What do you think of my routine??

Munchie

With the intention of bulking up, i started this routine on Jan the 1st which replaces the disaster of a routine i was given by my local gym, can you give me your thoughts on it?

3 way split with 1 day on then 2 days off

WORKOUT 1 CHEST/DELTS/TRICEPS
INCLINE DUMBBELL FLYS
light set 50 reps
Triple drop set
Straight heavy set 10 reps

SLIGHT INCLINE DUMBBELL BENCH PRESS
Straight heavy set 10 reps
Triple drop set

Dips as many as i can do after bench press

LAT RAISE
Triple drop set

INCLINE DUMBBELL PRESS
Straight heavy set 10 reps
Triple drop set

DECLINE TRICEP EXTENSIONS
Triple drop set

-------------------------------------------------


WORKOUT 2 BACK/BICEPS
PULLOVERS
Light set 50 reps to pre exhaust lats
Triple drop set
Light set again

LAT PULLDOWNS
Triple drop set
heavy straight set 10 reps

ONE ARM ROWS
Triple drop set

BICEPS
DUMBBELL CURLS
Heavy Straight Set
Triple Drop Set

-----------------------------------------

WORKOUT 3 QUADS/HAMS/CALVES

LEG EXTENSIONS
High rep set
Triple Drop Set
Heavy straight set

LEG PRESS
Triple drop set

SEATED CURLS
High rep set
Triple drop set

CALVES
STANDING CALF RAISE
3 Heavy straight sets

bukem

Hi Munchie

I seem to following you round this board at the moment I'll try and give you a little advice on your routine.
First off the routine outlined above is far to demanding even on cycle when recovery is quicker. Drop sets are something to be used spareingly, you seem to have the right idea, to grow muscle you need to stress muscle fibre to destruction through resistance ie lifting wieght. But your central nervous system plays a big part too, your brain releases chemicals that trigger muscle contraction and this can become tired and inaffective, resulting in less musclular activity.
My advice would be "keep it simple". Stick to basic compounds
Flat bench
incline press
dips
military press
lat raises
squats
dead lifts
bent over rows
Close grip bench press

Using compounds with the correct form and weight will, with out doubt get you where you want to be. Stick with 2 warm ups sets ( do not fatigue the muscle ) then 3 sets of 6 to 8 each to failure, no forced reps. In my opinion there are only a few muscls groups which respond well to high reps, calfs being one. Expriment, I've had good results doing 25 rep calf sets.
Remember building muscle takes time, a routine full of drop sets is like starting a marathon sprinting. You will crash and burn way before you see any quality results.

Munchie

Hi again!
Ive been doing this routine since the 1st of Jan and i've got 2 weeks left them im due for a change, ive noticed more growth doing this routine than my last one, my shirts are getting tighter (which is always a good sign)

From your recommendations what exercises should i do on what day? Im still not sure what muscles to group together on one workout??
Would you not recommend to pre exhaust the chest with flys? (I want a huge chest)

Thanks for the advice
Munchie

Squatty

Hi mate. Personally i think that if your goal is bulking, you've got too many isolation exercises in your programme.

For example, for your chest routine, I would drop the flyes and concentrate on flat bench, incline bar or dumbbells and declines.

Likewise, for legs I would drop the extensions and include some squats

bukem

Hi Mate

Without going to deep into anatomy, the basis of muscle is made from two types of fibre.
1. short fibres (produce explosive power, strength)
2. long fibres (produce endurance)
This is a very basic description, there are a lot more differences, i.e in the way they use oxygen and so on.
Calf muscles are made up from a majority of long fibres, we are designed to walk, run ect, they get alot of use every day. This is why they don't respond well to heavy weights low reps, there are simply not enough short fibres here to stimulate. Pecs are the opposite, cram packed with short fibres. The idea now is to overload the muscle with as much weight as possible for reps of 4 to 8. So for bulking I wouldn't recommend pre exhuast methods. We want to be able to lift heavy, the heavier the better.
I will explain a way to warm up the chest that will pretty much gaurentee an increase your bench press.
For the sake of numbers lets say you bench 100kg

1st warm up 50kg x 12 ( half your normal bench)
These should be good smooth reps, not to fast , not to slow. The idea is to put blood in the muscle. rest 2 mins

2nd set 50kg x 10
Same weight as before just alittle faster. Rest 2 mins

3rd set 75kg x 6 (3/4 normal bench)
This set needs to be done with meaning at moderate pace, the chest is now warm. Rest 2 mins

4th set 87kg x 3
This set is to acclimatise the pecs to more weight, these reps need to be clean and presice.

5th set 87kg x 1
This should be strong, powerfull and deliberate.

6th, 7th & 8th 110kg x 4 to 6
These are the muscle building sets. Very important. These are the only sets that produce muscle growth. All the sets leading up to these heavy sets are merely warm-up sets and are treated as just that and nothing more. If you feel fatigue in any of the warm up sets stop and reduce the weight a little.
Notice how I increased the weight to 110kg, I wouldn't recommend you increase by 10kg but certainly try for an extra 5kg.

Muscle grows outside the gym when resting, Imagine your body is a car. Now you take your car out for a drive every other day and each time you put a little dent in the body work. If you don't allow your machanic enough time to fix the dent before you take your car out for a drive again, before long, not only will your car be weak, something more serious might go wrong.

Without propper rest and diet you will only get 20% of your potential.

This is one I use to kickstart my bulking phase's. I use it for 4-5 weeks. It is based around lifting heavy and plenty of rest. (Obviously it is combined with a much higher intake of calories.) Still aiming for 6-8
reps except where stated.

Monday Legs

Squat (10/8/6/4/2)
Leg press (3 sets)
straight leg deadlift (3 sets)
Standing calf raise (3 sets 12 to 15)

Wednesday Back/biceps

Deadlift (10/8/6/4/2)
Barbell row (8/6/4)
Close grip pulldowns (3 sets)
Shrugs (3 sets)
Barbell curl (3 sets)

Friday Chest/shoulders/triceps

Flat bench (3 sets)
Incline db press (3 sets)
db Military press (8/6/4)
lateral raises (3 sets 10 to 12)
Close grip benchpress (3 sets)

Hope it helps a bit Mate.
Bukem

crazycal1

as their saying keep it simple bud.

triple drop sets and the like arent needed unless youre a fairly advanced trainer

einsteins mind was the key to all things...to understand more than to know.

www.extremenutrition.co.uk

Munchie

can you explain what you mean by 10/8/6/4/2?

And do you mean do 8 sets for chest altogether?
Wont my Triceps fail first if i drop the fly's before bench press???

Forgot one, what can i replace leg press with without using that machine? Im training at home until spring and dont have a lot of equipment

bukem

Munchie

10/8/6/4/2, This means 5 working sets. Set 1 x 10 reps, set 2 x 8 reps, set 3 x 6 reps and so on. Increasing the weight each set so you are unable to exeed the stated number of reps for each set with good form. This goes for deadlifts and db military press

For bench press you will do 8 sets altogether but remember the first 5 sets are just warm ups and not working sets, the first 5 sets should be easy to perform.

If your triceps fail before your chest the answer is simple....your tri's aren't strong enough, the focus of bench press is on the pecs and tri's are secondary muscle for this movement. Triceps are a big muscle made up of three heads hence the name TRIcep. They should be bigger and stronger than your bicep. Which has two muscles, hence BIcep. Bodybuilding is all about proportion you can't get a huge chest without geting huge tri's, thats a fact.

You can replace leg press with leg extensions if you like.

Munchie

Cheers Bukem
Its all going in slowly!! I'll try out your routine starting 1st of March.

Thanks again for the help mate.