I have been doing this lifting routine for almost a year now. And while I have had good results, it’s gotten a bit stale. (Trying to format this better here). Any ideas on how to shake it up?
Monday Tuesday Thursday Friday
80% 1RM 65% 1RM 65% 1RM 80% 1RM
1RM Back and Bis Chest and Tris Back and Bis Chest and Tris
300 Squats 3 x 8 x 240 3 x 12 x 195
300 Deadlifts 3 x 8 x 240 3 x 12 x 195
165 Leg Curls 3 x 8 x 132 3 x 12 x 107.25
500 Calf Raises 3 x 8 x 400 3 x 12 x 325
260 Seated Rows 3 x 8 x 208 3 x 12 x 169
150 Lat Pull Downs 3 x 8 x 120 3 x 12 x 97.5
200 Shrugs 3 x 8 x 160 3 x 12 x 130
95 Crumple Bar Curls 3 x 8 x 76 3 x 12 x 61.75
40 Incline DB Curls 3 x 8 x 32 3 x 12 x 26
220 Flat Bench Press 3 x 12 x 143 3 x 8 x 176
220 Incline Bench Press 3 x 12 x 143 3 x 8 x 176
285 Machines Flyes 3 x 12 x 185.25 3 x 8 x 228
180 Military Press 3 x 12 x 117 3 x 8 x 144
40 Lateral Raises 3 x 12 x 26 3 x 8 x 32
250 Reverse Flyes 3 x 12 x 162.5 3 x 8 x 200
190 Pushdown 3 x 12 x 123.5 3 x 8 x 152
100 Lying French Press 3 x 12 x 65 3 x 8 x 80
50 Kickbacks 3 x 12 x 32.5 3 x 8 x 40
Abs 3 x 12 x 0 3 x 8 x 0
That was a coding mess. The first number is my 1RM
**Monday
80% 1RM
Back and Bis**
300 Squats 3 x 8 x 240
300 Deadlifts 3 x 8 x 240
165 Leg Curls 3 x 8 x 132
500 Calf Raises 3 x 8 x 400
260 Seated Rows 3 x 8 x 208
150 Lat Pull Downs 3 x 8 x 120
200 Shrugs 3 x 8 x 160
95 Crumple Bar Curls 3 x 8 x 76
40 Incline Dumbbell Curls 3 x 8 x 32
Tuesday
65% 1RM
Chest and Tris
220 Flat Bench Press 3 x 12 x 143
220 Incline Bench Press 3 x 12 x 143
285 Machines Flyes 3 x 12 x 185.25
180 Military Press 3 x 12 x 117
40 Lateral Raises 3 x 12 x 26
250 Reverse Flyes 3 x 12 x 162.5
190 Pushdown 3 x 12 x 123.5
100 Lying French Press 3 x 12 x 65
50 Kickbacks 3 x 12 x 32.5
Abs 3 x 12 x 0
**Thursday
65% 1RM
Back and Bis**
300 Squats 3 x 12 x 195
300 Deadlifts 3 x 12 x 195
165 Leg Curls 3 x 12 x 107.25
500 Calf Raises 3 x 12 x 325
260 Seated Rows 3 x 12 x 169
150 Lat Pull Downs 3 x 12 x 97.5
200 Shrugs 3 x 12 x 130
95 Crumple Bar Curls 3 x 12 x 61.75
40 Incline Dumbbell Curls 3 x 12 x 26 Friday
80% 1RM
Chest and Tris
220 Flat Bench Press 3 x 8 x 176
220 Incline Bench Press 3 x 8 x 176
285 Machines Flyes 3 x 8 x 228
180 Military Press 3 x 8 x 144
40 Lateral Raises 3 x 8 x 32
250 Reverse Flyes 3 x 8 x 200
190 Pushdown 3 x 8 x 152
100 Lying French Press 3 x 8 x 80
50 Kickbacks 3 x 8 x 40
Abs 3 x 8 x 0
I tend to do different machines/things with the abs. I do the obliques machine and the standard abs machine. I’ll sometimes do crunches with the pulleys or leg raises with that bosu ball chair thingy (I’m not sure what it’s called but it’s got the bosu ball against the back and I lift my legs up to work the lower abs.
I’ve never heard of anything like that. Is that for the ab/adductors?
Edit: On a side note, your 180 press is very impressive and surprising given your relatively lower 300 squat, 300 dead, and 220 bench. Have you always been strong in the press or is it something you’ve focused on. I’m surprised your bench number isn’t higher with a press like that.
I’ve been consistently training since January 2010 (prior to that it was always off and on, but now I lift 4x a week + a day or two of cardio).
I’ve got a couple goals
[LIST=A]
[li]Get the chest up to my body weight in 8 reps (so 8x205). I want the three main ones, squats, deadlifts, and bench to be there and I’ve got two out of three so far.[/li][li]To add an inch around to the chest, arms, and thighs.[/li][/LIST]
The military press and the calf raises are a bit anomalous especially considering my lateral raises really suck and my squats and deadlifts could be better.
I was thinking of swapping out the incline bench press with a reverse grip bench press but I tried it with just an empty bar and it felt uncomfortable on the forearms. So I’m not sure if I was doing it wrong or not, but I’ve heard it’s supposed to be better for the upper chest.
Yup, doing about 3000 calories on lifting days and 2500 on off days.
I’m wondering now if I should split up my days even more then as right now the back/bi/leg day takes about 1h10m and the chest/shoulder/tri day takes about 1h20m. If I do split, I’m guessing it would be 6 days of lifting with one day off.
I’ve done 5 days doing solely supersets for two weeks with this workout:
Sunday-Chest
4 sets of each:
Flat bench x8 then Flyes 8
Dips x8 then Pullovers x8
Incline Dumbbell press x8 then decline pushups x8*body
1 set of each:
Cable crossovers arms at 90 degrees x8 palms neutral x8 palms up x8 palms down Arms at 45 degrees x8
Monday-Back
4 sets of each:
Lat pulldowns x8 then seated rows x8
Deadlifts x8 then hyperextensions x8 (plate)
Shrugs x8 then reverse flyes x8
1 set of each:
Assisted pullups 8
Tuesday-Arms
4 sets of each:
Hail caesars x8 then concentration curls x8
Push downs x8 then twisting curls x8
21s then French press x8
Wednesday-Legs
4 sets of each:
Squats x8 then Calf raises x8
Leg extensions x8 then leg curls x8
Lunges x8 then side lunges x8
Hack and stiff leg deadlift
Thursday-Shoulders
4 sets of each:
Military Press x8 then lateral raises x8
Front raise x8 then Arnold presses x8
Internal rotator cuff x8 then external rotator cuff x8
It is extremely unlikely that whatever program you come up with is going to better for your goals than starting strength. You already have some strength developed, so you’ll have to go a bit slower than they recommend, but it’s still the most solid beginner’s program out there.
This is the direction I was headed too. Your press is already pretty solid and you probably won’t be able to add weight to the bar on every workout, but you should still be able to make gains. Your squat, dead, and to some degree your bench will benefit immensely. I think that until you get some of your main lift numbers up, you don’t need to worry about all the assistance exercises.
When you truly can’t make any more progress with Starting Strength, consider CFSB, 5/3/1, or one of the many Westside variations. If you’re looking for something like Starting Strength that makes more allowances for conditioning training, take a look at Justin Lacek’s CFWF linear program.
