Critique my routine. Hopefully I wont be weak for long

[imnexthere]

Ive been lifting for only a month or so and can already see a change. My priority is maximum results in minimum time and I think my program is pretty solid. Feel free to let me know what you think. Thanks.
I work out mon-fri for about 1-1.5 hours per day. All exercises are in the order I do them and are done with 4 sets each. Plus abs work 3x a week after my main workout.

Monday-Legs
Smith machine squats or hack squats
Leg press (the free weight machine on a decline not the pin selected one which I diskile)
Leg extension machine
Leg curl machine
Standing calf raise machine
Seated calf raise machine

Tuesday- Chest
Incline Bench press
Flat Bench press
Decline Dumbbell press
Pec-Deck Flye
Cable Crossover

Wed- Back
Machine assisted pull-ups
T Bar Row
Lat pulldowns
Seated cable Row

Thurs- Shoulders/Traps
Seated shoulder press
Front dumbbell raise
Dumbbell lateral raise
Reverse pec-deck flye
Barbell Shrug
Dumbbell Shrug
Upright Row

Fri- Biceps/Triceps
Standing Barbell curl
Preacher Curl w/ EZ Bar
Hammer Curl
Two arm cable curl
Barbell reverse curl
Dumbbell wrist curl
Close grip bench
Skull Crushers
Triceps Extension machine
Rope Pressdown

As you see, I like to get 4 workouts in for each muscle, with about 45sec-1.5min rest in between sets and a good few min in between exercises. Also, I get a minimum of 8 hours sleep (no exceptions)

 

[MindOverMatter]

1.) way too many sets. 4 sets for every exercise is unnecessery. 2 sets with proper intensity is ENOUGH to full stimulate the muscle fiber. Excess sets do not stimulate any new fiber, they just burn calories.

This was researched to death in sports medicine science, here are some references:

Paddon-Jones D, Abernethy PJ. Acute adaptation to low volume eccentric exercise. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2001 Jul;33(7):1213-9

Nosaka K, Newton M. Repeated Eccentric Exercise Bouts Do Not Exacerbate Muscle Damage and Repair. J Strength Cond Res. 2002 Feb;16(1):117-122.


2 sets with proper form + intensity + focus is all you need. What does this mean? I'll explain.

Say you're doing biceps. If you trained with low intensity / focus, you'd basically keep bringing the weight up and down, and do your set pretty quickly (because you have 3 more to do).

With high intensity you start the set with arms straightened out, then SLOWLY bring the weight up. At the top, you flex and squeze your biceps, and you hold them like that in that position for 4-5 secs. Then you SLOWLY lower the weight back down, while still keeping your bicep flexed. When your arms are straight again, you release the squeze and let the arm relax for a sec. Then you squeze again, and relax it again. repeat.

That's just 1 rep. Repeat it until you reach positive failure.

apply this principle to all lifts. always focus on the contraction and form.

REMEMBER - the quality of your sets is more important then quantity


2.) way too many exercises for arms. arms are a small muscle group man, they don't need the same amount of sets that chest/back/legs need.

6 sets for tris and 6 sets of biceps is all you need.

3.) Smith machine squats are very very dangerous. A lot of people I know who have trained on them have gotten injuries from them.

Don't be scared of real squats, start with a lower weight if you have to and work your way up. But don't substitute normal squats with smith ones or hack squats. It's not the same!

4.) Do normal flyes instead of the pec deck ones. Use perfect form and stretch your pectorials completly. Pec dec machines are for ladies.

5.) DO deadlifts on your back day. This is a vital exercise. While it works primarily for your lower back, it will develop many other areas too. Your forearms, lats to some extent, abs (stabiliers), traps, etc. If you want to get big and strong, you can't skip deadlifts just like you can't skip squats/bench press /military press. Compounds are the most important exercises.

6.) Try to do the pullups without machine assistance do as many as you can. Your strength will go up faster this way, trust me. When I first started working out I couldnt' do 1 pullup, now I do 20-25 easy.

7.) You don't have to do front lateral raises. Your front deltoid gets work from seated shoulder press (or military press as it's proper name is).

8.) You don't have to do barbell and dumbell shrugs, pick one or alternate them every week.

9.) upright rows can be a dangerous exercise, as a lot of people get injured from it. warm up properly.

 

[MetalFortress]

THESE TIPS ARE MANDATORY IF YOU ARE SQUATTING

First of all, when you go down, do not let your back cave. At all.

My favorite stance is shoulder width apart, feet turned out at about a 90-degree angle. If your feet are not turned out enough, your back will cave, and your knees will cave inward easier.

Obviously you should stay primarily on your heels. If you are getting on your toes, concentrate on staying on your heels before you try to squat more weight.

Go down as far as you possibly can. Go ass to grass. If you are really inflexible and can only go parallel, do that, but work on your flexibility, too.

Tighten your abs like a suit of armor when you squat. This gives you a natural back support, almost like a weight belt without a real weight belt. And it builds your abs extra.

Stretch your quads out good after your squat sets are done.

