Designing A Workout Routine

I'm by no means a world authority on weight-lifting or bodybuilding, but time and time again do I see people asking for routines or putting together crappy ones they've found on bodybuilding.com or wherever, following the latest 'trend' (case in point, when word of DC training got on to bbing.com EVERYONE was doing it, and of course, since it wasn't for everyone, no-one had any success) or whatever - and people are wasting their time messing about with 100 sets of fufu exercises in the hope that this'll make 'em grow.

Yes, everyone's different and everyone responds differently to exercise, BUT I don't believe anyone can go wrong on trying out a basic, balanced workout routine for a few months, especially most on this board who're beginners and really need a step in the right direction to channel their admirable enthusiasm into fruitful training and start seeing some results.

Yes, Even 'Hardgainers' Can Benefit From A Basic Split

A lot of the time I see 'hardgainer' or 'skinny guy' routines dotted all over the place, for people who, funnily enough, find it hard to gain muscle or are especially skinny. The merits of these (usually low volume) routines are another subject entirely, but by and large, I don't buy them - in that I believe that people saying they're 'hardgainers' often don't know what they're talking about. This is not an insult.

If you think you're a hardgainer, ask yourself this: have I been on a balanced, full-body workout routine full of heavy compounds, which I've progressed with in good form over time (I'm talking months here, not days), and which I've combined with a sound nutrition plan and proper recovery times? I bet you'll find most of the time, the answer is no. They might've worked out for two weeks using terrible form and even worse exercises and because they havent' grown they immediately think they're doomed to no musculature for the rest of their lives.

The number of people with truly amazing muscle-building genes in the world is pitifully small. How many pros are there? A few hundred? In the same vein, the number of people with truly awful muscle building genes out there is also extremely tiny, chances are you're not one of them - but every 'hardgainer' I've met seems to be convinced they're one of them! To them I've always said the same thing, get on a proper routine and eat properly, and come back in 3 months' time and tell me if you're still the same size.

So, don't count yourself out just yet, try a proper workout/nutrition plan consistently first. 90% of people WILL make gains on a basic routine so long as they eat and rest properly too.

Work Out ALL Your Body

Most guys on here want to impress girls with their bodies. There's a few who're actually interested in weight-lifting for the sport itself, but most of you lads just want to score with the ladies, and while I disagree with the moral of this, I won't try to talk you out of it because I know it'd be a hapless endeavour. What young guy DOESN'T want to get girls? It's healthy anyway! Now if you could only put all that testosterone to good use in the gym..

Back to the fairer sex. Now, I suppose you'd tell me that the 'sexy' muscles are biceps and/or shoulders and/or chest - I'm not gonna even start on abs, even though I've met just as many girls who prefer a smooth belly to washboard abdominals, and no, these weren't ugly 240lb girls who knew they wouldn't get an athlete/bodybuilder boyfriend and so weren't looking for one, they were slim and perfectly attractive (actually I'd better also call them FREAKING HAWT since my significant other happens to one of them - hrm, on second thoughts if I called any girl other than her freaking hawt she'd probably crucify me, oh bugger, I've put my foot in it again). And then of course, there's the fact that some women prefer skinny men to athletic ones, it takes all sorts you know.

Sidetracked again. Okay, let's talk biceps. You want to wear those nice tight t-shirts where the sleeve is designed to cut your blood circulation off (my honey hates those) which will make your biceps look bigger, sleeker and sexier, huh? No wait, maybe you don't wanna wear those t-shirts, you want arms so big that ANY fitted t-shirt is gonna be stretched that way. Fair enough, I can appreciate the aesthetic and practical importance of big guns. But are those 100 sets of bicep curls 3 times a week gonna get you artillery pieces hanging off your shoulders? Nope.

