Thanks dude! There is a lot of meat in this post. I’m going to stop speculating at this point, I think with the advice from this thread I’ll have something good to work with when I’m ready to move on.
In regards to goals, I’m currently working my calorie intake upwards. I want to see what I can gain over the next four months or so before I worry any more about bf% etc.
[quote]Bricknyce wrote:
Jason:
That’s more like it for biceps, but I still think rope and drag curls are shit for someone starting out who is desperate for muscle mass. If they work for you, do them. I believe–this is just me though; I don’t tell people what to do–that there are better secondary and tertiary exercises out there for the bis: incline dumbbell curls, concentration curls, machine curls, standing dumbbell curls.
You didn’t list close-grip bench presses as one of your triceps exercises. You listed dumbbell bench presses with elbows in. Close-grip bench presses coupled with two secondary and/or tertiary exercises is a great setup.
What do you mean by “alternating” barbell and cable rows? Supersetting? Or using one for a few weeks or months and then switching to the other likewise?
Dumbbell and machine pullovers and straight-arm pulldowns are isolation exercises for the lats and upper back.
Cable and dumbbell lateral raises are a near-necessity for bodybuilders.
I just suggested rear delt raises for back day because it works nicely on that day because, after all, you work your rear delts with every lat and upper-back exercise; there is almost no rear delt activation with lateral raises and overhead presses.
I’ve never seen ONE famous and successful bodybuilder use high pulls while following their BODYBUILDING routines. It’s not meant for high reps (>6) and would have to be done at the beginning of a workout that had “slower”, less explosive exercises. And are you referring to a REAL high pull done from the floor, or some bastardized version - like an upright row with a lot of “body English”?
Use a close-grip barbell bench press for your triceps, not a close-grip dumbbell press.
You have two vertical-pull (chins and pulldowns) exercises and only one row. Add another rowing exercise. I personally would ditch one of the vertical-pull exercises and add in stiff-arm pulldowns or machine pullovers, as you have not one isolation exercise for the back.
Add in more quad exercises when your knee gets better. Why did you ditch stiff-legged deadlifts. You can do all three exercises - GHRs, stiff-legged deadlifts, and leg curls. That’s one primary exercise, one secondary, and one tertiary. [/quote]
