Thoughts on This Workout Plan

Bigger Stronger Leaner Beginners
1

Im 6’1" 19 years old and weigh 170 lbs.
Supplements: Cytogainer and soon to be taking Biotest BCAA
I take in around 3000-3500 calories a day, of mainly protein such as peanut butter and cytogainer. Some other facts on this are…

im trying to get to around 180, currently i can barbell bench press 175 for 5, Dumbbell flat bench press 70’s and incline 60’s, Dumbbell Curl 35’s, preacher curl 60lbs, standing barbell curl 80lbs (my wrist hurt A LOT when i do this excercise). I dont know how that information might help just thought giving you anything i could might give some more insight on where i am at right now.

I would like some feedback on this workout plan that I made, im not an expert so dont be too harsh.

Monday: Chest & Triceps & Shoulders
Superset 1: 5 x 5 Dumbbell Flat Bench Press
5 x 5 Dumbbell Flat Bench Fly
Superset 2: 5 x 5 Dumbbell Incline Bench Press
5 x 5 Dumbbell Incline Fly
Superset 3: 5 x 5 Close-Grip Bench
5 x 5 Overhead rope triceps extension
Superset 4: 5 x 5 Weighted Dips
5 x 5 Overhead Dumbbell extension
Shoulders: 1-arm Lateral Raise, barbell front raise, Seated Overhead dumbbell press

Tuesday: Back & Biceps & Abs
Superset 1: 5 x 5 Weighted Chin-Ups
5 x 5 Hammer Curls
Superset 2: 5 x 5 Preacher Curls
5 x 5 Dumbbell Curl
Superset 3: 5 x 5 T-bar rowing
5 x 5 Seated cable rowing
Superset 4: 5 x 5 Bent-over barbell rowing
5 x 5 Lat pulldown

Wednesday: Chest & Triceps & Shoulders
(No Supersets)
3 x 8 Barbell Bench Press
3 x 8 Barbell Decline Bench Press
5 x 5 Weighted Dips
5 x 5 Decline Tricep Extensions
5 x 5 Flat Bench Tricep Extensions
Shoulders: 1-arm Lateral Raise, barbell front raise, Seated Overhead dumbbell press

Thursday: Back & Biceps & Abs
Superset 1: 5 x 5 Weighted Chin-Ups
5 x 5 Hammer Curls
Superset 2: 5 x 5 Preacher Curls
5 x 5 Dumbbell Curl
Superset 3: 5 x 5 T-bar rowing
5 x 5 Seated cable rowing
Superset 4: 5 x 5 Bent-over barbell rowing
5 x 5 Lat pulldown

Friday: Legs
Superset 1: 5 x 5 Front Squat
5 x 5 Step-ups
Superset 2: 5 x 5 Deadlift
5 x 5 1-leg deadlift
Superset 3: 5 x 5 Natural Glute-ham raises
5 x 5 Leg Curls

Saturday: Chest & Biceps & Triceps
Superset 1: 5 x 5 Dumbbell Flat Bench Press
5 x 5 Dumbbell Flat Bench Fly
Superset 2: 5 x 5 Dumbbell Incline Bench Press
5 x 5 Dumbbell Incline Fly
Superset 3: 5 x 5 Weighted Chin-Ups
5 x 5 Hammer Curls
Superset 4: 5 x 5 Incline Dumbbell Curl
5 x 5 Preacher Curl
Superset 5: 5 x 5 Close-grip Bench
5 x 5 Weighted Dips

Sunday: Rest

2

Wow! That’s alot of 5x5.

I think you may have TOO MANY 5x5 exercises. If you can do 20 supersets of 5x5 or 40 sets actually, then you’re doing something a little too easy. My Chest program I do 7 sets and I’m cooked.

My suggestion would be to drop all the Flat/Inlcine/Decline on the barbell & the dumbbell …and try some different exercises or something. You’re doing the same thing over & over again for 30 sets. All Bench Presses really. There isn’t a whole lot of difference between those exercises.

Maybe a program like this would make more sense.

5x5 Bench Press
3x8 Incline Dumbbell Press
2x12 Fly supersetted with 2x12 dips
1x burnout on the pec deck

…just a little variety ya know. 5 reps for thirty sets seems a little excess.

3

Holy freaking cow. No.

Sorry buddy. 5x5 is an outstanding program, but it can be overdone, and you have provided an example of how to do that. And only one day of rest a week on volume like that is going to be…inadequate, to be polite.

And you DON’T NEED 2 arm days a week if you’ve only got 1 leg day. Easiest way to add weight? Work the legs. The legs make up more than 1/2 your bodyweight.

A better layout would be

Monday Chest/tris/shoulders
Tuesday LEGS

Thursday Back/biceps
Friday total body, no more than 4 exercises, plus abs.

Or

Mon-Chest/Back
Tues-Legs

Thurs-chest/back (different exercises)
Fri-Legs

Or

Mon-Legs
Wed-chest/back/biceps
Fri-Legs
Sun-vertical push (shoulders)/back/triceps

5x5 for the first 1-2 exercises, but that’s it. Not the whole scheme. That should help.

Writing your own schemes is a great way to learn what works for you, but don’t try to do everything at once.

EDIT: I didn’t specifically include abs in any day except once. Abs are whenever you need to schedule them.

4

Dude, you forgot the kitchen sink! Holy crap that’s a lot of volume.

Listen to the other guys that posted they gave you good ideas. Redue your program and post it again for some comments and remember that over time you’re going to be replacing movements with different ones to keep the program new so you don’t have to worry about hitting every angle everyday.

5

Hey jck,

I have to agree with the others here. WAY too much volume! Seriously, there’s no way anyone but serious steroid users wouldn’t be overtrained after a couple weeks of that.

I realize how much you might enjoy designing your own routines but with the resources here it’s not really necessary. Search the articles here for programs and give them a shot. Change them up every 6 workouts. With your program above you’re working the same muscles 3 times a week. You’ll stagnate in 2 weeks!

It’s a good idea to hit muscle groups often when you start out because you learn proper form and train your neurological systems. But, it’s better to do full body routines since the volume per muscle group is lower. Keep studying and experiment, you’ll soon find what works for you.

6

Hey jck, how about trying a full body workout two or three times a week?

I’m not as experienced as a lot of the posters on here but the routine you’ve posted looks a lot like my first routine, and it got me nowhere.

What it taught me is that rest is every bit as important as training, this is the case in all sports but particularly in weightlifting.

My current routine now looks like this and i’m really making gains on it.

Monday

Squat 5x5
Bench press 5x5
Rows 5x5
Military press 5x5
Abs 4x8

Wednesday

Deadlift 5x5
Incline bench press 5x5
Weighted Pull-ups 5x5
Abs 4x8

Friday

Same as monday but with front squat.

The following week do the same as above but on alternate days:

Monday

Deadlift 5x5
Incline bench press 5x5
Weighted pull-ups 5x5
Abs 4x8

Wednesday

Squat 5x5
Bench press 5x5
Rows 5x5
Military press 5x5
Abs 4x8

Friday

Same as monday but with straight leg deadlift.

Then go back to the first week, and so on

Feel free to stick in one or two isolation exercises a week such as bicep curls and skullcrusher/tricep pulldowns, but don’t overdo them as your main workout hits all these muscles a lot anyway. That’s the beauty of compounds over isolations, you get more bang for your buck.

A few guys I know still think it’s a little too much, but I feel that I’m getting enough rest now, and i’m seeing great results. If you feel that it’s wearing you out then you can always drop it down to just two workouts a week.