Workout planning help??

[riseabove5]

I have been going with my own little program for awhile and I have made many gains over the last year but I feel my muscles are plateauing and/or I'm over training because I'm not seeing the gains that I used to. My nutrition is on point. And I'm getting enough sleep at night. And my workouts usually last a hour

My workout now:

Sunday- chest/shoulders

Monday- back/biceps

Tuesday- off

Wednesday- chest/shoulders/triceps

Thursday-back/biceps

Friday- Legs/abs

Saturday-biceps/triceps/forearms

Suggestions??

 

[Swanson52]

I have been going with my own little program for awhile and I have made many gains over the last year but I feel my muscles are plateauing and/or I'm over training because I'm not seeing the gains that I used to. My nutrition is on point. And I'm getting enough sleep at night. And my workouts usually last a hour

My workout now:

Sunday- chest/shoulders

Monday- back/biceps

Tuesday- off

Wednesday- chest/shoulders/triceps

Thursday-back/biceps

Friday- Legs/abs

Saturday-biceps/triceps/forearms

Suggestions??

You're training bis/tris either directly or indirectly 3x/week, legs once, and back/chest/shoulders twice.

You're either generating zero intensity or are not recovering at all.

 

[riseabove5]

You're training bis/tris either directly or indirectly 3x/week, legs once, and back/chest/shoulders twice.

You're either generating zero intensity or are not recovering at all.

I know the intensity is right..but I think I'm working muscles too many times a week. And I'm not recovering. How should I switch this around?

 

[PaulBlack]

Originally Posted by riseabove5
I have been going with my own little program for awhile and I have made many gains over the last year but I feel my muscles are plateauing and/or I'm over training because I'm not seeing the gains that I used to.

Because at first, almost anyone can make pretty big gains in strength and a bit of size compared to being untrained. After some training, the body adapts to the stimulus and will most likely only compensate with a balance of overall size/mass gain & strength to the entire structure.

Suggestions??

To make the absolute greatest changes in body size and strength and for an overall transformation of ones physical stature...
Train the largest muscled groups, ie: the 5-7 compound exercises that consist of over 80% of the body's largest muscles. ie: hips, legs, back, chest, shoulders.
Do a tried and true program, (say 5x5 or something) as they will almost always deliver way more than an untrained unexperienced lifters made up one.
Your arms are only going to get so big if your legs are not growing to follow suit. Same with hips, back, chest etc. To gain size you need to put on overall BW/mass. Otherwise, your body will just maintain a more or less static state of size in comparison to all it's other parts, since naturally, body parts or sections of the body, will not keep increasing in size and strength for the mass averages.

I know you want bigger arms and chest perhaps, but if you put more concentration on the large body parts, the smaller muscles will follow suit by adapting to new all over size with not near as much over work as you are putting on those little groups.
Train to make your entire body more powerful and you might be surprised at the size and strength changes that follow.

 

[Swanson52]

What are your goals?

 

[riseabove5]

What are your goals?

Gain mass

 

[riseabove5]

Because at first, almost anyone can make pretty big gains in strength and a bit of size compared to being untrained. After some training, the body adapts to the stimulus and will most likely only compensate with a balance of overall size/mass gain & strength to the entire structure.

To make the absolute greatest changes in body size and strength and for an overall transformation of ones physical stature...
Train the largest muscled groups, ie: the 5-7 compound exercises that consist of over 80% of the body's largest muscles. ie: hips, legs, back, chest, shoulders.
Do a tried and true program, (say 5x5 or something) as they will almost always deliver way more than an untrained unexperienced lifters made up one.
Your arms are only going to get so big if your legs are not growing to follow suit. Same with hips, back, chest etc. To gain size you need to put on overall BW/mass. Otherwise, your body will just maintain a more or less static state of size in comparison to all it's other parts, since naturally, body parts or sections of the body, will not keep increasing in size and strength for the mass averages.

I know you want bigger arms and chest perhaps, but if you put more concentration on the large body parts, the smaller muscles will follow suit by adapting to new all over size with not near as much over work as you are putting on those little groups.
Train to make your entire body more powerful and you might be surprised at the size and strength changes that follow.

Wow good advice. So how would you rearrange my week?

 

[Swanson52]

Do a 3 or 4 day split. OHP, Bench, Deadlift, Squat.

Google 5x5, plan it out, train arms less.

 

[EasyEJL]

Wow good advice. So how would you rearrange my week?

its not about rearranging your week. Its about deciding on periodization, finding prebuilt routines that are done by professional trainers that you'll follow for the suggested time span before switching to the next phase in your periodization. So.... Do 4 weeks of madcow 5x5, then switch off to your choice of a higher volume routine for 6-8. But find prewritten routines.

 

[PaulBlack]

Yeah, like [Easy]^ says, it is not about rearranging things, it is about following a simple written routine that has already been proven to give you what you are looking for, strength/mass and work the largest muscles eliciting all the systems ie: muscle, CNS, & cardio respiratory systems 2/3 times per week.
When you train the largest muscles, your body then has to adapt and recover and in doing so, gains the largest amount of weight and strength. Eating and feeding this system is what produces the biggest changes.

