Gonna ditch my trainer. Is this a good routine?

[affliction]

I've had a personal trainer at my gym for a little over 4 months now. I signed up to the gym in the beginning of september and I've been going 4 days/week. The problem is that it's been costing me $100/week for the trainer and I don't feel like spending the money on it anymore.

It's been good though cause I've gained almost 1 pound per week. I am 5'10" and I was 142lbs when I started in september and I'm now 157lbs. (15 lbs in 16 weeks) My bodyfat was 4.7% when I first started and, although I haven't measured it in a while, I think it's probably around 10-12%.

Now I'm just wondering if I should keep the routine that I've been doing with my trainer. Here's what it is:


Monday - Chest

Inclined Bench:

12 x 95 (warmup-is this too heavy? sometimes i dont trust my trainer)
10 x 105
10 x 115
8 x 125

Regular Bench:

10 x 125
10 x 125
10 x 125

Seated Fly:

10 x 80
10 x 90
10 x 100

Chest Dips:

3 sets of 10. Not using any weights yet. I only recently removed the pin from the assisted chest dip machine.


Tuesday - Back (I'm not sure about my weight on a lot of my exercises. So just let me know if this is a good routine.)

Front pulldown:

3 sets of 10

Straight-back seated row (close grip):

3 sets of 10

Weighted Back Extension:

3 sets of 10 - usually holding a 25lb weight with arms on my chest.

Chinups:

3 sets of 10 x 95 - (I do this on the assisted chest dip machine, pin on -60 lbs)


Thursday - Legs

45 degree leg press:

10 x 270
10 x 270
10 x 360

Leg extension:

3 sets of 10. don't remember weight

Seated Leg Press:

3 sets of 10, usually around 250 lbs.

Lying Leg Curl:

3 sets of 10

Squats:

3 sets of 10

Standing Calf Raise:

3 sets of 10

Friday - Arms

Standing Pushdowns:

3 sets of 10

Bent over tricep extensions:

3 sets of 10

Curls: (alternate weekly between cables, levers & barbells)

3 sets of 10. (Lever curls seem to be the hardest for me, as I have trouble doing more than 25 lbs by the 2nd set)

Preacher Curls:

3 sets of 10

--

So that's pretty much it. Should I stick with this routine or make a few adjustments? You'll probably notice that I don't do any dead lifts. I've actually done them a few times but my trainer usually doesn't even bother. Should I change this? I just started taking creatine a few days ago, so I'm hoping to get serious into this now. All help appreciated!

 

[Cheiradawg]

Good idea ditching the trainer.

Read the bulking guide.

 

[semag]

Good idea ditching the trainer.

Read the bulking guide.

yeah

you do way too many things at 10 reps.

 

[Double]

research healthy foods as well. how come you had only 4,7 BF? no normal person can have this small and dangerous BF percentage...either you are pro or the BF test was ****

 

[Alpine]

You've done well. Nows the time to ease off, you are going to get fat and burned out soon.

Ditch the trainer, cut the food to normal levels, do a strength cylce and drop the weight and build it up over a few weeks.

Do triples on free weights, then do another bulking cycle.

Save your money, but also take responsibility for understanding your conditioning requirements.

 

[affliction]

Ok, so start doing less reps then? We did the bf% test a number of times and it kept coming out to 4.7%. I dunno maybe it was screwed up. I've had a six pack my whole life tho and never did any exercise so I've never had much fat.

 

[CEF]

I agree, less reps, more weight. Train in the 6 rep range for a month or two and build up your strength and put on more mass.

 

[ScrewIt]

ditch the trainer. when i started last year i had 4 sessions with one, just for tryout. of course im a poor college student and not rich like other ppl in the gym so i aint paying crap.

the stuff i learned from those 4 sessions i took with me.
truth is u dont really need one, theyre only useful for spotting you. "aka paid spotters"

besides most ppl in my gym dont have or need personal trainers, only new members are dumb enough to try them out.

having a spotter would be helpful to your workout but not essential, thats why you get your friends to sign up!

 

[Grandor]

I'd recommend doing progressive sets in each different excersise.

Ie -
set 1: 10 reps
set 2: 8 reps
set 3: 6 reps
set 4: 4 reps
- This will help you put on bulk and help you lift alot more over time.


Another thing you have to watch is DIET and SLEEP.
You need to have lots of protein in order to get big gains, not just take Creatine.
I started Creatine about 2 weeks ago and I've seen some good gains on myself, however I also attribute it to the amount of protein I eat and the good amount of carbs too, along with at about 3-4 litres of water a day while on creatine (i think thats a gallon).

Also Sleep 8hrs a day at least.
Spread Training Sessions throughout the week, allow for rest.
Take a break from training and Creatine every 8 weeks, on the 8th week and let your body recover and rejuvinate.