My friend developed his base via that program. He’s packed on a lot of muscle and has since moved on, but he had great results.
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For leg day I am going to swap out:
|B|Barbell Hip Thrusts|4 sets|10 reps|
|C|Barbell Single Leg Squat|4 sets|8 reps|
for
|B|Back Extensions/Weighted Back Extensions|4 sets|10 reps|
|C|Single Leg Back Extensions/Single Leg Weighted Back Extensions|4 sets|8 reps|
I tried to fight the urge to say it, but I gotta say it.
Your physique goals are totally naturally attainable at your age and stats.
To me, it seems almost as if TRT doctors hands out TRT to anyone that walks into a clinic. Could it have been lack of exercise and poor diet were the cause of your low T (if it was ever actually low) in the first place? And wouldn’t you have gotten a better return out of your TRT had you spent more time in the gym and had more experience dialing in your diet?
This article would make me question your doctor: Tip: High-Dose TRT or Mild Steroid Cycle? But then again, Im natty elitist, so this isn’t really my scope of practice. I usually just read the stuff to plan ahead.
Thoughts on this workout split for Hypertrophy?
Day 1 – Horizontal Push/Pull
Exercise Name
Bench Press * - 5 Sets - 8 Reps
70% of your max
Barbell Row * -
5 Sets - 8 Reps
Incline Press - 5 Sets - 8 Reps
20% less than bench press
Chest Supported T-Bar Row –
5 Sets - 8 Reps
Pec-Deck Flye –
3 Sets – 10-12 Reps
Rear Lateral on Pec-Deck –
3 Sets – 10-12 Reps
*** Warm up then do sets!**
Day 2 – Legs
Exercise Name
Leg Extension –
5 Sets – 12-15 Reps
Seated Leg Curl –
5 Sets – 12-15 Reps
Squat * - 4 Sets - 8 Reps
working up to a ballbuster final set
Romanian Deadlift - 4 Sets - 6 Reps
working up to a final heavy set
Seated calf raises – 4 Sets – 10 Reps
*** Squat** — done alone, without alternating a movement in between.
Day 3 – Vertical Push/Pull
Exercise Name
Standing Press - 5 Sets - 6 Reps
working up to a max-weight set
Chin-Up – 5 Sets - 6 Reps
add weight if you can
Seated Dumbbell Press –
3 Sets – 8-10 Reps
Lat Pulldown –
3 Sets – 8-10 Reps
Plate Front Raise –
4 Sets – 10-12 Reps
Straight-Arm Lat Pulldown -
4 Sets – 10-12 Reps
Day 4 – Arms
Exercise Name
Standing Barbell Curl –
4 Sets – 10-12 Reps
Triceps Pushdown –
4 Sets – 10-12 Reps
Bent-Over Barbell Concentration Curl - 3 Sets – 10-12 Reps
Leaning Triceps Extension with Rope – 3 Sets – 10-12 Reps
Incline Dumbbell Curl –
3 Sets – 10-12 Reps
Seated Dumbbell French Press –
3 Sets – 10-12 Reps
Machine crunch – 4 Sets – 10 Reps
Thoughts on this workout split for Hypertrophy?
What do you look like now?
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28.5 years old, 5’11" height, 158 pounds, 15.8% Body Fat (DexaScan done on 12/28/2019).
Basically lost a lot of muscle on this cut - reverse dieting back into a slight surplus now.
See THIS LINK for other current, additional information.
You did not lose a lot of muscle, you had no muscle to begin with. The difference between weight is around 5%, which is approx. what you lost. You wasted a year losing 8 lbs.
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Damn thats a year progress ON TRT TOO???
OK. I’m not gonna delve into details of past year as it largely doesn’t matter. DexaScans did show 5.5 Pounds of Muscle gained at one point, but I know those aren’t 100% accurate.
Is this a good routine?
If that’s a similar program to what you did the past year, probably not.
Have you considered doing a better, free program designed by an actual professional from this site?
That’s what my original program (link is above) and This Program that I just posted are. I was doing a 5-6 day split for 4 months with a Bodybuilding coach as well from September to December.
I am dedicated, but I am getting tired of getting nowhere. Seems like I constantly run into conflicting information.
Looks like a good program. Maybe the details of the past year matter more than you think? Are you slowly adding weight overtime?
Conflicting information is there because there are different ways to approach stuff.
Do Jon Andersen’s Deep Water program (beginner and intermediate). Consider following his diet as well.
