Full Weekly Routine just with *bells

Training
21

Some impressions after first week:

I have to say that compared to what I was doing, the routine is entirely different.

First compound exercises feel different: for example, I never did RDL with too much weight because I generally got to this exercise very tired and didn’t want to hurt my back by holding more than necessary. The problem for me with RDL is that it’s hard for me to just hold the weight, so holding it for 8 reps was a massive pain (apart from the exercise itself). But now, since I’m getting 100% fresh for each set, I can hold the full weight with ease, and now I can really feel the muscles working (specially in the glutes).

Secondly, I can target muscles that I think I have not worked out in my life. For example, I was worried I was not being able to workout the Iliocostalis. After reviewing some content, I found out that just RDL and Sumo Squats plus some Bird Dog weekly exercises was enough to exercise these muscles. But for RDL and Squats to be effective they had to be close to failure. And as I was saying, I never added too much weight to these two exercises because I was afraid of dropping for tiredness. But now, since I’m 100% fresh, I can get to failure without that fear, because despite the legs or back could fail, the arms will be 100% fresh to hold the weight (I’m now around 100lb, if I grow up to 150-200lb one day I will probably buy a full rubber floor for the training area).

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22

A little update after 3 weeks

One interesting thing is that for all these 3 weeks straight, Ï’ve been improving the 1RM for almost every single exercise in the list consistently. This never happened to me before, not even in fresh runs.

I also have to admit that the leg days are seriously exhausting. That is clearly the downside of this routine.

23

5 weeks in

I’m starting to feel completely demolished. I’m spacing very well all the exercises so I know for sure that every single muscle has had the necessary rest by the time I get to it. The problem is that the overall feel is of tiredness. Maybe its because I’m starting to introduce a little cardio (walking 1 hour per day, I could not stand anything more for now), with my bro, and this has become a total finisher. The problem is that I thought that my BMI was going to decrease at least 1 point in the first month, and in fact… it has grown, with the exact same caloric intake as before.

So basically I’m thinking on ways to improve this. Probably muscles are growing at a way faster pace than fat is being burnt (if its being burnt at all, I feel I’ve burnt 0 fat in all these 5 weeks). I need to repair my scale to get a better measure of fat because looking at BMI is demotivating me a little bit (yes I can clearly see the muscle improvement, but the fat part is being harsh to evaluate).

I’m taking around 5g of creatine per day for the past 5 weeks, 5g carnitine (3gr of Alcar and 2gr of L-carnitine) and around 3g of BCAA, plus ~80g of protein per day (need to improve this up to 100g, and probably raise BCAA up to 5g), plus a whole stack of 12 other supps like Mg and Omega-3 that are not worth commenting.

Also for the 5 weeks straight, I’ve managed to still improve the 1RM to almost every single exercise, so at least it’s clear that strength is being improved (according to studies this is technically the most favourable element of this protocol).

I don’t to reduce the calorie restriction even more because this seriously affects testosterone and I’m not interested in playing with this.

If by day 60 I don’t manage to reduce BMI at least one point, I feel that my motivation in this plan (and overall on weighting) is going to drop massively and despite that many people say that running doesn’t burn fat, it has been the sole strategy in my entire life to do big improvements on this regard. So I might probably reduce all weighting to 4 days, reducing all isolated exercises to the minimum (cutting down at least 9 exercises), and then introducing a 30-45 run for another 4 days, with just one day overlapping

24

Getting stronger week after week And clearly growing more muscular, rapidly are Good signs and show that your training is Working!

You should be happy with weighting and your progress!

How long have you been doing the long walks? If its only been a week nor two, give them some time to have an effect.

25

When I saw no progress in fat reduction, I started with the walks one week ago. I will be consistently trying to do a walk per day except for the 2 leg days and hope to see a change in a month.

Also I’ve been thinking today, on changing a little bit the order of the exercises, to introduce two muscles areas per day, two muscles areas per week, and 4 exercises per day instead of 3.

Currently I’m doing 3 muscle exercises per day, and 1 or 2 extra abs (weighted one day and without weight other day, and some extra functional every 3 days, like the quadraplex or some knee exercising). But maybe I should reduce one muscle exercise a day, and move it with another one two another day. More like a 7-day Pull/Push version with a total of 27-28 sets per week.

