Chinups x 3
DB Rows x 3

CG Underhanded Chinups x 3
DB Hammer Curls x 3

Legs:

BB Squats x 4
Leg Press x 4

BB Romanian Deadlifts x 4
Hyper-Extensions x 4

Calf Leg Press x 4

Rep Range

I don't feel like making this too, but use different lifts. The Power lifts are all very compound lifts for each muscle. I usually use a few more isolation movements on rep range week, but keep compound exercises as the foundation. I also tend to use dumbells more, but that is really personal preference.

 

[canuck_newbie]

Hello Cowpimp,

Thanks for the response. It looks like your response was cut-off, at the beginning of the rep range week.

I haven't done most of the excercises that you've listed, but I guess that's the point of shaking things up. I found descriptions of most of them at: http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/exercises.htm I figure that with a lot of these excercises, I am going to have to start out really light and make sure my form is in order - might not be much of a difference between P and RR at first.

What's a hyper-extension? I know regular leg extensions, but couldn't find hyper-extensions in the list.

I read through the GoPro sticky on P/RR/S. Is the general idea, that your first week would be low reps, 3 or 4, with heavier weights, and that your next week would be lighter weights, with higher reps, 10+? Then, cycle between the two each week? Same amount of sets each week?

I'd want to keep my limited pre-workout cardio and add some light abs at the end of the workout, and I am sure that it might take me awhile to get up to speed on some of these more compound excercises, but this switch seems doable.

 

[BuzzU]

Here's a hyper extension http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/Hamstrings/BBHyperextension.html

 

[CowPimp]

Thanks for the response. It looks like your response was cut-off, at the beginning of the rep range week.

It didn't get cut off, I just didn't feel like designing a routine for the RR week as well. I was feeling lazy, and I figured I gave you enough information to design your own routine. What I said was just a guideline.

I haven't done most of the excercises that you've listed, but I guess that's the point of shaking things up. I found descriptions of most of them at: http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/exercises.htm I figure that with a lot of these excercises, I am going to have to start out really light and make sure my form is in order - might not be much of a difference between P and RR at first.

Try the following for lift descriptions:
http://www.exrx.net
http://www.bsu.edu/webapps/strengthlab/home.htm

I read through the GoPro sticky on P/RR/S. Is the general idea, that your first week would be low reps, 3 or 4, with heavier weights, and that your next week would be lighter weights, with higher reps, 10+? Then, cycle between the two each week? Same amount of sets each week?

Yeah, that's pretty much it. Gopro says between 4-6 reps for power week, but I go as low as 2 reps sometimes. Rep range week is stated as 8-12, but I would say you could go a couple higher if you wanted.

I'd want to keep my limited pre-workout cardio and add some light abs at the end of the workout, and I am sure that it might take me awhile to get up to speed on some of these more compound excercises, but this switch seems doable.

I also do limited (Very limited) pre-workout cardio and abs at the end of each workout. I do about 2-3 minutes of jumping jacks, 20 minutes of stretching, one general warmup set for each muscle group to be worked, and get to lifting. I'm on a 4-day split and I do 3 sets of ab exercises at the end of each workout.

 

[canuck_newbie]

Draft Routine

Thanks for the tips Cowpimp. Here's another thread that I found helpful: http://www.ironmagazineforums.com/showthread.php?t=28010. I'm sure that it will change a bit as I go along, and get a feel for the new routine. Any suggestions? I was going to do P/RR. I've seen others do a P/RR/RR. Any thoughts?

POWER WEEK
==========

Day One: Chest, Back
======

Chest
-----
Flat Press (DB): 3 x 4
Incline Press (DB): 3 x 4
Decline Press (BB): 3 x 4
Dips ??? Chest: 3 x failure

Back
----
Deadlift (BB): 4 x 4
One-Arm DB Row: 4 x 4

Day Two: Legs, Shoulders
=========

Legs
----
Hack Squat: 3 x 4
Leg Press: 3 x 4
Calf Press (on Leg Press): 4 x 4



Shoulders

----

Military Press: 4 x 4

Upright Row (BB): 4 x 4

Shrugs (DB): 4 x 4

Day Three: Arms
======


Bis
----
Alternate Hammer Curls: 4 x 4

Concentration Curls: 3 x 4

Reverse Grip Chin-Up: 3 x failure



Tris

----

Close-Grip Press (BB): 4 x 4

Dip Machine: 4 x 4



Forearms

----

Palm-Up Wrist Curls: 4 x 4

REP RANGE WEEK
==============

Day One: Chest, Back
======

Chest
-----
Flat Press (DB): 3 x 12+
Incline Press (DB): 3 x 12+
Decline Press (BB): 3 x 12+

Dips ??? Chest: 3 x failure

Back
----
Deadlift (BB): 4 x 12+
One-Arm DB Row: 4 x 12+

Day Two: Legs, Shoulders
=========

Legs
----
Hack Squat: 3 x 12+
Leg Press: 3 x 12+
Calf Press (on Leg Press): 4 x 12+



Shoulders

----

Military Press: 4 x 12+

Upright Row (BB): 4 x 12+

Shrugs (DB): 4 x 12+

Day Three: Arms
======


Bis
----
Alternate Hammer Curls: 4 x 12+

Concentration Curls: 3 x 12+

Reverse Grip Chin-Up: 3 x failure



Tris

----

Close-Grip Press (BB): 4 x 12+

Dip Machine: 4 x 12+



Forearms

----

Palm-Up Wrist Curls: 4 x 12+