My New Split! (Realy it's My First)

Bigger Stronger Leaner Over 35 Lifter
1

Some background:
I’m 40 years old 6foot4 and 299 pounds as of this morning.
my body fat is about 17% or so. I have been doing Martial Arts (Gong Fu) for a little over 20 years now. In terms of weight training I have been pretty sporadic, but have been in the gym for about the last 6 months and don’t plan on stopping any time soon. I am an artist by profession and have just made the move to doing it full time (harder than you might think). This allows me a fair amount of flexibility to work out. Yay!

Previous workouts: I did the advanced V-diet workout (but not the diet(more on that later)) and a slightly modified version of the Dr. Darden arm blaster for the last two weeks. I have always done TB workouts in the past, with an emphasis on strength. I want to mix it up a bit though so I have chosen a 4 day split, for a real change of pace.

Goals: At the moment I want to reduce my BF% to 8 and keep my existing strength. Realistically I expect this to go down a bit, but in the past I have managed to drop a lot of fat merely by lifting, with minimal cardio. I would also like to increase my endurance a bit too, but I’m not focusing on this at the moment.

In aid of this I am easing into the T-dwag diet. I have started eating whole no-starch foods for the most part (veggies!), have been upping my protein in an attempt to get 400g per day. I have not yet dialed in my calories but I am trying for an average of 3500 a day (probably should be more like 4000). I started a food log today as well.

So, here’s the workout plan…
Monday
Chest and Biceps

Incline bench 3x3
Hammer chest 3x10
Dips to failure (rest-pause)
Rev EZ curl 3x3 (standing)
Zottman curls 3x10
Alternating Incline dumbbell curls to failure (rest-pause)

Tuesday
Legs
Deadlift 3x3
Leg Press 3x12
Hack Squat Machine 3x12
Leg Extensions to failure (rest-pause)
Ghetto GHR�??s to failure (?) we�??ll se about this one�?�
Calf raises 3x10

Wednesday
Rest

Thursday
Back
Weighted Pull-ups 3x3 (varying grips)
Hanging Power cleans 3x8
Hammer Seated Row to failure (rest-pause)
Dumbbell Rear Delt raise 3x10

Friday
Shoulders and Triceps
Push Press 3x3
Dumbbell Press 3x8
Lateral Raise to failure (rest-pause)
French Press 3x3
Strict Pushdowns 3x8
Reverse Grip Pushdowns to failure (rest-pause)

Saturday and Sunday
REST!!!

Progression: on the first lift per body part I am going to add weight in small increments
On the rest add reps to a max of 15 the go up in weight. Leg exercises I will go to a max of 20 reps before adding weight.

Ummm.This is getting rather long…
If anyone has any advice, input, or critique please feel free to chime in.

2

I’m 40 years old 6foot4 and 299 pounds as of this morning.
my body fat is about 17%

299 lbs and 17% bodyfat is pretty darn good, especially as a place to start.

3

Thanks! I have been pretty physically active (Martial Arts) I have just never done any real weight training, Bodybuilding, or Powerlifting for the purpose of,well… Lookin’ better Nekkid. Which to be honest, is where I’m at right now.

I need to order some skinfold calipers to get a real measurement. I am currently using a scale with one of those elecrto-resistance things.

I guess I should post some measurements and pics to keep me honest and on track. I’m also hoping posting stuff will motivate me. it seems to have helped other people around here.

4

That’s a bunch of work your planning on doing.

Is that usual for you?

5

Yes and no. My usual thing is a TBT thing 3 days a week, with 10 exercises, arranged push-pull, usually 3x8-12 with very little rest in between.
something like this:
1a) pullups
2a) dips
1b) front Squats
2b) stiffleg dead
1c) seated row
2c) bench press
1d) upright row
2d) overhead press
1e) hammer curls
2e) tricep pushdown
Varying exercises about every 4 weeks.

The way I figure it I was doing 30 exercises(90 sets) per week. The new idea would have me doing 24 exercises with less sets but greater weights and more intensity.
Does this sound right?

6

I’m the wrong guy to ask. I only do about 7-10 sets per body part, 9 or 15 exercises total per week and I always tell everyone they’re doing too much.

Dammit, they keep getting results though.

7

Mythical, looks like you have a solid program put together.

At 6’4", 299 you have a good amount of lean body mass that you are working with already. My guess is if you increase the intensity of your lifting and modify the diet as you mentioned, you shouldn’t have to do much cardio to drop a significant amount of bodyfat and you will still keep most of your strenth.

Keep us updated…

8

[quote]skidmark wrote:
I’m the wrong guy to ask. I only do about 7-10 sets per body part, 9 or 15 exercises total per week and I always tell everyone they’re doing too much.

Dammit, they keep getting results though. [/quote]

They just aren’t as old as we are.