Day 1: Push: Chest-Triceps

  1. Barbell Bench Press (Chest)
  2. Dumbbell Chest Fly (Chest)
  3. Dumbbell Triceps Extension (Triceps)
  4. Dumbbell Single Arm French Triceps (Triceps)

Day 2: Pull: Back, Biceps

  1. Barbell Bent-Over Row (Back)
  2. Pull-Ups/Inverted Rows (Back)
  3. Dumbbell Curl (Biceps)
  4. Concentration Hammer Curls (Biceps)

Day 3: Lower Back, Glutes & Hams

  1. Walking Lunges
  2. Romanian Dead Lift
  3. Sumo Squats
  4. Quadraplex

Day 4: Push: Shoulders, Chest

  1. Dumbbell Lateral Raise (Shoulders)
  2. Incline Dumbbell Press (Chest)
  3. Dumbbell Chest Fly (Chest)
  4. Overhead Barbell Press (Shoulders)

Day 5: Pull: Biceps, Back

  1. Incline Dumbbell Curl (Biceps)
  2. Regular Hammer Curls (Biceps)
  3. Dumbbell Pullover (Back)
  4. Pull-Ups/Inverted Rows (Back)

Day 6: Push: Shoulders, Triceps

  1. Dumbbell Lateral Raise (Shoulders)
  2. Dumbbell Rear Delt Fly (Shoulders)
  3. Dumbbell Kickback (Triceps)
  4. Regular French Triceps (Triceps)

Day 7: Quads & Calfs

  1. Barbell Squats
  2. Bulgarian Split Squats
  3. Barbell Standing Calf Raise
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26

That could work to keep things fresh and make you less tired during workouts.

You could also think about working more body parts per workout, cutting down on rest time, and increasing metabolic stress to burn more fat in workouts.

27

In fact, my protocol is based on the premise, that doing exercises thorough the day, theoretically, helps in bringing a glucose consumption spike with increased metabolic rate. This hypothesis is very experimental, not gonna lie, and there is not much literature yet. Some people use this “technique” for example, for callisthenics, or some simply add some burpees (instead of weight lifting).

Personally, I prefer this, for two reasons:

  1. Every time I tried very short rest times workouts, I end wanting to kill myself. In 2 or 3 weeks I end forfeiting all forms of exercising and back to the sofa. The levels of pain are beyond my will. I struggle on cardio overall (this is why I’m prioritizing now walking over running)
  2. This fits my lifestyle: I work at home, and I noticed that using the pomodoro technique (periods of 25 min of work, 5 min of rest), I had weird 5 minutes rests with not much to put my head on, except playing around with the phone. Also, I got a lot of interruptions during my office hours, thorough the day. So I found that taking advantage of this micro stops, introducing some exercising in between, help me completely wipe my hatred “daily 60-minutes dedicated workout” (if I could do 12-mini-workouts of 5-minutes each, is essentially the same)

So in the first half of 2025, I tested the 60-min-dedicated classic option, and I ended forfeiting by May. And after two months, by the end of July I’ve started this new experiment, and so far, so good, today 34 days in a row (before with luck I could do 3 day exercising per week).

I think this is what people say: “Do what it works for you”. It seems that this protocol is what completely works for me. Now what I’m trying to do, is to tweak and optimize it. Keeping the macro 30-minute rests as the core of the protocol, and see which kind of exercising combo could help me get my goals. But the 30-minute rests is the heart, and without this I might probably end forfeiting again. I’ve proven myself that I don’t have a reliable will.

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28

The weight routine is working, it makes sense not to change it.

You’ve just added a bunch of walking, let’s see how it works!

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29

Another weekly update

Still getting 1RM in pretty much all exercises straight
I will be switching to a push/pull/legs variant with 4 exercises per day, 6 days per week soon.

Walking for now every day straight for 2 weeks.

It’s hard to keep this up not gonna lie.

On one side I know myself and if I don’t keep things up in a super strict routine possibly 7 days a week routine, my chances of forfeiting are massive.
One the other side, the massive tiredness puts me on the decision every day to forfeit.

So I’m thinking if maybe, I could consider a “light” mode for one week, to see if I can regain energy. Maybe doing the same weights but 70% for the 1RM. And no much suffering. I heard that some people do something like this sometimes.

I started the 31st of July so I will be doing 6 weeks straight with 0 skipped days very soon.

The only good thing is that finally I could see a 3.7 pound loss and 2.4 inches loss in waist, at least some numbers to represent gains for the workout.

30

I’m f*****d. Yesterday during biceps session (curl), I think I did more effort than a I should trying to get to that failure, and with poor shape, I’ve damaged a bit my left wrist.

Today was leg day, so I could go through without issues, but from tomorrow I’m cooked. Not sure how to proceed. I’m not sure if it would be a good idea to switch to cardio for 2 or 3 days to maintain some good form and stay away from weighting. The wrist are pretty much involved in almost all my exercises. I could do dumbell things with right hand, but I dont feel a good idea to estimualte just the right side that is my dominant. Also I work with KB so not a big idea to make things worse. It’s doesnt feel heavy, and prob in 3 days I believe it will be reestablished, so I believe its a good idea to keep rest.

