Calling all SDMB Gymrats

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

Okay, so New Year’s just a couple of days away. I’ve put on a fair few pounds during this season of indulgence. Now is as good a time as any to shake up my gym routine a bit.

As with anything, there’s a right way and a wrong way to do this. Since what I know abotu physical fitness could probably be written on the back of a postage stamp with room to spare, I figured I’d run my proposed routine past the infinitely more knowledgeable bodybuilders of the SDMB.

Btw, I’m on my first ever ‘Bulk’ cycle and am trying to gain muscle mass.

SUNDAY - CHEST & BICEPS

CHEST:

  1. Bar Bench Press:[ul]
    [li]12 reps with 30kg weight.[/li][li]10 reps with 40kg weight.[/li][li]8 reps with 50kg weight.[/li][li]6 reps with 55kg weight.[/li][li]One set to failure with 30kg weight.[/ul][/li]

  2. 3x10 Incline Bench Press with two 15kg Dumbbells.

  3. 3x10 Decline Bench Press with 30kg weight or (depending on my mood) 3x10 dumbbell Pec Fly’s with two 10kg dumbbells.

BICEPS:

  1. Barbell Curls: [ul]
    [li]One set of 12 reps with a 20kg barbell.[/li][li]One set of 10 reps with a 25kg barbell.[/li][li]One set of 8 reps with a 30kg barbell.[/li][li]One set of 6 reps with a 35kg barbell.[/li][li]One set to failure with a 20kg barbell.[/ul][/li]

  2. 3x10 Standing dumbbell curls with two 12.5kg dumbbells.

  3. 3x10 Preacher Curls with a 10kg (yes, that’s a mere 10kg. I suck a preacher curls) dumbbell or (again, depending on my mood) 3 sets of “Super 21’s” with two 7.5kg dumbbells.
    MONDAY - LEGS

  4. 3x10 Squats with a 30kg barbell.

  5. 3x10 Stiff Legged Deadlifts with a 30kg barbell.

  6. 3x10 Seated leg curls with 49kg weight.

  7. 3x10 Seated Leg Press with 150kg weight.

  8. 3x10 Calf raises with 88kg weight.
    WEDNESDAY - BACK, TRAPS & ABS

BACK:

  1. Lat Pulldowns:[ul]
    [li]One set of 12 reps with 35kg weight.[/li][li]One set of 10 reps with 49kg weight.[/li][li]One set of 8 reps with 56kg weight.[/li][li]One set of 6 reps with 63kg weight.[/li][li]One set to failure with 35kg weight.[/ul][/li]

  2. Seated Row:[ul]
    [li]One set of 12 reps with 35kg weight.[/li][li]One set of 10 reps with 49kg weight.[/li][li]One set of 8 reps with 56kg weight.[/li][li]One set of 6 reps with 63kg weight.[/li][li]One set to failure with 35kg weight.[/ul][/li]3) Two sets of chin-ups to failure. By the way, anyone know the difference between pull-ups & chin-ups?
    TRAPS:

  3. Four sets of dumbbell shrugs to failure with two 15kg dumbbells.

ABS

  1. 3x30 Stomach Crunches.
  2. 3x15 Leg Lifts.

FRIDAY - SHOULDERS & TRICEPS

SHOULDERS:

  1. Shoulder Press:[ul]
    [li]One set of 12 reps with 25kg weight.[/li][li]One set of 10 reps with 30kg weight.[/li][li]One set of 8 reps with 35kg weight.[/li][li]One set of 6 reps with 40kg weight.[/li][li]One set to failure with 25kg weight.[/ul][/li]

  2. 3x10 Dumbbell Lateral Raises (as seen here) with two 7kg Dumbbells.

  3. 3x10 Lying rear deltoid raises with two 6kg dumbbells

TRICEPS

  1. 3x10 Skull Presses with a 20kg Dumbbell.

  2. 3x10 Tricep Extensions with a 10kg Dumbbell.

  3. Two sets of Tricep dips to failure.
    So, that’s it. Am I making any particularly egregious mistakes? Can anyone suggest an exercise to add in or take out?

2

Pretty much everything I said in your last thread on the topic still applies here.

3

Well, that’s weird because I designed this latest routine with your previous comments in mind.

Of my previous routine you said there was “No attention to your recovery needs” so I gave myself 3 days off. This is ample because, according to what you said in the previous thread “Good programs feature 3-5 days of lifting per week”.

You also said there was “No attention to the need for balancing work so you don’t fuck up your joints (most notably your shoulders),” so I made sure that each set of Bench Presses and Lat Pulldowns was balanced with a set of Seated Rows and Shoulder Presses.

You also said “After about an hour to 75 minutes of weight training, cortisol kicks in, and your workout starts being counterproductive. You don’t want that, right? So you’ve got a little over an hour to get the work you want to do done.” The longest session in my routine, Wednesday, takes just under one hour to complete.

You said that a good routine features Deadlifts, Squats, and Flat Bench Presses, which mine does.

So which of your comments from the previous thread still applies? Seriously, what am I missing?

4

My guess is that unless you have a shitload of dedication, you’ll still burn out quickly, which is another one of his comments.

5

Could be, but it’s really not a strenuous program. You should’ve seen the stuff I used to do a few years ago! 10km runs followed by 3 hours of weight training five days a week. Ah, to be a teenager again…

6

When you are doing chest and biceps on the same day that really doesn’t make sense. When you are working your chest you are also working your triceps. A lot of back exercises require pulling that will work your biceps. I would break it down differently.

Personally I would work your chest and triceps on the same day, back, shoulders and, if you feel you must, biceps (really limit the number of exercises as 11 sets for your biceps is ridiculous) on the next upper body day. Then, of course, do your legs with squats/deadlifts/lunges, etc.

You would probably be better off going here and finding a premade routine that fits your style:

http://forums.jpfitness.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=000056

Note that this is completely my opinion and I am by no means an expert.

7

That’s all true, but restructuring my workout along the lines you suggest would result in me hitting my biceps and triceps just once a week. Is this really enough to ensure optimal growth? My way hits them twice a week, once mildly and once strenuously which (I think) helps stave off muscular atrophy.

Thanks for the links, by the way. I’ll check them out tonight.