The body is a unit, and operates as such - including growth functions. Isolating one bodypart (again, we'll stay with the biceps example) will get you nowhere fast, and just lead to frustration as in six months' time your arms are exactly the same size as they were when you started, and possibly even smaller since you overtrained them to atrophy levels (extreme example admittedly). Oh, you'll get a pump from your curls, hell you might even gain a fraction of an inch (which'll disappear if you stop working out for a couple of weeks) - is that what you want? If your working out is purely recreational then please stop reading, this post isn't for you. I'm trying to advise people here who are after some serious and permanent growth.

Like I said, isolating a muscle in this way is achieving little more than a blood pump and making you look a bit of a twit. It's the same with bench press, people who do 20 sets of flat benching and expect to get huge pecs. They'll just exhaust and possibly injure themselves.

Though it's just struck me, if you really did isolate a muscle and made it grow (which can happen after several years of work), how stupid are you gonna look afterwards? Every gym's got one - a guy in his 40s or 50s, huge arms, wide-necked 80s training shirt on, supported by a pair of stick legs in pretty pink spandex. So what, he wasted his youth doing bicep work and now looks like a gorilla with no fashion sense, ridiculed equally by serious bodybuilders and the women he was hoping to impress (you'll also find he's usually single and tries in vain to chat up every girl in the gym from the age of 17 upwards - who take one look at his knobbly knees and bite their tongue to stop from laughing at the 'chicken leg syndrome').

We're young guys, we want stuff here and now, we want to look good in 3 months time, even better in 6 months' time, and possibly damn fine by the end of the year. We won't look any kind of good if we just isolate our arms and/or chest - if you don't believe me, take 6 months out, just do bicep curls and bench presses 3 times a week, and see what happens. In the meantime, I'll be in the power rack, with bigger arms than you have legs, and yet I only work biceps and triceps once a week.

Legs And Back

Which leads me nicely up to the importance of leg and back training in particular. The previous paragraph should've convinced you that isolating one or two bodyparts is a daft idea - by the way, I've just realised another popular excuse for just doing bicep work "My arms are a weak bodypart"; if you've only been training two weeks how the hell do you know that? Train your whole body for two years and THEN decide whether you have weak bodyparts, before you start messing about with bicep widowmakers or some such nonsense which'll just get yourself hurt.

Now, legs and back. The hips, glutes, legs and lower back are what I call a body's 'power base' - nearly all heavy lifting should go through these bodyparts. When you were lifting stuff as a boy, didn't your dad ever say "Lift with the legs son, not the arms!". I remember mine did, when I was lugging bags of concrete around for him (my mum was - and still is - into landscaping, much to my chargrin). He was right, lifting with your arms is the best way to give yourself a hernia. Your arms are just the grippers, your fingers are the hooks, the claws, whatever - the actual lift goes through the back and legs.

It's much the same with bodybuilding, the two big lifts (squats and deadlifts) all go through the legs and back. And the big lifts is what gets you big. Do you think your body will have much incentive to grow if all you tax it with is a few sets of bicep curls? No, and if I was the body I wouldn't grow either. But then you suddenly ask me, the body, to put 400lbs on my back and squat it for 6-10, every week, then I'll go into panic mode and try and grow as fast as bloody possible, because squatting is difficult and painful, and I'm a bit of a wimp really, the body, I'll adapt to whatever I have to do to cause me the least discomfort possible. This is how the body 'thinks' - if it has to lift a heavy weight, it'll adapt itself in strength and size to lift that weight on a regular basis. By making this lift progressively heavier every two weeks you're making sure that the body KEEPS growing.

The strain a squat or deadlift puts on the body is immense. Have you ever felt dead from doing dumbbell kickbacks? Of course not. On the other hand, deadlift 500lbs for ten and then tell me whether you want to die or not - this is a trick question actually, you'll be too out of breath to tell me anything at all.

Leg and back exercises are what will kill your body and make it grow, not arm exercises. The legs and back are the biggest muscles in the body, once they get big and strong, you'll find the rest of the body has followed suit. Think of it as the bigger muscles bullying the little ones into growing. A rear lateral raise won't make your back grow - but a deadlift will make your back AND your rear delts grow.