MOST IMPORTANTLY... after your workout, your back should feel the same as it did before the workout, and your quads should feel worked hard. If your back feels anymore tired or fragile at all, your form is probably off.

If you notice your form beginning to go awry, don't be stubborn. Either drop the weight, or end the squat routine right there. If you do this, you will still get stronger, and will be able to do in a few days or so what you could not do now. If you don't, your back will become more fragile until one day you eff it up. If your last rep is starting to go awry, SLOW YOUR ASS DOWN AND MAKE SURE YOUR FORM STAYS STRAIGHT. Not only will the slow rep blast your quads (MindOverMatter is probably glad to hear my say this), but your back will thank you for it.

I did not follow all of these, and that led to my 20-rep squat routine getting derailed after 2 weeks. After about 3 weeks of rehabbing my back and working on my form, I am finally back on course starting Monday.

 

[MetalFortress]

Time for my more general tips.

Originally posted by imnexthere
Ive been lifting for only a month or so and can already see a change. My priority is maximum results in minimum time and I think my program is pretty solid. Feel free to let me know what you think. Thanks.
I work out mon-fri for about 1-1.5 hours per day. All exercises are in the order I do them and are done with 4 sets each. Plus abs work 3x a week after my main workout.

That's way too much time spent working out. I usually do 3 days a week, 30-60 minutes.

Originally posted by imnexthere

Monday-Legs
Smith machine squats or hack squats
Leg press (the free weight machine on a decline not the pin selected one which I diskile)
Leg extension machine
Leg curl machine
Standing calf raise machine
Seated calf raise machine

Squat here first, foremost, and a LOT. Squat until you drop, and then squat some more. Everything else should be mere icing on the cake, not the cake itself. I don't even bother with anything but squats anymore as far as legs go. And no smithin' it.

Squats give way to the ultimate size routine, the 20-rep breathing squats, but you shouldn't even think about this one unless your form is impeccable. The details are in this article:

http://www.dragondoor.com/articler/mode3/222/

You won't understand some of the Dragondoor/Pavel/Kettlebell related acronyms, but you don't really need to. Just pay attention to the 20-rep squat routine descriptors.

Originally posted by imnexthere
Tuesday- Chest
Incline Bench press
Flat Bench press
Decline Dumbbell press
Pec-Deck Flye
Cable Crossover

Ignore the crossovers and declines, and make the pec deck the icing on the cake. Add weighted dips to the meat of your routine. DB bench press is also good.

Originally posted by imnexthere
Wed- Back
Machine assisted pull-ups
T Bar Row
Lat pulldowns
Seated cable Row

Ignore all except the pullups and the pulldowns, and concentrate very hard on these two alone. If you use an underhand grip, these become excellent bicep exercises, as well.

Originally posted by imnexthere
Thurs- Shoulders/Traps
Seated shoulder press
Front dumbbell raise
Dumbbell lateral raise
Reverse pec-deck flye
Barbell Shrug
Dumbbell Shrug
Upright Row

Lose the upright rows unless you want your rotator cuff to become more fragile than a cardboard box full of mirrors. I don't really bother with any shoulder workouts because they get enough work from my chest and tricep, and back and bicep workouts. Power cleans are uncontested when it comes to shoulder and trap development, but if you are not confident that you can do them with good form, don't do them.

Originally posted by imnexthere
Fri- Biceps/Triceps
Standing Barbell curl
Preacher Curl w/ EZ Bar
Hammer Curl
Two arm cable curl
Barbell reverse curl
Dumbbell wrist curl
Close grip bench
Skull Crushers
Triceps Extension machine
Rope Pressdown

It should be a crime against humanity to even THINK about doing 20 sets of curls in one day. I don't bother with them, yet I get enough comments on my arm size from their growth while I'm only doing chinups and underhand pulldowns. Triceps will get massive doing weighted dips with an upright stance (leaning forward gives you more chest work)

Also, do abs like you would do any other muscle. You should find the ab hyperextension setup (or if you don't have one available just do situps), put a plate across your chest, and do sets of low to medium reps. Increase the weight as you go. Doing high reps with no weight is for jokers.

How do you get super strong and super big? Do high sets of 3-6 reps of heavy weight. I prefer 10 sets per body part. For example, do 10 sets of squats, or do 5 of squat and 5 of dumbbell walking lunges. Do 10 sets of dips, 10 sets of bench, or 5 sets each of dip and bench. Or do 4 sets of bench, 3 sets of dumbbell bench, and 3 sets of incline bench.

If you want to get freaky strong and big, too, do this. If you are more into bodybuilding, use MOM's routine. When I finish my own experiment with 20-rep breathing squats, I'll report back, as this might end up trumping both me and MOM's posted routines.

 

[Warboss Alex]

Decent advice from MetalFortress - a nice push/pull/legs or Chest+Shoulders+Tri/Back+Biceps/Legs+Abs split should do you nicely.

