this is my regular routine, sometimes modified

my goals are basically to bulk up and increase max strength aka max bench, etc. i'm trying to eat a lot, at least 150 g protein per day and somedays over 200. i am 5'10" and 135 pounds, max bench currently 200.

monday-wednesday-friday: upper body

chest/tris-4 sets bench press (10-8-6-8 reps), 2 sets incline press (10 reps each)
biceps-3 sets curling (2 hand barbell, machine, and 2 hand cable raises- 10 reps each set)
tris-2 sets triceps extension (plus close-grip bench immediately afterwards), 2 sets triceps pushdown (10 reps each)
chest- 2-3 sets butterfly machine, occasionally dumbell presses keeping arms far apart to target chest (10 reps each)
forearms-2 sets overhand curls (10 reps each)
shoulders/back- 2 sets military press (dumbbells), 2 sets shoulder shrugs, 2 sets-i forget the machine name, it's the opposite of butterfly machine becuz u push back instead
abs-1 set crunches, 1 set reverse crunches (aka leg raises), 1 set sideways sit-ups

thursday-sunday: legs

4 sets squats (10-10-8-10 reps)
3 sets calf raises (25 reps each)
4 sets leg presses (10-10-8-10 reps)...2 sets calves in between (20 reps)
2 sets hamstring curls (10-12 reps each)
2 sets leg extensions (10 reps each)
2 sets reverse leg extensions (hamstrings...10-12 reps each)

also keep in mind in both of these workouts i don't do this all in order, i do for example, a set of curls, then a set of tris, then another set of curls, etc...to save time.

thanks for any advice!

eddie

This is my routine:
Mondays/Thursdays
Bench Press 10x 8x 6x 4x
Hammer Incline 10x 8x 6x 4x
Pek Dek 10x 8x 6x
Hammer Shoulder 10x 8x 6x 4x
Lateral Raise 10x 8x 6x
Shrug 15x 12x 10x
Pushdowns(Tricept) 10x 8x 6x 4x

Tuesdays/Fridays
Leg Press 10x 8x 6x 4x
Leg Extension 10x 8x 6x 4x
Leg Curl 10x 8x 6x 4x
Pulldowns(front) 10x 8x 6x 4x
Hammer Pulldown 10x 8x 6x 4x
Hammer Row 10x 8x 6x
Curl Bar 10x 8x 6x 4x
Hammer Curl 10x 8x 6x

You should cut back to 4 days per week so your muscles have more time to recover(i.e. 48-72hrs), especially if you're lifting for mass/strength. You also need to increase the amount of weight you're working with. You should be increasing the amount of weight on each set, and when you do so, it should be with the least amount of weight(unless you've been lifting for years & have a high 1rep max).

For example, my 1-rep max for bench press is around 135 lbs. So I do 10x at 100 lbs, 8x at 105 lbs, 6x at 110 lbs, and 4x at 115 lbs. If you're able to crank out an extra 3 reps on your last set without straining much, then the next time you do your bench presses, increase the weight on all your reps by 5 lbs.

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-Snaeke
"I may be fat, but I most certainly carry more weight around than your narrow butt everyday." -phat food for thought

r u sure i need to cut back to 2 days upper body? u say 48-72 hours recovery time, and going monday-wednesday-friday would give 48, 48, and 72 hours recovery. but i will still gain more if i only go 2 days? going 2 days would give me 72 and 96 hours time in between...

also on all your sets u go 10-8-6-4 or 10-8-6 reps...does that mean a cooldown set is unnecessary?

lastly, what are hammers?

thanks for the input...does smart naxis have anything to say? http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/smile.gif

heh, I'm not sure where the term "hammer" came from, but my best guess would be that it refers to the "motion" that you're arms are executing in conjunction with the weights while doing the exercise. This would be true for hammer curls since you're bringing the weight up to your upper chest from just below the waist & back again(kind of like the motion a hammer follows).
For the machines, it probably refers to how the weights are situated(any engineers here that could help me out? I can't recall if the hammer machines for shoulders/incline/pulldowns/rows are 1st, 2nd, or 3rd class levers). When you're bringing the weights up & down, it follows the motion similar to that of someone swinging a hammer.