My sole fear is not losing progress, but losing motivation. Generally this is the only reason of why I force myself to don’t rest one single day. Historically, more than 2 day rest for whatever reason was a synonym of the end. And prob all times I’ve taken this rests have been due to minor injuries.

31

Time to go back on track.

I have finally ordered my new routine with this format:

Day 1: Push : Shoulders, Chest, Triceps

  1. Barbell Bench Press (Chest)
  2. Dumbbell Chest Fly (Chest)
  3. Dumbbell Triceps Extension (Triceps)
  4. Overhead Barbell Press (Shoulders)

Day 2: Pull 1: Biceps, Back

  1. Pendlay Row (Barbell)
  2. Dumbbell Rear Delt Fly (Back Shoulders)
  3. Dumbbell Curl (Biceps)
  4. Concentration Curls (Biceps)

Day 3: Lower Back, Glutes & Hams

  1. Walking Lunges
  2. Romanian Dead Lift
  3. Sumo Squats
  4. Quadraplex

Day 4: Push 2: Shoulders, Chest, Triceps

  1. Incline Barbell Press (Chest)
  2. Dumbbell Kickback (Triceps)
  3. Dumbbell Lateral Raises (Shoulders)
  4. Dumbbell Single Arm French Triceps (Triceps)

Day 5: Pull 2: Biceps, Back, Forearm

  1. Pull-Ups/Inverted Rows (Back)
  2. Dumbbell Pullover (Back)
  3. Dumbbell Wrist Curls (Forearm)
  4. Incline Dumbbell Curl (Biceps)

Day 6: Quads & Calfs

  1. Barbell Squats
  2. Bulgarian Split Squats
  3. Barbell Standing Calf Raise
  4. Knee Workout & Stretching.

Also I’m adding, every day 10K walking steps, and light abs every other set. I try to go around 8-12 repetitions per set, 3 sets per exercise. When I get around 11-12 reps, I move the weight up a little (I try to add 2 pounds every time, but since I don’t have all combinations of weights sometimes I have to add 4-5 pounds, and my reps drop like to 4-5 until I get some strenght with the new weight and start adding more).

After 2 months I’m starting to lose 1RM records in many exercises like Bench Press and Biceps Curls (plus I’m being extra cautious with biceps exercises, because they are tolling my wrists a lot). In legs and back I feel I have still plenty of room for improvement.

I have removed all forms of hammer curls because they are by far the exercise that hits me harder in the wrist. I have substituted for regular concentration single arm curls.

Also I’m looking to get some extra 20lbs weights and maybe a new bench with the hamstring curl device, so I can stop doing Sumo squats, as I feel the squats are a little harsh for my knees (so I can keep just one squats per week feel enough). Also I will switch regular biceps curls for Preacher curls if the bench also provides the preacher support

32

I’m now three months in this new plan
Let’s do a little recap on how things are going

On the bright side, I have to say that I’ve never sticked to any plan in my life so consistently for so long (in 3 months, 90 days I’ve missed less than 5 days in total). The thing is that this format fits my lifestyle perfectly: Short pauses to do the exercises, low to no sweating and easy to mix with my daily activity. And for my cardio, I have my 10.000 steps every day done (currently my pedometer shows 304,962 steps for October). At this point I’m so used to it, that I almost get off the desk on time without the need of a timer.

On the strenght part, I have to say, that, as expected, my progression has gone down massively for this last month, and getting new 1RM is not easy anymore and the struggle is real. So I can say that going this option, is not better than the regular training

Now the cons, that are big. The first one is the cooldown: being so long, I think that the muscles get too cold, meaning that I’m needing a little warmup almost per set, which is a massive waste of time. If I don’t do good warm ups I’m getting real damage on my joints. At this moment I’m feeling pain in one shoulder, my lower back, one knee and one wrist. Very disastrous not gonna lie: when I bend or even squat to do something in the floor, I’m feeling pain and I believe this is because I’m starting some sets without the little warmup. Today for example, in the second set of my triceps extension, without the warmup because I was a little on a rush (did the set in the middle of a meeting), I noticed the pull on a shoulder and the pain afterwards.

I believe that at this point I would probably more or less the same, with the level of intensity I’m carrying in a regular exercising, but maybe a little less. I’m finding hardship, specially on recovery. Taking my collagen, protein and creatine, my 8 hours of sleep, and all the shit, but still I can’t recover well. I’m doing only 26 sets per week (way less than the average, that I’ve estimated is around 30 sets per week for the average joe), but still, I’m training every single day.

So at this point, I’m pretty much keeping it up the best I can, trying not to force the 1RM too much anymore (which means not getting a 1RM for 2-3 weeks).

