Critique my routine?

BarackMeLikeAHurricane
BarackMeLikeAHurricane Posts: 3,400 Member
edited January 24 in Fitness and Exercise
I've had pretty solid progress on this routine. I've only been on it for a month but so far I'm liking it. I just want to make sure I'm not missing anything so I thought I'd post it for review.

The way I cycle it is into five days with alternating hypertrophy and power days. So basically A-H, B-P, C-H, etc.

Hypertrophy (H) 5x10@50-60% 1RM

Power (P) 5x5@70-80%1RM

Day A-Chest/triceps
Dips
Pec flies
Tricep pull downs
Bench

Day B-Abs/lats
Leg lifts
Torso rotation
Wide grip lat pull downs
Close grip lat pull downs
Abdominal

Day C-Back/biceps
Pull ups
Delt flies
Back extension
Bicep curls
Dead lift

Day D-Shoulders
OHP
Lateral raise
Shrugs
Bent over rows
Upright rows
Front raise

Day E-Legs
Leg curls
Leg extensions
Calf press
Squat
Hip adduction
Hip abduction

Comments/suggestions?

Replies

  • grantdumas7
    grantdumas7 Posts: 802 Member
    Why not drop the lat day since lats are part of the back?. Lats and back will get plenty of work from deadlifts, rows and pulllups or pulldowns.
  • BarackMeLikeAHurricane
    BarackMeLikeAHurricane Posts: 3,400 Member
    Why not drop the lat day since lats are part of the back?. Lats and back will get plenty of work from deadlifts, rows and pulllups or pulldowns.
    Should I add more ab isolation? That's my weak spot but I don't have a lot on that day so I just threw lats on there.
  • hungrywhodat
    hungrywhodat Posts: 40 Member
    Agree. Lats=back.

    I wouldn't want to do your back workout the day after doing all that lat work. A lot of people will put biceps+triceps on their own day before or after leg day. They can take two workouts a week a lot better than your back.

    That's what I do for 5 days -> Chest, back, shoulders, legs, arms and I'll just throw in abs with a couple of those
  • grantdumas7
    grantdumas7 Posts: 802 Member
    Why not drop the lat day since lats are part of the back?. Lats and back will get plenty of work from deadlifts, rows and pulllups or pulldowns.
    Should I add more ab isolation? That's my weak spot but I don't have a lot on that day so I just threw lats on there.
    I don't think you need a day just for abs. Your abs are getting a lot of work from squats and deads but if you want to add abs I would do a few sets at the end of back day and a few at the end leg day. Also I would put deadlifts and squats first on their perspective days.
  • hungrywhodat
    hungrywhodat Posts: 40 Member
    (Deleted post because I'm a moron)
  • BarackMeLikeAHurricane
    BarackMeLikeAHurricane Posts: 3,400 Member
    This may be stupid, but for the life of me I can't figure out what OHP is
    Overhead press
  • hungrywhodat
    hungrywhodat Posts: 40 Member
    Yeah I just figured that out. It was a stupid question after all. Just never seen it abbreviated that way.
  • koing
    koing Posts: 179 Member
    Day C-Back/biceps
    Pull ups
    Delt flies
    Back extension
    Bicep curls
    Dead lift

    I would order this day like this:

    Day C-Back/biceps
    Pull ups
    Dead lift
    Delt flies
    Bent over rows : new exercise, great exercise imo
    Bicep curls
    Back extension


    Day E-Legs
    Squat
    Glute ham raisers, do negatives until you can do them properly
    Calf press
    If you must...
    Hip adduction
    Hip abduction

    The leg curls/ extensions are rubbish. If you can squat you don't need to hit the legs with a bunch of curls etc. Same with lunges, you can't use enough weights. Just squat nice and deep. One week you can hit up front squats and another week hit up back squats.

    Koing
  • BarackMeLikeAHurricane
    BarackMeLikeAHurricane Posts: 3,400 Member
    Day C-Back/biceps
    Pull ups
    Delt flies
    Back extension
    Bicep curls
    Dead lift

    I would order this day like this:

    Day C-Back/biceps
    Pull ups
    Dead lift
    Delt flies
    Bent over rows : new exercise, great exercise imo
    Bicep curls
    Back extension


    Day E-Legs
    Squat
    Glute ham raisers, do negatives until you can do them properly
    Calf press
    If you must...
    Hip adduction
    Hip abduction

    The leg curls/ extensions are rubbish. If you can squat you don't need to hit the legs with a bunch of curls etc. Same with lunges, you can't use enough weights. Just squat nice and deep. One week you can hit up front squats and another week hit up back squats.