For the more biological-minded of you, consider this: the body builds muscle with the presence of the Growth Hormone, right? Your legs are your biggest muscle group, imagine how much growth hormone they'd release, compared to how much your triceps would release doing kickbacks. More growth hormone = more muscle growth, all over. A while ago I knew the science of this exactly, I've forgotten it now but maybe I can find a nice article for you guys ..

Again, that piece by Stuart McRobert also explains why it's impossible to get a big upper body without having a big lower body (or powerbase) first. If Ted,JustAdmitIt can dig the link out again, he can have a steak on me. That's worth a read, if I haven't just convinced you of the importance of power training for big muscles all over.

By now, you lot should be a lot wiser, and know that big arms are grown in the power rack, not the preacher station.

Oh, and if any of you guys tell me that 'my legs are as big/strong' as I want them to be, then you're missing the point entirely and need to either read above again, or take up needlework. By not working your legs (in the fear you're gonna get freakish thighs like Coleman? you won't, I assure you) you're seriously limiting yourself.

Use Compound Exercises

Exercises (for any bodypart) are either isolations or compounds. Isolations work only the muscle in question, and my earlier writings should have convinced you to avoid these wherever possible (unless you're an advanced lifter and feel you should isolate a weak bodypart, but train consistently for 3-5 years first before deciding this).

Compound exercises work more than one muscle. Take the deadlift for example. As well as the lower back, it works the biceps, forearms and rear delts to name just three more muscles, as well as the abs which stabilise the trunk, the traps if you pull your shoulders back at the top of the lift. That's like doing six isolations in one exercise - okay, not EXACTLY the same but can you see why a compound exercise is so much more preferable to an isolation exercise?

It was once suggested that just by squatting (since squats work nearly every muscle in your body) you could get huge. I've never tried it myself but am very inclined to believe it, since I reckon that for more advanced trainers no direct arm work is actually needed, the heavy weights pushed by their deadlifts and squats will see to these muscle groups quite sufficiently - and if they've got anything in the tank to do bicep curls after a widowmaker squat set then they're not working out hard enough.

So yes, always compound exercises if you can make it. Some isolations can be good but this is individual - some people swear by db flyes to put mass on their chest, it never worked for me. But show me one person who barbell inclines 400lbs and doesn't have a huge chest.

Making Up Your Routine - The Generic 3-Day Split

Safe in the knowledge that you should work out all your body and use compound exercises, we can start putting our split together. A 3way split - Monday, Wednesday and Friday - is an exellent start, allowing you to work all your muscle groups over the three days, with enough recovery time in between workouts plus the weekend free for socialising or whatever you like.

A 3day split is traditionally Chest/Shoulders/Triceps, Back/Biceps and Legs (push/pull/legs) OR Chest/Triceps, Back/Biceps, Legs/Shoulders, the latter being better for beginning lifters who need to build a good strength base and whose shoulders might give out having done Chest/Triceps beforehand (most chest work involves delt action too).

Exercises: I'd say two for the big muscle groups, and one for the smaller ones - an exception being quads, because you shouldn't be able to do anything else with your legs having just squatted your arse off. For back I'd recommend one back width exercise (chin-ups or pulldowns or something similar) and one back thickness/mass exercise (deadlifts, rows, etc). For chest choose two presses, but don't make them both flat or both incline, do one incline and one decline, one flat and one incline, etc - mix it up.

There are no right or wrong exercises really, like I said, if you choose isolations you'll find you'll get stuck quickly and gain no muscle off them, so you'll have to change to compounds then anyway BUT there are some exercises which look and feel if they work, but are in fact either dangerous or just a waste of time.

A few, off the top of my head (anyone else feel free to chime in): tricep kickbacks (ARGH!), cable crossovers (useless), upright rows (dangerous), flat bench (an ego exercise more than anything, and the number of pec tears from flat bench is amazing, but I've yet to meet someone who's torn his pec from db or incline pressing - these will also put more meat on your chest than flat bench), anything which uses pink dumbbells, trying to isolate every cross-section 1234131231 of your brachialis upper slowfast twitch tickle fibre by extending the pinkie when curling your dumbbell.

