this is a workout that a friend of mine gave me to do,
please critique and advise if I should be doing something different,
I am shooting for gaining weight until 200, I am 175 right now,
barbell curls:
this one is weird to me, but you are supposed to go half movement up for 7 reps, then the upper half movement for 7 reps, then the total movement for 7 reps, for a total of 21 reps for 4 sets.
Curls:
again odd to me, but you pick 5 weights that descend by 5 pounds then starting with the heaviest you curl until failure then immediately move to the next lower weight until you are finished, do this for 3 sets.
workout 4:
seated dumbell presses:
12, 12, 10, 8, 6
lateral dumbell raises:
15, 12, 10, 8
bentover dumbell raises:
12, 10, 8, 8
Close grip bench press:
12, 12, 10, 8, 8
if you have any comments, or can point me in the direction of a better workout to gain mass, I am all for it, I have been lifting for a few years now, but never got serious, now I am eating right and dedicated to gaining, just need some help on the lifts that I should be doing, like reps and sets.
for info.
I am 5-10 and 175.
Bench max = 235
squat max = 295
dead max = 275
powerclean = 225
I know that my numbers are low, but I started on last tuesday, the 18 to start gaining mass and strenght; numbers that suck are my deads. I know, I know, I really need to work on my chicken legs with those squat numbers.
thanks in advance for any help that you might post.
Is that a Body For Life workout? It looks very similar. It might work for a little while if you are new to training, but there is a plethora of good programs on this site that would be a much better choice.
[quote]jsteele wrote:
if you have any comments,
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Wow, that is a lot of volume with a lot of redundant lifts.
The best thing for mass I have personally tried is the 20-rep squat routine. It sounds easy, but isn’t.
Here goes:
Get a good spotter.
Take your 10rm on squats.
Load the bar with your 10rm, perform 20 reps, that’s right 20. Take as many breaths between reps as required to complete the 20. These need to be ATG squats.
The program says that immediately after do 1 set of 20 with pull-overs.
Follow up with a circuit of dips, pull-ups, incline situps. 3 circuits with max reps. Rest 1 minute between sets.
Go home.
Drink about 1 gallon of milk a day. Get plenty of rest.
I gained 15 lbs in three weeks like this. Remember that it is only one set of squats. It is funny watching people fall over after the set of 20.
OR, do a search on OLAD, Westside, 1-6 or OVT. Here’s to soreness.
On a side note, regarding the bicep work…the barbell format mentioned is called “21’s”, and gives a great pump. The DB format mentioned is just drop sets (in this case, “running the rack”). I’ve done both, but I personally use them for a brief change-up, not a weekly routine.
I don’t think anyone who is 175 lbs should be doing high reps and drop sets.
You need to be lifting heavy weight using compound lifts. Do a search on Joe Defranco’s West Side For Skinny Bastards routine. That’s some good stuff for a guy trying to get big and strong.
i would jsut go 10-16 sets 6-8 rep range 4 different movements a day. mostly compound. MAYBE 1 isolation exersize a workout. 4 days split. don’t do any of these bs sets and movements. get a trainig log. when you plateau change the rep range and move exersizes to different parts of workout. do this and you could probably workout for years and be fine. heres a miracle way to get bigger that you probably wont do. EAT!!!. if your not gaining at least a pound a week you arent eatign enough . follow ME by beradi and eat like a fattie
Why on earth would you do a workout a friend gave you?
Unless you both have the exact: physicial attributes, strength capacity, recovery capacity blah blah blah blah. The only advantage I can see to do a “generic” workout would be if it was a workout for a specific part or quality. Example. Pitchers, linemen, high jumper etc… See my point. Good.
Make you own workout specific to your needs and your goals.
budlight1,
thanks for the input, and just for clarification, I have been eating, a lot. Just by eating, and working out heavy for the last two weeks, today is the 14th day actually since I decided to be serious about gaining weight,
I have gained 12 lbs, up from 170, I now weigh in at 182.
I posted this on another thread, when I weighed myself 3 or 4 days after I started and I had gained 5 lbs or something,
I was told it was water weight, either way, i proved to myself that I can gain weight just by eating more, I still need to increase my caloric intake, because I am probably only averaging about 3000 a day, need at least 4000, preferably 5000 a day to get to 200, but that’ll be several months if not a year or more down the road.
IMO, you can change just a few things and have a really solid routine for a while:
drop workout 4
start increasing the weights in squats, deadlifts by 10lbs weekly, and in benches and rows by 5lbs, even though the reps might drop. Something like this:
You don’t have to increase other exericses as much, though. Add more weight to them only if you feel like you can really do it.
On Week 6 start over with 20 reps, as in Week 1, but hopefully with at least 10lbs more than in Week 1. If you start feeling tired and fatigued sooner, than take the week off then. If it happens as soon as Week 3, consider lowering volume for 1-2 work-sets on each exercise after the break.
This is one of the most the basic forms of periodization, and organizing your workout in such a fashion will do much more for your progress, than any combination of exercises and set/rep schemes. At least that has been my expirience.