Also I have to say, that my 1RM are not massive yet. I’m only doing 180lbs in bench press. I heard in Reddit a guy saying that a regular man should do at least 330lbs in dead lift after 6 months. At this rhythm, I won’t see this at least in 1 year or 1 year and a half being optimistic.

33

Now I’m 6 months in my program

Overall the increases in weight are no longer there, there are no decreases but it’s taking a ton to add a extra pound from month to month. 19 lbs of fat lost so far.

Also I’ve upgraded my walking treadmill now it has a 10% incline, and doing my 10K step a day 7 days a week (with one day off now and then). In the beginning, I remember that walking the 10K a day was a bit painful, but nowadays, it feels miserably (grueling for the mind, not that much for the body, in fact I’ve heard that going incline is way better for the knees).

There is no single day I’m thinking on leaving this and going back to the lazy life (specially after the 7K steps). Overall all this thing is killing me. It’s been 6 months, and it feels even worse than the first month.

On the bright side, I know 100% that if I had my exercises concentrated in a single hour of a day, I would be skipping them, one day and the next day probably also. So basically doing this protocol, is the only way to keep me up (not motivated, just up).

About the pains, shoulder pain has gone, knee pain is here and there, never goes, it feels like some sort of chondromalacia, so basically I’m side-working on exercises related to that, and slightly improving. Lower back pain has also massively decreased, although I have stopped doing dead lifts (mainly because I feel I’m not doing them with good form).

The MVP exercises that I try not to skip at any cost at this point are:

- For triceps: Dumbbell Triceps Extension
- For chest: Chest Fly and Inclined Bench Press
- For shoulder: I’ve switched from military press (or any overhead press), to front and lateral raises
- For Biceps: Inclined curl
- For Back: Pendlay row and Pull Ups (finally I’m able to do real open pull ups, only 3 rep per set though, my fav exercise)
- For legs, Lunges and Bulgarian Split Squats, not any close. Also I like Quadraplex as a complementary exercise. In fact, I’ve stopped doing any other leg exercise, only 3 sets of Lunges and Bulgarian Split squats twice per week and then some complementary exercises. They feel super good in the knees; they are a little unstable, but I feel my legs are progressing very well. Squats are harsh, and I have to lower the weight if I want to keep my knees without pain. So I’m just doing squats with 50% of the 1RM and using a band. I’m not sure if I will ever be able to do a full-load squats, so basically I’m only progressing in weight in lunges and Bulgarian Split Squats.

Definitely its not the most thorough and complete exercising system but it keep me moving forward. I need some extra tweaking. I hope to get some extra equipment to try so other exercises, I’m looking at one of those benches that has like a lifting system to do some leg extensions and maybe reverse extensions of hamstrings. Also I’m preparing two very rudimentary pulleys in the ceiling to do some additional pull exercises.

The only thing I’m clear I need to introduce is some higher level of cardio maybe 2 or 3 days per week. Some biking or running. The problem is that if things are now miserable, doing this is going to accelerate the demotivation process even more. But when I do each set of leg exercises it feels like I have 0 oxygen so obviously my aerobic system is at a bare minimums.

I’m always amazed by the people that love doing all exercise and that.

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34

Training hard for 6 months, and down 20 pounds of fat, good job!

Maybe its time to make some tweaks to keep from beating yourself up.

How many reps and sets are you doing?

Have you considered some workouts were you lower the weights and do higher reps, to give your joints a break and build some muscular endurance?

35

How many reps and sets are you doing?

Generally I go straight to failure for each single set.

I tend to add new weight once I hit the 12 reps for the 3 sets in the next training. So for example two days ago I did 3x12 with 35 lbs per dumbbell in regular curl, so now for the next training of curl in 4 days, I will move up to 37 lbs and go to failure (probably somewhere around 9-10 reps I believe I will be doing because everytime I upgade the weight I drop a bit the 1RM for the first sessions)

Have you considered some workouts were you lower the weights and do higher reps, to give your joints a break and build some muscular endurance?

I started doing this only in the exercises I had some pain. For example, in Chest Fly, when I had the shoulder pain. Basically I was doing either more reps or more isometric holding for the same reps but less weight. For the rest, full to failure for every single set (except for legs; it is very rare I get to failure because I don’t want to risk dropping the barbell from so high, especially because I dont have spotter)

Typically I do only 3 or 4 exercises per day, one set every 30 minutes, so it takes around 6 hours to complete the whole training every day. I always try to do 2 exercises, 3 sets per exercise, in the morning, and then depending on how busy i have the evening, 1 or 2 extra exercises, or I do the complementary ones. So I start the training in the morning, and I end it a bit before evening.

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