Feedback, Intermediate Routine

Training Bodybuilding
1

Read on, and tear it up. Gimme your advice, good or bad… Preferably good.

Hiya. I’ve been training off and on for 16 years. (since i was 15) Yah, do the math. Anyway.

I’ve had maybe 4 serious years of training in there, and got sick and out of the game 2 years ago…

But alas, I’ve been back solid since June, and am almost back to top strength. I started with total body, 3x a week, and have been getting more specific and split up as my strength and size have been returning. I’ve just gone from a 4 on 1 off split to a 5 on 1 off (the rest day kind of gets put in whenever I need it most. if i’m doing a lower intesity week, i might not take a day off at all, but this does not happen very often. Once every 2 months maybe)

Here’s my current routine:
(sets are 3-4, reps 6-12, 8-10 is my goal for reps)
also, my main goals are to bring up weak areas (shoulders, f-arms, calves) and increase width and thickness. my upper body has always lagged behind my lower body, so legs have the least focus.
Oh yah, and I do various ab stuff every 2 days or so, as well as 30 minutes of cardio 3-4 times a week (I won’t reduce cardio for increased gains)

day 1 - shoulders
-arnold press
-military press
-lateral raises
-cable reverse flies
-db front raise

day 2 - chest and traps
(chest is a better body part, so I kind-of change things around here, to save boredom and my rotator cuffs)
-incline barbell press
-flat dumbell press
-dips
-incline cable flies
-dumbell shrugs
-machine shrugs OR barbell shrugs
-depending on how my rotator cuff is, i might do upright rows, cable or bb

day 3 - back
-chin ups
-db rows
-wide grip machine rows
-cable rows
-pullovers
(bent over barbell rows have never, ever worked for me… don’t ask. i have no idea.) also, more often than not, i do abs on back day - i like the fatigue they get from chins.
-back extensions

day 4 - bi’s, tri’s, f-arms
-db curls, db hammer curls, preacher or incline curls
-skullcrushers, pushdowns, overhead extensions (1 db or 2)
-db wrist curls, reverse barbell wrist curl

day 5 - legs
-squats
-deadlifts
-extensions
-lying leg curl
-standing calf raise
-seated calf raise

day 6 - off

I figure I’ll keep getting more intense, with more volume, so i’ll have to split it to 6 on 1 off in another month or so. Then after a month of that, I’ll totally change things up with TBT.

If you want, I’ll post diet and supplement info as well.

Any feedback is appriciated!

Thanks.

2

I’d vary your rep ranges more. Also, having two days for pushing muscles (shoulder & chest/tricpes both are upper body pushing) seems unbalanced, as you only have one for pulling muscles and legs.

3

[quote]KombatAthlete wrote:
I’d vary your rep ranges more. Also, having two days for pushing muscles (shoulder & chest/tricpes both are upper body pushing) seems unbalanced, as you only have one for pulling muscles and legs.[/quote]

Thanks for the feedback! It is imbalanced. Shoulders are my #1 weak point (not as bad now though) and this was my thinking in creating my routine… But the push/pull imbalance might also explain why my rotator cuff has been bothering me.

Also, the only rep range variation I’ve been doing is for my lighter week (adaptive phase), 15-20. Putting in a strength phase is also a good idea. Maybe 4-7 reps.

Thanks.

4

I find frequency to be more of an anabolic friend to my muscles than volume. Working out like an advanced professional might not be the best route for you. Like it or not, I would, based on your post, consider you to still be a beginner lifter (intermediate if you want to stretch it.)

5

[quote]Avoids Roids wrote:
I find frequency to be more of an anabolic friend to my muscles than volume. Working out like an advanced professional might not be the best route for you. Like it or not, I would, based on your post, consider you to still be a beginner lifter (intermediate if you want to stretch it.)[/quote]

Avoids Roids - Thanks for the feedback.

Here’s an attempt at some clarification:

I don’t really consider my routine to be “working out like an advanced professional”, but I do recognize it is pushing it; as far as lack of frequency goes. As I stated in the post, I will be cycling my frequency back to TBT in a few months.

The line between beginner and intermediate is blurry at best. Do I need to stroke my own ego to prove that I am not a beginner? Hm… Not really.

I like change, and after this many years I’ve fucked up about every thing that one CAN fuck up in the gym. Undertraining, overtraining, undereating, OVEReating - too much frequency, too little frequency… blah blah blah.

Right now cycling through intensity and frequency of training is working well. And, as long as it’s working, I’m planning on sticking with it.

One thing I’ve noticed over the years is that anybody is capable of oversight, and error in their training. Hence, the post. I appreciate the feedback, the new ideas?

Perhaps I do make my training over-complicated to avoid boredom, but I?m not an entirely stupid guy, and I sometimes think that I may stumble onto something that works even better.