Critique My Workout

Bigger Stronger Leaner Competitive Bodybuilding
1

Hey fellow T-men , I would just like to see your opinion on this routine that I have come up with. It’s basically meant for strength and whatever hypertrophy that comes along with it. You will notice that it is basically Legs dominant as it is a lagging bodypart. My bench is at 255, deadlift at 405, but my squat is a measely 205. Therefore I need to incorporate some strengthening of the legs as my priority. The Workout goes as follows.

Monday - Chest & Back
Bench Press - 5sets - 10,8,6,6,4 reps
Incline Press - 3sets - 8,6,6
Pull-ups - 4sets of 10
Barbell Rows - 4sets - 8,8,6,6

Tuesday - Legs & Abs
Squat - 4sets - 10,8,6,6
Romanian Dead - 4sets - 6,6,5,3
Split-squats - 2sets of 15
Goodmornings - 2 sets of 6
calf press - 3 sets of 15

Wednesday - Shoulders, Traps & Arms
Clean & Press - 4sets of 6
Lateral Raises - 4sets of 8
Shrugs - 3sets of 10
Push Press - 4 sets of 6,4,4,3
Barbell Curl - 3 sets of 8
Skullcrushers - 3 sets of 6

Thursday - Repeat Legs & Abs

Friday - Repeat Chest & Back

Saturday - Repeat Legs & Abs

Sunday - Rest

One question I do have is if im on the brink of overtraining. I have tried doing this workout before without noticeable fatigue. Please critique and let me know if this workout may be too taxing to my CNS as well. Much appreciated!

KL

2

Wow! That’s a lot of volume. What kind of rests are you planning? I’m not sure about CNS fatigue, as that depends on how well conditioned you are, but the program looks like a traditional hypertrophy program to me.

For strength purposes, I think I would train lower reps and make sure I had adequate rest periods, maybe 90 seconds or more.

Just my two cents.

Good Luck

3

Im not seeing how it is Lower Body dominant. You only have one lower body day a week and it is on the second day.

4

[quote]barbender242 wrote:
Im not seeing how it is Lower Body dominant. You only have one lower body day a week and it is on the second day.[/quote]

He repeats that day on Thursday and Saturday.

If you want to train legs that often, I wouldn’t do the same day with the same parameters all three days. Mix it up. Maybe try some light work one day with different exercises, or heavier low rep work on another day.

5

if you want to build some strength in your squat then you need to push up some high intensity weight near your 1 rep max and learn some acceleration in the 60% range. I would not do the same workout per body part in a week. Switch up your routine for legs and the other body parts. laters pk

6

smallnomore,
You are right, Im sorry I was in a hurry and just tried to get through it. But smallnomore is also right about not doing the same thing. If you are going to train four days a week, you need four different woekouts. There are lots of exercises to experiment with. Dont make it boring!

7

[quote]pkradgreek wrote:
if you want to build some strength in your squat then you need to push up some high intensity weight near your 1 rep max and learn some acceleration in the 60% range. I would not do the same workout per body part in a week. Switch up your routine for legs and the other body parts. laters pk[/quote]

Since i workout at my gym by myself, wouldn’t pushing near my 1RM be dangerous? I understand that improving strength deals with a lot of low rep training, its just a bit difficult when dealing with wieghts that are close to failure and no spotters. Would a leg press be a viable alternative?

8

I don’t have a training partner either, but I do very low rep squats when necessary. If you set up the rods on a power rack at or below the deepest point that the bar will go, you can set it down if you lose it for some reason. Also, don’t be afraid to ask somebody to give you a spot. Just make sure it’s somebody who understands what you’re doing and isn’t going to jump in prematurely and screw everything up.

9

In my opinion, the leg press is crap. I know it is hard lifting by yourself. I made the mistake of trying to do it for a while when I was young. The best advice is to find people to train with. People that have the same goals as you do.

10

No one is saying to perform 1 rep max lifts by yourself. Stay in the 3-5 rep range. If you do not have access to a power rack with safety bar then i would work on your acceleration with the 60% estimated 1 rep max. You should try to focus to get that poundage up while keeping the speed.

I think that the leg press can definitely put mass and strength on the legs, i know i did it for years before i started squating hard. It’s just that the leg press is not as effective in full body and leg developement as the squat and i believe that it is dangerous for the lower back. I have not leg pressed for over 2 years because squatting is awesome. laters pk

11

If you’re going to train legs 3 times a week, you need to change up the sets from 10,8,8,6 to something like 6,5,5,5,4,4 later in the week.

12

Way too much man, training legs like that Tues. Thurs and Sat? Thats definately over training. Why not just follow a program on this site? The writers know a hell of a lot more than i do, so why not just do what they say?

13

[quote]TFlex28 wrote:
Way too much man, training legs like that Tues. Thurs and Sat? Thats definately over training. [/quote]

You think its overtraining? I’ve always heard that if one were to work on strengthening, then one is to lift hard and often. I’ve always responded to high volume and low reps, thus is why i have 3 days of leg training. Still, i am always open to suggestions.

A side note, I am about 6’1 and would consider myself an ectomorph. I read back a few weeks ago, an author on here, that stated the leg press would be beneficial for those with long limbs as opposed to performing the squat. Any thoughts to this?

14

You can definately prioritize legs if you want, but you should cut back volume on your other body parts a lot, i believe approximately 40% is the rule of thumb. I think that training legs 2 times a week itself is a lot, 3 times might be a stretch, unless you went to a very low power or olympic lifting approach. I also think you are training too many days in a row which does not allow for full CNS recovery. I might reccomend a split something like this.

Monday- Legs
Tuesday- off
Weds- Chest/back
Thurs-off
Friday Legs
Sat- Arms/shoulders
Sunday-off

Or change that and try a powerlifting approach. Your other lifts arent bad at all, a 255 bench is nothing to sneeze at and a 405 deadlift is pretty damn good! Do you think you have the technique down for squats? Anyways, CT’s Shoulders Overhaul is a good read to see how to prioritize a body part. Hope this helps.

PS leg presses are more for hypertrophy and not great for functional stength.

15

I agree with Tflex. I would recommend a 4 days/week split or one day on/one day off (better recovery). Now the majority of T-Nation programs are 4 days splits. Many of them suggest 2 days for legs. Personally I like the “Bulk building routine” by Ian King. Anyway for legs:
Squat day: Squat,RDL,abs,calves
Deadlift day: Deadlift,front squat,abs calves