Advice for my new workout plan?

[Kazama85]

Hi I've been training for the past 4 or 5 years, just generally keeping in shape by going gym and doing quick circuits in the flat. I'm interesting in getting stronger and bulking up in certain areas, for example I want to gain larger muscle mass in my legs and forearms. The previous few months has been composed of these 2 workouts:
Day 1: Squats (90kg), cleans (55kg), weighted dips (15kg), abs.
Day 2: Squats (90kg), bench press (70kg), weighted pull ups (15kg), abs.
5 sets of 5 reps for each workout


I'm thinking of changing my workout though to the following:
Day 1 (tues): Squats (5 sets x5 reps), front leg extensions (quads, 4 sets of 8 reps), hamstring curls (4 sets of 8 reps)

Day 2 (thurs): Weighted pull ups (15kg. 5x5), Deadlfts (5x5), calf raises (4 sets of 12 reps)

Day 3 (sat): Cleans (5x5), weighted dips (15kg, 5x5), abs, fore arm workout out (reverse preacher curls- 4x8reps, front preacher curls- 4x8reps).

I'll also be doing circuit training on day 3 in the morning as part of rugby training. The circuit only lasts 30mins anyway.

I'm 5'10", 78kg.

Just wanted to ask whether it sounds like a good workout or not in terms whether I will achieve my goals of getting bigger legs and forearms whilst also get stronger?

[stronglikewood]

I'd switch the cleans to the 1st session and dead lift to the 3rd as you wouldn't want to clean and dead lift too closely together.

Day 1 clean, squat, leg ext, ham curls

Day 2 Dips, pull ups, calves (more upper arm work if you wanted)

Day 3 dead lift, abs and forearms

You can keep it your way if you prefer it. Whether you progress is soley dependant on you eating enough and increasing the weight and reps over time. The exercise choices are solid.

[Kazama85]

Thanks for the quick response. I've actually decided to change my workout because I realized I'm gonna find it hard to make the gym more than once a week with the rugby training and university work. I'll do another workout in the flat aswell:

Gym workout: Squats (5x5), cleans (5x5), front leg extension (4x10reps),
hamstring curls (4x10), abs

Flat workout: Weighted pull ups (15kg, 5x5), push press (5x5), calf raises
(4x10), forearm front curls (4x8), reverse forearm curls (4x8), abs.

This will be in addition to the circuit training once a week and rugby training once a week.

I know it doesn't look like a lot but I don't think I can go to the gym more than once a week. Plus the stuff I'm able to do in the flat is limited to exercises on a pull up bar and a barbell with max weight of 75kg.

Do you think this workout can be improved considering my time constraints?

Do you think dealifts instead of cleans would be better suited or maybe combine deadlifts with cleans in the same workout?

I've been doing squats (5x5) for the past 2 months and I'm getting quite bored of it. Do you think substituting squats for jumping jacks is a good idea? (Jumping jacks- you do squats with holding dumbells by your side, but when you come up from the squat your supposed to jump up high).

I know it's a few questions all at once, but I really would appreciate the advice. Thanks.

[stronglikewood]

Keep squatting with a regular barbell. Add jumping jacks in place of leg extensions if you want to do them or add them to your workout at home. If you're getting bored of 5x5 try a different approach either with fewer sets and higher reps or a plan like Wendlers' 5/3/1 where you are only doing 1 max set and then accessory.

If I wanted to do cleans and deadlifts and only had one day but also had the goal of bigger legs then I would do:

Squat: atleast 5 work sets- maybe one heavy work set and then lighter back off sets to add more volume (5/3/1 then 5x10 or 3x15 etc)
Clean and/or Dead lift: no more than 6 sets split between the two exercises for reps between 2-6. So if you did 5 working sets of cleans, just do one max set for reps on the deadlifts or if you did 3 sets of cleans then do 3 sets of dead lifts etc.

No more than 6 sets purely just to manage the volume so you don't burn out. That's not to say you couldn't do more or that 6 is a magic number but this would give a good starting point with enough volume to progress from.

Then assess how much energy you have. If you have enough then do ham curls and abs. You won't need to bother with leg extensions if you do 5 or 6 sets of squats for higher reps. As mentioned you could add jumping jacks to your home workout if you wanted to add more for your legs.