Hammer Shoulders is like sitting on a bench with a barbell in each hand while lifting them up from your shoulders to above your head, fully extending your arms without locking the elbow joints.
Hammer Inclines is almost the same as doing an incline bench press.
Hammer Pulls is similar to doing Lateral Pulls. You sit back a little further on the bench though & use reverse grip. Its like doing inclined bench presses except you're pulling.
Hammer Rows are practically the same as Rows.
I suck when it comes to decribing this kind of stuff, but hopefully I've given you enough of a clue to figure it out. If not, maybe someone else here can do a better job. heheh

I don't see any purpose in doing cool down sets. Personally, I think they're a waste of time, but then again, I could be missing something. Warm up sets on the other hand would be good since they help to get the blood flowing to the muscles. For the amount of weight I'm working with on my bench press, I usually just do a set of 15 reps at 45 lbs. Rest for about 45-60 seconds, then do my normal sets.

You have to remember a couple things. Your joints & tendons need time to adapt as well. When you're doing strength/mass, you're working with heavier weights and tearing more muscle in order to promote more growth as opposed to the high rep/less weight routine.

The routine I'm doing seems to be working pretty well. For example, last Friday, I was doing 140x10 150x8 160x6 170x4 on my leg presses. Today, I did 155x10 165x8 175x6 185x4. Basically, I've increased the weight on all of my exercises today except for my curls, hammer curls, and lat pulls.

The program you've stated previously won't give you the results you're looking for as quickly. Its similar to doing 3 sets of 11 reps. You want more weight & less reps. Try working out 4 days per week(Mon/Thurs upper body & Tues/Fri lower body). 48 hrs is the recommended minimum recovery time, and usually works for those who are trying to tone their body or maintain. For strength/mass training, its probably better to go with 72 hrs recovery. Otherwise you'll end up burning yourself out and/or making yourself more prone to injury.

To start out, do a set of 10 reps with the weight you're working with on your first set(or maybe throw on 5 lbs more). On the second set, increase the weight 5 lbs(or 10 lbs depending on the exercise), and so on for the other sets. If you feel the last set was too easy, wait until the next day you're going to be working that muscle group & increase the weight on all the sets by 5 lbs.

Remember, you "never" want to be decreasing the weight(i.e. benching 160x10, 165x8, struggling through 170x6 and then unable to do 175x4 and having to drop the weight down on all of the sets in order to complete them). If you find the amount of weight difficult but can still do the reps, stay with that weight until you feel you can do the 4 sets with an added 5-10 lbs. Its important that you work forward when "feeling" out a weight range for your sets instead of trying to start out heavy & working your way backwards.
It might take a week or two, but for me, that's what I've found works best compared to going by a 1-rep max calculator which isn't always accurate.

I hope this helps.

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-Snaeke
"I may be fat, but I most certainly carry more weight around than your narrow butt everyday." -phat food for thought

Originally posted by mustangbuff03:
r u sure i need to cut back to 2 days upper body? u say 48-72 hours recovery time, and going monday-wednesday-friday would give 48, 48, and 72 hours recovery. but i will still gain more if i only go 2 days? going 2 days would give me 72 and 96 hours time in between...


from my experience, i have never put on weight faster than when i do a 3 day split, hitting each muscle group only once per week [ie. mon-chest/tri, wed-back/bi, fri-legs/shoulders/traps]. you don't have to be in the gym all the time to get big. your muscles grow while you're asleep, not while you're lifting. just something to think about...

heh, is that why it always seems i look bigger in the morning right after i wake up?

thanks guys, anybody else?

Just don't make the same mistake I made last year. I took training to failure way too seriously and ended up hurting myself.

Whenever I worked any muscle, I wold work it untill absolute and utter failure. Untill I I could not squeeze out one rep evern if I waited 5 minutes. When I worked my chest, I would usually perform 10-15 sets of each exercise untill failure with heavy weight and then do a reverse pyramid at the end to make sure I had no more left in me.

When I worked my legs, I did the same thing. Somtimes untill the point where my legs were so weak that I coulden't even walk for a good 5 min. I was under the impression that the harder I worked, the more I would achieve. But believe it or not, my gains were small.

I coulden't go to the gym for 6 months because I hurt my shoulder. I coulden't even do a 100LB bench without being in great pain. So I went and saw the doc. I cam pretty close to tearing my rotator cuff.

Now all I do is 3 sets of everything untill failure once a week and my gains have been GREAT!

does naxis have any advice?