newbie checkin in, analyze my routine

[TA63]

Hello all, Ive been lurkin here for a while but this is my 1st post. Im 21, 5'11 and weigh 215. Been workin out off and on for the past 4 years, but just got real serious last year. I work as a professional firefighter and have lots of free time to work out. I have made some good gains, esp in arm size, but feel that I am lacking strength. Im gonna post my routine and would love your imput.

Monday - Chest/Abs
4 sets flat barbell, 8-12 reps
3 sets incline dumbell 8-12 reps
3 sets incline flys 12 reps
3 sets dumbell pullovers 10-12 reps


once every three or four weeks, I mix things up a bit and go with heavier weights and fewer reps. Are the dumbell pullovers worth doing? Should I cut them out and add something else, or is 10 sets enough?

I can currently bench only 295, and would love to see at least 350 by this time next year.


Tuesday - Back
4 sets pullups 8 reps
4 sets lat pulldowns 8-10 reps
3 sets straight arm pulldowns 12 reps
3 sets one arm dumbell rows 10-12 reps


Wednesday - shoulders/traps
4 sets overhead dumbell presses 10-12 reps
4 sets lateral delt raises 10-12 reps
4 sets rear delt raises 10 reps
3 sets dumbell shrugs
3 sets behind the back barbell shrugs


Thursday - legs/abs
4 sets leg presses, pyramiding in weight
4 sets squats, pyramiding in weight
20 minutes stairclimbing


Friday - bis and tris
4 sets barbell curls or preacher curls 10-12 reps
3 sets seated dumbell curls 10 reps
3 sets incline hammer curls 10 reps

4 sets narrow bench 10 reps
4 sets overhead dumbell extensions 10 reps
3 sets cable pushdowns 10 reps

I also do 25 min cardo about 3 times/wk. I supplement heavily with protein, and on ab days I do about 9 sets of assorted crunches and reverse crunches.

I know this is a long first post, but I very much appreciate everyones imput.

 

[big4life]

Welcome to the board.

Have you checked out Needsize's 5x5 training program in the training method sticky. There have been a lot of guys making good strength gains from it. Including me.

As for the db pullovers, some people swear by them and others say they're useless. I guess it's up to you, if you like them, keep them.

I would replace one of your pulldowns on back day with deadlifts. I would also add in leg curls on your leg day.

I also notice that you workout for five days straight. Is there anyway you can add a day off in there somewhere? It will help your body recover, and you to gain strength.

 

[TA63]

I guess I could combine back and shoulders in one day. Also, should I be using a bar instead of dumbells for the shoulder presses? The 5x5 program looks interesting. Maybe Illl give that a shot.

 

[WalkingBeast]

Welcome to the boards!! A high volume/ high intensity routine has always worked best for me. The base of my program was always 12 sets of 12-15 reps for smaller body parts, and 15 sets of 12-15 reps for larger body parts. I started with that and got my best gains for years, then later my training became more instinctual. Just make sure to use the heaviest weight possible with good form when doing your sets. Hope that helps

 

[envies]

I would say your borderline with doing too much. Some people like high volume routines, some dont. If it works for you, then stick with it, but when it stops producing the gains you think you should be getting, lower the volume. If your trying to get stronger, then definitely add power movements, like deadlifts.

Also, I would lower the rep ranges for the core exercises such as bench press, try 4-6 reps. You want heavy weight and low reps for strength. You can switch up your incline and flat bench like this: switch b/w bar and db and switch flat/incline each time. So one week you do flat bb and incline db and the next week you do flat db and incline bb....hope you understand that. I personally enjoy doing this.

For your back, do chins, bb rows, and deads. That is sufficient and will get your back nice and thick. Forget lat pulldowns.

Put some hamstring work in there, like some SLDLs after squats. And add some calve work on leg day too.

Deads will hit your traps, so you prolly dont need 6 sets of shrugs.

If you want to get your workout down to 3 days a week, put your bicep work with back and tricep work with chest. I personally would do this. You can cut out at least one bi/tri exercise too if you do this, cause they will get worked out already from your core chest/back exercises.

Hope this gives you some good ideas!!

 

[TA63]

Thanks for the ideas. Ill try lowering the reps as mentioned in my core exercises. In a few weeks, I think im gonna give the 5x5 program a shot. It looks interesting. Im gonna eliminate some of the shrugs, and start doing the deadlifts. Any benefits from doing hang cleans?

 

[envies]

Of course their are benefits from hang cleans. They got my traps huge, real fast. Depending on how taxing your workout is already, you could alternate them with deadlifts each week or do them every third week for a switch up. If you do that, I would do power cleans, not just hang cleans. Else, maybe do them on leg day. Like: hang cleans, squats, sldl, calves.

If you have never done them before, make sure you get someone with experience to help you get your technique correct. I takes a while to get the 'hang' (ha) of doing them. Most people have a hard time exploding with the weight, and just sort of pull it up, you really wont be getting much benefit for yourself except some cardio if your technique is poor.

 

[TA63]

I do have some experience doing the hang cleans. I only asked cause I seldom see them mentioned here. Did them alot in HS. What exactly is the power clean?

 

[Dorian'sDisciple]

Welcome to the boards!! A high volume/ high intensity routine has always worked best for me. The base of my program was always 12 sets of 12-15 reps for smaller body parts, and 15 sets of 12-15 reps for larger body parts. I started with that and got my best gains for years, then later my training became more instinctual. Just make sure to use the heaviest weight possible with good form when doing your sets. Hope that helps

interesting that that rep range gave you good mass,did you find it helped your conditioning? (that volume of work would burn some cals)

 

[envies]

Power clean is like a hang clean, but you start from the floor and deadlift the weight up and when it gets to about your knees it becomes a hang clean. Its a little more involved than a hang clean.

 

[TA63]

Ah, so power clean would be an excellent lift to substitute for deadlifts every now and then. Ill definately give that a shot.

 

[envies]

definitely