About to bulk (pictures)

[MattB]

Hey guys this is just going to be my kinda journal/log for my first bulk which im starting on Monday.

Monday

Flat Bench Press
Dumbell Press
Dumbell Flys
Barbell Curls
Dumbell Curls

Wednesday

Military Press
Side Laterals
Barbell Shrugs
Dumbell Shrugs
Deadlifts
Bent Over Rows

Friday

Squats
Standing Calf Raises
Stiff Legged Deadlifts
Tricep Extension
Close Grip Bench Press

That's what ive got for my first split and im still making my diet ill post that up before i start.

I've added some pics of me now as well so feel free to comment, im currently:

16 years old
6'1
160lbs (around there)

Thanks

 

[wnt2bBeast]

looks good bro..i like the exercises but you should have listed your sets and reps as well..only thing id change is you dont need to do bb shrugs and dbell shrugs..pick one since deads will hit the traps just as hard

 

[TheOak84]

never a bad time to bulk.. ill 'bulk' till im 50

 

[WalkingBeast]

Solid base brother! Yes, the sets and reps are very important. As for the routine, Id go with more volume and variety. For back, Id go with a minimum of 15 sets. 5 exercises and 3 sets per exercise worked well for me. Reps between 12-15 to failure. Id give legs their own seperate day, since they should fully exhaust you. Id hit 12 sets for triceps and 12 for biceps. Split into 4 different exercises, 3 sets each. Might want to give arms their own day too. Shoulders can be hit on chest day, after chest, or even on thier own day. I sometimes do them with triceps. Id also add some inclines into your routine. At this stage Id suggest 6 sets of flat and 6 of incline with a few sets of flies afterwards. Some hammer curls wouldnt hurt either to bring up the brachialis and add thickness to the biceps. Keep in mind triceps makes up most of the arm when fully developed. You could even have a shoulder and trap day. I did that for a long time. You might want to try a split like this:

Day 1: Chest
Day 2: Back
Day 3: Triceps and Biceps
Day 4: Shoulders and Traps
Day 5: Legs
Day 6: off
Day 7: off

You can split the off days to fit your recovery. I guage recovery by how sore I feel. Basically Id go with 12 sets for smaller body parts like biceps,triceps,chest, and shoulders, and 15 sets for back and legs. This worked very well for me. Eventually you can make modifications to fit your recovery and preferrences. The only way to find what works best for you is through years of training and experimentation. All the auxillary muscles like abs,lower back,calves, rear delts, forearms and even traps can be added to the routine as desired.Here are my top choices for exercises:

Biceps: Preacher curls, Alternating dumbell curls, Standing EZ curl or Barbell curls, Various cable curls

Triceps: Skull crushers (on an incline bench, reduces elbow stress) , Rope pulldowns, V-bar pulldowns, Standing extentions

Chest: Flat barbell bench, Incline barbell bench, Incline dumbell flies, cable flies (Id reccomend 6 sets of flat bench and 6 of incline to start, with some flies thrown in to finish off chest)

Back: Dumbell rows, Lat pulldowns, Chin-ups, Barbell row,Seated Cable row, Deadlifts (Deadlifts gave me more lower back development and little upper back, so they are not completely necessary for bodybuilding in my opinion.)

Legs: Squats, leg presses(both for full leg work), leg extentions(for quads), leg curls,stiff leg deadlifts (for hamstrings)

Shoulders: Seated dumbell presses, Lateral dumbell raises, Various machine presses

Abdominals: Sit-ups on a decline bench (preferrably with a weight on chest),
Kneeling rope crunches (Hook a rope to the top of a cable machine, kneel down with it,contract your abs and pull the rope so that your elbows hit the floor)

Rear delts: Reverse fly machine

Forearms: Wrist curls with a staight bar, Reverse curls, COC gripper work, Deadlifts as well

Calves: Seated calve raises, standing calve raises

As for diet. Try to eat atleast one gram of protein per pound of bodyweight. More if possible. With your build, which is similiar to mine, Id reccomend you keep carbs and calories high. Its important to eat well above your maintenance calories each day as well. Most of all, be patient and consistent. The results will come. It just takes time, hard work, enough food and perserverence, which most people give up on. When I started training, my diet was terrible. I ate maybe one meal a day, moved furniture and bike 14 miles daily to get to the gym and back. I still made gains in size and strength. Mainly strength. Bettering my diet and eating more made a huge difference. Keeping a written journal of my meals and routines also helped me to do that, and motivated me to eat more. It still does. If you have the drive and heart you can take it as far as youd like. Being natural makes it alot more difficult, but it definately can be done. You just have to keep at it, even when it seems hopeless. It really does add up. You look real solid for 16 also. PM me anytime with any questions and Im glad to help!

