[classic27]

What would be a good monday through Friday workout routine for someone who has been working out a few years and is about to start a lean bulk.

I have tried tons of different workouts but I just wanted to ask the experts.

although i could use plenty of overall size. I would like to put some extra focus on shoulders, traps, upper chest, and calves

about how much cardio would you recommend. my metablism is pretty fast but its not too hard to put on fat especially if i slack on my diet

[suncloud]

compound movements are best for size. as far as what you can do, based on your needs, you could do a variation of the most common split here:

M - shoulders / calves
T - tri's / chest
W - bi's / back
Th - legs / calves
F - shoulders / traps

shoulder days should start with military press
bi's / back should start with chin ups, pull ups, deadlift, barbell curl
tri's / chest should start with dips / bench and close grip bench / incline (or decline) bench
legs should start with squats and leg extensions

you can add in any movement on to this (please god do), but these are the proven mass gainers since you can use the most weight for them. you should start with them (after a good warmup) then move on to whatever else you do (dumbells, etc).

workout pairings are really about what works for you - i've seen days where people do forearms/calves for example. also, some of the great bodybuilders (i think ronnie was one of them) didn't do anything other than heavy (and i mean heavy) deadlifts to build his traps. not saying isolation doesn't work, but give them a serious shot.

as far as cardio, i'd go for 20 minutes twice a week. i should add that you will not see the gains you'd like if your diet is bad though.

[classic27]

Thank You Sir.

Do you have any certain number of sets and reps that you

would suggest?

[suncloud]

3 sets of 8-10
1 set of 4-6 (heavier weight)

[wrasslin116]

I'd say what suncloud said or do

M-Chest/back/calfs
T-Shoulders/traps
W-Glutes/hams/calfs
T-Bi's/tri's
F-abs/calfs or shoulders/traps/calfs

For reps 8-12
Every other week try 4-8

[classic27]

How many different exercises per muscle do you suggest?

[atrain11b]

Heres what I have been doing, just food for thought to see some different splits. I change the days up from time to time, but this is the jist of it:

Day 1: Shoulders:

Side Laterals: 5 sets 15-12-10-10-8
Bent Over Rear Lat Raise: 4 sets 12-10-10-8
Standing Military Press: 4 sets 10-10-10-10
Shrugs: 5 sets of 12

Day 2: Arms:

Cable Tricep Pushdowns superset w/ Standing Curls (EZ curl bar)
Set 1: 15 reps (warm up)
Set 2: 12 reps
Set 3: 10 reps
Set 4: 10 reps
Set 5: 8 reps (drop weight and do another 8 reps)
Close Grip Bench Press superset w/Preacher Curl
Close Grip Bench Press:
Set 1: 10 reps
Set 2: 10 reps
Set 3: 8 reps ( do a double drop set of 8 reps each)
Preacher Curl
Set 1: 12 reps
Set 2: 12 reps
Set 3: 8 reps do a double drop set of 8 reps each)
Weighted Dips: 3 Sets
Supersetted with Seated Dumbbell Curls: 10 reps x 3 sets

Day 3: Off

Wednesday: Back

Weighted Pullups: 4sets
Barbell Row: 12-8 reps x 4 sets
One Arm Dumbbell Row: 10 reps (each arm) x 3 sets
Wide Grip Lat Pulldown: 10-12 reps x 3 sets
Deadlifts: 10 reps x 3 sets

Sometimes I do the Deads after the Pullups so I can go heavier, when I do this I do 5 sets.

Day 4: Chest

Incline Barbell Press: 5 sets: 15-12-10-10-8
Flat Bench Dumbbell Press: 3 sets: 12-12-12
Incline Dumbbell Flye: 3 sets: 12-12-12
Cable Crossover: 2 sets: 15-15
Weighted Dips: 3 sets

Day 5: Off

Day 6: Legs

Leg Extensions: 4 sets, 12-15 reps
Hack Squats: 7 sets (last set is a triple drop set), 10-12 reps
Leg Press: 4 sets, 10 reps
Barbell Squats: 3 sets, 10 reps
Lying Leg Curls: 4 sets, 10-12 reps
Standing One-Legged Curls: 4 sets, 10-12 reps
Stiff-Legged Deadlifts: 3 sets, 10-12 reps

Some weeks I switch the Hacks with the Squats.

EDIT: Of course you could do this Mon-Fri with Sat/Sun off, or however you might like.

[suncloud]

4 exercises for big muscles
2-3 exercises for smaller muscles (do one where you can do monstrous weight) then hit each head once.

or try the infantry guys thing. my personal workout is bizarre.

[WeakPoint]

Chest---I like to do chest by itself cause when I'm done I just wanna get out of there.
Sample Exercises: Flat Bench, Incline Bench, Decline Bench, Cable Crossovers, Flyes, Incline Flyes.
Back, Bi's
Sample Exercises: Deadlifts, Pull-ups (all grips), Seated Row, DB/BB Row, Pull-Down.
Examples for Bi's: Preacher Curl, Cable Hammer Curls, Hammer Curls, BB Curls (wide-grip, narrow, reverse), Superman Curls.
Shoulders, Tri's, Traps---Shoulders is quick, so I put tri's there.
DB/BB Shoulder Press, Front Lateral Raises, Side Lateral Raises, Rear Lateral Raises, Upright-Row, Behind-the-back BB shrugs, DB Shrugs.
Examples for Tri's: Skull Crushers, Extensions, Close-Grip Bench, Push-Downs.
Legs
Examples for Legs: Squats, DB/BB Lunges, Leg Extensions, Leg Curls, Calf Raises, Leg Press.
Arms---Maybe on the 5th day just give Arms its own day.

It's all about what suits you best, if you wanna go volume heavy or not, what exercises you feel like doing, don't strain yourself from trying new stuff out.

Generally I'd stick to the 6-8 rep range for the heavier exercises (Benching, Shoulder Press, Squats, Deadlifts etc.) but for some of the smaller muscles and less intense stuff I'll try to do 12-15 reps.

It's all up to you.