Which routine is Best?

[Barrington]

Which routine would you say was better for building mass?

This one i made up myself:

Day 1: Squat
OHP
Bench Press
Machine Shrug
Weighted Pull Ups
Machine Shrugs

Day 2: Squat
Bicep Curl
Tricep Pulldown
DB Lateral Raise
Back machine Pull back thingy
Weighted Chin Ups
Forearm Curl
Push Ups

Day 3: Squat
Lunges
Bench Press
OHP
Calf Machine
Weighted Pull Ups
Machine Leg Extension

All compound lifts 5x5 and the rest 6 -8 reps


or this from a Mens Health book i have:

Day 1
5 Sets/Squat
4 Sets/Bench Press
3 Sets/Push Press
3 Sets/Bent Over Row
2 Sets/ Bicep Curl
2 Sets/Dip

Day 2

5 Sets/Squat
4 Sets/Bench Press
3 Sets/Seated Shoulder Press
4 Sets/One Arm Row
3 Sets/Hammer Curl
3 Sets/Dip

Day 3

5 Sets/Squat
4 Sets/Bench Press
3 Sets/Push Press
3 Sets/Bent Over Row
2 Sets/ Bicep Curl
2 Sets/Dip

All at 6-8 Reps.

Any thoughts on them?

[Stickman]

In my opinion, and far from expert here, but i think personally you would be best to start on something simple like 5x5 stronglifts, starting strength, WS4SB3 or somehting along those lines they are really good routines and proven to work time and time again, I wasted a lot of time trying to create my own routines at the begining then finally gave up and went to 5x5 and it was a lot more effective definatly a good starting point and will give a good base strength.

Though routine is only maybe 10-20% Diet is the main thing you need to get in order to get the best gains

[Dolphinski]

Agreed. Why don't you just do SL5x5? And imo you don't need to bother with things like shrugs and forearm curls until you're pretty advanced (as in close to competing or reaching your genetic potential). The compounds will look after those muscles pretty well for now.

Also, I'd be very careful about training to failure if you're training the same muscles 3 times a week. If you're not careful and don't employ tactics like HST where you train the majority of the time sub-maximally, you'll burn yourself out pretty quick and find yourself plateauing or even going backwards in the weight you can throw around. Tricks like deconditioning can be used to avoid this though, if you train in say a 6 week block and then take a week or so off.

[Barrington]

Have done Stronglifts for a while now and am a bit bored by it, i didn't feel like it was working my arms as much as i would like so i feel like a change in routine. I quite like using the shrug machine and a couple of others at the gym, and a set of 5 or so once a week doesn't take long so i think why not.

I guess really i am a bit torn between the routines because one i would do 5x5 and the other sets of 6-8 reps and i'm not sure which one would be better for building size, as i am more looking for that than out and out strength. Mens Health seems to think that reps of 6-8 are better for size, and i am not sure wether that is true or not, some of the routines in the book i've got have about a million exerisises which supposedly you can do in an hour, which i think is very unlikely so not sure what things they say to take with a pinch of salt.

I had thought that the Mens Health routine might be a bit too much and not leave much room for recovery as well.

[Dolphinski]

You know you can always do assistance exercises as well as SL5x5? So let's say on Rows day, you throw a few sets of BB curls after your workout and on Press day you throw some BB skulls in. Or you could do curl/skull supersets every other workout if you want to.

If you really don't want to do 5x5 and want to concentrate on hypertrophy, i'd highly recommend HST training. It's certainly not for everyone and takes a fair bit of research and reading to set up your first cycle properly but once you've got it all set up I found it to be the most enjoyable 8 weeks of training i've ever done. The reps vary, the weights go up consistently and while it starts easy, it becomes really challenging in the last couple of weeks. And best of all, it works!

[James]

Less is more, I personally use no more than 5 exercises per session, mess around with reps, sets, rests or alternative exercises if you feel you are getting bored. For instance, switch up BB bench for DB bench, or one session try 3 sets 8 reps next session try 4 sets of 4 reps - just a few suggestions

[Barrington]

Quote

If you really don't want to do 5x5 and want to concentrate on hypertrophy, i'd highly recommend HST training. It's certainly not for everyone and takes a fair bit of research and reading to set up your first cycle properly but once you've got it all set up I found it to be the most enjoyable 8 weeks of training i've ever done. The reps vary, the weights go up consistently and while it starts easy, it becomes really challenging in the last couple of weeks. And best of all, it works!

I have seen it mentioned on the forums before, is there any particularly good website you use? It sounds interesting.

[Tox]

mee to....HST is good, fun but hard work. Just going through my 4th cycle just now.

Hypertrophy-Specific Training : : Official Home of HST

[James]

I lasted almost 2 cycles, then my back just gave out thanks to the volume! First cycle was INSANE strength gains, though.