Beast

 

[JKurz1]

Solid base brother! Yes, the sets and reps are very important. As for the routine, Id go with more volume and variety. For back, Id go with a minimum of 15 sets. 5 exercises and 3 sets per exercise worked well for me. Reps between 12-15 to failure. Id give legs their own seperate day, since they should fully exhaust you. Id hit 12 sets for triceps and 12 for biceps. Split into 4 different exercises, 3 sets each. Might want to give arms their own day too. Shoulders can be hit on chest day, after chest, or even on thier own day. I sometimes do them with triceps. Id also add some inclines into your routine. At this stage Id suggest 6 sets of flat and 6 of incline with a few sets of flies afterwards. Some hammer curls wouldnt hurt either to bring up the brachialis and add thickness to the biceps. Keep in mind triceps makes up most of the arm when fully developed. You could even have a shoulder and trap day. I did that for a long time. You might want to try a split like this:

Day 1: Chest
Day 2: Back
Day 3: Triceps and Biceps
Day 4: Shoulders and Traps
Day 5: Legs
Day 6: off
Day 7: off

You can split the off days to fit your recovery. I guage recovery by how sore I feel. Basically Id go with 12 sets for smaller body parts like biceps,triceps,chest, and shoulders, and 15 sets for back and legs. This worked very well for me. Eventually you can make modifications to fit your recovery and preferrences. The only way to find what works best for you is through years of training and experimentation. All the auxillary muscles like abs,lower back,calves, rear delts, forearms and even traps can be added to the routine as desired.Here are my top choices for exercises:

Biceps: Preacher curls, Alternating dumbell curls, Standing EZ curl or Barbell curls, Various cable curls

Triceps: Skull crushers (on an incline bench, reduces elbow stress) , Rope pulldowns, V-bar pulldowns, Standing extentions

Chest: Flat barbell bench, Incline barbell bench, Incline dumbell flies, cable flies (Id reccomend 6 sets of flat bench and 6 of incline to start, with some flies thrown in to finish off chest)

Back: Dumbell rows, Lat pulldowns, Chin-ups, Barbell row,Seated Cable row, Deadlifts (Deadlifts gave me more lower back development and little upper back, so they are not completely necessary for bodybuilding in my opinion.)

Legs: Squats, leg presses(both for full leg work), leg extentions(for quads), leg curls,stiff leg deadlifts (for hamstrings)

Shoulders: Seated dumbell presses, Lateral dumbell raises, Various machine presses

Abdominals: Sit-ups on a decline bench (preferrably with a weight on chest),
Kneeling rope crunches (Hook a rope to the top of a cable machine, kneel down with it,contract your abs and pull the rope so that your elbows hit the floor)

Rear delts: Reverse fly machine

Forearms: Wrist curls with a staight bar, Reverse curls, COC gripper work, Deadlifts as well

Calves: Seated calve raises, standing calve raises

As for diet. Try to eat atleast one gram of protein per pound of bodyweight. More if possible. With your build, which is similiar to mine, Id reccomend you keep carbs and calories high. Its important to eat well above your maintenance calories each day as well. Most of all, be patient and consistent. The results will come. It just takes time, hard work, enough food and perserverence, which most people give up on. When I started training, my diet was terrible. I ate maybe one meal a day, moved furniture and bike 14 miles daily to get to the gym and back. I still made gains in size and strength. Mainly strength. Bettering my diet and eating more made a huge difference. Keeping a written journal of my meals and routines also helped me to do that, and motivated me to eat more. It still does. If you have the drive and heart you can take it as far as youd like. Being natural makes it alot more difficult, but it definately can be done. You just have to keep at it, even when it seems hopeless. It really does add up. You look real solid for 16 also. PM me anytime with any questions and Im glad to help!

Beast

good post beast, but I like to change two things......I hate trainings bis after a heavy back day and I hate training delts after a heavy tri day......arms are a small bodypart....do them towards the end of the week......try

Chest/calves
Back/Traps
Rest
Delts/Abs
Legs
Arms
Off

 

[WalkingBeast]

good post beast, but I like to change two things......I hate trainings bis after a heavy back day and I hate training delts after a heavy tri day......arms are a small bodypart....do them towards the end of the week......try

Chest/calves
Back/Traps
Rest
Delts/Abs
Legs
Arms
Off

I agree brother!! I did a routine like this some years ago. Now I focus an entire day to back, and hit arms on thier own seperate day. Ill often hit biceps with back anyway,to get in an some extra bicep work, but not always.
These days I wouldnt do chest and tri's together though. Chest alone is enough work in itself. This worked well for me back then though.

Matt: The best thing Id reccomend for finding a good split is to experiment with your recovery ability. The main thing is that you get the work in. Your body should let you know the rest. The routine may be rough at first, but the body has a great ability to adapt.

 

[Debaser]

Hey guys this is just going to be my kinda journal/log for my first bulk which im starting on Monday.

