Need Some Pointers

Bigger Stronger Leaner Competitive Bodybuilding
1

Hey guys,

I was a casual weightlifter for a while and i’ve been on the same plan for way too long and want to commit myself more to lifting. I was hoping you guys wouldn’t mind quickly critiquing my plan (i’m sure it needs a ton of work) I’m currently 5’10" & weigh around 160lbs. I have no calipers but I’d estimate my bodyfat at around 13-14%.

Before that though, what’s effective for Rear Delts? I do bent over rows but i’d like to know some more exercises so i dont use the same one all the time.

I take Judo which eats up 2 days of my week so I train 3x a week for about an hour.

Heres my plan:

Day 1:
Chest/Back/arms

Chest:
Incline Bench- 3x6 or 6x3 (i alternate every day) currently @: 135lbs
Flat Bench- " ~145lbs

Back:

Lat pullback " 130lbs
Lat Pulldown " 120lbs

Arms:

Dips- 3x8 or 8x3 @ bodyweight (158-160lbs)
Zottman Curls 3x6 or 6x3 @ 30lbs

Day 2:
Legs/Shoulders/arms

Shoulders:

Bent-Over Rows: 3x6 or 6x3 @ 15lbs
Arnold Presses: 3x6 or 6x3 @ 30-35lbs

Legs:

Leg press: " @ 336lbs
Squats: " @ 155lbs
Calf Raises 3x8 or 8x3 @ 520lbs

Arms:

Nose Breakers: 3x6 or 6x3 @ 55lbs
Incline curls: 3x4 or 4x3 @ 35lbs

Thats pretty much it. The day after Day 2 I run for 30min at low speed and sprint @ 5min intervals. I stretch and warm up before every workout. My supplements are: whey, glutamine and multivitamins.

My lifting day 3 is the same as day 1 but I switch up the exercises so in this case: day1=chest/back/arms, day3=chest/back/arms. I would do incline bench, cable chest flies (or dumbbell), chin ups, dumbbell lat pull back. and for arms i would do dips and hammer curls etc…

Should i be doing more exercises per body part? (>2?)

Thanks for reading I know its long but I’m hoping you guys can give me some helpful feedback, anything at all is appreciated.

-Octane

2

A lot of people swear by a lot of different routines, I happen to be a HIT advocate so naturally I’d recommend that.

As long as you’re adding progressive resistance and not overtraining it’s all good.

And my opinion on rear delt development is not too. Just do heavy back compound work and maybe once you’re a 200+ pound beast you can focus on them if they’re lagging.

4

Octane,

  I'm not sure how long you mean by "too long" that you've been on your current program, and while I don't know where you started from, it seems that after "too long", your numbers should be a bit higher than that.  Might I recommend a meat and potatoes kind of program like Rippetoe's Starting Strength?  I was a bit skeptical of total body training but it has done wonders for my strength and for the size and strength of others I have introduced it to around my university.  Here's a link to a description and more:

Good luck, train hard!

5

I highly recommend Starting Strength. Your lifts reflect those of a beginner. You don’t need specialized routines, isolating body parts, or anything resembling a more advanced routine. Full body, compound exercises.

6

I do overwhelming do compounds (bench, row, squats etc) I used to be on a split but realized how dumb it was.

The rear delt question was just to gain some insight b/c since I do arnold presses and military usually which both heavily emphasize the front and lateral delts, i feared that my rear delts would lag behind.

Anyway right now i’ve decided to cut for a few weeks to get down to around 10% BF, before I start gaining again.

7

My suggestion is for you to drop the fancy shmansy zottman curls, and nose breakers, and perform lifts that you can use heavy poundages on striving for increases in either weight or reps. I like to pick a main exercise for each muscle group and hit 2 accesory exercises to accompanhy it. For example chest would be, bench press, accompanied with flys, and inclines.

These should be staples in your routine: Bench Press, Rows, Deadlifts, Squats, Barbell Curls, Dips, Chins, Closegrips, Military Press.

8

Yes you’ll notice i do arms last after i do incline/flat bench or dumbbell flies, and rows and chin ups and everything else.

9

[quote]Octane wrote:
Yes you’ll notice i do arms last after i do incline/flat bench or dumbbell flies, and rows and chin ups and everything else.

but I guess I should probably reduce the amount of arm work I do per week and focus more on the compounds [/quote]

I say arm work is fine, it’s just exercise choice. I’d do barbell curls and closegrips over zottmans, and nose bleeds.

10

why barbells over zottmans? I thought the whole idea of zottmans was to get the reverse curl going down and the regular one going up.
sorry for the double post earlier

11

[quote]Octane wrote:
why barbells over zottmans? I thought the whole idea of zottmans was to get the reverse curl going down and the regular one going up.
sorry for the double post earlier[/quote]

Do you think pro bodybuilders got there massive biceps from a few sets of zottmans? You can use more weight on barbell curls than zottman curls thus creating greater overload, which will create an effect of larger and stronger biceps than you would have doing zottman curls. Zottmans have there place, but they are no way more effective than the traditional barbell curl.

12

would you choose barbell over dumbbell? I feel like with the barbell you’re using more muscles which allows you to lift more weight.