    Koing
    I do bent over rows on shoulders day (D) and I hit leg curls and leg extensions right after I squat and just destroy my quads/hams. I seem to grow better that way.

    Oh, and the reason I do hip abduction/adduction is because I dislocated my hip a few years ago and I still have pain, weakness, and limited ROM in my left hip so I'm trying to rehab it a little. I've managed to hit 305lbs for a few reps and that's the max on the machine. It's helped improve stability of the joint.
  • lurcstet
    lurcstet Posts: 77 Member
    I'd condense it into a 3 day split... Bi/triceps.... Chest/back....... Shoulders/legs.... Then in between I'd add one complete rest day and two conditioning days where you can concentrate on core conditioning and fat burning cardio
  • Leadfoot_Lewis
    Leadfoot_Lewis Posts: 1,623 Member
    The way I cycle it is into five days with alternating hypertrophy and power days. So basically A-H, B-P, C-H, etc.

    I'd look into Layne Norton's PHAT routine (Power Hypertrophy Adaptive Training). It's an excellent routine if you don't mind a little volume.
  • BarackMeLikeAHurricane
    BarackMeLikeAHurricane Posts: 3,400 Member
    I'd condense it into a 3 day split... Bi/triceps.... Chest/back....... Shoulders/legs.... Then in between I'd add one complete rest day and two conditioning days where you can concentrate on core conditioning and fat burning cardio
    I don't do rest days or cardio. I only eat after I workout so if I don't workout I won't have any motivation to eat.

    If I split bi/tri chest/back what day would I put bench on? That's chest/tri. A chest/tri back/bi is more logical IMO.
  • Capt_Apollo
    Capt_Apollo Posts: 9,026 Member
    in my opinion, you don't need a dedicated abs/lats day. you can throw those ab exercises at the end of your other days.
  • grantdumas7
    grantdumas7 Posts: 802 Member
    I'd condense it into a 3 day split... Bi/triceps.... Chest/back....... Shoulders/legs.... Then in between I'd add one complete rest day and two conditioning days where you can concentrate on core conditioning and fat burning cardio
    I don't do rest days or cardio. I only eat after I workout so if I don't workout I won't have any motivation to eat.

    If I split bi/tri chest/back what day would I put bench on? That's chest/tri. A chest/tri back/bi is more logical IMO.
    I wouldn't have a separate arm day (bis/tris). Bench is chest movement and chest can go with either tris or bis. Doesn't really matter.
  • Capt_Apollo
    Capt_Apollo Posts: 9,026 Member
    I'd condense it into a 3 day split... Bi/triceps.... Chest/back....... Shoulders/legs.... Then in between I'd add one complete rest day and two conditioning days where you can concentrate on core conditioning and fat burning cardio
    I don't do rest days or cardio. I only eat after I workout so if I don't workout I won't have any motivation to eat.

    If I split bi/tri chest/back what day would I put bench on? That's chest/tri. A chest/tri back/bi is more logical IMO.

    why?
  • Endman
    Endman Posts: 894 Member
    I now know why I am still out of shape. It is because I don't understand any of this stuff. What is A-H, etc.? Help.
  • StaticEntropy
    StaticEntropy Posts: 224 Member
    I now know why I am still out of shape. It is because I don't understand any of this stuff. What is A-H, etc.? Help.
    A-H means Day A is a hypertrophy workout
    B-P means Day B is a power workout
  • Endman
    Endman Posts: 894 Member
    I now know why I am still out of shape. It is because I don't understand any of this stuff. What is A-H, etc.? Help.
    A-H means Day A is a hypertrophy workout
    B-P means Day B is a power workout
    Thanks. Now I need to learn what "hypertrophy" and "power" mean.
  • grantdumas7
    grantdumas7 Posts: 802 Member
    Thanks. Now I need to learn what "hypertrophy" and "power" mean.
    Sometimes the terms power and strength get miss used. Power is force times speed so to work on power you would do explosive or fast movements. An example would be take 50% of your max squat and do sets of 3 to 5 reps as quickly as you can. Strength is lifting heavy weights in the 1to5 range. Hypertrophy is to increase muscle size and is generally done in the 8-12 range although reps as low as 4 to 5 can be a good strength and hypertrophy range.
  • BarackMeLikeAHurricane
    BarackMeLikeAHurricane Posts: 3,400 Member
    I'd condense it into a 3 day split... Bi/triceps.... Chest/back....... Shoulders/legs.... Then in between I'd add one complete rest day and two conditioning days where you can concentrate on core conditioning and fat burning cardio
    I don't do rest days or cardio. I only eat after I workout so if I don't workout I won't have any motivation to eat.

