Rate my routine, pointers appreciated.

designerdiscounts

Hi everyone. I've been lifting 4 days a week for 12 weeks and I'm absolutely loving it. 20 years ago, I worked out 5 days a week and had a personal trainer so I'm familiar with basic form for most exercises. I'm 46 yrs old, female, 5'4" and weigh 128 lbs. My body fat % is around 28% (due to have this tested again next week, crossing fingers it's down a little bit). I've seen some really fantastic progress in these 12 weeks - went from smith machine squats to barbell squats, went from dumbbell chest press to barbell chest press, etc. I have chronic elbow tendinitis that limits many pulling exercises including bicep curls and pull ups and also stops me from lifting much over my head. I would absolutely love to be able to do a pull up some day. My goal - to look like an athlete, lower body fat, get strong. I'd like to make sure I'm on the right track and that I'm making the most of my time.

Here's what my last 4 days looked like. It's Monday/Tuesday/Thursday/Saturday, there's always a 10 minute treadmill warmup, I play at least an hour of pickleball 5 days a week. I also stretch, do elbow physical therapy and do some abs right before bed most nights. I'm eating 1700 calories a day and trying to get at least 100 grams of protein (I don't eat meat). My diary is open to everyone if anyone wants to check it out.

Monday (upper):
barbell bench press (10x45, 4x65, 8x55, 8x55)
barbell bent over row (10x45, 8x55, 10x55)
dumbbell shoulder press (10x30, 10x30, 10x30)
machine lat pull down (10x35, 10x40, 10x40)
dumbbell standing tricep extension (10x15, 8x20, 10x15)

Tuesday (lower):
barbell squat (10x45, 10x75, 10x75, 10x75)
barbell deadlift (10x45, 10x65, 10x65)
calf press on leg press (10x70, 10x120, 10x120)
dumbbell lunges (10x30, 10x30)
50 decline crunches
10 decline sit ups

Thursday (upper):
dumbbell concentration curls 4 sets of 10x10lbs (I could do more with my left and sometimes do but my elbow starts to hurt if I do more on the right)
barbell incline bench press (8x45, 10x45, 6x55)
seated machine row (12x35, 10x40, 10x40)
dumbbell fly 10x15 lbs each set
close grip reverse lat pull down (12x35, 10x40, 10x45)
cable rope triceps pulldown (12x30, 10x35, 10x35)

Saturday (lower):
barbell squat (10x45, 10x75, 10x75, 10x75)
barbell deadlift (10x45, 10x65, 10x65)
Leg Press (10x70, 10x90, 10x100)
Calf press on leg press (10x70, 10x120, 10-120)
dumbbell rear lunges (10x30, 10x30)
50 decline crunches
10 decline sit ups

ryanflebbe

I would change two things. I wouldn't do biceps first thing on that second upper body workout, but add them on at the end with triceps. Also, most people write their weights and reps weight first and reps second. It's not a big deal, but it helps to avoid confusion.

I actually like that program. I think for women , splitting up the body, or the lifts into two groups and doing each group twice a week works well. You could even add in a fifth workout, and do one three times a week, and the other one three times the next week.

Chieflrg

Congrats on your progress.

Have you ever considered altering your template out into full body?

Have you had any experience in your trading history with full body template?

There certainly are some modifications to your current template that you might respond to robustly.

designerdiscounts

@ryanflebbe thank you for responding. I’ve always found the other way to write set sequences hard to follow. For some reason, my brain likes it better this way but I can see how it would confuse others. I like your suggestion to move the biceps to the end, thanks!
@Chieflrg I haven’t done a full body split because I like to work out 4 days a week and it’s my understanding that full body splits are usually 3 day programs but I’m definitely open to it if I’d get better results. I’d love to hear about any modifications you might think would be good for me to try out. Thanks!

happysquatter

Hello!

First off - thank you for a complete post - it helps to frame a reply without wondering about the weights you're working with or the calories you're consuming.

I'll let @Chieflrg take the full body question. But that would have been my primary suggestion as well.

Given your goals; I would ask -

(1) Has this training, along with pickleball and your diet yielded progress i.e lowering of body fat over 12 weeks and an acceptable increase in strength/muscle. If so, then you *could* continue on this path. Change need not be made unless your preference changes or progress stops.

(2) If this is a rigid workout then, has there been an increase in overload over time. Either measured on the basis

(a) effort exerted for the same weight a week later
(b) actual weights in pounds going up
(c) reps at the same weight going up

Changes in these variables will help you judge if you are getting stronger (more weight a week later, no change in effort for example).

From your three goals (look like an athlete, get stronger, lower body fat); the above should help you for the get stronger bit. The other two will come down to your visual judgement and diet.

I hope this helped! And great job over 12 weeks!

Chieflrg

designerdiscounts wrote: »

@ryanflebbe thank you for responding. I’ve always found the other way to write set sequences hard to follow. For some reason, my brain likes it better this way but I can see how it would confuse others. I like your suggestion to move the biceps to the end, thanks!
@Chieflrg I haven’t done a full body split because I like to work out 4 days a week and it’s my understanding that full body splits are usually 3 day programs but I’m definitely open to it if I’d get better results. I’d love to hear about any modifications you might think would be good for me to try out. Thanks!

