WORKOUT/TRAINING ROUTINES

[RRxtar]

talk has been made about splitting the general thread up abit more since it moves so fast now (like 5 pages a day). in addition to the supplements thread, the music thread, the goals thread, we're looking to create a couple more regular threads, one of which is for discussion mainly about routines.


Sooo this thread is for discussion about your current or future or past workout routines. whether youre on 5x5 or just starting out, or a seasoned lifter. whether your on a full body program or one day a week. post up what you do and what you like about it. ask questions and all that shit.


K go.

[RRxtar]

Heres my routine. Have been doing roughly this version of it for a few months, and roughly the same layout since maybe the summer. I put it together over a few years of trial and error. I didnt really follow any 'program' at all, just experimented with what works, how my weekly life works, and mainly what I enjoy. It may not work for everyone, and may not even be the best for me, but I enjoy it, and Im making the most gains currently than I have in the 4+ years Ive been lifting

I have found that hitting muscle groups only one day per week, by the time the week has gone by, I've lost all drive I gained in the workout. I may have quick recovery, and my body seems to respond well to hitting muscles the day after the pump goes down so thats usually every second to 3rd day. Legs are harder tho.

I also dont really spend any time 'resting'. Almost all of my workouts involve a slow superset whatever you want to call it. Instead of doing 4 sets of exercise A then doing 4 sets of B ill do A, B, A, B, A, B, A, B. as noted in the routine below.


Monday: shoulders, upper/outer back, abs.
Dumbell Shoulder Presses (heavy) 4 sets of 6. superset with
Wide Grip Chins. 4 sets of 8-10
Military Press (strict) 3 sets of 7. superset with
Narrow Neutral Grip Pull Downs. focussing on stretching and pulling with my back not hands. 4 sets of 8
Lateral Raises on able machine. 4 sets of 8-10 superset with
One Arm Face Pulls on cable machine. focus on squeezing and end of rep. 4 sets of 8
Front Raises with dumbells. 3 sets of 8 superset with
Rear Flys. chest on bench with dumbells. 3 sets of 8-10
Shrug Bar Shrugs. 3-4 sets of 8.
Back supported hanging leg raises for Abs. 3 sets 20-25

you will notice the majority of the shoulder/back work is pushing and pulling overhead

Tuesday: chest/middle back/legs
Incline Dumbell Press (heavy) 4 sets of 6-8. superset with
Smith Machine Barbell Rows. 4 sets of 6-8
Squats. pyramiding 5 sets of 8 down to about 3.
Flat or Incline Barbell Bench (volume). 3 sets of 10-12. superset with
Seated Cable Row. 3 sets of 8
Cable Flies. from low angle. 4 sets 8-10. superset with
Hamstring Curls Machine. 4 sets 8-10
Quad Leg Extensions. 4 sets of 10-12 superset with
Standing Calf Raises in the smith machine. 4 sets 8-10

chest/back this day is pushing and rowing in front

Wednesday: back/arms/abs
Behind the Head 2 Hand Dumbell Raises seated. 4 sets of 8. superset with
Chin ups of some variety. 4 sets of 8-10
Skull Crushers. 4 sets of 8 superset with
EZ bar Curls. 4 sets 8-10
Palm Up Pulldowns. 4 sets 10-12. superset with
Hammer Bar or One Arm Preacher Curls. 4 sets 8-10
Back supported hanging leg raises for Abs. 3 sets of 20-25

Thursday: off

Friday: shoulders/back/deadlifts
Dumbell Arnold Presses (volume) 4 sets 10-12. superset with
Some form of wide grip chin ups or narrow pulldowns. 4 sets 8-10
Standing Military Press (heavy). 4 sets 4-6. may turn into push press. superset with
Another form of chins or pulldowns. 4 sets 8-10.
Deadlifts. pyramiding sets.

Saturday: chest/back/whatever
Barbell Bench Press (heavy). 5 sets 6 down to 2 on the last set.
Smith Machine Barbell Rows. 4 sets of 6-8
after this it might be arms, might be more back, might be deadlifts if I didnt do them friday, etc

Sunday: off


Friday and Saturday can end up being just one day on friday OR saturday some weeks depending on how my week looks and what my time is like and how im feeling.


I end up walking out of the gym every day absolutely satisfied, and never overdone. I feel like I got a great workout in and Ive done the right amount of exercises per muscle group. And I dont think Im ever in the gym for much more than an hour, maybe even less.

