Routine advice please

Rayman79 · May 2015

On reflection I must confess I have not been as consistent in the gym as I'd like.

For a bit of context, my wife and I work over 110 hrs per week between us, and we have two small school-aged kids, a house to keep etc. There are many excuses/reasons for why I have not progressed as much as I'd hoped - as every person on the planet has...

So, I'm searching to find something that is not too demanding on my time but still gives me a well-rounded routine. I'm attempting to lose fat at the moment, and think I have the diet side in reasonable order, but wanted an opinion on my workout split.

I find getting to the gym more than three times a week pretty taxing, and I can only get there at night at about 8:00 onwards, after dinner. Because of this I find after about 45-50 mins I'm pretty wiped, this is where I run into an issue because a good full body routine usually takes in excess of an hour and I'm not giving much by the end of the session.

I do have a pullup bar and some dumbbells at home though, so I thought about an almost full body routine 3x per week, and adding in 3 quick back workouts at home on alternate days. I can bust out a quick 30 mins at home with no commute time pretty easily most nights. It might look something like this:

Tues, Thurs, Sat
Squats
SLDL
Bench
Dips (one set to fatigue)
OHP
Lateral Raise
Bis & Tris supersetted

Most of the above at about 2x8-10

Mon, Wed, Fri
Wide-grip pullup - 3-4 sets, stopping 1-2 reps short of max
Chin up - to failure, 2 sets
Static holds - as long as possible, over bar & half way down
Leg raises (abs)
Bent Over Dumbbell Rows - 2x20 (restricted to 20kg DB at the moment)

So what do you think? I'd love some suggestions on how to tweak it, particularly the back workout. I've not had pullups/chins in my routine too often so I'm not great at them (max 7-8 reps @ bodyweight at the moment), so no need to add weight yet.

I should also add that I seem to respond better to higher frequency training which is why I'm considering this sort of set up over a once per week body part split type routine, but am open to alternatives if you think the above volume is too high.

Thanks for any feedback/suggestions!

heybales · May 2015

A good legs / push / pull routine takes about 30 - 40 min for me doing 2 sets, so nice and short. But for that 2x weekly full body equivalent, means 6 days a week. Though some could be done at home with dumbbells, perhaps the legs for the gym.

Legs - squat, calf raise standing single leg, deadlift, plank front & sides, straight-leg deadlift.
Push - bench, OHP, incline bench, close grip bench, tri extension.
Pull - pullups, upright row, bent-over row, shrug, curls.

nossmf · May 2015

Nothing says you are limited to either parts or whole-body. You could try a rotating combo. To whit:

Heavy push / Light legs
Heavy legs / Light pull
Heavy pull / Light push

You've now hit every body part twice, once heavy and once light, in three workouts per week. If you have time for four workouts, I recommend:

Chest & back
Legs & shoulders

One day heavy, the other day light. (By light you can try doing high-rep sets, or keep the weight light and do sets of 2-3 but as explosively as possible.)

Rayman79 · May 2015

Thanks heybales, I've tried upper lower and PPL splits, the only problem is getting to the gym often enough. I just can't seem to get there consistently 5-6 days per week and don't have a bench, BBs or heavy enough DBs at home.

Sarauk2sf · May 2015

Do you have time (and energy) to do the home workout in the morning?

Hendrix7 · May 2015

Read up on the works of Dan John and Pavel Tsatsouline, that have some good stuff on minimalist training. [plus Dan John is good to read anyway]

If you are cutting and just need to maintain mass you could go super simple

a
Deadlift
PUll ups
Bench press

B
Front squat
Barbell rows
Overhead press

Then add on any fluff depending on how much time you have left

I wouldn't get too caught up in trying to work out the 'best' routine for your circumstances hit the big compounds and work in the other stuff when you can.

Rayman79 · May 2015

Thanks guys. I'm getting the impression you all think it's too much volume, and that I'm getting caught in the minutia (which I do have a tendency of doing)

.

I like the split idea SS, don't have to go balls to the wall for the whole session, just do a couple of heavy compounds then some endurance/pump work - kind of like a cut down PHAT routine I guess.

And Sara, yes. If it's only a relatively short workout I could make time in the morning without too many hassles.

Sarauk2sf · May 2015

I often split my workouts do to time constraints. I my case, I try to get the compounds done in the morning and the secondary/assistance work in the evening - however, I have a home gym so its easy to do it that way. There is nothing wrong with splitting your workout. In your case, due to time constraints, I would try to get the 'fluff' done in the morning and then do the compounds in the evening. I would do a full body (even if limited/modified) if you are only able to get to the gym 3 x a week. Something like (as a minimum):

Back squats 2 x a week (or back 1 x and fronts 1 x)
Deadlifts 1 x a week
Bench 2 x a week (one BB flat and the other DB incline)
Rows 2 x a week (one day Pendlays and one day one chest assisted, especially if the same day as deads)
OHP 2 x a week (one BB and one seated DB)

Example (probably missing something here - this is just for explanation purposes):

Day 1:
BB Back squats (strength range)
BB Flat Bench (strength range)
Seated OHP (hyper range)
Rows or face pulls (hyper range)

Day 2:
Deadlifts (strength range)
OHP (strength range)
DB Incline bench (hyper range)
Chest assisted rows (hyper range)

Day 3:
BB Back squats/fronts (strength range)
Pendlays (strength range)
Pull-thoughs/glute bridges/hip thrusts (hyper range)
Triceps (hyper range)

You can get your vertical pulls done at home (alternate pull ups and chin ups) as well as abs.

Are you looking to gain strength or build/maintain LBM primarily? If you are more focused on LBM, then you can keep the weights lighter so you need less rest time and therefore get the volume in without it taking too much time. This should also help recovery - just make sure you have progressive loading build in.

Rayman79 · May 2015

Thanks Sara, nicely laid out. My primary goal is fat loss, and there's still a fair bit to go! So maintaining/slightly building my LBM during that time would be ideal.

Thanks all

Sarauk2sf · May 2015

Rayman79 wrote: »

Thanks Sara, nicely laid out. My primary goal is fat loss, and there's still a fair bit to go! So maintaining/slightly building my LBM during that time would be ideal.

Thanks all

I would keep the strength ones on the high side of the range re reps then and keep the weight moderate (but still incorporate progressive loading) as it should be quicker due to less rest time needed. Something like 4 - 6 reps. The hyper work can be done in something like the 10 - 15 rep range.

Eat, Train, Progress.

Routine advice please

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