One can build strength if that is the primary goal off a 3day full body template. These templates tend to have the solid basics and not nearly as much volume and accessory lifts as you currently have.

Not knowing your actual exertion of your lifts or how you respond to this particular template you posted, me giving modifications might be inappropriate for your current goal. In other words I would need more info on you.

I will state that a three day template is not exclusive to any style training. With the amount of volume and lift selection you currently have, a four day that's intelligently programmed might yield better results. Along with a more balanced exercise selection for each day.

If I was you trainer I would consider talking to you about why you feel the need for rowing twice a week, dumbbell rear lunges, calf press twice or even once, ab work selection, and rep/volume selection for your squats and deads.

I'm not knocking what your doing, I do strongly believe there is a more efficient ways to accomplish your goals though.

designerdiscounts

Thank you both for responding.

@happysquatter Yes, I have seen progress. Body fat went from over 30% to 28%, inches were lost in my waist and thighs and I've increased the weight or reps on one or more exercises each week. I'll know more about body fat and lean body mass when I get my third body scan next week.

@Chieflrg I've chosen the above exercises from a template I found online at issaonline.com (website: https://www.issaonline.com/blog/index.cfm/2019/upperlower-split-the-best-workout-plan) and then tweaked it a little due to my elbow limitations. I've seen a lot of programs that basically just focus on squats, deadlifts and chest presses and I thought I would benefit from some specific upper body exercises to help strengthen all the supporting muscles around my elbow. I do the calf raises twice because I'm already sitting on the leg press and it's easy to just throw them in there .

As far as my actual exertion, I try to lift to the point that I'm not able to do any more of each exercise. However, I am usually able to go play an hour or more of pickleball after lifting so I guess I'm not completely beat afterwards.

Do you have a full body split program you would recommend? I'm open to changing it up.

Chieflrg

designerdiscounts wrote: »

Thank you both for responding.

@happysquatter Yes, I have seen progress. Body fat went from over 30% to 28%, inches were lost in my waist and thighs and I've increased the weight or reps on one or more exercises each week. I'll know more about body fat and lean body mass when I get my third body scan next week.

@Chieflrg I've chosen the above exercises from a template I found online at issaonline.com (website: https://www.issaonline.com/blog/index.cfm/2019/upperlower-split-the-best-workout-plan) and then tweaked it a little due to my elbow limitations. I've seen a lot of programs that basically just focus on squats, deadlifts and chest presses and I thought I would benefit from some specific upper body exercises to help strengthen all the supporting muscles around my elbow. I do the calf raises twice because I'm already sitting on the leg press and it's easy to just throw them in there .

As far as my actual exertion, I try to lift to the point that I'm not able to do any more of each exercise. However, I am usually able to go play an hour or more of pickleball after lifting so I guess I'm not completely beat afterwards.

Do you have a full body split program you would recommend? I'm open to changing it up.

I see.

Probably getting enough calf work from squat & deads but yep okay.

I think my programming is top shelf because it's tailored to a individual specifically and how they respond, but there is some a few other programs that are well written as well such as the Bridge, RTS, etc...that I feel are solid.

happysquatter

designerdiscounts wrote: »

Thank you both for responding.

@happysquatter Yes, I have seen progress. Body fat went from over 30% to 28%, inches were lost in my waist and thighs and I've increased the weight or reps on one or more exercises each week. I'll know more about body fat and lean body mass when I get my third body scan next week.

@Chieflrg I've chosen the above exercises from a template I found online at issaonline.com (website: https://www.issaonline.com/blog/index.cfm/2019/upperlower-split-the-best-workout-plan) and then tweaked it a little due to my elbow limitations. I've seen a lot of programs that basically just focus on squats, deadlifts and chest presses and I thought I would benefit from some specific upper body exercises to help strengthen all the supporting muscles around my elbow. I do the calf raises twice because I'm already sitting on the leg press and it's easy to just throw them in there .

As far as my actual exertion, I try to lift to the point that I'm not able to do any more of each exercise. However, I am usually able to go play an hour or more of pickleball after lifting so I guess I'm not completely beat afterwards.

Do you have a full body split program you would recommend? I'm open to changing it up.

Ok - that makes things a bit clearer.

Sorry my initial post did not take into consideration "making the most of my time"

I would second 'The Bridge' with the reservation that it leans more towards late novice/early intermediate. The same folks who wrote the bridge have the Beginner Template which I find much more palatable.

Alongside RTS, anything by RP is good too and I would also add Hybrid Performance because of their increased number of female coaches (particularly Dr. Stefi Cohen)

If you however, like your current program and want to tailor it more for the next leg of strength, you can strip out quite a few isolation movements (reduce calf, increase squat - reduce bicep, increase compound back - decrease tricep, increase compound presses) and taking the approach below, you can make it work.

happysquatter wrote: »

(a) effort exerted for the same weight a week later
(b) actual weights in pounds going up
(c) reps at the same weight going up