Looking for some advice in regards to workout / lifestyle

[redtop]

Looking for some feedback in regards to my workout routine - I've posted up what i'm lifting and a few questions, would appreciate some feedback.

Monday - Chest & Abs

Bench Press (Incline / Flat / Decline) [70kg x 8 x 3]
Dumbbell Press (Incline / Flat / Decline) [22kg x 8 x 3]
Dumbbell Flies (Incline / Flat / Decline] [15kg x 8 x 3]
Dumbbell Pullover [15kg x 8 x 3]
Weighted Crunch
Russian Twist


Tuesday - Back & Lats

Cable Row Close Grip [50kg x 8 x 3]
Barbell Incline Pull [30kg x 10 x 3]
Cable Pulldown Behind Neck Wide Grip [50kg x 8 x 3]
Cable Pulldown Close Grip [50kg x 8 x 3]
Wide Grip Pull Ups [8 x 3]
One Arm Dumbbell Row [15kg x 8 x 3]
Deadlifts [25kg x 8 x 3]


Wednesday - Rest


Thursday - Biceps, Triceps & Forearms

Dumbbell Concentration Curls [15kg x 10 x 3]
EZ Curl Barbell Curls [30kg x 10 x 3]
Hammer Curls [10kg x 10 x 3]
Cable Pulldown [34kg x 8 x 3]
Cable Rope Pulldown [34kg x 8 x 3]
Tricep Dips [8 x 3]
Dumbbell Kickbacks [5kg x 10 x 3]
Reverse Barbell Curl [10kg x 10 x 3]


Friday - Shoulders

Military Press Barbell [40kg x 8 x 3]
Dumbbell Arnold Press [10kg x 10 x 3]
Behind Neck Barbell Press [34kg x 8 x 3]
Side Lateral Raise [10kg x 8 x 3]
Cable Upright Row [20kg x 8 x 3]
Dumbbell Front Raise [10kg x 8 x 3]
Dumbbell Rear Lateral Raise [6kg x 8 x 3]

Saturday & Sunday - Rest

I normally do some leg work on a Tuesday after back, or maybe on a Saturday morning. These include calf raises, leg extensions and dumbell lunges.

I know the first thing people will say is that there are no squats included in my workout. This is because I have a problem with my legs - some kind of tightness down the back. Was referred to physiotherapy as a child but never completed the exercises they gave me. It's fine in everyday life, just struggle to squat as I can't go down keeping the correct form.

Stats:

Height: 6'0
Weight: 80kg


Diet:

3000-3500 calories per day
250-300g protein per day


Supplements:

1 serving of MP Total Protein in the morning
1 serving of MP Total Protein post workout
5g Creapure pre workout
Multivitamin
MP Super Omega 3
MP Testofen
MP Tribulus Pro


Questions:

1. Over the last year or so I've probably put on a stone in weight, however for the last 3 months I've been hovering at 80kg and can't seem to get past it. I'm currently taking in 3000-3500 calories (closer to 3500) - anymore and it just goes straight to my stomach.

2. With the chest work, I normally alternate between incline, flat and decline work. One week i'll do incline, the next i'll do flat, and the next i'll do decline etc. Is this too much of a time gap?

3. I feel like I have a good workout each session but not to the point where I feel overtrained. Would I benefit from reducing the amount of excercises per muscle group and combining two on one day? For example, chest and triceps. What would the benefits of this be?

4. In regards to the supplements, should I be looking at moving away from the Total Protein? Can my body actually use the full 50g, I've seen a lot of things online of how anything over 30g in a serving just goes to waste? Would you add anything else in? What about a seperate amino acid supplement?

5. I try and aim for 10 reps and when I can manage that, add a few kg and go for 8. Then aim for 10 over the next couple of weeks and continue like that. Is this a good way to do it or should I be looking at doing say 6 reps with more weight all the time?

[Mart001]

its crap, your all over the place, a good book I'm reading called FIT is worth a buy only £14 on amazon and/or pratical programing by ripptoe.

they will answer all your questions and put you ahead of about 99% of people in your gym, this is good advice.

I didnt see your comment on the squats, can you at least squat below parrallel whilst mainting extension?

[Dolphinski]

1. Two ways you can do it. Firstly, take at least few weeks off bulking and just eat maintenance to get all your hormones back to normal levels. Then start adding 500 kcals again until the scales start tipping in your favour. You don't want to gain much more than 2lbs (1kg) a month though or you'll be putting on more fat than you'd probably like. the other way to do it is just up the calories to 4000 but at your weight, unless you're doing a fair bit of cardio, that seems excessive. I'd try the first option.

2. Kind of irrelevant. In my opinion, leaving it a week between chest work outs is too long. Your muscle only takes 48 hours max to recover, so why leave it a week?

3. Yes, in fact, combine more exercises and train same bodyparts more often! Instead of a 4 day split why not do a push/pull/legs or an upper lower split twice a week? How you currently train will of course work but you're wasting time by training the way you are.

