Each muscle group 2x/week

[bilat]

What do you guys think of this routine split for a beginner?

3 x 8-12 reps

Monday:
-=Chest/arms=-
------------
Flat bench
Incline bench
Dips
Barbell curls
21's
French press
Weighted Crunches (3 x 10 SLOW)
Oblique Crunches (same)
Reverse Crunches (same)


Tuesday:
-=Legs=-
-------------
Squats
Lunges
Stiff Legged Deadlift
Front squats
Hamstring curls
Standing Calve Raises


Wednesday:
-=Back/Shoulders=-
-------------------------------
Deadlifts
Bentover barbell rows
MiltaryPress
Shrugs
Upright rows


Thursday: Off

Friday:
-=Chest/arms/abs=-
------------
DB Flat bench
Incline DB bench
Dips
Dumbell curls
Concentration curls
1 Arm tricep extensions
Weighted Crunches
Oblique Crunches
Reverse Crunches

Saturday:
-=Back/Shoulders=-
-------------------------------
Chins
Lying DB rows
Shrugs
Front DB raises
Clean and Press

Sunday: off

thanks

 

[Fatty4You]

If you are a beginner, i would say lose some of that volume! Like, to me, it doesn't make sense to do flat bench AND weighted pushups in the same workout? They're eccentially the same movement, with a little variety.

Beginners especially, dont need so much volume. When i started out, i was doing mon-wen-fri full body workouts with ONE set per body part and only basic exercises.

Also, your shoulders are gonna get hammered. You are doing them twice a week AND they will get worked on chest days a lot.

Plus, you are hitting most things more than once, but legs only once. You can't build a big house with out a big foundation man. I am not saying you should try and squeeze a second day of legs into this.... i am just pointing out the difference in prioritization that you have.

Overall, i would say cut back on the volume.

-Fatty

 

[he-man]

go 3 day a week program hitting ea bodypart once a week. concentrate on compound lifts. if your a beginner you don't really need to be doing front raises for delts. you have a lot of volume as well, might want to cut it down.

 

[bilat]

ok i might drop the volume.
I think i'll do 3 sets of 8-12 reps for most exercises. Should I start with heavy weight or start with light weight?

Like 100 x12, 130 x 10, 150 x 8
or 150 x 8, 130 x 10, 100 x 12?

 

[he-man]

i prefer to start with lighter weight for warm-ups and increase the weight for working sets

 

[bilat]

and when people say 'vary it from week to week' do they just mean change the order or exercises or should i be doing completely different exercises? The ones i listed are about the only ones I know of, what are other good ones i'm not doing that maybe I should be?
thanks

 

[Dirty Workout]

Bro I would be real careful with your shoulders here. You are giving your shoulders a decent workout every time with chest so when you add in 2 shoulders workouts=4x a week!!

Cut the Volume way down overall. A beginner doesnt need that much to grow. And its easy to mentally burnout with that also.

Put an emphasis on eating alot of protein, and clean calories overall.

Stick with your program for a few months and then change up.

 

[bilat]

I don't just want to grow a little, I want to grow as much as possible right away. I don't see anyone doing the typical 1 day a week routines with low volume who's ripped.

I might cut down on some of the shoulder volume though. It's really not that much volume EACH day, is it? It's just that i'm working out each part 2x/week?
I'm sure my muscles will be recovered enough after 2+ days.

Do you think my day 1's of one week should be the same as my Day 2's? Like for chest, day 1 i do barbells, day 2 I do dumbells mainly. Should I just do barbells the whole week, for 3-4 weeks then do dumbells for 3-4 weeks? Same with biceps and the other things I can alternate between barbells/dumbells.

 

[bilat]

Or I might switch to this:
Mon: Chest/Biceps
Tuesday: Shoulders/back
Wednesday: Legs/Triceps
Thursday: Chest/Biceps
Friday: Shoulders/back
Saturday: Legs/Triceps
Sunday: off

 

[daok]

I think it's not a great idead to train 6/7 days each week. You will overtrain yourself. You need to take it more smooth, when you train a part, you need to give him time to recovery than to grow and it take more than 24 hours. I think you should have more rest day in your week.

Daok

 

[bilat]

I get 48hours or more for each muscle group of rest...

 

[daok]

I am not the best person to answer you but you need about 24 to recovery, and about 24 to 48 more hours to grow. More, if you train 6 days / 7 the only day that your body is not "stressed" is sunday and your body need to be less stressed to grow.

Daok

 

[bilat]

Hmm ok.
What about this?