Okay, now we know how many exercises per bodypart (roughly, this is a starting point remember) and how often to train, let's make a sample split.

Sample 3day Split

Back, Biceps (I prefer back/biceps on Monday because I get two full days of rest after squats on Friday)
Standing Barbell Curl
Hammer Curl
Lat Pulldown
Deadlift

Chest, Triceps
Flat Db Press
Incline Barbell Press
Close Grip Bench or Skullcrushers (I prefer CG bench)
You can do some abs here too if you like.

Legs, Shoulders
Military Press or DB press
Sumo Leg Press or Hamstring Curl
Calf Raise
Barbell Squats

Sets/reps: 3 sets of 8-12 reps on each exercise (15-20 for calf raise), make it 3x8 for floor deadlifts depending on the weight you push (if it's heavy you can do 3x6 or 3x5), squats 3x6-8.

Progression And Expanding Your Split

We want to progress, keep taxing our body to make it grow more. This is achieved by adding weight to our exercises; if not every week then every two weeks. Once you can do 3x10 easily on an exercise then it's safe to add weight I'd say. Learn to love those 2.5lb plates, it's these that will keep you progressing steadily. Remember to keep good form!

The split listed above is a very basic outline, intended for the novice or someone who thinks they've hit a plateau or whatever and want a solid split to be getting on with. In time, you'll be able to 'feel' if the split is working for you, and you can chop and change as necessary.

For example, you might feel that you're not spent enough on Chest/Tricep day and want to add another tricep exercise - if your triceps can't hack it but you've still got something in the tank then move your shoulder exercise here, experiment to find what works best for you. I'm not saying you should leave the gym feeling beaten up, but you should feel as if the targeted bodyparts had a good workout - soreness the next day is a good indicator of this, but not an absolute measure.

Monitor over time, take measurements and check again in 2 or 3 months' time. Maybe you need to increase the reps to 12-15 on your bicep exercises if they're not getting fried enough, maybe the lat pulldown is too easy and you want to do chins instead, whatever. It's all individual, you've just got to find out what works and what doesn't.

Getting Stuck

Eventually you'll find that you can't progress on an exercise after two weeks, three weeks, even a month - then it's time to drop that exercise for another one. This is perfectly normal, it doesn't mean you're getting weaker or anything. Don't be surprised if your starting weight in the new exercise is low, again this is natural, it'll take a couple of weeks to get your body used to the new exercise, then your strength should rocket up.

Ehhh..
Okay, I think I've covered everything for the moment, try that split out and see how you go, remember to change it as you see fit, it's not set in stone, just an outline which should set you on your way.

And now I really have to go, a certain member of the female persuasion is glaring at me quite menacingly, and wants to know just which slim, attractive women I found 'freaking hawt' ..

Originally posted by Warboss Alex
And now I really have to go, a certain member of the female persuasion is glaring at me quite menacingly

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are you sure it's that, or maybe she just wants some lovin from her beast of a man... hahah

Originally posted by Warboss Alex
Use Compound Exercises

Sets/reps: 3 sets of 8-12 reps on each exercise (15-20 for calf raise),

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I currently do 3 sets of 4-8 reps. Are you saying I should use a bit less weight but do more reps?

I don't know if i'm progressing much size wise (never measured and don't particularly notice myself just by looking) but right now i'm increasing the amount of weight i can lift at a decent pace.

Thanks a lot for compacting the stuff you normally preach all into one clear post.

You've more or less answered your own question mate. You're gaining some strength but not necessarily size, I tend to notice when I'm getting bigger/smaller whatever (probably because according to 'er indoors I'm a 'vainass poser' i.e. I'm looking at myself all the time.. bloody cheek).