[Excelsis]

screw 5x5, i couldn't run for more than 25 minutes today

i think i'll just transfer to 1x5 now, no matter how much i eat i'm still sore fuark

[SkinnyPupp]

I just posted mine in the BB club, so I'll just repost it again here. I tweaked the description a bit, so if you've read it already, give it another read.

Morning drink: Essential AmiNO (2 scoops) = 100g caffeine to get my ass in gear + 5g beta alanine, 0 calories

Pre-Workout stim: 1 heaping scoop White Flood = 200-300g caffeine? + I add 10g BCAA

Intra-Workout: 3 scoops Xtend = 10g BCAA + I add 5g Leucine

WORKOUT PLAN

3 days a week, total body training, fasted.

Just finished a 12 week cycle of Chad Waterbury's "get lean" program from his book. This combined a heavy, medium, and light day each week, total body, and 10-15 mins of HIIT. It was OK but by the end felt a bit too 'light' for my goal of body recomp (rather than cutting)

So I have switched it up to LeanGains reverse pyramid training. You can read about it here, but basically it goes like this:

First set = maximum effort at whatever rep range you're aiming for
2nd set = 10% less weight, 1-2 extra reps
3rd set = 10% less weight, 1-2 extra reps

I find that it is good to have a lot of VARIABLES when lifting, and this hits the right spot for me. A good combination of heavy lifting with a lot of volume. I am still using Waterbury's method of building a routine (IE have a upper body push, an upper body pull, and a leg exercise in every workout, 3x a week)

Also, I focus on lifting FAST for every rep I do (except super heavy 2-3RM). This allows me to get more WORK done (work = force x distance) and basically makes your workout more of a WORKout for your body. IE your brain has to get in on it, recruiting the whole system to get the weight up.

So my weekly routine goes like this right now:

Day 1:
Deadlifts
Military Press
Chinups

Day 2
Squats
Dips
High Pull
Good Mornings

Day 3
Lunges
DB Press
Cable Row
Leg Extensions

Sometimes I feel like mixing things up, which I can do on this plan since as long as I am doing a heavy push, pull, and legs, I am covered. But for the most part, I stick to the same movement for 4 weeks then change everything up.

To give an idea of reps, it depends on the weight being used. For squats and deads, I am lifting as heavy as possible, testing my 1RM max and going from there. So total reps after 3 sets of deadlifts is usually 5-6 reps at full effort. Similar to what Rippetoe suggests (he suggests doing only 1 set at full effort)

For something like cable press, I am starting out at a weight I can do 6-7 reps with. So after 4 sets, I end up doing a total of about 30-36 reps.

For chinups I am starting with 5-6 reps, and end up doing 26 reps or so.

This is the key point of my methodology: If you take the typical body builder routines (5x5, 3 sets of 10, etc) you can see that my total reps are right in line with those more structured plans. However since I am increasing my load at every single workout, instead of arbitrarily limiting myself to something I can do 5 identical sets of, I believe it's a much better workout overall.

I posted a picture in the BB club, and to be honest I got the most results in the last 2-3 weeks of my 12 weeks of progress. And the picture was taken AFTER christmas, so included a lot of cookies and chocolate

[LC21]

Skinny, that seems like a solid 3 day split workout. I should give it a shot.

[SkinnyPupp]

Give it a shot, I think I'm the only one not doing splits

I did day 3 today but switched sumos in for lunges since my legs are so dead
Posted via RS Mobile

[civicyvr]

Hey SP

Looks good. Planning to try this for my cut.

Need to switch things up so my body doesn't adjust.

So are you doing HIIT on the non-lift days with LeanGain?

[kevin7352]

Mark Rippetoe's Starting Strength:

Day 1
3x5 Squats
3x5 Bench Press
1x5 Deadlift

Day 2
3x5 Squats
3x5 Military Press
5x3 Power Cleans

I do it on 3 non-consecutive days, Monday, Wednesday, Friday, alternating between Day 1 and 2.

If I can complete all the desired sets then I will add 5lbs to the working sets the next time I do the exercise. Deadlifts I will add 10lbs instead of 5lbs

I really like this program because it is very simple and straight forward, covers all the main compound lifts, I see noticeable improvements, and just makes sense to me (squat +push+pull each day).

The only problem I have with this program is that I want to add in some dips and chin-ups but from what I've read, he really advises against modifying the program.
He does offer other programs that include dips and chin-ups but they leave out deadlifts and power cleans, which I don't want to do. Any advice on this?

I have experimented with splits and I've never been able to come up with a good routine, whether it being the fact that I'm not pairing the right muscle groups together, I'm not doing the right exercises/forgetting exercises/doing too many exercises for that day, or like what RRxtar said, theres too long of a break between the days that each muscle group is targeted.
Also I feel like with splits, there are much more exercises to do and you don't get to do them as frequently, making it hard to improve on each exercise.

