New routine

Im gonna be switching up my routine in a couple weeks or so. I want to do a strength gaining type deal with a touch of bodybuilding. I have written down what I thought would do. All suggestions and criticisms are welcome!


Chest and tris-alternate upper and lower chest each week.

DB bench press
-5 sets of 5
weighted dips
-4 sets of 6-8
incline hammer press
-4 sets of 6-8
skull crushers
-5 sets of 8-10

shoulders

military press(standing)
-5 sets of 6-8
rear delt raise
-4 sets of 8-10
side lateral raise
-3 sets of 8-10
shrugs
-3 sets of 8-10

back and bis-alternate hyperextension with shurgs each week.

deadlift
-5 sets of 1-5
rows
-4 sets of 6-10
wide grip pullups
-4 sets of 5-10
hyperextension
-3 sets of 8-10
bb curls
-6 sets of 8-10


legs-alternate quad and hamstring order each week.

squat
-5 sets of 1-5
leg extension
-4 sets of 8-10
hamstring curl
-4 sets of 6-10
calf raise
-4 sets of 10-15

cardio and abs

-walk on treadmill for 15 minutes
-4 sets of farmers walk
decline sit-up
-4 sets of failure
lying leg raise
-4 sets of failure
planks
-4 sets of 30 seconds each side
-walk on stairmaster 10-15 minutes




cardio and abs must be done atleast twice a week.

1)chest
2)cardio and abs
3)back
4)cardio and abs
5)legs
6)shoulders
7)cardio and abs/off

That is an example of one particular week right? (If I understood correctly about the change of routine, you're talking about the days of the week which specifically certain bodypart(s) are being worked)

You will get many opinions as there are more than one way to skin a cat. I don't know how experienced you are so forgive me if I am stating something you already know:

1. I'd put a lower pec exercise in there either decline dumbell or maybe a low cable crossover
2. You are going to get some front delt activation on your chest day with the presses, but I'd add in front delts to the delt day too, upright row maybe or front dbell raises
3. Shrugs are going to activate your trap, not shoulders, I'd do at least 4 if not 5 sets
4. I wouldn't put my deadlift day right next to squat day, I like them as far away as possible (oh, just noticed you put cardio and abs in between, maybe sway legs with shoulders)
5. I would add a hammer curl to the bicep day, it works bracioradialis along with the bicep with the head long instead of short
6. I would swap the hyper extensions for rack pulls starting with the bar at about mid calf height, maybe do 1 set of hyper though to finish
7. Try to do seated and standing calf raises as they work different muscles.
8. For me, I find that 4 sets of core work isn't as good as 1-2 sets more often throughout the week. You don't want big muscles here, so a breakdown and then rest isn't needed. I prefer eod, or every second day.

That's just how I'd tweak it, for what it's worth and again, it's all personal.

Yeah that'll be how the week will go. Also yes, for example, I now work chest on friday. Instead I will move it back to monday and add tris for accessory work...

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2. You are going to get some front delt activation on your chest day with the presses, but I'd add in front delts to the delt day too, upright row maybe or front dbell raises
3. Shrugs are going to activate your trap, not shoulders, I'd do at least 4 if not 5 sets

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I feel my front delts look a bit to big for the rear so I wanna even it out a bit first and as for the shrugs, I just want bigger traps so ive been hitting it on back and shoulder day.

I love doing 20-30 reps for rear delts for a few sets, they seem to respond better then 6-12, give it a try if you plateau ;)

standing military press........hits everything one shot

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standing military press........hits everything one shot

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Actually pretty excited about doing this one!

seems well rounded. I'm with olddawg though, I wouldn't do squats followed by deads if I could help it. Would recommend swapping 5) legs, and 6) shoulders.

Were you planning on working in more powerlifting oriented training?

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seems well rounded. I'm with olddawg though, I wouldn't do squats followed by deads if I could help it. Would recommend swapping 5) legs, and 6) shoulders.

