©ALL CONTENT OF THIS WEBSITE IS COPYRIGHTED AND CANNOT BE REPRODUCED WITHOUT THE ADMINISTRATORS CONSENT 2003-2020



New Routine..Or Old

GetSwullll

Registered User
Jun 9, 2006
478
0
0
Here's my routine that I've done for quite a while but i've been switching up reps. However my chest lacks thickness, and my back width...other than that i grow very well so give me some tips as far as rep change etc. I know higher reps promote more growth but i feel i only cut up when i go above 8 really. Lower reps i gain great mass but it seems diff. than a bulk to me.

Mon- Chest n TriChest (rotating between dumbells too)
Flat Bench 8-6-4-4
Incline- 8-6-4-4
Dips- 10-10-10
Tri
Pushdowns 8-8-8-8
Close Grip Bench (depending on chest feeling) 8-6-4-4
Single Arm Revers Grip Ext (cables) 8-8-8-8

Wed- Back n Bicep
Lat Pulls 10-10-10-10
Barbell Rows 8-6-4-4
Close Grip Pulls 8-8-8-8
Dead Lifts 8-6-4-4
Bicep
Barbell Curls 8-8-8-8
Preachers 8-8-8-8
Single Arm Rotating Curls 8-8-8-8
 

Elvia1023

AnaSCI VET / Donating Member
Oct 28, 2007
5,816
14
38
Here's my routine that I've done for quite a while but i've been switching up reps. However my chest lacks thickness, and my back width...other than that i grow very well so give me some tips as far as rep change etc. I know higher reps promote more growth but i feel i only cut up when i go above 8 really. Lower reps i gain great mass but it seems diff. than a bulk to me.

Mon- Chest n TriChest (rotating between dumbells too)
Flat Bench 8-6-4-4
Incline- 8-6-4-4
Dips- 10-10-10
Tri
Pushdowns 8-8-8-8
Close Grip Bench (depending on chest feeling) 8-6-4-4
Single Arm Revers Grip Ext (cables) 8-8-8-8

Wed- Back n Bicep
Lat Pulls 10-10-10-10
Barbell Rows 8-6-4-4
Close Grip Pulls 8-8-8-8
Dead Lifts 8-6-4-4
Bicep
Barbell Curls 8-8-8-8
Preachers 8-8-8-8
Single Arm Rotating Curls 8-8-8-8

When do you do shoulders and legs? I know shoulders can be done with incline etc but you have listed nothing that directly hits them. I assume both are done on Fri?

Anyway your routine is ok but there are areas I would defo change. Everyone is different though and different things work for different people. But you obviously need to change things alittle as your not getting what you want.

I say this everytime but diet is where you start. To have a wide back and thick chest you need lots of good protein/carbs/essential fats etc. 1 time per week is usually best but maybe you could do your chest 2 times per week. You could concentrate on lower chest one day and upper chest another. So one day you have stuff like dips and decline presses and other you have incline presses, incline flyes etc.

If you say you need a wider back and thicker chest then your lats but need work too. Cos you can't grow a wide chest unless you have a fairly wide back as they grow into eachother (in a way). When you write close grips pulls is that close grip lat pulldowns as they are good.

My best tip would try to use as much compound exercises as you can. But of course adding in isolation movements too. The best compounds for back would be-

Chin-ups
Barbell Rows
Dumbbell Rows
Pulldowns
Seated cable (hammer strength) Rows
T-Bar Rows
Deadlifts
Smith Machine Rows

I would personally try using different equipment for each part. So maybe pick one dummbell movement, one/two barbell and one machine movement.

Don't go under 6 reps if you want a wider back. Do it on occasions but for the norm try to get 6 reps when you fail. I would work within the 6-12 rep range.

The way I said about doing 2 chest days you may not want that and maybe could do 2 back days. Most people should only work out each part once weekly but I do my chest and back 2 times weekly. Only do deadlifts once weekly though.

Instead of doing exact reps you could look into DC style training. I personally just go on feel. I pick a weight I should get 12 with at the start but if I can do more easily I will do more. I don't go to complete failure though in the first few sets though. Then I try to finish on about 6 reps but if I can only do 4 then thats cool. But try not to be too concerned with reps and more on technique and breathing and muscle contraction etc. You will find if you do that you won't be able to do as much. Thats simply because when your aiming for a certain amount of reps sometimes you cheat on a few and also it is a mental block so you cut out when you reach that number cos your mind is programmed to do so.