4. That 30g thing is ridiculous and comes from bodybuilding/supplement company myth. Think about this - If I only ate 2 huge steak dinners a day containing 100g protein each, do you think you'd be able to gain muscle? If the 30g idea was true, your body would only process 60g out of those two massive steaks, which is blatently wrong. Ignore the 30g joke and eat more meat!

5. Ok, think about what you're doing. You're doing 10 reps, adding weight and doing some more. So by the time you get to your heaviest set, your muscles are already fatigued. Does that sound backwards to you? Do your heaviest set when you're freshest and work from there either by dropping the weight slightly and upping the reps or starting at a heavier weight for less reps and go from there.

Edit: Regarding legs, you don't have to do squats, they're not always best for everyone. Can you at least do a leg press or does that have the same effect?

[redtop]

Quote

3. Yes, in fact, combine more exercises and train same bodyparts more often! Instead of a 4 day split why not do a push/pull/legs or an upper lower split twice a week? How you currently train will of course work but you're wasting time by training the way you are.

OK, so i'll switch it up from doing one muscle group a day to splitting them. Can you recommend some good splits? How will I know the most effective amount of exercises, I don't want to be doing loads on my chest and not enough on my triceps for example. 50/50 rule ok to begin with?

Quote

5. Ok, think about what you're doing. You're doing 10 reps, adding weight and doing some more. So by the time you get to your heaviest set, your muscles are already fatigued. Does that sound backwards to you? Do your heaviest set when you're freshest and work from there either by dropping the weight slightly and upping the reps or starting at a heavier weight for less reps and go from there.

Sorry, I should have made it clearer. I meant that when I can achieve all 10 reps perfect i'll make a note to do the heavier weights at less reps next time I train, not straight away.

Do you think reducing all sets to 6 and starting with a heavier weight in the first place would be a good idea?

[redtop]

I've read some of your recommendations across the forum Dolphinski and have picked out this:

Monday

Bench
Rows
Shoulder Press
Chins
Triceps
Biceps


Tuesday

Squat,
RDL
Calf Raise.
Leg Extensions


Thursday

Bench
Rows
Shoulder Press
Chins
Triceps
Biceps


Friday

Deadlift
Leg Press
Calf Raise
Leg Raise

On Monday and Thursday with the upper body work - is that not too many muscle groups to be cramming into one workout?

I can only see one shoulder exercise, I know i'd be doing it twice a week but how would this be better than having a full day dedicated to shoulders with the various exercises like i'm doing now?

[Hector]

I think if you lift heavy on mon/thurs with the rows and shoulder press you won't need to do much with the biceps and triceps if anything!

[Dolphinski]

Looks much better mate. You won't need any more shoulder work than that to grow big shoulders mate. For bis and tris you'll only need a couple of sets max for each after the rows, chins and presses. Dips are the king of tricep exercises and barbell curls for your biceps. Try reverse pyramid training for your sets and reps and see how you feel with that instead of doing your 10 rep sets.

[redtop]

I've tweaked it to the following, sometimes throwing in an extra upper body workout on a Saturday. I'm doing 2 x 8 on the bench press and military press, everything else is 2 x 10. Would you increase it to 3 x 8 / 3 x 10? Still struggling with the squats so I think I'm going to try some step-ups, those along with the lunges should be enough for my quads.

Monday
Bench Press Flat
Dumbbell Press Flat
Seated Cable Rows
Wide Grip Pulldown
Chin Ups
Shoulder Press
Side Lateral Raises
Tricep Dips
Bicep Dumbbell Curls


Tuesday
Squat
Deadlift
Calf Raise
Leg Extensions
Dumbbell Lunges
Ab Crunches


Wednesday
Bench Press Incline
Dumbbell Press Incline
Seated Cable Rows
Wide Grip Pulldown
Chin Ups
Arnold Press
Rear Delt Raises
Cable Pulldowns
Hammer Curls


Friday
Squat
Deadlift
Calf Raise
Leg Extensions
Dumbbell Lunges
Ab Crunches

[Dolphinski]

I wonder whether there's any point to doing a flat DB bench after a flat BB bench. I'd guess that all you'd be doing is just fatiguing your chest with the dumbells. Why not do them incline and hit them from a different angle?

Also, you may feel stronger by placing your exercises antagonistically, so you do a chest exercise followed by a back, followed by chest again, etc. It'll give your muscles more time to rest and you'll probably push more weight.

The last thing I'd say is why do 10 reps for your bench? Why not start at 5 and lift more weight? You can always do 3 sets of 5, 8 and 10 to cover strength and hypertrophy better you know.

[SquatKing]

Quote

I wonder whether there's any point to doing a flat DB bench after a flat BB bench. I'd guess that all you'd be doing is just fatiguing your chest with the dumbells. Why not do them incline and hit them from a different angle?

Im by no means an expert but my understanding was that with DB bench you could really work a deeper ROM and also work stability muscles more?