Were you planning on working in more powerlifting oriented training?

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Thank you! Swapping legs with shoulders looks better! And I would like to work in more PL training but quite honestly I dont know how to go about adding it in. Any suggestions?

Watch the so you think you can bench series at elitefts. Learn the technique to setup and control your elbows/tuck.
Here's what I'd have you do if you were here and wanted to work in with me and the guys on our bench day.

Week 1
bench press (pause for 1 second at the bottom on each rep)
-5 sets of 5
incline hammer press
-4 sets of 5-8
Floor press
-4 sets 5 reps
skull crushers
-5 sets of 5 - 8

No dips. Stick to 5 reps with the heaviest weight on each that you can do the movement correctly. The pause bench press is to work the bottom of the lift/the chest. Don't go to heavy, and work on proper form the entire time.

week 2
lockouts, can use a power rack or set something like a board or even a phone book on your chest. Have a training partner there to spot you. Do not over exaggerate! You do not want to damage your rotator cuffs!
-5 sets of 3

week 3
Bench press. Strict form! subtract 60lbs from your current pr. each set add 10 lbs to the bar. you should finnish with a set of 3 thats 10lbs less then your best. Put in work! Everything right and do your best to get all three. It's ok if you don't
-5 sets of 3

week 4
Bench press. This week is designed to give you a chance to recover for a max effort attempt the following week. Use the same weights you did the week before. Here's your chance for revenge if you didn't get the triple the week before to get a clean double!
- 5 sets of 2

No accessory work. The goal is to completely recover for a max attempt next week. Also I would lay off shoulder work this week as well.

week 5
gut check. Max effort, new pr.
do not waste energy doing to many warm up sets. do the bar for 5, then make good sensable jumps with sets of three, then a double that is around 100lbs less then your previous best. then singles with 60 lbs less, 20 lbs less then load up an extra 10lbs over your previous best and crush it!

These are just suggestions of how I train. There is several others. Rodja has vids showing great bench form and will be competing soon. Really my top suggestion is do the basic movements and do them right. Hopefully something in this helps or gives you suggestions. If you get the chance look up and see if theres a powerlifting meet sometime in your area or a powerlifting gym that you could train at. What you have posted I am sure you could grow and make gains.

Right on! So ideally id run this routine for 5 weeks working up to a new pr then I would restart working up to beat the new pr. Did I understand that correctly?

You could. This is like a micro version of what I do for 2 months or so before a meet. Try this out for five weeks and see how you do. Remember its all about how intense and consistent you are. You could have the ultimate plan that is absolutely perfect for you and if you don't put in the effort it wont work. Same with a bodybuilders diet. Could look so perfect on paper, but 2 weeks in they get tired of it and boom beer and hot wings and self misery! lol

I have no doubt you want to get stronger and succeed. And I have no doubt you can! This is just my method that works for me. I looked up to Ed Coan and took his basic training, used that for meet prep ontop of my bb'ing routine that I did at the time and I started to get results. From there I started training at powerlifting gyms and learning. And I'm still learning to this day! I'm not the greatest. I'm still building myself. So don't think you have to do anything I type or say. Part of this sport is figuring out what works for you. Thats why I also refer you to the other guys on here they have as much experience as I do with lifting. And most if not all of them know alot more about the various products that flood our market! Also look at the progress of a guy like Rodja, read through his log and check out his meet prep. There's another excellent example of a powerlifter.

MAn I am being really wordy tonight. lol. Sorry I may have gone overkill with the explanations.

hahah Naw man don't worry about it. I greatly appreciate all the knowledge you're sharing with me. This is something I hope to be doing for a very long time. So for me to actually be able learn from people like yourself as i'm still just a baby in this sport, it really is awesome you know!?

I think you'll find bodybuilders, and powerlifters tend to go out of their way to help each other out. The catch is to figure out who's worth listening too!