Monday

Flat Bench Press
Dumbell Press
Dumbell Flys
Barbell Curls
Dumbell Curls

Wednesday

Military Press
Side Laterals
Barbell Shrugs
Dumbell Shrugs
Deadlifts
Bent Over Rows

Friday

Squats
Standing Calf Raises
Stiff Legged Deadlifts
Tricep Extension
Close Grip Bench Press

In red I've outlined what would be considered "redundant" movements. There's no reason to do both dumbell and barbell curls, both kinds of shrugs, etc.

I see a few other flaws:

1. No chins/pullups/pulldown movement. It's essential to have a pulling movement in the vertical plane as well as the horizontal (rows). Pullups are far better for lat growth than rows, but that's only one of the reasons.

2. You're doing deadlifts on Wednesday, and stiff-leggeds 2 days later along with squats. Deadlifts are more of a leg movement than a back movement, forget what anyone tells you otherwise. Yes your back gets sore, but your lower body structure is what actually MOVES the bar, your back is merely anchoring it.

3. Your frequency is out of whack. What I mean by this is that there are some muscle groups you are hitting 3 times a week (which is ideal), and others that you are hitting only once (not so great). You're hitting your triceps 3 times a week, because the bench press and overhead press hit them a LOT more than you think. I don't even isolate mine, these movements are enough in my book.

4. I'll come right out and say that I would recommend HST, as it's just about the fastest way to grow, period.
Check out the site if you're interested. But if you're not up for that, I would at least change it to something like this:

Monday "A"
Bench Press
Row
Squat
Curl
Calf Raise

Wednesday "B"
Overhead Press
Chin or pullup
Dumbell fly or pec-deck
Romanian deadlift
Forearm work

Friday "A"
Repeat Monday

Next week, start with the "B" day, you're alternating each time. But again, I'd just recommend HST as you'll hit everything three times a week.

 

[SAGAT]

In red I've outlined what would be considered "redundant" movements. There's no reason to do both dumbell and barbell curls, both kinds of shrugs, etc.

I see a few other flaws:

1. No chins/pullups/pulldown movement. It's essential to have a pulling movement in the vertical plane as well as the horizontal (rows). Pullups are far better for lat growth than rows, but that's only one of the reasons.

2. You're doing deadlifts on Wednesday, and stiff-leggeds 2 days later along with squats. Deadlifts are more of a leg movement than a back movement, forget what anyone tells you otherwise. Yes your back gets sore, but your lower body structure is what actually MOVES the bar, your back is merely anchoring it.

3. Your frequency is out of whack. What I mean by this is that there are some muscle groups you are hitting 3 times a week (which is ideal), and others that you are hitting only once (not so great). You're hitting your triceps 3 times a week, because the bench press and overhead press hit them a LOT more than you think. I don't even isolate mine, these movements are enough in my book.

4. I'll come right out and say that I would recommend HST, as it's just about the fastest way to grow, period.
Check out the site if you're interested. But if you're not up for that, I would at least change it to something like this:

Monday "A"
Bench Press
Row
Squat
Curl
Calf Raise

Wednesday "B"
Overhead Press
Chin or pullup
Dumbell fly or pec-deck
Romanian deadlift
Forearm work

Friday "A"
Repeat Monday

Next week, start with the "B" day, you're alternating each time. But again, I'd just recommend HST as you'll hit everything three times a week.

Debaser, what do you think of the example routine on the HST site? Would that be a good choice to begin with, even though you're an experienced trainer (which i am) I've been training for many years and need a desperate change in training. And HST might just be what i'm looking for. However what is important to me is; will it negatively affect my strength gains? Keep in mind i have NO experience whatsoever with HST nor do i know anyone who trains by its principles.

 

[RGS83]

I'm not going to recomend anything, as I just started a whole new prog... 5x5. Do a little research on that; on top of what you've got to read already


What are the recomendations for working out your back, if you choose to do it at home?? Chinups and pulldowns are not really an option.

Are there any variatons that can be done on this at home with bars or freeweights?
As it stands now I'll i really do is deadlifts, Bent-over DB rows, Shrugs. what else?
I tried the BB rows, but somethings not right there, form, or i duno, (so i do DL's)

 

[MattB]

Monday - Chest - Chinups on chest or back day?

Flat bench
Incline bench
Flys


Tuesday - Back

Deadlifts
Barbell Rows

Wednesday - Triceps and biceps

Tricep extentions
Skull crushers
Narrow grip bench press
Barbell curls
Alternating dumbell curls

Thursday - Shoulders and traps

Military Press
Side Laterals
Shrugs

Friday - Legs

Squats
Stiff legged deadlifts
Standing Calf Raises


Is that looking any better? I'll go with the reps and sets you reccomended beast. Another thing should I throw in chinups on back or chest day? I workout at home and don't have too much equipment so thats why i havent put many exercises in it. I've got a bench, all the bars i need, chinup bar and about 300lbs of plates. Thanks for all the help so far btw