My Workout.. Criticisms Please

Bigger Stronger Leaner Competitive Bodybuilding
1

Heya… Been reading t-mag for damn near a decade now, and am still happy with the fresh material.

Truthfully, I’ve gotten pretty out of shape in the past couple years. I’ve been working out regularly for a couple months now, and its time to get serious.
Here’s my total plan. I’ve found it to be effective in the past, and more importantly, something I like to to.

After 3-4 weeks, I intend to increase the intensity on day1 and 2, adding weight, reducing reps etc.

Anyway, the goals
-lose fat

-overall hypertrophy

-increase strength/endurance for recreational MMA. I train 3-4 months a year for the past 5 years. This is just for fun, not a priority. Increased punching/kicking power.

Here it is – questions at the bottom!

Day 1- Monday
a. Snatch-grip deads on a 5" block - 6x6

b. Row Variations, 4x8.
This is either a bb row to the low chest, or db rows to the hip.

c. One-armed barbell shrugs, using the thick end for grip. 3-4 x 12

d. I used to do pull ups after the deads, but they cause pretty serious shoulder pain these days. So the alternative is:
Straight-Arm pulldowns - 3-4x8

e. 10 min. jumprope.

Day 2 - Tuesday.
a.Dips 4x8
b.Neck Presses 4x8
c.Decline DB skullcrushers 4x8-10
d.Lunges/Lunge Variations 3-4 x10-12
e. Ski Squats on a wall 2x10, w/ pauses on the way down.

Day 3 - Wed.
15 Minutes of IBUR. 15-30 minutes of intense heavy bag work.

Day 4. Thur. - OFF
When it gets warm out, I’ll start doing outdoor activites here- Farmers walks/Tire Flips/Sledgehammer work (already have all the implements) or just playing some tennis. Other activities will be adjusted accordingly.

Day 5 - Friday
a. Ballistic Bench -8x3
b. Jump Squats 8x3 or Powercleans 8x3 depending on mood.
c. Lean away laterals 3x8
d. BB curls 3-4x8
e. Face Pulls. 3x12
f. heavy bag work/jumprope

Day 6 - Saturday
15 minutes IBUR
Day 7- OFF

Now, for day 1, I’m thinking I should add another posterior chain exercise. Good mornings? SLDLs? Anyone?

Beside that, any constructive criticisms are appreciated. (But flames will be met with razor-sharp wit!)

Thanks!

2

looks good to me. Just a suggestion, but I have switched from shrugs to Overhead Shrugs. I like them because they work the core too, and I don’t think you can ever have too many overhead lifts.

My pull day starts out like this
Power Snatch 5x3
Hang Clean 3x3
OH Shrugs 3x10

and then on to the other stuff. But I have had good success with it for building my traps. Again, just a suggestion. Good luck.

3

Good suggestion. There aren’t any overhead lifts at all because my gym is in my basement; my 5’8" pal can do them, but at 6’3" I can’t.
Come April I can lift outside and will adapt the program for overhead pressing.

4

Man, I’d hate to see someone totally avoid overhead work.
If I were you, I’d improvise. You can do OH presses with bar or DB’s kneeling. Just pad the knees good and carefully clean the weight and assume the kneeling position VERY carefully. Worked for me at one time.
Hell, I’d even do handstand presses against a door or wall. Just an idea.

5

You have done a pretty good job of laying out your plan. The only problem I see is that you are doing upper body work on every workout at a much higher volume than lower body work.

So, I would consider trying to add some more leg work (something better than ski squats against the wall) and definitely a few more exercises to hit the posterior chain. The snatch-grip deadlifts and lunges are great exercises, but I would consider getting some squatting exercises in there as well.

You may have to reduce some of your upper body exercises to make this work, but you could do it and still have a well-balanced approach.