Workout plan and general health questions

[Rookie_son]

I created my own split body part routine and just wishing to get some feedback on it if you think it would be effective routine. i also got some questions about general health but i willll leave that for after the routine which you will find below.


Monday

Bench - 10,8,8,6 Reps
Incline- 8,6,6 reps
Decline - 8,8,6 reps
Flys - 8,6 reps
pullovers - 10, 8 reps
Tricep Pushdown - 10,8,8,6 reps
Bench Dips - 10,10,8 reps
Skullcrushers - 10,8

Tuesday

chin-ups - 8,6 reps
One arm rows - 8,6,6
Wide Grip Seated Rows - 8,6
close Grip Seated Rows - 8,6
Pulldowns - 10, 10, 8
Barbell Curls - 8, 8, 6
Preacher Curls - 8,8,6
Incline Curls - 14, 6-8
Concentration Curls - 10

Weds

Shrugs - 10, 8
Military Press - 10,10,10
dumbell Rear Lateral raises - 10,10,10
dumbell side lateral raise - 10 10
squats - 8,8,8
legs extension - 8,8,8
leg curls - 8,8,8
one leg calf raises - 10, 10
Calf Raises 10, 10, 10


Thursday rest

Friday

Bench press
pull downs
Tricep Pushdowns
PreacherCurls
Shrugs
Squats
Calf raises
Abs

Sat and Sunday rest

thanks for going though it, so what do you think? any feedback is much appreciated.

to my other question now would be. some effects i have been feeling from using my old routing, i use to go the gym quite regular when 16 till about 19, and i would go 3 times a week and do a full body supersets. i am now 22 years old and even though i keep reasonably fit doing some sport (soccer mainly) here and there, i noticed when i went back to my old routine that i was using before that i was just downright smashed for several days, i was unable to go back for about 5 days due to my biceps hurting too much and i was wondering is this a sign of ageing? or the fact that in the years ive laid off from the gym i have picked up smoking ciggarettes as well, does anyone else here smoke? and does this happen to you as well?

thanks for any feedback guys
(in a rush so havent gone through spelling and cant really flesh everything out)

 

[Drum&Bass]

Some people respond well to higher volume workouts some people like myself respond better when using just a few exercises. It all depends on how you want to condition yourself. Instead of asking if your routine is effective you need to TELL what it is you are training for ?? What is your programming trying to affect ??

i was unable to go back for about 5 days due to my biceps hurting too much and i was wondering is this a sign of ageing? or the fact that in the years ive laid off from the gym i have picked up smoking ciggarettes as well

Both smoking and not being in the gym for awhile. Once you routinely start going back to the gym you will become conditioned like you were in your younger days.

Smoking will keep you weak and drastically slow down your progress. It will mess with your cardio, your bodies ability to transport nutrients to muscle and a ton of other things. Your better off just quitting.

 

[Perry]

go to t-nation.com. you will learn from the best there.

 

[blinkwatt101]

I'd suggest never doing more then 7 exercises in a day,end of story. You should be giving 110% on every rep and you will get worn down if your hard.

That being said. Your biceps are a small,and when worked out properly, get hit very hard and very concentrated muscle. You shouldn't ever need to do more then 3 exercises for them in any given day.

Head over to metacafe and type in "Arnold bicep" and "Arnold chest", ONLY do the workouts you see him doing in those videos,NOTHING ELSE. He focused on the basics with no fo fo non sense that you see in many gyms today. It's a very good idea for new people to help them start their own path in the gym.

Good luck!

 

[Colossus]

You're doing wayyy too much volume. You're only 22, and you play a sport, dont kill yourself.

You should be doing no more than 9-12 work sets per body part. If you are doing more than that you are either doing wimpy sets or you're just plain overtraining.

Also, you dont need to do flat bench, incline, and decline +flys. Nor do you need to do all that work for your biceps. Your primary leg exercise should be squats. In fact, you can get great leg development doing ONLY squats, if you train them hard and heavy.

T-nation is a good resource, but there are a lot of self-proclaimed "experts" over there who demand your respect simply because they have 4,000 posts. Read the articles and check out the articles at Elitefts.com and Joe Defranco's stuff.

 

[DJeasy]

Espi, why do you think shrugs are not good?

 

[blinkwatt101]

I'm not Espi but I know he's not on this site everyday. So I will let you know what's up with shoulders.

Shoulders are a big muscle,or rather should be a big muscle,shaped like a bowling ball with an indentation in the back(your rear delt). The staple of your shoulder workouts should start with presses and you should be flipping tired and barely able to lift your arm after you jack your shoulders up.

Shrugs work mainly the traps. Those should be featured near the later part of your workout before you hit your rear delts. Biggest muscle to smallest.

Try to start off with 2-3 set of presses;arnold press,shoulder,military and so on then follow up with some form of raises,then upright rows,then shrugs,and finish with 4-6 sets(1-2 exercises) for rear delts.

 

[blinkwatt101]

You should be doing no more than 9-12 work sets per body part. If you are doing more than that you are either doing wimpy sets or you're just plain overtraining.

at 9-12 sets your blood should be pumping and you should still have some gas in the tank unless it's a small muscle like abs or your bicep. 16-20 is not over training,muscle have different sections to them and sometimes ones like rear delts need exercises of their own to encourage growth.

 

[DJeasy]

Shoulders are a big muscle,or rather should be a big muscle,shaped like a bowling ball with an indentation in the back(your rear delt). The staple of your shoulder workouts should start with presses and you should be flipping tired and barely able to lift your arm after you jack your shoulders up.

Shrugs work mainly the traps. Those should be featured near the later part of your workout before you hit your rear delts. Biggest muscle to smallest.