[SkinnyPupp]

Originally Posted by civicyvr

Hey SP

Looks good. Planning to try this for my cut.

Need to switch things up so my body doesn't adjust.

So are you doing HIIT on the non-lift days with LeanGain?

No I am not doing any cardio any more. TBH I think it would overtrain me a bit. I know, no such thing and all that. But if you recall, I used to complain a lot about not being able to sleep, etc. Since dropping it, I haven't had that problem, and thus I haven't had to skip a day due to only getting 4 hours of sleep.

I might add some light intervals on off days though.
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[jimzilla]

So here is my routine. It is a modified version of 5/3/1. I call it 8/5/3/1.

I use a mix-mash of the Juggernaut and 5/3/1 spreadsheets to get my numbers.

First week is endurance training week: usually 5 sets of 8reps.
Second week is: 5 sets of 5reps.
Third week: 5 sets of 3reps.
Fourth week: Max/PR week = 1set of 1 rep.
Then 1 week off and repeat.

And I usually do alot of work with bands and chains. One week of normal lift and the next week with bands/chains for speed.

As you'll see below, I work on the main lifts (Squat, OH press, Bench, Deadlift) then the rest is just a huge ass superset.

Duration of workouts are 2hr-2.5hr

Monday: Legs
Rear Squat (Heavy)
Front Squat (Light)
Box Squat w/ 50lb bands
Pin Squat (alternate every other week with box squat)
DB Lunges
Calf Raise
Hamstring Extension Machine
Hamstring Curl Machine
Glute-Ham Raises
Tri Pull Downs
Dips (Unweighted)
Skull Crushers (Decline)
One arm curl
Hammer Curls

Tuesday: Shoulders
Clean and Press (Warm up)
Dumbell Military
Neutral Grip Military
Facepulls (Top/Middle/Bottom)
Rear delt Machine
Delt Raises (Front/Side)
One arm rows
Shrugs
Dips (unweighted)

Wednesday: Off

Thursday: Chest
Flat Bench
Incline Bench
Incline Dumbell (Light)
Flat Dumbell (Light)
Cable Fly (top)
Cable Fly (middle)
Cable Fly (bottom)
One Arm Row
Dips (weighted)

Friday: Back
Cleans (Light/Warmup)
Deadlift (Three week rotation between deadlift/racklift/deficit)
Rack Lift w/ 50lb bands (Three week rotation between deadlift/racklift/deficit)
6inch Deficit Deadlift w/ 50lb bands (Three week rotation between deadlift/racklift/deficit)
T Bar Row
Wide Grip Row (Superset)
One Arm Rows (Superset)
Lat Pull Down (Superset)
Row Pull down (Superset)
Close Grip Row (Superset)
Wide Grip Row (Superset)
Tri Pull Downs
Dips (Unweighted)
Skull Crushers (Decline)
One arm curl
Hammer Curls

Saturday and Sunday: Off

[SkinnyPupp]

RRxtar you're doing like 30 sets total of various lifts in the gym, how long are you there for?

I do 4 different lifts max, with 3-4 sets of each, and I am at the gym for almost 2 hours including warmup, stretch, shower, etc... You must spend a whole day there it seems!

[strykn]

my routine is i just lift shit up and put it down every day

[RRxtar]

never much more than an hour. other than the heavier stuff i fly thru everything.

[jeffh]

thats why its all superset really. 2 excersise takes us the time of one, each setup on one excersise and then bounce back and forth so both stations are still getting used

you can rest when you are dead

[SkinnyPupp]

With volume like that, you guys would benefit like crazy from beta alanine. Ever try it?

[hal0g0dv2]

Originally Posted by SkinnyPupp

With volume like that, you guys would benefit like crazy from beta alanine. Ever try it?

yeah that stuff is great

[strykn]

Originally Posted by SkinnyPupp

With volume like that, you guys would benefit like crazy from beta alanine. Ever try it?

I thought beta alanine was only for focus? school me please!

[SkinnyPupp]

It's marketed in 'focus' supplements, but it's all about recovery. Like I said in the supp thread, just consider it as being similar to creatine, but for higher reps. Where creatine only comes into play in the 3 rep max range, beta alanine kicks in at 8RM+

If you're doing something like stronglifts or rippetoe, I wouldn't bother. But if you are doing the insane workout RR and jeff are doing, I would say go for it. I think it's good for me since I do an extremely variable plan.

