The Best Lifting Routine?

Hey guys, I need some help finding a lifting routine. First some background info. I’m 18, and have gone from 6’1, 162lbs, 10% body fat, to 176lbs, 9% bf. I’m pretty strong and decently cut. I’ve achieved this through 8 solid months of going 4-5 days a week and eating a lot (mostly healthy too) and taking some protein.

Now I’ve plateaued and want to know which program you think would be the best for me to get a little bigger, stronger, and more cut.

Here’s been my average routine.

Monday-Chest/Back
bench 5x5
incline dbell press 3x8
decline dbell press 3x8
another chest 3x8
bent over bbell rows 5x5
lat pulldowns 3x8
seated rows 3x8
pullups 3x8

tuesday-Shoulders
seated dumbell military press 3x8
front raises 3x12
side raises 3x12
upright rows 3x8
standing bbell shoulder press 3x8
power shrugs 5x5
haney shrugs 3x10

wednesday-off
thursday-legs/arms
deadlift 5x5
back squat 3x10
calf raises 3x12
incline curl 3x10
skullcrushers 3x10
barbell curl 3x10
rope pulldowns 3x10
preacher curls 3x10
tricep pushdowns 3x10

friday-off
saturday-repeat cycle

From my hours of reading, I see lots of full body routines with only one exercise per muscle group. Some of these big guy’s workouts seem so small. Mine has a lot of volume and I only do two muscle groups a day.

Would you guys recommenend a full body workout 3 times a week, or should i stay with the split program? i dont mind the time in the gym, but also don’t want to be doing legs more than 1.5 times per week. Just tell me what programs you’d recommend whether it be the superhero routine, or the velocity diet’s workout routine.

I just need a new routine and I know you guys know more than me. So hit me with your best routines for this. thanks.

Use the search function. There has been at least literally dozen of the same threads like yours in the past week.

Since I posted in some of them, click on my name, pick “find posts” and you can reach them like that as well.

you over train and probably dont eat enough

I’d reccomend cutting out some of that rep work. I got winded just reading it all. 2x12, 3x8, 3x10. Try 10x3, 8x3, 5x5, 4x6, 6x4, 12x2, 8x1, etc, etc.

You need that new program called eating more than 1000 calories a day.

You look like a starving child.

[quote]Alex-P wrote:
You look like a starving child. [/quote]

haha starving children plateau easy. i think hes hit his genetic potential. i would look into steroids there is no other hope for you…

[quote]Alex-P wrote:
You look like a starving child. [/quote]

This guy came on here with a legit question asking for advice. If you have some, give it. If not, stop trying to be cute with the “you look like a starving child” and “you should try the more than 1000 cals per day routine” bullshit because the guy said he’s eating alot and he has gained weight.

Fullbody is a good idea. You’re likey overtrained with that high volume split and just need a change.

Focus on moving bigger weights and use some sort of planned periodization to keep the long term gains coming.

Check out HST (Hypertrophy Specific Training)or something like Starr/Pendalay 5x5 type routines.

With HST, I prefer starting at 80% max (and skipping the SD - strategic deconditioning.) Then stretch out the 5’s until you stall.

That and ignore the douchebaggery so common in the picture posting section of this site.

WTF? Is this a joke?
Why are you doing so many sets on a given day? And why the 3 sets of each exercise? excpet 5x5. etc…

You left out warm-up sets.
Taking all this into account how long does it take to do a workout 2+hrs?

IMHO pick up Ian King: How to write strength training programs. It should be your BIBLE!

WSSB (West Side for Skinny Bastards) is another top notch routine I forgot to mention. I like it with a second leg day added in.

Again, start at 80% and work up to new maxes over 4-6 weeks. Then do a light/recovery/deloading week and start over. Or switch off to HST, 5x5, etc.

Equally important: Keep a food diary along with this and make sure you’re getting enough food to gain. Bump calories by 10% until you find the sweet spot.

[quote]abominabelsnoman wrote:
Alex-P wrote:
You look like a starving child.

This guy came on here with a legit question asking for advice. If you have some, give it. If not, stop trying to be cute with the “you look like a starving child” and “you should try the more than 1000 cals per day routine” bullshit because the guy said he’s eating alot and he has gained weight.

[/quote]

bro have you looked at the pick??? he isnt eatign enough. how many people on here say they eat enough and never gain weight. your toutine isnt the problem your diet is. follow massive eating and keep a food log. you should eat around 4000 cals.

Working shoulders after doing flat bench and incline bench the day before on chest day might cause overtraining…

you look like you’re doing okay to me.

my advice would be some of Waterburys programs such as Triple Total Training, Anti-Bodybuilding Hypertrophy, and the Waterbury Method.

good luck buddy! keep up the good work.

-Brian

[quote]budlight1 wrote:
abominabelsnoman wrote:
Alex-P wrote:
You look like a starving child.

This guy came on here with a legit question asking for advice. If you have some, give it. If not, stop trying to be cute with the “you look like a starving child” and “you should try the more than 1000 cals per day routine” bullshit because the guy said he’s eating alot and he has gained weight.

bro have you looked at the pick??? he isnt eatign enough. how many people on here say they eat enough and never gain weight. your toutine isnt the problem your diet is. follow massive eating and keep a food log. you should eat around 4000 cals.[/quote]

I didn’t mean that he was eating enough, just that giving stupid one-line answers in an attempt to be cute are not real advice. In fact, the advice you gave hereabout following the massive eating plan and a food log is damn good advice–cute sarcasm like “you look like a starving child” is not. That was all im trying to say.

oh ok but if no one made stupid comments then i wouldnt be on this site as often and i couldnt give that good advice. i like the stupid comments alot they make my work day bearable.

big boy basics!

[quote]kobebryant wrote:
I’ve achieved this through 8 solid months of going 4-5 days a week and eating a lot (mostly healthy too) and taking some protein.
[/quote]

Your doing to much each day.

Some protein? What does that mean? You should be getting 1.5 - 2.0g / LBM a day.

Eat! Eat! Eat! Why are people afraid to eat alot if they are eating healthy?

You have a good base there, get your diet in shape and fix your program and you will see dramatic gains.

That was some fast feedback. And very helpful. Thank you very much. Now let me respond to some of them.

Most of you said I wasn’t eating enough, and maybe I haven’t… but I have been eating at least 3500 calories/day. I’ve just always been skinny, so it’s been hard for me to gain, but I’ve gained 15 lbs.

And after my workouts, I took cytogainer which has 5 grams of creatine, and 50 grams of protein which contribibuted to my 1.5 grams of protein per day.

And yes, you’re all right, I’ve been overtraining, too many sets and reps per workout. But those workouts usually only take me abuot an hour and 15 minutes. But yes, I will definetly switch my workout to something like the big boy basics program or the anti-bodybuilding program.

And I will continue to up my eating and calories some more since you think I need to gain more. But you should know that I’m not looking to get hugeee, or bulky, or like a bodybuildier like some of you. I just want to be a pretty big, but also cut.

But thank you guys very much for your input, and keep the responses coming. I could use some more lifting routine recommendations. Thanks again.

Because your tall and have longer levers than most your progress may be a bit slower than shorter guys on this site. As long as you eat enough and sleep enough you won’t overtrain. End of story.
In a week you are doing 26 sets that lead to internal rotation of the shoulder and only 16 that lead to external rotation. Work on balancing your program for long term shoulder health. Ian King gets my vote…