4-8 on the 'easier' exercises like military press and close grip bench mightn't be enough to tax the body enough to grow - it's fine for deadlifts and squats because you probably can't go higher reps on these in safe form anyway.

Try higher reps and see how you go. If you've got enough in the tank for 12 reps, don't stop at 8 either. Of course, if you can get 20 reps it might be time to up the weight..

Of course, this is assuming that some growth is what you're after, not everyone wants to get bigger. But if you do, yes, I'd definitely say a target 8-10 reps for nearly everything except squats and deadlifts, where 3x6 or 3x8 should be perfectly fine.. (and all you should be able to manage if you're pushing your limits!)

Originally posted by Warboss Alex

Try higher reps and see how you go. If you've got enough in the tank for 12 reps, don't stop at 8 either. Of course, if you can get 20 reps it might be time to up the weight..

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Well that does mean less weight, right?

I mean i go until i can't anymore. It's not like i just stop at like 4-6 because I don't feel like doing 12.

I do want to get bigger AND stronger but don't mind getting stronger slower if it means i actually gain in size (as long as strength isn't gained too slow!)

4-8 on the 'easier' exercises like military press and close grip bench mightn't be enough to tax the body enough to grow - it's fine for deadlifts and squats because you probably can't go higher reps on these in safe form anyway.

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I get kind of confused when i see the term "grow." Does that just refer to the actual size or the strength? I know i get stronger doing just 4-8. I might be getting bigger too; i just can't tell. I never have been able to. When i first ever started to lift my friend was like "you never had any chest at all." I don't remember that and i don't really notice that i'm even bigger. I'm not very observant I should probably measure just so i have some clue wtf is going on.

Oh well i'm gonna cut back 5-10 lbs on some things (dumbbell shoulder press, dumbbell bench press -- no spotter so i avoid the bar as much as possible) and do as many as i can that way and see what happens.

thanks

An alternative to 3 sets pf 4 to 6 or 3 sets of 8-12, is 6 sets of 4-6 at heavy weights. You still get strong fast, and you get bigger faster, too. The workout adds up more volume than both of the others.

Or, do three lighter sets of 8-12 and three heavy sets of 4-6 in the same day.

Originally posted by MetalFortress
An alternative to 3 sets pf 4 to 6 or 3 sets of 8-12, is 6 sets of 4-6 at heavy weights. You still get strong fast, and you get bigger faster, too. The workout adds up more volume than both of the others.

Or, do three lighter sets of 8-12 and three heavy sets of 4-6 in the same day.

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I doubt that would work, and just be unnecessarily taxing. That 6x4-6 is much like the 5x5 routine, which I think leans more towards strength gains than size gains .. just my opinion though.

MrRuckus, don't worry, you'll gain strength along with size, big strength gain = big size gain if you're eating properly. Don't worry, it's a rare case that you get huge and you don't get hugely strong too..

Remember this is all about adaption, your muscles get stronger by becoming neurally more efficient, this doesn't necessarily mean they get bigger if the workload isn't big enough to warrant growth. That is to say, you can get strong without getting big, but you can't get big without getting strong.

Try higher reps and see what happens, you've got nothing to lose. Don't even drop the weight, keep your current weights and try to squeeze out more reps from 'em ..

Oh, and when I say grow, I mean size gain.

Originally posted by mrRuckus
I currently do 3 sets of 4-8 reps. Are you saying I should use a bit less weight but do more reps?

I don't know if i'm progressing much size wise (never measured and don't particularly notice myself just by looking) but right now i'm increasing the amount of weight i can lift at a decent pace.

Thanks a lot for compacting the stuff you normally preach all into one clear post.

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for cehst i like aroudn the 4-8 range and for arms i like the 6-10 range, they are similar but not exactly. find how your body responds.

i only read the first bit of this article, looks great, good work.

btw size gains = strength gains man

you get bigger by lifting more weight more times.

compared to when you were benching 100 - 200 for example i bet you would pick up an inch or 2 to your chest

Originally posted by MetalFortress
An alternative to 3 sets pf 4 to 6 or 3 sets of 8-12, is 6 sets of 4-6 at heavy weights. You still get strong fast, and you get bigger faster, too. The workout adds up more volume than both of the others.

