First post here...I have been reading the posts on this board for some time..I have found some great info and inspiration!!

Ok..I have recently started the following workout routine. I just wanted to get some feedback. I am an avid mens softball player and I play on about 4 different teams..so i designed this work out to decrease my days in the gym (now 3)...secondly I designed it to be more of a toning/cutting type of work out. I am 23 years old, 5'11, 225, prob between 15-18% bf.

Now the workout...

Day 1

BENCH PRESS 3x10
FLYES 2x10
SHOULDER PRESS (FRONT) 3x10
SIDE RAISES 2x10
WIDE GRIP PULLDOWN 3x10
STIFF ARM PULL DOWN 2x10
SQUAT 3x8
CALF RAISES 2x12
BICEP CURL (BARBELL) 3x10
TRICEP PUSH DOWN 3x10
ABS

Day 2

INCLINE PRESS 3x10
INCLINE FLYES 2x10
SHRUGS 3x10
FRONT RAISES 2x10
ROWS 3x10
REVERSE FLYES 2x10
DEAD LIFTS 3x8
BICEP CURL (DUMBBELL) 3x10
REVERSE TRICEP PUSH DOWN 3x10
WRIST CURLS 2x10
ABS

Day 3

DIPS 3x10
MACHINE PRESS 2x10
SHOULDER PRESS (REAR) 3x10
UPRIGHT ROWS 2x10
CLOSE GRIP PULLDOWN 3x10
BACK EXTENSIONS 2x15
LEG CURLS 3x10
LEG EXTENSIONS 3x10
HAMMER BICEP CURLS 3x10
TRICEP ROPES 3x10
ABS

I plan on roatating between 12-10-8 rep range and I will do cardio depending on my softball schedule. I know it seems like a lot..but thus far, the longest it has taken me was about 45 minutes. I have been using a bit lighter weight and I try not to take too much time between stes. I also have a solid diet and take a PW shake with whey, dextrose, and glutamine. I know this w/o is borderline overtraining but I pretty much listen to my body - if that means cutting down on some sets or taking an extra day off, I will. So what do u guys think?

Any reason why you are working similar muscle group several days in a row? I.e. bench press -> incline press, etc? When you train, you damage muscle tissue (microtrauma). It is the rest period/recovery where that is reconstructed/rebuilt. Training too soon after a session will simply prevent your body from being able to recover, which will lead to going backwards, not forwards. Sometimes there is a specific reason why people want to train this way (i.e. lactic acid clearance, etc) but then they specifically drop the intensity on the second day.

Jeremy

Wow, that is a lot. I'm surprised you can get it done in 45 min. Hopefully you don't take too much longer than that or your efforts might not go too far.

However, you said that you are trying to "cut/tone" - is this kinda more of a circuit type workout? Where you go from one exercise to the next very quickly? I'm assuming so since you say you get it done pretty fast. If that's the case then I guess it would work for what you are trying to do. (cut/tone)

The only thing I'm worried about for you is you are working your shoulders to death. Doing presses, and then shoulder work, and pullup work, 3 days a week, well, they will get "tone" but I can't see them really getting stronger like that. So like I said before I guess it's all in what you are trying to accomplish !

Personally I would split the 3 days into:

1. CHEST
Chest (presses, etc)
Shoulders (presses, etc.)
Abs.
Traps.

2. BACK
Back (pullups, pulldowns, etc)
Biceps (whatever, curls, standing curls)
Triceps (I put these here so they can recover better - dips, pushdowns)
Rows

3. LEGS
Squats
Extensions
Hack Squat
Hamstring curls
Calf Raises

This way you can get really strong since each bodypart has a week to recover. Remember, there isn't such a thing as "toning", only making a muscle grow makes a muscle harder and stronger. Cutting is all thru fat loss and diet. But if you want to make sure to maintain your current muscle, and not necessarily gain weight (in fact you'll prolly lose some), your program should still work for you as long as it doesn't tire you out (like you said, if you feel worn out take a day off).

The other benefit of this split is the whole workout should only take you around 30 minutes. You don't need to be in the gym a long time to get stronger or grow. Just get in there, work hard, and get out. 3 sets is enough for any bodypart (after warmup), in fact, I recommend only 2 good hard sets but that's just me.

I haven't been training in a while so my 2 cents might not be applicable :p

-niko

26 sets in 45 minutes? Seems like a lot to me. Would you say that these workouts are easy? I don't think I could do a workout like this without going really light (unchallenging weight) and I don't think you get the best results that way.

Wow..I appreciate the quick responses... thanks

The general consensus seems to be what I expected..too much. However, i should have mentioned before, I based this workout on Hypertrophy-Specific Training (HST). I pretty much took core exercises and followed them with secondary exercises...and i added a little more variety than the normal HST. If you noticed also, I never really hit a specific muscle with more than 2 exercises in one day (aside from the fact that ur arms and shoulders get worked in every exercise. Actually in my first draft of this workout, I cut out any Bi or Tri work due to the fact that they would be getting work with everything else. But then i was afraid my arms would get small :cool: so i added them in. I also should have mentioned that i split this M,W F..or T,T,S. If you really think about it, and ill use chest as an example...on a weekly basis, im working my chest for a total 6 excercises and 15 sets. thats really not bad at all???!!??