Ex: Monday
Squats 3x5
BP's 3x5
Rows 3x8
Tri Press dwns or extensions 2/3x8-10

Wednesday
Standing OHP's 3x8
Leg Presses 3x8-12
Chins 3x5-8
Curls 2/3x8-10

Friday
BP's 3x5
Deadlifts 2x5 (1 warm up 1 work set)
Rows 3x8-10
DB or OHP presses 3x8-10

This is just an outline, but you are working the body's muscles 3 times per. Maybe Wed. is an easier day, since you may be a bit sore at first from the Monday W/O. As time goes by however you will adapt and not be as sore.
Also try and add weight say on Mondays to your exercises. And to the DL on Fri. #5 a week is good on the bigger ones and 2 1/2 on say pressing and should be doable. Start out within your means getting all the reps and all the sets with room to spare. It may feel a but easy aat first, but as you go thru the weeks/months cycle, you will have added a good amount of weight to all the major & minor lifts and while eating good, most likely put on some good mass, power and strength in the meantime thru out your entire body.
As you get more and more experienced, you'll learn how to tweak good programs, support your goals and you can always use them as guidelines. Just remember to focus mostly on the big compound lifts/exercises and your body will continue to gain in mass and strength for a good while.

It is not complicated at all (lift/eat/rest rinse and repeat) and in fact the simpler you keep it, the better it is to focus on a handful of exercises. Complicated does not equal success here, hard work does. Keep the 2 separate and you will learn your body and how to train it well and recover to keep gaining.

 

[pyrobatt]

4 day split can be worked into a 5 though.

Chest/tri
Legs/ABS
Off
Back/biceps
Shoulder and deads.
Off
off


Biceps once a week, triceps 2x a week. ABS once but I work them 2.

Everyonce and a while you have to change your split.

I change to

Chest/bis
Legs / ABS
Off
Back/light tris
Shoulder and deads
Off
Off

You can also switch legday with shoulder days.

Simple split with a lot of time to recover.

I am currently using the second split but will go back to 1st on this upcoming Monday.

 

[riseabove5]

4 day split can be worked into a 5 though.

Chest/tri
Legs/ABS
Off
Back/biceps
Shoulder and deads.
Off
off

Biceps once a week, triceps 2x a week. ABS once but I work them 2.

Everyonce and a while you have to change your split.

I change to

Chest/bis
Legs / ABS
Off
Back/light tris
Shoulder and deads
Off
Off

You can also switch legday with shoulder days.

Simple split with a lot of time to recover.

I am currently using the second split but will go back to 1st on this upcoming Monday.

How long do you go with a routine then split?

 

[pyrobatt]

How long do you go with a routine then split?

4 to 8 weeks.

 

[riseabove5]

4 to 8 weeks.

Do you mix in cardio? I'm trying to gain weight and idk if cardio is necessary and if so, would I do it at the beginning or end of my workout?

 

[pyrobatt]

Do you mix in cardio? I'm trying to gain weight and idk if cardio is necessary and if so, would I do it at the beginning or end of my workout?

The best way to put this is....would you skip calves? No because calves are muscles. So is the heart. After your workout but only 1 to 3 x a week. Low intensity like walking on an incline or a stair stepper are great additional things to boost recovery. Sled pulls or sprints or circuits are great too. Walks outside are my favorite.

Cardio will help keep you lean and able to go up stairs without weezing. I've seen so many bodybuilders that can't do ANY cardio what so ever...get winded going out to the car lolol.

Increase your calories to support your cardio habbits and you should be awesome.

No steady state due to the fact new studies have come out bashing it and I'm inclined to not do it anymore.

 

[mtinsideout]

I was just talking about changing up the workout routine with someone the other day. Here is some useful info some of which I'm sure you already know. The site below has a bunch of different exercises sorted by muscle group, found it very useful.

www(dot)exrx(dot)net/Lists/Directory(dot)html

Training 4 Days Per Week
Option One
Day 1: Back, hamstrings, traps
Day 2: Chest, triceps, abs
Day 3: Quads, calves
Day 4: Shoulders, biceps, forearms

Option Two
Day 1: Quads, hamstrings
Day 2: Back, forearms, abs
Day 3: Chest, shoulders, traps
Day 4: Triceps, biceps, calves


Training 5 Days Per Week
Option One
Day 1: Back, traps
Day 2: Chest, biceps, forearms
Day 3: Quads, abs
Day 4: Shoulders, triceps
Day 5: Hamstrings, calves

Option Two
Day 1: Quads, hamstrings, calves
Day 2: Back, traps
Day 3: Chest, abs
Day 4: Shoulders
Day 5: Triceps, biceps, forearms


Training 6 Days Per Week
Day 1: Back, forearms
Day 2: Chest, abs
Day 3: Quads
Day 4: Shoulders, traps
Day 5: Hamstrings, calves
Day 6: Triceps, biceps

 

[asooneyeonig]

Instead of trying body part splits that are best used by advanced juiced up bodybuilders that have been at it for 10 plus years and weigh nearly 300lbs why dont you do something that works for your goals? Stop with doing your own program get on a proven program.

The biggest guys and leanest are also the strongest. So lets choose programs that improve strength and size. A 5x5 program would be great for you. Look up starting strength and strong lifts. Do I one for at least 6 months if not a year. Then move on to madcow, Texas method, or 5/3/1. Do that for 6 to 12 months. Then come back and brag about how big you are.

As for changing it up. You will see in the proven programs I listed all of them have rather few lifts and all of them get you bigger and stronger and change things every week. They keep the same exercises which may confuse you on what is changed. The weight itself is changed. Each week the intensity is different and therefore the volume is different. So 2 things change every week. So dont worry. You are changing every week while keeping the basics you need to reach your goals.