help on my weight lifting plan

Laces_0ut

i lift 4x/week 2 upper and 2 lower with 1 or 2 days rest in between. i do warm up sets before i start and i rest 1-2 minutes between sets. my goals are for strenght/hypertrophy and ultimately looking to get back into shape so i can start playing sports again.

ive been doing this workout for about 6 weeks now. the upper feels like it is going well but the lower seems lacking in some way.

for each exercise i use the same weight for each set.

Upper A
Dumbell Bench 3 sets of 8
Row(chest supported) 3 sets of 8
Incline Bench 3 sets of 10
Lat pull down(underhand) 3 sets of 10
Lat Delt Raise 3 sets of 8
1 hand tri cable press 3 sets of 8
Bi curl 3 sets of 8

Lower A
Romanian deadlift 3 sets of 8
Leg Press 3 sets of 12
Seated Leg Curl 3 sets of 10
Seated calf 4 sets of 8
abs

Upper B
Lat pull down(overhand) 3 sets of 8
dumbell shoulder press 3 sets of 8
cable row 3 sets of 10
dumbell bench 3 sets of 10
cable cross 3 sets of 8
hammer curl 3 sets of 8
2 hand tri cable press 3 sets of 8

Lower B
Squat 3 sets of 8
seated ext 3 sets of 10
seated leg curl 3 sets of 10
seated calf 4 sets of 12
abs

going to replace seated ext with split squats soon. and i would like to replace the seated curls with something else as well. would a regular deadlift be good on the lower B day instead of seated leg curl?

thanks!

trelm249

Looking at lower A and lower B, I would simplify and up the intensity. For example

Lower A
Leg press or squat 5 sets of 6 reps, up the weight each set to the final working set.
Romanian Dead Lift 3 sets of 8 reps
Abs

Lower B
Dead lift 5 sets of 6 reps, up the weight each set to the final working set.
Lunges 3 sets of 8 reps
Abs

Laces_0ut

you dont think calf raises are needed? one thing i'm having a hard time getting used to is how there are so many fewer exercise for the lower days. thats normal?

thanks for helping.

trelm249

Calf raises is an isolation move that is only necessary if that is a particularly underdeveloped body part for an individual.

My calves are massively pumped after a few sets of leg presses, squats, or Romanian deadlifts.

You could move arms to one of your leg days if you want.

ilovedeadlifts

for each exercise i use the same weight for each set.

Upper A
Dumbell Bench 3 sets of 8
Row(chest supported) 3 sets of 8
Incline Bench 3 sets of 10
Lat pull down(underhand) 3 sets of 10
Lat Delt Raise 3 sets of 8
1 hand tri cable press 3 sets of 8
Bi curl 3 sets of 8

Lower A
Romanian deadlift 3 sets of 8
Leg Press 3 sets of 12
Seated Leg Curl 3 sets of 10
Seated calf 4 sets of 8
abs

Upper B
Lat pull down(overhand) 3 sets of 8
dumbell shoulder press 3 sets of 8
cable row 3 sets of 10
dumbell bench 3 sets of 10
cable cross 3 sets of 8
hammer curl 3 sets of 8
2 hand tri cable press 3 sets of 8

Lower B
Squat 3 sets of 8
seated ext 3 sets of 10
seated leg curl 3 sets of 10
seated calf 4 sets of 12
abs

going to replace seated ext with split squats soon. and i would like to replace the seated curls with something else as well. would a regular deadlift be good on the lower B day instead of seated leg curl?

thanks!

Nice avi!! I'm a MUFC fan as well.

1st off, I'd start with saying that you shouldn't be doing the same weight for every set. Becuase if you're able to hit say 200 pounds on bench for your first set, without first warming up with 135 or something lighter, then you obviously aren't challenging yourself. I'd go up in weight each set (the amount depends on the lift). For squats/deads I go up like 15-20 per set. With bench I usually go up 10 per set or so.

I don't see anything too terribly wrong with your routine, but you have a bit more isolation than you need. Focus on the main 4, bench, squats, deads, military (or any overhead press, I prefer standing presses over seated).
DB bench is great, but I wouldn't neglect BB bench. I always liked doing BB as my main lift, and using DBs for assistance.

Don't overthink it. Just keep it simple, and focus on your main compound lift first each day. Warmup with light sets, hit it hard for your 3 working sets. Then do assistance work to work on balance in your physique.

I like some of your assistance work. Chest supported rows are great. They're one of my faves along with pullups.

If you ever need any help feel free to message me.

ilovedeadlifts

you dont think calf raises are needed? one thing i'm having a hard time getting used to is how there are so many fewer exercise for the lower days. thats normal?

thanks for helping.

I had a hard time grasping this concept at first. Beginners tend to overtrain themselves because of this mentality, and it's hard to realize that less is more.
My lower day two weeks ago was:
Squats, warmup, then 3 working sets of 5 (225,240,255 i believe).
Dropped to 50 percent of my max and did 3 sets of 10 (I used 155).
After that I was so exhausted my leg day was over. I managed a few light sets of stiff legged deads and was done for. And that was probably one of the best leg days I've had recently.

If you stil have enough in your tank for all kinds of isolation work, it means you didn't hit your compound lift hard enough.

liftingbro

I would move away from most of the isolation lifts.

Work more compounds in and do assisting isolations.

So, if you do bench, follow it up with skullcrushers.

Bentover rows followed by bicep curls.

Basically you can cover most everything with:

Dead lift

Squat

Bent over rows

Overhead press

Biceps curl

Bench press

Skullcrushers (optional, covered by BP)

Laces_0ut

just wanted to say thanks for the help. i am going to process this and will probably have a follow up question or two.

musclebuilder

you dont think calf raises are needed? one thing i'm having a hard time getting used to is how there are so many fewer exercise for the lower days. thats normal?

thanks for helping.

It depends on the individuals goal/sport..Lots of athletes are involved in running, jumping, pushing off ect..so calf work can be very beneficial. Not only in regards to performance but injury prevention. If you are a bodybuilder then direct calf work is likely necessary..I do plenty of jumping exercises, sprints ect..So personally I do direct calf work..I treat it as an assistance type exercise and it does not require much time to get in calf WO. Calf raises/calf stretches are also good preventative / corrective exercises for lack of ankle flexibilty which can hinder full range of motion in numerous exercises. Like the lower phase of the squat for example which has the potential to lead to other problems like placing additional stress on the knee/lower back..I make sure to stretch between all my sets of calf exercises..As Bill Starr said 'Some groups absolutely need to be stretched after every set. Such as the calves. Fail to stretch them well after a set and you will pay the price. If not right away, somewhere down the road.'