    If I split bi/tri chest/back what day would I put bench on? That's chest/tri. A chest/tri back/bi is more logical IMO.

    why?
    I just plain don't like cardio and also I don't want to have to eat more. I don't take rest days because I'll have no appetite and end up not eating on those days.
  • BarackMeLikeAHurricane
    BarackMeLikeAHurricane Posts: 3,400 Member
    I feel like I could be hitting abs and biceps harder. Those are my weak spots but I don't know what other exercises I should add.
  • Tedebearduff
    Tedebearduff Posts: 1,155 Member
    It's always good to keep your body guessing I would add in a different work out for each of those days on a monthly basis so add another and increase your volume or replace one, try something new it will keep things entertaining. :)

    Make sure you're increasing your sets, reps and weight ... you know what I mean.... make sure your making progress if you keep doing the same thing you wont see "gains" for much longer, have to switch it up.
  • Capt_Apollo
    Capt_Apollo Posts: 9,026 Member
    It's always good to keep your body guessing I would add in a different work out for each of those days on a monthly basis so add another and increase your volume or replace one, try something new it will keep things entertaining. :)

    Make sure you're increasing your sets, reps and weight ... you know what I mean.... make sure your making progress if you keep doing the same thing you wont see "gains" for much longer, have to switch it up.

    no it isn't.

    the whole muscle confusion thing is just a thing that people who don't know what to do or what works say. they hope by "keeping their body guessing" that eventually, something will work. it's like throwing lots of things against the wall and hoping something sticks.

    boring works. consistancy works. repetition works. progress works. how can you know what is working if you keep changing routines??
  • BarackMeLikeAHurricane
    BarackMeLikeAHurricane Posts: 3,400 Member
    It's always good to keep your body guessing I would add in a different work out for each of those days on a monthly basis so add another and increase your volume or replace one, try something new it will keep things entertaining. :)

    Make sure you're increasing your sets, reps and weight ... you know what I mean.... make sure your making progress if you keep doing the same thing you wont see "gains" for much longer, have to switch it up.

    no it isn't.

    the whole muscle confusion thing is just a thing that people who don't know what to do or what works say. they hope by "keeping their body guessing" that eventually, something will work. it's like throwing lots of things against the wall and hoping something sticks.

    boring works. consistancy works. repetition works. progress works. how can you know what is working if you keep changing routines??
    Yeah, I planned on ignoring that advice. Progressive overload from adding sets, reps, and/or weight is enough to "keep my body guessing."
  • koing
    koing Posts: 179 Member
    Day C-Back/biceps
    Pull ups
    Delt flies
    Back extension
    Bicep curls
    Dead lift

    I would order this day like this:

    Day C-Back/biceps
    Pull ups
    Dead lift
    Delt flies
    Bent over rows : new exercise, great exercise imo
    Bicep curls
    Back extension


    Day E-Legs
    Squat
    Glute ham raisers, do negatives until you can do them properly
    Calf press
    If you must...
    Hip adduction
    Hip abduction

    The leg curls/ extensions are rubbish. If you can squat you don't need to hit the legs with a bunch of curls etc. Same with lunges, you can't use enough weights. Just squat nice and deep. One week you can hit up front squats and another week hit up back squats.

    Koing
    I do bent over rows on shoulders day (D) and I hit leg curls and leg extensions right after I squat and just destroy my quads/hams. I seem to grow better that way.

    Oh, and the reason I do hip abduction/adduction is because I dislocated my hip a few years ago and I still have pain, weakness, and limited ROM in my left hip so I'm trying to rehab it a little. I've managed to hit 305lbs for a few reps and that's the max on the machine. It's helped improve stability of the joint.

    Bent over row is traditionally on a back day.

    Fair point on the leg curls/ ext stuff. I have literally done no leg machines in the past 15yrs. Just deep squats and OLifts 3-5x a week.

    Your body doesn't need to guess. It needs to get stronger over time. If the weights/ reps go up over time you will be in better shape if everything else stays constant.

    If the OP has time for an abs day, let her have it. It isn't a big deal. Just that most people can't train 5x a week and at 3x a week it's a waste to have an abs specific day.

    Koing
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