Need Some Help With Workout Tips

apdurden

Hi Everyone,

So I'm looking for some commentary on my home workout routine. Since the beginning of the pandemic, I've lost about 40 lbs doing a combination of Intermittent Fasting and Exercise. I was doing HIIT 2x per week and Full-Body Weightlifting 3x per week and I also have a dog that I take on two 1hr walks practically daily so I get 8K-10K steps just from this. But after a while, I felt like I was working out a bit too much as I had frequent aches and pains in my legs, shoulders and elbows. So I've scaled back on the cardio and switched to a Upper/Lower split with my lifting. It's been a bit harder to maintain the weight loss. My goal was to get down to 160 before switching to a bulk. My body shape has definitely changed and I got down to 170 in July but since then, I've been yo-yo'ing between 173-180. My fault mostly because I slack on logging over the weekend and tend to overeat when hanging with friends and the girlfriend (was way easier during the lockdowns in Cali, lol.)

But I wanted to know if I could be doing these lifts more efficiently to save time and my body honestly. I tend to be working out/lifting for 90+ minutes and wondering if I'm hurting any potential gains. Would you add or remove an exercise? Am I overlapping any body parts I'm not thinking about that could allow me to reduce the number of exercises I do? Am I doing too much cardio?

Both workouts are performed with dumbbells 2x per week. 3 sets of 6-12 reps unless otherwise noted with 60-75 secs of rest between sets. Between exercise transitions, I typically do 60-100 jumping jacks or 1 min of high knees to keep my heart rate up.

Upper Body Workout

• Shoulder Press (both arms simultaneously)
• Alternating Wide Rows
• Overhead Tricep Extensions
• Bicep Curls (both arms simultaneously)
• Bench Press
• Lat Raises
• Front Raises
• Standard Row
• Tricep Dips (since these are bodyweight, I do max reps so like 35+ per set)
• Alternating Hammer Curls
• Chest Flys

Lower Body Workout

• Romanian Deadlift
• Goblet Squats (dumbbells shoulder racked)
• Glute Bridges
• Forward Lunges
• Side Lunges
• Single Leg Romanian Deadlift w/ Reverse Lunge
• Goblet Squat Pulses (dumbbells shoulder racked)
• Single Leg Romanian Deadlift
• Fire Hydrants w/ Leg Extension (Resistance Band w/ max reps so like 17-20 per set)

Retroguy2000

When you say gains, I assume you mean hypertrophy?

JMO, but that looks like an awful lot of sets per workout, and also per week since you're doing 4x workouts you said.

That upper body workout, more than 50% of it is isolation exercises which is too much IMO. I think you'd get better results in shorter time by focusing more on the big exercises like bench, OHP, rows, etc. and do those first in the workout.

You said 35+ dips. Is that on the bench or on bars? If the former, try to use bars. If the latter, that's impressive, so add a chain with a plate.

Just a couple of suggestions for the legs workout. Have you considered reverse lunges instead of forward lunges? They are safer for the knees, and I feel a much better connection on the quads with those. Also, have you tried landmine cossacks instead of side lunges? It's where you pick up one end of a barbell with a plate on that end, and move it from side to side while squatting left to right. I think you'd like "walking the box" too, i.e. holding a light weight and staying in a squat position while moving around, targeting 45 seconds of that.

Justin_7272

Your routine is a hot mess; it's all over the place. Too many lifts, too few reps if below 8, no indication of progression/progressive overload. Curious how you came up with it - as an amateur, the last thing you should be doing is writing your on program. Anyway, here you go;

Upper Body Workout

Shoulder Press (both arms simultaneously) - Necessary
Alternating Wide Rows - Duplicative
Overhead Tricep Extensions - Optional (Isolation lift)
Bicep Curls (both arms simultaneously) - Optional (Isolation lift)
Bench Press- Necessary
Lat Raises
Front Raises
Standard Row- Necessary
Tricep Dips (since these are bodyweight, I do max reps so like 35+ per set)
Alternating Hammer Curls - Optional (Isolation lift)
Chest Flys- Optional (Isolation lift)


