How often do you change programs?

[absolute hardgainer]

How often do you change your program/routine for lifting and/or cardio?

I am currently doing a 5 day split routine which I radically change every 8 weeks, with small adjustments in the meantime.

I know of some huge guys who stay with the same routine for 3 months or longer and some who will only stay on it 4 weeks. What do you all do?

As for me I find that new exercises are a key element to new strength/muscle gains.

hardgainer (just started a new program)

 

[Welsh power house]

If u are a REAL hard gainer, you should concentrate on a programme like this.........

day 1- DEADLIFTS- 5 sets of 4-10 reps
- BARBELL ROWS- 4 sets of 6-10 reps
- STRAIGHT BAR CURLS- 4-5 sets of 6-10 reps

day2-REST

day 3- SQUATS- 5 sets of 6-12 reps
- POWER CLEANS- 5 sets of 3-5 reps
- LEG PRESS- 5 sets of 6-8 reps

day 4- rest

day 5- BENCH PRESS- 5 sets of 4-8 reps
- DIPS- 3-5 sets of maximum reps(once you get to 20+, add weight)
- MILITARY PRESS- 5 sets of 5-8 reps

day 6- rest
day7- rest

........for at least 8-10 weeks, then rest a week, repeat it for another 8-10 weeks and then, if you've gained some quality mass and strength move on to a routine that involves other proven mass builders like chins, close grip bench press, incline bench press. Then some isolation exercises as well.
The name of the game is...BASICS IS BEST!...when you are a hardgainer.
If you do this programme for the time i have said, eat ALOT of quality food and protein and get enough rest, you cant fail but to grow!!!

 

[absolute hardgainer]

Thanks for responding power house

I can assure you that I am a REAL hardgainer, I'm not like all those phoney, wannabe hardgainers that you may be thinking about. I am a genuine hardgainer

The routine you put forward is solid, and emphasizes the big 6 exercises - nothing wrong with that. At the moment I am making my hard gains of a 5 day split routine which works each bodypart once a week, and I am doing fine with that. I did however start my training with a routine similar to the one you described. I agree with you 100% when you say basic is best.

Getting back to my original question, and the actual point of this thread: I am wondering how often OTHER members of this board are changing their routines, whether it's every 4,6,8,10,12 weeks etc or whether they muck around with it every other week...

Maybe we can have some more responses.

hardgainer (still mucking around with my new routine)

 

[katana]

Hey bro.

Man I can totally relate to being a hardgainer. I started out at 6'4" 185. lbs, and 37% bf. I was so weak, that I could barely curl a 12 lb dumbell once in good form, and my first bench was 60. lbs for a single.

It has taken me 14 years of training to get big enough to enter my first contest in nov. I have added 124. lbs of muscle to my frame, ( about 8 - 10 lbs a year), and it has been an excruciatingly long time.

My main principle is keping my body guessing.
I change my bodypart arrangement every 6 weeks. ( Push-pull, to antagonistic, to upper/lower).
I change the angles, and the weight, every workout, ( eg. Incline curls, and barbell curls one day, preacher curls, and dumbell curls the next time).

This keeps my body guessing, and I never fail to get sore. I also spend alot of time resting, to grow. and as a hardgainer, my nutrition has to keep me anabolic on a consistant basis, ( no margin for error).

If you give your body no choice but to grow, even the most die-hard hardgainer will have to get bigger, stronger, and leaner, or die in the process.

The best part is, I have not died yet, so I am still growing.

The moon reflected in a cold stream like an echo.E

 

[absolute hardgainer]

Right on katana!!! Good stuff.

14 years training, I reckon that qualifies you as a seasoned veteran! 124lb of muscle - AWESOME!!! Even in 14 years of training that's an awesome achievement. I have put on about 15 lb of LBM since the beginning of the year, training very intensely and eating very immensely. I can easily loose about 5 lb in a single week though just by not eating right so I too have to be spot on all the time. The point you make about keeping your body guessing is a good one I think.

Well, I'm sure we're all glad you ain't dead yet!
How about posting some of your pics from your first contest? I know it's still a while away, but keep us posted when it comes around...

hardgainer (more motivated now than ever before)

 

[South of the border]

If you really are a hardgainer and you don´t use AS, working out 5 days a week will only overtrain you and you won´t gain much out it (you even might get smaller and weaker).

Welsh wrote a good routine to follow.

I would recommend the book "Beyond Brawn" www.hardgainer.com It is the best book one can read on building muscle.

Good luck.

 

[Drifter]

I try to change things around every workout but still keep the basics involved. So I will change the grip, the angle, the reps, and the order around. I have either 2 or 3 exercises I always do depending on the day (major muscle groups) and then I change my other 2 or 3 exercises around.

Lets say for back I will do 4 movements all with a close grip one week and the next I will do the same four movements with a wide grip. The week after that will be mostly different from the 2 weeks before.

 

[Cackerot69]

Try not to change exercises often at all, stick with the same exercises until the routine stops working.

Switching rep ranges is sensible, but i think doing various rep ranges in each workout is the better route.

Switching exercise order is pretty pointless, always do the exercises that are most complicated first and require the most muscle mass first.

 

[Drifter]

I don't necessarily agree about not changing order on the excercises. When I have chest day I do Flat bench, Incline bench, Dips and then 1 or 2 accessory movements...db flies, db bench, cable crossovers etc. Now I always do a benching movement first but for the second exercise I like to do dips one day and the next workout have the other bench second. The reason I do this is that my dips really suffer after doing 2 benches in a row. I feel that dips are just as important as a second benching movement for improved strenght and if I always left them 3rd I would be depriving myself in some way. I understand this may not be scientific but it works for me I do know what you mean about keeping the more complicated lifts first and always do that but I believe you can still play around with things depending on the circumstances.

And about switching rep ranges, I agree with what you said and thats what I meant.

 

[Liberator]

I agree with South of the border, if you really are the hardest of hard gainers, get hold of that book

I bought it out of interest and have found it kicks major ass

you cant go wrong with it