I am always tweaking my weights routine to better the results of muscle growth and all out performance. I only have enough time to workout 4 times a week and in each session i do a total body workout (not really including cardio). My workout conisists of
3x10 Benchpress
3x10 squats
3x10 Deadlifts
3x10 bicep curls
3x10 Tri pull downs
3x10 shoulder raises (cant remember what its called but you get the point)
3x10 leg raises (weighted)
3x20 declined weighted situps
Is this a shit routine??? am i doing to much or to little??
without variation you won’t see a lot of results… at least not long term
you will tend to plateau pretty quickly I would think
I am no expert by any means
but i highly recommend you searching for Chad Waterbury’s Total Body Training program.
I had great success with it.
Also, it’s only 3 days/week.
Best of luck.
If you workout four days a week take a look at Chad Waterbury’s programs (3 day and 4 day programs) and you’ll find some ways to mix up the training so you don’t get bored with the same thing session after session.
Also, IMHO, lose the arm exercises and replace them with other big lifts.
In my case, my arms only started growing after I stopped training them and instead included more of the big lifts.
[quote]willsta wrote:
I am always tweaking my weights routine to better the results of muscle growth and all out performance. I only have enough time to workout 4 times a week and in each session i do a total body workout (not really including cardio). My workout conisists of
3x10 Benchpress
3x10 squats
3x10 Deadlifts
3x10 bicep curls
3x10 Tri pull downs
3x10 shoulder raises (cant remember what its called but you get the point)
3x10 leg raises (weighted)
3x20 declined weighted situps
Is this a shit routine??? am i doing to much or to little?? [/quote]
You can use another exercise that targets the back in there, maybe some chin-ups.
I think having all 3 big lifts in every workout, 4 times a week, is too much. May work for a beginner though… for a while.
Check out Chad Waterbury’s programs if you are interested in total body workouts.
Only YOU can tell if you are doing too much or too little.
Look at this routine and I will make a few points about it and why it is good.
It’s Bill Starrs’ 5x5
Firstly, you don’t start at the max weights you can do. You start back a bit, that way, your body has a few weeks to adjust to the workload, the exercises put together etc… ie it is SELF ADJUSTING, it is not “too much” or too little because it is backed off and then built up to the real meat of the program (increasing weights).
It is nearly impossible to write out in advance a routine and know it is perfect for you, so an evolving, self adjusting approach is wise.
The 5x5 is also good because
it uses the movements that matter, not wasting time with curls etc…
it is progressive, you push for more weight with 3 reps then the next workout, you ramp up to do FIVE reps with that 3 rep maximum … you must have some kind of progression built into your program.
when you stall, it tells you what to do - back off (either completely, or for just the movement that stalls)
Designing your own program is not just a matter of exercise selection, reps and sets. … the most important is planning for progression, and backing off, and what to do when you cannot progress further.
I’d recommend the 5x5 for 3 days a week over your 4 days a week hodge-podge of 3x10.
The 5x5 might not be so good if you are a beginner though, in which case you can prob. add more than 2.5% per week, probably add a helluva lot more when starting out.
If you don’t do the 5x5 then at the least, read through it and understand the concepts I was pointing out
I’d also agree with what’s been said pretaining to the arm isolation exercises, Being a begginner you really shouldn’t be concerned with doing isolation exercises. Instead focus on heavy compound exercises, then later on if you find that you are lacking in a specific area you can begin to add in additional isolation exercises to improve that area.
So, instead of bicep curls and tricep press downs, I’d suggest doing chins and dips (make sure to stay as upright as possible on the dips). These exercises will adequately hit your biceps and triceps (look at the arm development on Olympic Gymnasts, and keep in mind that they never do bicep curls of tricep press downs).
I’d also agree that doing both Deads and Squats on the same day may be a bit much, but if you are still seeing improvements then I’d say carry on. If on the other hand you begin to see stagnation, or worse yet regression, then I’d suggest alternating between the two.
Finally I completely agree with whoever said to add variety, and definetely check out Chad Waterbury’s stuff.
[quote]willsta wrote:
I am always tweaking my weights routine to better the results of muscle growth and all out performance. I only have enough time to workout 4 times a week and in each session i do a total body workout (not really including cardio). My workout conisists of
3x10 Benchpress
3x10 squats
3x10 Deadlifts
3x10 bicep curls
3x10 Tri pull downs
3x10 shoulder raises (cant remember what its called but you get the point)
3x10 leg raises (weighted)
3x20 declined weighted situps
Is this a shit routine??? am i doing to much or to little?? [/quote]
Trust me that I am asking this for a reason. Why and how and for what muscle are you doing weighted declined sit ups and leg raises?
as long as you have the time, and you can make more time by pairing opposite (antagonist) movement. To your bench I would add rows. I would add an overhead press and a chinning exercise.
How long have you done this rep scheme and are you adding weight every single time?
You should include your goals when asking for an evaluation of your training program.
I’m not an expert, all I can tell you is what comes from my experience. I switched to total body sessions (only 3 per week though) from a split routine about a year ago, and it’s worked out great for me. Some suggestions:
I’ve had much better results when I started keeping my workouts under one hour. With your plan, your workouts are probably much longer. I recommend you ditch some of the isolation movements and keep it shorter.
For me, a good way to keep the workout short and intense has been to work antagonistic movements in pairings. For example, I might do a set of bench presses, rest 60 seconds, then do a set of chin-ups, rest another 60 seconds, then start over…
You have no pulling movements at all, and no vertical push. I recommend you add movements like chin-ups, pull-ups, some form of rows, some form of overhead press (of course not all of them!).
Squatting AND deadlifting 4 times a week may become too much for you - try it out if you like, maybe it will work out just fine. However, keep in mind that it’s a massive stress on your body. If it turns out too much for you, try alternating squats and deads, and instead add a supplemental exercise that’s not as hard on your body (for example, deads followed by split squats)
Oh yeah, try out some unilateral movements like split squats or lunges - I’ve had good progress in those.
I’ve also had better results lifting heavier weight for less repetitions. This varies with your goals, but I recommend you try out going down to 8, 5 or 3 reps.