It seems good advice for you to suggest shrugs be moved to the end of a workout such as on a pull day. However, provided a person does not engage in unnecessary shoulder rolling, I can't see how shrugs themselves are a bad exercise.

 

[Kerpal]

You shouldn't even be thinking about isolation exercises and "indentations" unless you can squat, overhead press and deadlift significant amounts of weight.

 

[DJeasy]

If shrugs are, inherently, an exercise that is (chronically?) bad for you, it would seem to imply that an exercise that has very similar movement (deadlifting) would be as well.

 

[Colossus]

at 9-12 sets your blood should be pumping and you should still have some gas in the tank unless it's a small muscle like abs or your bicep. 16-20 is not over training,muscle have different sections to them and sometimes ones like rear delts need exercises of their own to encourage growth.

If you are training like an animal with heavy enough weight 9-12 sets will be all you can handle.

Some stuff, like abs and calves, can handle more volume. But if you feel you need to hit each muscle group with 20 sets you are not training hard enough. I used to train like this, and now I rarely exceed 12 sets per muscle group. That's work sets though, not counting warm ups with lighter weight.

 

[Colossus]

If shrugs are, inherently, an exercise that is (chronically?) bad for you, it would seem to imply that an exercise that has very similar movement (deadlifting) would be as well.

Neither shrugs nor deads are 'bad' for you. What is bad for you is crap form and using too much weight for your level of development.

I do shrugs and deads regularly with 500+, but my form is excellent, and I cycle my max effort deadlift every other week.

And as with any exercise, if you are using maximal poundages every week you will start to have problems.

 

[blinkwatt101]

If you are training like an animal with heavy enough weight 9-12 sets will be all you can handle.

Some stuff, like abs and calves, can handle more volume. But if you feel you need to hit each muscle group with 20 sets you are not training hard enough. I used to train like this, and now I rarely exceed 12 sets per muscle group. That's work sets though, not counting warm ups with lighter weight.

How in the world can you get a full consistent workout on your legs,chest,back or shoulders with only that many sets? I'm not sure from a powerlifting stand point(cause I exercise to mold my physique) but I work 1 block from
http://www.supertraininggym.com/
Some of the power lifters in the world lift there and I have 3 friends who workout there with them. They routinely just say f it and do 20 sets of deadlifts. They NEVER consider a workout 9-12 sets.

I'd be interested in Espi's or White Sox Bills opinion on this.

 

[Colossus]

I'll give you an example of a 13 set leg workout (yea, it's not 12, but it's closer to 12 than 20 or 25). This is if you have some weight training experience and a good strength base.

Say your squat max is 365.

True squats (slightly below parallel): 4 work sets

Warm up to whatever you can do MAXIMALLY for 4 reps.
Then do 1 set of 3, followed by one set of 3, then 2 sets of 2; increasing the weight appropriately. These should not be easy doubles. You should have a spotter or at the very least be using a power rack in case you miss the weight.

Straight-leg deadlifts: 4 work sets

Warm up to whatever weight you do maximally for 5 reps. Do 4 work sets of 5 hard reps. Use proper form and depth.

Farmer squats (holding the bar in the crook of your elbows against your torso) 3 work sets

Do 3 sets of the heaviest weight you can manage for 4 reps.

Leg press (whatever your gym has) 2 work sets

Load up the machine to what you know you can get for 12-15 reps at the most. Do 2 sets of 20 reps. I dont care if you have to grind the reps out in a rest-pause fashion, I dont care if you have to use a spotter, I dont care if you have to collapse on the floor for 10 minutes inbetween sets, but do 2 sets of 20 reps.


If you finish this workout and still feel like your legs aren't being stimulated enough, please go and do all the leg extensions, leg curls, and machine presses you want. But I guarantee you if you are tough and honest with yourself and don't use weight that is too comfortable for you, you will be ready to leave the gym after these 13 sets. Hell, you can even skip the last set of 20 reps and make it an even 12 sets if you want.

 

[EFFORT]

I'll give you an example of a 13 set leg workout (yea, it's not 12, but it's closer to 12 than 20 or 25). This is if you have some weight training experience and a good strength base.

Say your squat max is 365.

True squats (slightly below parallel): 4 work sets

Warm up to whatever you can do MAXIMALLY for 4 reps.
Then do 1 set of 3, followed by one set of 3, then 2 sets of 2; increasing the weight appropriately. These should not be easy doubles. You should have a spotter or at the very least be using a power rack in case you miss the weight.

Straight-leg deadlifts: 4 work sets

Warm up to whatever weight you do maximally for 5 reps. Do 4 work sets of 5 hard reps. Use proper form and depth.

Farmer squats (holding the bar in the crook of your elbows against your torso) 3 work sets

Do 3 sets of the heaviest weight you can manage for 4 reps.

Leg press (whatever your gym has) 2 work sets

Load up the machine to what you know you can get for 12-15 reps at the most. Do 2 sets of 20 reps. I dont care if you have to grind the reps out in a rest-pause fashion, I dont care if you have to use a spotter, I dont care if you have to collapse on the floor for 10 minutes inbetween sets, but do 2 sets of 20 reps.


If you finish this workout and still feel like your legs aren't being stimulated enough, please go and do all the leg extensions, leg curls, and machine presses you want. But I guarantee you if you are tough and honest with yourself and don't use weight that is too comfortable for you, you will be ready to leave the gym after these 13 sets. Hell, you can even skip the last set of 20 reps and make it an even 12 sets if you want.

Couldn't agree more

 

[blinkwatt101]

Low reps like that are pointless and the risk of injury is not worth the cost.(unless you professionally compete in power lifting)