 

[AgonyUncle]

Ive been lifting for only a month or so and can already see a change. My priority is maximum results in minimum time and I think my program is pretty solid. Feel free to let me know what you think. Thanks.
I work out mon-fri for about 1-1.5 hours per day. All exercises are in the order I do them and are done with 4 sets each. Plus abs work 3x a week after my main workout.

A lot of people are going to say that you are over training. Anything more then 16 working sets tends to be overkill, esspecially considering you are a beginner.

Firstly, never train for more then 1 hour. Your body secretes a chemical called cortisol after about an hours worth of exercise. Destroys muscle tissue. Your body moves over to muscle as its primary fuel source.

Train heavy and hard. Post your diet here. 80% of your results come from discipline outside the gym, not in it. If you are not shattered after 16 working sets, you are not throwing enough weight around. Better to fail at 6 then push out 12 reps at a canter. Intensity over volume leads to better pumps and more growth hormone release along with boosting testosterone.

Monday-Legs
Smith machine squats or hack squats
Leg press (the free weight machine on a decline not the pin selected one which I diskile)
Leg extension machine
Leg curl machine
Standing calf raise machine
Seated calf raise machine

Better to stay away from the smith machine.

I would suggest

Normal Squats 4 sets
Leg Press 3 sets
Leg Extensions 3 sets
Leg Curls 3 sets
Stiff Leg Deadlifts 2 sets

Train your calves on a different day

Tuesday- Chest
Incline Bench press
Flat Bench press
Decline Dumbbell press
Pec-Deck Flye
Cable Crossover

Glad to see you prioritize Inclines. Personally, I would drop pec deck flys. And alternate Incline for one week, and flat the next week as your first exercise

I would suggest:

Flat or Decline bench x 4
Superset x 3 Incline Dumbell
Incline Dumbell Fly
Dips x 3
Cable Crossover x 3

Pullovers is a great exercise if you not keen on dips.

Wed- Back
Machine assisted pull-ups
T Bar Row
Lat pulldowns
Seated cable Row

Back is undertrained here. The answer to back is not to hit it with ****loads of sets, but rather the correct exercises to hit it at different angles.

I would suggest:

Deadlifts x 4
Dumbell or Barbell Rows x 3
Chins x 3
Overhead wide grip pull downs x 3
Barbell or Dumbell Shrugs x 3

Deadlifts are the daddy. Along with Squats and Bench, it packs on slabs of mass. Dont avoid them. If you struggle with form, use lighter weights until you have got it sorted.

Thurs- Shoulders/Traps
Seated shoulder press
Front dumbbell raise
Dumbbell lateral raise
Reverse pec-deck flye
Barbell Shrug
Dumbbell Shrug
Upright Row

Way to much dude. You not training with enough intensity if you can do that many exercises

Drop shrugs. Do them on your back days.

I would suggest

4 x dumbell shoulder press (Always was a fan of dumbell over barbell. Better range of movement, and less strain on your rotator cuff)
3 x upright rows
3 x lateral raises
3 x reverse pec dec
4 x seated calf raises
4 x standing claf raises

You can get your calves in here. Shoulder workout is always quick.

Fri- Biceps/Triceps
Standing Barbell curl
Preacher Curl w/ EZ Bar
Hammer Curl
Two arm cable curl
Barbell reverse curl
Dumbbell wrist curl
Close grip bench
Skull Crushers
Triceps Extension machine
Rope Pressdown

Again, way to much

4 x barbell or dumbell curls
3 x cable curls
3 x 21's
4 x close grip bench
3 x seated dumbell extensions
3x skull crushers

Not volume, intensity!

Hit them hard, and let them fail every time.

As you see, I like to get 4 workouts in for each muscle, with about 45sec-1.5min rest in between sets and a good few min in between exercises. Also, I get a minimum of 8 hours sleep (no exceptions)

If you are going to train 5 days a week, you need to look at the days you have scheduled for your muscle groups. Training five days a week is tough on the body and nervous system, and it is easy to overtrain unless nutrition and rest are planned correctly.

I would suggest moving your leg days to a wednesday. This allows more time for upper body recovery. It also seperates shoulders directly after back. Your rear delts get hammered when you train back. Dont want to overtrain them.

A solid two day break for shoulders after chest is also important, and is a decent break for your biceps after back. I would seriously consider moving your leg day to a wednesday.

As for everyone saying that you are still overtraining on a five day shedule? Im not an advocate of that thinking. I have used a 5 day split for the last 2.5 years, and have seen great results in doing so.

Mike Mentzer, the pioneer of high intensity low volume training agreed that training 5 days a week was not gross overtraining if you isolated body parts and scheduled your days accordingly. People that combine different muscle groups and body parts need longer rest intervals.

 

[imnexthere]

Thanks guys. Im still going to lift 5x/week but less sets and less time at the gym but more intensity. As for smith machine squats and upright rows, please explain how they cause injury. You guys make it sound like even with propper form I will destroy my back and rotator cuffs. If you could tell me how its dangerous I will move away and into better exercises. Anyways, I want to move away from Mr. Smith anyway and yesterday I tried squatting in a power rack for the first time. On back day Ill try deadlifts as well.

Thanks again.