Lower Body Workout

Romanian Deadlift- Necessary
Goblet Squats (dumbbells shoulder racked) - Necessary (would do barbell if available)
Glute Bridges
Forward Lunges
Side Lunges
Single Leg Romanian Deadlift w/ Reverse Lunge - Duplicative
Goblet Squat Pulses (dumbbells shoulder racked) - Duplicative
Single Leg Romanian Deadlift - Duplicative
Fire Hydrants w/ Leg Extension (Resistance Band w/ max reps so like 17-20 per set)

Complete the necessary (compound) lifts . Very basic setup would be 8 repsx2 3x per week with a heavy/rest/medium/rest/light/rest/rest, or split them into two workouts 6x/week heavy/heavy/med/med/light/light/rest, then increase reps by 1 and repeat. After 12 rep week, add 10% weight and repeat. If you don't hit 12 reps on a lift, leave that weight where it's at. (This is essentially a dumbed down version of All-Pros).

You could (arguably should) add upright row or pullups.

Any isolation (accessory lifts) should only be performed after completion of necessary lifts to ensure you don't fail necessary lifts. Personally I've added french press and seated calf raises, but these are completely optional and depend on your personal goals (similar to flys, bicep curls, leg curls, leg press, etc).

You can add cardio if you'd like, either all days, rest days, etc. Whatever works for you, so long as it doesn't effect your lifts. If I'm cutting I usually do min. 60 cycling daily, and would nix it before heavy day(s) if my lifts are declining; as long as they're only minorly increasing or stalling during a cut, I'm alright with it.

Any questions, I'm happy to answer. Best of luck!

psuLemon

I would recommend you start here: https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10332083/which-lifting-program-is-the-best-for-you/p1

Chieflrg

Are you able to join a gym with more equipment available?

How are you measuring your current stimulus for the lifts?

*Adding or removing exercises depends on the answers you give.

apdurden

Wow! Thanks all for the incredible information. I'm just a home workout guy who's looking to keep working out from home while maximizing my potential

When you say gains, I assume you mean hypertrophy?

Yes. But I've gained both muscle size and strength. This is my first time actually lifting for any period longer than a month, so I think I've gotten those beginner gains.

You said 35+ dips. Is that on the bench or on bars? If the former, try to use bars. If the latter, that's impressive, so add a chain with a plate.

On the bench. I only workout at home which is a SMALL (375 sq ft.) apartment. I have access to that and 2 sets of adjustable dumbbells. One set is 143lbs (2x 71.5lbs) and one set is 90 lbs (2x 45lbs).

Your routine is a hot mess; it's all over the place. Too many lifts, too few reps if below 8, no indication of progression/progressive overload. Curious how you came up with it - as an amateur, the last thing you should be doing is writing your on program.

Basically, during the pandemic I found a channel on Youtube that had new workouts everyday which was perfect for me. Both Cardio and Strength training. So I would do Day 1 (Upper video), Day 2 (Lower video), Day 3 (Cardio + Abs), repeat and Rest on Sunday. These are basically the exercises from the videos but as I've gotten to using heavier dumbbells, these workouts seem WAY more exhausting, take WAY too long especially since I've tried to incorporate longer rest periods, and I'm always achy.

Are you able to join a gym with more equipment available?

How are you measuring your current stimulus for the lifts?

I could join a gym, for sure. But 1) I'm a cheap *kitten*, and 2) needing to hop in the car and drive to a crowded gym where I have to potentially wait for machines or weights and then drive back after I'm done is a surefire way to kill my drive. I've had the most success staying the course when working out from home and I would like to stay that way.

But I do realize at a certain point, the weights I have won't be enough. I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.

Measuring the current stimulus using an app called FitNotes. Basically I have each exercise in the app and tracking the weight and # of reps. Each time I workout I just try to do 1 more rep than the last time I performed the exercise. If I had 8 last time and I hit 9, I log 9. If I don't hit 8 and I hit 7, I don't log until I get 9. Once I get to averaging 10-13 reps per set for a workout, I up the weight 5 lbs.

rileysowner

People have basically already said what I was going to say. Basically, you have a huge amount of exercises, many of which become redundant and likely will lead to overworking you muscles. If you put this together based on say a pro-bodybuilder's routine, realize the only reason they can do that sort of volume is because they take performance enhancing drugs. In the case of your workout routine, cutting out those redundant exercises will likely give you more progress.