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It’s been a while. This feels like a nostalgia trip
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@T3hPwnisher OK I will look into it, thanks
no you aren’t. or perhaps you are now, but be honest with us. You did not spend the last year lifting regularly and with proper intensity, and you did not eat well AT ALL. I know these things because the programs you’ve posted are sufficient for gaining significant muscle. Your age is not an issue and presumably neither is your general health. So that leaves eating and… dedication. Sorry dude. Hope this year goes better for you. If you eat well, and you follow basically ANY program with intensity for an entire year, you’ll have far better results than you did last year.
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Weightlifting: I spent the last year lifting regularly. From January 2019 until beginning of July 2019 I missed no days at the gym. I took all of July 2019 off as I was in Peru backpacking. I lifted regularly from August 2019 until October 2019 with minimal missed days.
From October 2019 to December 2019 I missed 3-4 weeks as I was taking a week or so off after each tattoo session. I know this was probably overkill, but I did not want it to get infected or damaged before it finished healing. Tattoo is now completely done and I don’t plan on getting anymore.
I was on the 3 day split I mentioned above from January 2019 to August 2019. Then from September 2019 to December 2019 I was on a 5-6 day bro split from a Bodybuilding coach.
DexaScans show that I gained some muscle (was up 5.5 pounds over baseline at one point). However, its possible I was not lifting with enough intensity. I am not a morning person, yet I force myself to lift in the mornings - afternoons after work I am too tired and gym is packed as hell.
Diet: From January 2019 until about October 2019 I cycled through several chefs and meal delivery services. I eventually realized that they were Expensive as Hell and Macros were likely not accurate enough. I started cooking myself in October 2019.
I was bulking from about March 2019 until October 2019. I decided to cut after discussion with BB coach - I made a mistake for a few weeks while cooking on my own and my calorie intake was WAY too high! Unfortunately the BB coach lowered calories too much, and while I lost a lot of fat, I also lost the majority of the muscle I gained (see DexaScan + graph history in post above).
I know DexaScans aren’t 100% accurate, and I plan to only run them every 6-12 months from now on.
Moving Forward I have learned a lot in past year despite extreme lack of progress. I am now cooking on my own. I plan on doing either a 3- or a 4-day split and changing routines every few months (from what I understand, changing routines every 3-4 months stops the body from adapting fully to the specific program - I am oversimplifying it). My goal is to Reverse Diet (add 100-150 calories per week) back up to 3000 calories per day or so (Maintenance / slight bulk) and go up VERY SLOWLY - after 3200 cals or so I start to gain weight rapidly.
I also plan to try Keto for 2-3 months after I return from Mexico at the end of January 2020. I know several people who have had great success building muscle while remaining lean on Keto - I figure its worth trialing for a few months.
I also recently figured out that Dairy is a no go for me - I took a few weeks off with no dairy or cheese. When I re-added cheese to my diet earlier this week (two 1/4 cup servings of Sharp Cheddar cheese from Walmart), I started getting acne again, constipation, feeling like shit in the mornings, etc. I will still eat dairy, but only as a rare treat or cheat meal.
LASTLY, I was Planning To Cycle, but am holding off on these plans until I make better progress on my TRT. There are more details of the past year in the first cycle hyperlink if you’re interested.
I would wait until you learn how to eat and train effectively first.
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I wouldn’t worry about the food so much either.
May be going against the grain when I say this, but it seems you might be better off doing something more streamlined and simplistic. Get 1-3 of the well-known heavy hitting movements most of us do, into your routine. Hack off the majority of the fluff movements and supplement them in as builder/assistant type movements. Also maybe get a good ballpark of your near max numbers. Just so you can progress from there.
How much have your lifts gone up in the past year?
You can have all the dedication in the world (never miss a workout, stay 100% strict with diet, etc.), but if your lifts aren’t going dramatically up, especially at this early stage of the game, then you’re not going to get much muscle.
Back in high school, our QB was a really skinny kid who was obsessed with getting bigger. Being a meticulous planner, he planned out his workouts and diets with precision. However, he never got much stronger, so after 2 years of dedicated lifting, he was around the same size. His highest lift was a 275lbs Trap Bar Deadlift for reps, for reference.
On the opposite end, there were some other guys who would go into their workouts with barely any plan, would eat like shit, and didn’t care much for lifting outside of needing to get stronger for sports. However, they got a lot stronger for reps, and as a result, they got a lot bigger.
You have to give your muscles a reason to grow. Before my injuries forced me to stop lifting, I got bigger just by aiming to get a shit ton stronger for reps. For a beginner, I don’t need to see why it needs to be more complicated than that.
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