Or, do three lighter sets of 8-12 and three heavy sets of 4-6 in the same day.

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That sounds rather unpleasant. By the time i'd get to a 4th set i could do like 1-2 reps anyway. I typically do something like 7 reps.. then the next i can only do 5... then maybe 3 or 4 for the 3rd set. I could lower the weight a bit as i got to the 4th and 5th sets but that just sounds annoying and time consuming with little to no benefit.




Thanks for everyone's suggestions.

This is the best post I have seen not only on this forum, but many others as well.

Bible it!

Originally posted by Warboss Alex
I doubt that would work, and just be unnecessarily taxing. That 6x4-6 is much like the 5x5 routine, which I think leans more towards strength gains than size gains .. just my opinion though.

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I've gotten excellent gains in both areas with my five-rep routines, for the most part. More volume = more size and strength gains (well, aside from overtraining obviously). Shortened rest breaks also help in the size area.

How would warmup sets fall into this?


I first get to the gym and i'm ready to start working my chest... let's say flat dumbbell press...

I'm supposed to do 3 sets... do i do like 50% the weight i'm gonna do for one set as warmup then do 3 normal sets or should i count my warmup set as a set?

BTW I thought this was an awesome post! =)

Thanks TheNewGuy and Lifeforce for the comments.

MetalFortress, 5x5 is not a bad routine, no, but the reps are too low IMO for a beginner to do the five sets with proper form and maintain intensity - again, I'm not insulting anyone here, but if everyone thinks back to how they started out lifting, and how much better they are at it now, technique-wise, they'll know what I mean. Otherwise 3x8-10 seems more logical to me, for a novice.

MrRuckus, warmup sets don't count towards the 3x8 or 5x5 worksets you do. If you're pushing a seriously heavy squat, you'll need 3 or 4 warmup sets, if it's a moderate weight military press then one set, two at the most .. remember we're not trying to tax ourselves in the warmup, just prepare our muscles for what's to come. Again, some experience is needed, although it's safe to say that you should do at least one warmup set before moving on to your working weight.

50% of the weight sounds sensible - if the weight is say 20-30lbs, if the weight was 200lbs then no, I wouldn't say do one warmup at 100lbs and then go straight onto 200lbs, no way. Bit of practical thinking required here..

Incidentally, for flat db bench I currently do 2-3 warmups - you might need more or less depending on your weight and strength.

Originally posted by Warboss Alex


Incidentally, for flat db bench I currently do 2-3 warmups - you might need more or less depending on your weight and strength.

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I've been using 45s to start out warmup then a set of 55s then to my workout weight of 65.

For squats i'll do bodyweight just to stretch out and whatnot, then 135, then 155, then 175, and around 180 or 190 is my working weight.

It's hard to keep these numbers straight lately... every time i go in seems i do 5-10 lbs more than the week before and i get all confused/forgetful. Gonna start writing them down. Maybe make one of those journal threads.

When i switched to low volume, i increased my warmups, i also saw my weights go up, thus warranting the increased warmups.

*thinks* I think I grab about 3-5 or so warmup sets befor flat bench, but I'll pull 1 RP set, or 2 sets of 6...

^^^bump

Hey Warboss Alex, I just found this awesome post. Admin should really stick this post. Also, please critique this routine I made following the advice in this post:

Back, Biceps (Friday)
DB Curl
Hammer Curl
Lat Pulldown
Deadlift
Wrist Curl

Chest, Triceps (Sunday)
Flat DB Press
Incline DB Press
Lying overhead extension
Decline Crunch
Decline Leg Raise

Legs, Shoulders (Wednesday)
DB Shoulder Press
Hamstring Curl
Calf Raise
DB Squats

How does this look??? I wanna get started, but I want a good routine first. Thanks in advance.