[RRxtar]

havent tried it. i think jeff was thinking about it. ill look into it

the idea i have is while i believe it takes a minute or 2 between sets to rest you muscle group, instead of sitting there, that time can be spent doing a counter movement using a different muscle (push vs pull). that counter movement, i believe, helps the quick recovery of the muscle by doing a mirror opposite movement, and also partially stretching between each set. plus it keeps the heart going and the blood pumping and the mind in the zone.

i dont think this type of training is holding me back at all. for example today i did sets of 85lbs dumbell shoulder presses with wide grip chin ups in between with very little rest. i dont think id be lifting too much more had i just sat there resting instead of doing the chins in between.

also i should mention that we dont always do every exercise on that day of the routine. we always do the important ones, but today for example, i didnt do front raises or abs or shrugs. ill do abs and shrugs tomorrow instead. and sometimes maybe 3 sets instead of 4 and things like that. its not a super strict routine. i listen to what my body is telling me and make adjustments.

[Phozy]

For me, I generally have a leg chest, and back day. One of these days I incorporate heavy squats, other deadlifts, and another for shoulders.

Exercises vary with the time I have/ what's being taken, but I I include flat/inclind db press, leg press, pulls/chins, pulldowns, rows, etc, main compunds. I like to pick weights where I start to struggle at 4 reps, then I get a kickass workout.
I try to do burn sets here and there.

I rest between days, I have a slower recovery, even with surplus food.
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[Berzerker]

Ok here's mine. I only have 45-50mins Monday-Fri to work out depending on how fast I get changed and start lifting. I don't really have time to warm up or fuck around so I basically start with a moderate weight my first set and do 20 reps to get some blood in the muscle then .... start lifting.

I was doing 1 Muscle per day up until a couple weeks ago. Monday - Chest, Tuesday - Back, Wednesday - Shoulders, Thursday - Arms, Friday - Legs. Saw some pretty good results but I've reached a point now where I feel I need more stimulation to keep growing so I'm now doing this....

Monday - Back and Bi's
Deadlifts Heavy (Alternate with light Stiff Leg and High Rep)
Smith BB Row
Pullups (Varying Grips) Superset with EZ Bar Curls
DB Rows Superset with Incline DB Curls

Tuesday - Chest and Tri's
Incline DB Press
Decline DB Press
Superset with Incline Skull Crushers
Cable Crossovers Superset with Tri Pulldowns
Weighted Dips

Wednesday - Shoulders
Overhead Press 3 sets to warm 1 light 1 Medium and one Heavy
Seated DB Press (Arnold Press every 2nd week)
Side Lateral Raises (hanging on to machine for angle)
Rear Delt (just like the video a few pages back)
Front Raises

Thursday - Legs
Squarts (usually 5 sets)
Leg Press or Hack Squat (switch week to week)
Ham Curls and Leg Raises superset (High Volume in the 15 rep range)
Lunges

Friday - Chest and Back
Various exercises depending on how I'm feeling. I alternate between push and pull with very little rest.


Let me know what you think?

Berz out.

[truth]

Day 1: Legs
Squats (5 sets)
Leg Curls
Calf raises
Leg Press
Leg extensions
Pull ups (for my shoulder/rotator cuff pain)
Ab ripper X routine at home

Day 2: Chest/Biceps
DB bench press
DB incline press
Hammer strength incline chest press
Pec fly (switched from machine to cables last week, thanks JD)
Preset weight barbell curls (those shorter ones, whatever they're called)
Preacher curls
Dips
Leg raises

Day 3: Back
Pull ups
Deadlifts (5-6 sets)
Preset weight barbell rows
Neutral or medium grip seated machine rows
Hyperextensions
Shrugs
Ab ripper X at home

Day 4: Shoulders/Triceps
Seated DB shoulder press
Upright rows
Lateral raises
Front plate raises
Incline rear delt raises (thanks RRxtar)
Close grip barbell bench
Tricep close grip pulldowns sometimes I switch it up with DB skullcrushers
Pull ups
Leg raises

[hal0g0dv2]

chest/triceps
back/shoulders
legs/bicepz
rest= cardio abs calves
repeat
all volume more or less , dieting right now hard to do heavy

[Splmash]

Monday - Chest/High Intensity Cardio
Tuesday - Lowerback/Upperback
Wednesday - Plyometrics/Abs
Thursday - Shoulders/Lats/Rotator
Friday - Legs/Traps
Saturday - Rest
Sunday - Low Intensity Cardio

[xzman]

I go in and bench for an hour - then I go home