Just starting my 2nd year of weight training, I’m a newbie. I’m 21yrs old, 5’8-185lbs @ maybe 25%ish bf (im not real lean), I started at 155. Anyway I plan on cutting but right now I’m trying to bulk up more, I’m getting gains but they’ve been getting a lot slower. I’ve always had a pretty good frame, but here is where I am now going on 14 months

Neck 16”
Arms 15” (solid)
Chest 42” (solid)
Quads 25” (solid)
Calf 18” (solid)
Waist 35” (sooo not solid)

Anyway I started off doing a basic routine it which looked like this. This is my OLD split.

Mon: Chest/Bis/Abs
Flat Dumbbell Press 3/8
Incline Dumbbell Press 3/8
Incline Dumbbell Fly 3/8
Barbell Curls 3/8
Hammer Curls 3/8
Crunches 4/Failure

Tues: Off

Wed: Shoulders/Traps/Tris
Side Lat Raise 3/8
Forward Lat Raise 3/8
Dumbbell Shoulder Press 3/8
Shrugs 3/8
Skull Crusher 3/8
Triceps Pushdown 3/8

Thurs: Off

Fri: Back/Legs/Abs
One Arm Row 3/8
Barbell Row 3/8
Pulldowns 3/8
Leg Press 3/8
Leg Curls 3/8
Calf Raise 3/8
Crunches 4/Failure

Sat: Off
Sun: Off

Having never seriously lifted before I saw phenomenal gains off this routine. I packed on 20lbs in the first 3 months. Gains slowed down a lot and I stopped for a couple months to cut. I started up my bulking routine again and my gains were still progressing but very slowly and my lifts were only slightly increasing. Also, my muscles didn’t feel like they were getting hit very hard even when I increased the weight. I figured it was time for a more advanced routine so I reworked it to this one…

Mon: Chest/Bis
Bench Press 4/10
Incline Bench Press 4/10
Incline Fly 4/12
Barbell Curl 4/12
Hammer Curl: 4/10

Tues: Shoulders/Tris
Dumbbell Shoulder Press 4/10
Side Lat Raise 4/12
Forward Raise 4/12
Skull Crusher 4/10
Triceps Pushdown 4/10

Weds: Off

Thurs: Back/Traps
Deadlift 4/12
One Arm Row 4/12
Pulldowns 4/12
Dumbbell Shrugs 4/12
Behind Barbell Shrugs 4/12

Friday: Legs/Abs
Squats 4/12
Leg Press 4/12
Leg Curls 4/12
Calf Raise 4/12
Crunches 4/Failure
Reverse Crunches 4/Failure

Sat: Cheat Day
Sun: Off

I really like this split, but its been rough. I switch out exercises every 2 weeks, but they stay similar. I only switch it up to use dumbbells, machines, or cables doing the same type of exercize.

My diet pretty good, I’m eating balanced and every 2 hours and I’m definitely getting enough protein and I never eat crap. With this new routine I can feel my muscles getting worked again and I like it. However I struggle to get through each day and I sometimes feel soreness for up to 2 days. I’m worried that I might be overtraining a little. Gains seem to be good; I'm lifting more but I get tired faster. Sometimes I need overly long rests between sets which I don’t like and by the time I finish the last set of each exercise I feel drained as hell. It still seems like I’m getting better gains as far as lifting goes but it’s hard to tell cause I’ve only been at it for a month. So what do you guys think, which split is better? I think my new one is but I’m concerned I might have added too much volume. I figured I’m a little more advanced now and I should be able to handle increased volume though. I need input from you experienced guys, I’m still fairly new to this and I need to know what should “feel right”, I’ve read books on weight training but they just tell me what I should be doing and are pretty vague about how I should be feeling. I thought about lowering the weights so I wouldn’t feel so drained, but isn’t going for the max weight I can lift for as many reps as I can manage what I should be doing? I’ve always done that and I’ve always thought lowering weight is a step backwards unless I’m trying to cut.