Mass attack

[Unit 2005]

I have been training for about 6 years and have been following my current routine for too long so i am looking for a new routine. Mine has become boring and going to the gym feels like going through the motions at the moment...hoping to kick start some new gains by changing up my routine.

Basically been following your typical bodybuilding routine:-
Monday - Chest & Bis
Tuesday - Legs & Abs
Wednesday - Back
Thursday - Legs & Abs
Friday - Shoulders & Triceps

For chest, back and legs i am using about 4 or 5 exercises of at least 3 sets. For Arms & Shoulders its more like 3 exercsies.

Should i just change up my exercises or radically change the routine? Was thinking of maybe simplifying things but would i loose muslce as i would not be working everything from different angles and with different movements?

Can anyone suggest a new rotuine for me? I need to spice things up to keep me motivated. Any advice or views would be greatly appreciated!

 

[SgtSlaughter]

I went from a similar BB type routine to the Bill Starr 5x5

BIG change

Read the Training Sticky Thread at the Top of the Forum for other alternatives.

 

[HotMan]

you'll notice a great jump if you split your body parts into 2 days..

reason being what exercises you did 3rd and 4th in the group were for light weights due to exhustion.

Example:
MONDAY
BACK: FRONTPULL 3-4X5 no rest CHIN DOWNS 3-4X10

FRIDAY
BACK: do superset HEAVY ROW (CABLE OR BB ROW) 3-4x5 no rest REAR DELT DB ROW 3-4x10

your getting the same reps in per week but your using heavy weight on all because your not tired.

you will grow must faster and stronger.. the super sets workgreat also.. your getting your cns work in plus volume plus post fatigue reps... great routine trust me...

 

[HodgeMN]

Your volume looks high to me.

 

[stevius]

Simplifying your workout doesn't necessarily mean you lose muscle. Over several years you can really build a solid foundation with the basics. I think it's only when you've reached peak efficiency that you can really cut down on training volume, and start to enjoy experimentation with different exercise regimes.

Work around the big exercises- squat, deadlift, pullup, military press, rowing, benching, dips etc- then fill in with smaller exercises if you're looking to attain a particular symmetry or if you don't feel worked enough in specific body area.

I think the consistency is killing your enthusiasm- there's a fine line between conditioning your body too much and not providing regular resistance for the purpose of adaptation. Mix it up big time- swap over from lower intensity (high volume) workouts to high intensity (low volume) workouts. Obviously you'll need to alter your resting time, give your nervous system a break and get those 'hard to heal' areas up to scratch.

Judging from your current workout you're overtraining your lower back. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday your lower back is taking a big strain. Personally my strategy is one I call 'pick the weight off the floor'. I begin by warming up the hips and lower back- cleaning it off the floor- several reverse curls and military press go in there. Once I've added enough weight I can start doing rows and SlDL's or deadlifts. Either way I don't move from one spot and I get up to three big compound movements in there, before moving on to pullups or a little more bicep work. Next day I could work on Calves, Abs and chest. Squats come a few or more days later depending on how intensely I've been deadlifting and rowing.

 

[BiggT]

Unit.....you don't get the bulk of your gains from hitting all your muscles from all angles with everything and the kitchen sink.....most of your base mass comes from getting good at the hard, but simple things......a routine centered around improving your 5-8 rep deadlift, squat, bench, military press, and row for example......I like the idea of splitting up what you do into 2 days because it creates frequency and it will be easier to push rows on Mon as a main lift and deadlifts on Fri.....you don't have to worry about cramming 10lbs of shit in a 5lb bag.

I can't say enough good things about non-traditional BB splits like the '5x5' in the stickies, and upper/lower training, or squats and pulls one day, presses and tris the next......but if you're wedded to bodypart splits, they can work well for you, you just need to organize so you have bang for your buck and quality over quantity, the focus needs to be progression, not randomly doing a bunch of shit trying to get sore and pumped.