A good back routine could be something like

Lat Pulldowns 2 warm up sets and 4 working sets at a 6-12 rep range
One arm dumbbell rows at 3/4 working sets at 6-12 rep range
T-Bar Rows at 3 working sets at a 6-12 rep range
Pulley Rows at 3 working sets at 6-12 rep range
Deadlifts some warm ups and then 4 working sets at 4-12 rep range


The above is the mnax you could do and might be too much and result in over training. Then your probably best taking away one of the rowing movements. There is no right answer. Chin ups at perfect form are great so maybe include them. They key is to have stability in your routine so deadlifts etc. But play about with other movements every few weeks or so.

I sometimes do lats on back day but sometimes I may do them on chest days. I would say to try some isolation lat exercises. You can't isolate the upper or lower lats but basically just train the lat muscle in it's entirety. Chin-ups are great for lats but if you don't have the strength to do them with perfect form then pulldowns or machine pullovers are your best bet.

Your chest routine is ok but I think needs looking at alot. You do 11 sets which is about right. You don't want to do so many. I would aim for 8-15 sets each day on my chest throughout the year. Like I said above look into decline presses as that helps with lower chest development. Even just adding in some flyes and taking a set of dips away would be great for your chest routine. I would go with 2 short but intense sessions per week concentrating on upper and lower. Maybe do your shoulders on the day you do your upper chest as they come into play for most upper chest exercises. So maybe do some flat bench presses then some incline presses and incline flyes. That leading onto your shoulders and as you have already done indirect movements you don't have to spend too long on shoulders. So maybe do 3 sets of shoulder presses, 3 sets of behind the back barbell shrugs and finish off with some lateral raises.

I actualyl do chest, shoulders and triceps on the same day and can be done in just over 1 hour. Tri-ceps are a small muscles so only need 6-10 sets and can be done in 15 mins for me with great results. It's up to you. Would you be able to go in the gym 4 times weekly or would you prefer 3? If you only want to do 3 days then you could do Upper chest, shoulders and tri-ceps on one day. On the 2nd day do back and bi-ceps on the other. And lower chest and legs on other day. 4 days would make it easier but the previous would still be fine.

And if you think 3 parts in one day is too much like I said you are doing less chest and less shoulders than usual (but higher intensity) and then tri-ceps don't need to take that long. For tri-ceps I would do 3 exercises and 3 sets for each not counting warm-ups at the start of the first exercises. If I had to pick 3 I would do close grip bench presses, skull crushers and tri-cep extensions. Or maybe you wanna swop one for tri-cep pulldowns. I do all 4 (and others) and swop them about each tri-cep day.

I know it's alot of info to take in but I hope it helps.
 
Last edited:

Elvia1023

AnaSCI VET / Donating Member
Oct 28, 2007
5,816
14
38
By the way I know you do barbell curls. Just a suggesion as it really works. I assume you do standing barbell curls. Anyway seated ones are much better. The reason being when you perform a full ROM (range of motion) curl, the first half of the movement is the weakest. It involves the brachialis (muscle under the bi-cep) and the brachioradialis (foreaem muscle on the thumb side of the arm). The bi-cep doesn't really kick in till your elbow is close to a 90 degree angle. Plus your arm is weakest during the first half of the curl and strongest in the second half. So when you do a full ROM curl you have to perform throught he weakest part. Therefore, by doing seated curls, which remove the bottom half of the movement, you focus more stress on the bi-cep. As a result you can take greater overload on the bi-ceps. You will be able to probably lift upto 30% more weight. Just rest the weight on the top of your thighs when you perfrom them.

By the way developing your brachialis is vital too. But you also do preacher curls and that hits them really effectively. So by doing seated barbell curls and precaher curls your hitting both but can overload your actual bi-cep even more. I also like concentration curls amongst many. Arnolds 21's are good too as they hit all parts.
 

GetSwullll

Registered User
Jun 9, 2006
478
0
0
WOW, thanks you guyz. Def. helped me out.

1) i've kinda been stuck on the whole deal of if I'm doing 4 Sets of 6-12 etc...then I needed to aim for that on almost all exercises but I see that's not the case at all.

2) I usually do Shoulders and Legs on the same day...but i'm going to take in the Chest 2-A-Days and def. work my upper chest in on my shoulder days. Is it better to include flat bench on the day i do declines, or the day i do upper chest with shoulders?

3)I'm def. gonna change to the seating curls and include 21s...I get awesome pump off of them but just felt as though i was cutting when i did them. Do you do two sets of 21s or 3?

Thnx again for all info..sorry took so long to get back. I just wantd to get some good info. though, and I seen now that the 6-12 rep range is def. great for growth, unlike when i thought it was basically cutting!