Day 1: Chest, Triceps.
Day 2: Quads, Hamstrings
Day 3: Delts
Day 4: Calves,Abs, Forearms
Day 5: Back, Biceps
Day 6: Rest.
Day 7: Rest.

1 Minute rest between sets for chest/shoulders/back, 1 1/2-2 minutes for legs, 30-45seconds for biceps/triceps, calves and abs 20-30 seconds.

=-Chest/triceps=-
Incline Dumbbell Bench, Flat Barbell Bench, Dumbbell Pullovers, DIPS

-=Legs=-
Squats, Stiffleg Deadlifts, Leg curls, Lunges

-=Shoulders=-
Military Press, Arnold Presses, Upright Rows, Front DB raises

-=Calves/Abs=-
Calve Raises
Weighted Crunches, Twist Crunches, Reverse crunches

-=Back/Biceps=-
Palms Away Pullups, Deadlift, One Arm DB Rows, Shrugs
Incline Dumbbell Curls, barbell curls, Hammer Curls

I'm gonna switch the order up every 3-4 weeks, probably change a few exercises weekly or every 2 weeks. Volume, I think i'm gonna aim for 4 sets of 6-10 reps per exercise.

 

[DrBones]

I don't think i'll grow on a low volume routine though, so i'm gonna try keeping it high volume. Same exercises as above, but I might add some more since i'm only working out 1x/week

Question for you.
Why don't you think you won't grow on low volume?
I thought you said you were a beginner? How would you know?

Not trying to put you down buddy, but you grow outside of the gym.. not in it... concentrate on eating and resting and really taxing your muscles when you do train and you will grow...

 

[bilat]

I've just never seen anyone use low volume 1 body part x/week who's actually ripped, it seems like most people who are ripped use higher volume. Most people on this site and other forums i've seen look like they dont even lift weights.

 

[bilat]

Do you think it's smart to rotate between barbells/dumbells every 3-4 weeks? I'll have a mix in each but like barbell flat bench and dumbell curls, then db flat and barbell curls?

 

[daok]

Do you think it's smart to rotate between barbells/dumbells every 3-4 weeks? I'll have a mix in each but like barbell flat bench and dumbell curls, then db flat and barbell curls?

Change your exercice when you reach a limit and you cannot increase more your weight. That what I think is the best

 

[Mr.White]

I have a few questions for ya first. Are you working out alone? what does beginner mean? have you lifted weights at all before?


I would say lift each body part once a week. Your body and tissues need the rest to grow. if you are a true beginner, your goiong to be to sore to lift 2X a week on the same body part. Just take it slow and first and get your body used to the stress and then pound away. Also I would highly recommend a partner for your chest days. nothing beats forced reps! for growth that is.

 

[bilat]

yea i want to do forced reps... no workout partner though and the ones I could get to help later are worthless anyway.....

basically newbie to weights, lifted a little in school for sports.

I'm gonna do this split for sure now:
Day 1: Chest, Triceps.
Day 2: Quads, Hamstrings
Day 3: Delts
Day 4: Calves,Abs, Forearms
Day 5: Back, Biceps
Day 6: Rest.
Day 7: Rest.
4 x 6-10, 3 seconds down, pause, explode up--TUT.

I'll try to get 4+ exercises per muscle group.

 

[Mr.White]

That last routine you posted sounds alot better then the first. Have to give ya props just for working out! As youll find out not everyones body responds to the same lifts and rountines. Youll find your in time. Good luck.

 

[Jxaxsxe530]

less is more. its not the number of sets that counts, its the intensity of each set.

 

[Debaser]

You don't see people that are ripped doing low volume? Well I assume you don't mean what ripped traditionally means (low bodyfat not necessarily big) and you mean huge guys. Well, was Dorian Yates not big enough for you? Or Mike Mentzer?

Here are some things you must understand:

1. You have to have a pro's genetics and/or massive amounts of drugs for most of their training methods to work.

2. You most likely don't have those genetics, and I hope you aren't doing steroids now, and it would be cool if you never did them (you should wait at least 4-5 years before even thinking of touching a roid IMO)

FYI, I'm relatively a beginner, I've been training a bit less than a year. And doing very low volume routines (as in working out 2-3 days a week with only 5-8 TOTAL SETS in a day) I have put on 42 pounds to date (about the same bodyfat). HIT, or DC training (see sticky at top of page) is the way to go if you're not a genetic superman. HST is also worthwhile but not for a flat-out beginner imo.