My Routine/Split -- please help! Critiques, suggestions, comments needed.

[shardik1000]

Background: I am a seventeen year old male, and need to gain size and strength. I am underweight (not out of shape, just very, very lean) and need to increase muscle mass.

I am satisfied with my abdominal and oblique routines, so, in the interests of brevity, I will not post them.

This is my routine. Is it too much? Any comments? How should I split it? Please, I'm afraid I'm falling into the trap of thinking MORE is BETTER, even though I know it's not. Currently, I split it

mon: chest, biceps
tue: abs, triceps
wed: legs, shoulders
thr: back, obliques
fri: chest, biceps
sat: abs, triceps
sun: legs, shoulders
etc....

Should I rest over the weekend? Would I see similar gains on a mon: chest, bis, abs ; wed: legs, shoulders, obliques ; fri: back, triceps . and cardio/racquetball on off/days weekends?
Please, help. What split should I use for this routine?


Chest:
barbell bench 3 X 6-8
decline dumbell press 3 X 6-8
dumbbell flies: 3 X 6-8
incline dumbbell flies: 3 X 6-8

biceps:
standing 2-arm barbell curl 3 X 6-8
hammer curls 3 X 6-8
concentration curls 3 X 6-8

triceps:
barbell skull-crusher 3 X 6-8
decline close-grip bench press 3 X 6-8
dumbbell french press 3 X 6-8

shoulders:
barbell military press :3 X 6-8
shrugs: 3 X 8-12
upright barbell rows: 3 X 6-8
lateral raises: 3 X 6-8

back:
deadlift 3 X 6-8
seated cable rows: 3 X 6-8
front lat pull-down: 3 X 6-8
close-grip front lat pull-down: 3 X 6-8
maybe dumbbell rows: 3 X 6-8

legs:
squat 3 X 6-8
leg press 3 X 6-8
hamstring curl 3 X 6-8
calf raise 3 X 12

 

[lc576]

Heres my two cents: Your rep ranges are fine but in my opinion your splits could be arranged better.

Also, and some might disagree, I don't necessarily disagree with working out everyday. Your young enough that your body can take. You just have to be careful and listen to what your body is telling you.

I believe you should make arms a day in themselves, the reason being if you make them an after thought in your workout, then thats what they will look like. For example; many people combine back and bi's on the same day. However, if you work your back as you should, you should not be able to grip anything let alone work your bi's.

Also, keep in mid that your back is the foundation to the way your body looks. If you work it right a solid back will give you a V tapper, small waist and thick chest. So many people over look this and never reach their full potential.

That being said, here is my split take the good and throw out the bad.

Mon/back

Pull ups (one week weighted the next I go for reps)

Shrugs (Shrugs work the upper back and traps. just because they call them shoulder shrugs don't put them on shoulder day)

bent over rows

seated rows

Tues/chest and shoulders

incline press

flat press

flys

(decline press is a waist of your time, people do them because they can do more weight than flat bench and it gives them a charge. They will do little for your over all chest development)

shoulder press

laterals

Wed/arms

Seated incline dumbbell curls

overhead tricep press

machine curls drops to failure once everyother week

dips

standing dumbbell curls

push downs

thurs/legs

Extenstions

curls

leg press

squats

REPEAT MON IF NOT SORE

I am not 17 so my off days are wed sat sun, which I do cardio. I choose a weight in which I will fail at 8 to 10 reps, for someone your age I would choose a weight which I would fail at 6 to 8 reps and do four sets for each lift.

good luck

 

[Greek Freak]

Just adressing the split

mon: chest, biceps
tue: abs, triceps
wed: legs, shoulders
thr: back, obliques
fri: chest, biceps
sat: abs, triceps
sun: legs, shoulders

...if you use that split your gonna be either injured or very weak within a few weeks. I would only train each body part once per week. Also your training things one day and then hitting them again as secondary movers the next day...like if you really blast your chest your gonna fatigue your tri's too, and working them the next day is not logical, on top of that your also hitting shoulders right after the tri's so esentially your working your pushing muscles 3 days in a row. You can divide muscle groups into push pull or some people prefer training opposing muscles, but then you need to work the split so that you get the proper rest. You also should not be lifting 7 days a week. I can help you personalize a routine if you IM or PM me(AIM or if i am logged in here) but I will also post my current routine here:
Mon-Chest
Tues-Hamstrings, traps, some biceps(dealifts)
Wed-Off/cardio
Thurs-Shoulders/Tri's
Fri-Quads(squats)
Sat-Back
Sun-Off