Hey guys!

Great positive forums you got here! I like it!
Anyway ive been working out for about 2.5 years now and am currently cutting for my summer hols in August.
When thats over I plan to get back into hardcore bulking - just gonna post my routine and see if you guys can help me change/improve on it to shock my body back into growth!

Cheers!

LEG DAY
Squat - 3 sets - 4-6reps
SLDL - 3 sets - 4-8 reps
Calf Raises - 2 sets - 20+ reps

TRI/CHEST/SHOULDER DAY
Bench - 3 sets - 6-10 reps
Military Press - 3 sets - 4-8 reps
Inc BB Press - 3 sets - 4-8 reps
Dips - 2 sets - 4-6 reps

BACK/BICEP DAY
Lat Pull Down - 1 set - 6-10 reps
BB Row - 2 sets - 6-8reps
Deadlift - 3 sets - 4-8 reps
BB Curl - 2 sets - 6-10 reps
EZ Curl - 2 sets - 6-10 reps

NOTE: I really want to get my upper arms bigger as Im very happy with the other areas (chest/legs/back) - I find it very hard to up my lifts on Bicep exercises especially.
Im going to do a cycle of creatine also (50 euro here in Ireland compared to $18 in the US for a tub!!!)

CURRENT STATS:
Approx 170lbs - 16-18% BF
Goal: 190lbs - 12% BF
Thanks guys!

I'm going to make some changes if you don't mind.

Chest/Shoulders/Biceps

Flat BB Bench Press 4x6
Incline DB Bench Press 3x8
BB Clean & Press 3x8
Upright Rows 3x8
BB Curls 3x8
DB Hammer Curls 3x8

Legs/Abs

Squats 4x6
SLDL 3x8
DB Lunges 3x8
Calf Raises 3x8
Crunches 2xFailure
Leg Lifts 2xFailure

Back/Triceps

Deadlifts 4x6
BB Bentover Rows 3x8
Pullups/Pulldowns 3x8
Dips 3x8
Skullcrushers 3x8

You'll notice I moved biceps to pair with chest/shoulders, and triceps with back. The reasoning for this is that you mentioned having problems with increasing your bicep exercises. So now you're essentially working arms twice a week instead of once, because your tri's will now get hit twice a week from the compounds on chest day, and isolations on back day, and same with biceps. This will also allow you to use maximum amount of weight for arms exercises as they are not directly getting hit on those days. I've also picked the exercises which I beleive to be most effective compound mass building exercises. I would do the workouts in the order I have them listed. Starting the week with chest/shoulders/bi's, then legs, then back/tri's.

Hey man! Thanks a lot!

Nice points re: working the arms twice weekly.

One point, you left out Shoulder/Military Press altogether - I thought this was one of the compounds you should always have in your routine?

Also, Im cutting at the moment. Should I start this routine now or keep the cutting with my current workout and wait til I get the holidays out of the way?

Thanks again!

EDIT: just realised you have Clean & Press added in there -- thats a good substitute for Military Press right?

EDIT: just realised you have Clean & Press added in there -- thats a good substitute for Military Press right?

Absolutely.

I hate 3 day splits, but if I had to do one, the one Chang posted up there looks awesome.

Good luck!

Nice one, thanks guys.

One more thing guys - is it possible to do all those splits witnin an hour (comfortably)?

One more thing guys - is it possible to do all those splits witnin an hour (comfortably)?
Easily.

Keep your rest periods to 60-90 seconds. You'll have no problem.

One point, you left out Shoulder/Military Press altogether - I thought this was one of the compounds you should always have in your routine?

Some people shouldn't do any overhead work at all due to either shoulder injuries or due to the way the bones of their shoulders are formed making them prime canidates for shoulder impingement.

But if you can do them, some type of overhead pressing is great :nod:

If you can't, DB raises can help develop shoulders.

One more thing guys - is it possible to do all those splits witnin an hour (comfortably)?

As Karate stated, it is possible if you keep the rests between 60-90 seconds. Bring watch if you must. As for the comfortable part, I'm not quite sure what you mean. If by comfortable you mean, easy, then no. No workout should be easy. You should be pushing yourself every workout, if you aren't sweating, or puffing, then you aren't working hard enough.

Some people shouldn't do any overhead work at all due to either shoulder injuries or due to the way the bones of their shoulders are formed making them prime canidates for shoulder impingement.

No, Im fine in that regard -- I have never injured myself during workouts.

As Karate stated, it is possible if you keep the rests between 60-90 seconds. Bring watch if you must. As for the comfortable part, I'm not quite sure what you mean. If by comfortable you mean, easy, then no. No workout should be easy. You should be pushing yourself every workout, if you aren't sweating, or puffing, then you aren't working hard enough.

Well, by comfortable I mean enough rest between sets and getting it done in an hour or less.

Also guys, what are the strength/mass gains on this programme like? Is this actually a certain programme, or just made up?

NOTE: Im on 1.5g protein per lb BW btw so I guess thats ok too.

Thanks again.

I made it up, based on what I've had success with in the past. If you're bulking your mass/strength gains should be decent. Generally it's reccomended that you increase weight used in exercises by approximately 2.5% every 1-2 weeks. This will all highly depend on diet, but if bulking you can look to gain 1-2lbs a week.

Chest/Shoulders/Biceps

Flat BB Bench Press 4x6
Incline DB Bench Press 3x8
BB Clean & Press 3x8
Upright Rows 3x8
BB Curls 3x8
DB Hammer Curls 3x8

Legs/Abs

Squats 4x6
SLDL 3x8
DB Lunges 3x8
Calf Raises 3x8
Crunches 2xFailure
Leg Lifts 2xFailure

Back/Triceps

Deadlifts 4x6
BB Bentover Rows 3x8
Pullups/Pulldowns 3x8
Dips 3x8
Skullcrushers 3x8


Hey, can you guys give me an alternative (or two!) to this routine so I can change it now and again to keep my body guessing?

Hey, can you guys give me an alternative (or two!) to this routine so I can change it now and again to keep my body guessing?

Chest/Shoulders/Biceps

Flat DB Bench Press 4x6
Incline DB Bench Press 3x8
Seated DB Military Press 3x8
BB Shrugs 3x8
Cable Curls 3x8
Preacher Curls 3x8

Legs/Abs

Squats 4x6
Romanian Deadlift 3x8
BB Lunges 3x8
Seated Calf Raises 3x8
Cable Crunches 2x12
Lying Leg Pikes 2xFailure

Back/Triceps

Sumo Deadlifts 4x6
Seated Cable Rows 3x8
Pullups/Pulldowns 3x8
Bench Dips 3x8
Rope Pulldowns 3x8

There are several methods you could use to change up a routine like this. You could change exercises(as I have done), change rep parameters(ex 3x10, 3x8, 4x6, 10x3, 8x3, 6x4 etc), change angle of the exercise(incline, flat, decline), change grip(close grip, wide grip, neutral), shorten rest periods. I could go on and on, but you get the idea, now apply what you've learned and try to come up with your own routine. If you are going to change the exercise make sure it's a suitable change. Don't go from deadlifts to hyperextensions for example. Or bench press to pushups.

Thanks for that mate, great help! :D