Please help me create a workout plan.

[Muse]

Hello There.
My name is.. Muse

Stats
5 ft7
155 lbs
12.5% BF.
Age: 21

Aim: To achieve a lean bulk, maintaining low BF.

I was wondering if someone could kindly give me a workout to use please?
I was forwarded here in another thread, so would really appreciate help

I can hit the gym 3-4 times per week.

Muse.

[lifter65]

how long have you been lifting, whats your experience, and whats your lifts

[Muse]

Hey.
around 3-4 years on and off.
decent experience, just out of the routine atm.

lifts not good. probably only benching around 80kg

[lifter65]

3-4 days to workout is perfect, you could do full body thrice a week, or upper twice and lower twice

[PurpleOnes]

Well I would suggest that you head to diet section and learn about bulking first. Do you have very busy weekly schedule or?

[Windex]

Hey.
around 3-4 years on and off.
decent experience, just out of the routine atm.

lifts not good. probably only benching around 80kg

Mate nobody is going to just "make" you a training routine. You have to realize that everyone's body is different and responds differently as well. Some require high volume low weight and some require low weight high volume. In addition, genetics is a huge factor. When Person A might need 3 extra sets of biceps, Person B might need to hardly train biceps at all because they grow like a weed when they are stimulated as secondary muscles.

There is no magic number of reps / sets / exercises. What I would do is a 4 day split of Chest/Shoulders + Back/Abs + Biceps/Triceps + Legs.

The most important concepts in my opinion that are universal to training are as follows:

(1) Give yourself atleast 1 rest day, although 2 would be great. - Your muscles don't grow in the gym, they do so when your resting
(2) Get to the gym, do what you've planned, and get out. You can be social all you want, but avoid trying out half of a buddy's routine or a random exercise here and there.
(3) Lift with proper technique
(4) Make every second of every rep of every set count.
(5) Don't worry too much about numbers. If you plan to do 8 reps, but on that 8th rep you can still do another 1-3, then do them. Otherwise your just selling yourself short.
(6) Do the Big 3 : Bench Press / Deadlift / Squat.

In summary, concentrate on how your body responds and see what works. If there was an optimal number for sets/reps/exercises then gyms would only have X different machines and everyone would be doing the same thing. This is obviously not the case.


With the above in mind, take the time to write up a draft of how you might train with your 4 days provided and if there are any obvious errors they can be corrected.

[TOkidd]

Everybody here has given you some great advice. Perhaps I can add some of the specificity you're looking for.

Although everyone responds differently to different routines in the gym, there are some universal principles for building lean mass and strength:

1. Stick with basic compound exercises using dumbells and barbells.
Chest: Incline/Flat/Decline Bench press; dumbell flys.
Back: Wide/Narrow-grip chins; barbell rows; dumbell rows; deadlifts.
Shoulders: Military press (I actually prefer an exercise called Arnold press. Look it up and consider using it instead of Military Press. You won't be able to lift as much, but IMO it's a better exercise); clean and press; upright rows; front/side/rear lateral raises (but ESPECIALLY side).
Biceps: barbell or EZ-bar curls; hammer curls; dumbell curls; preacher curls.
Triceps: skull-crushers; narrow-grip bench press; dips.
Legs: Squats; lunges; calf raises.

*This isn't a comprehensive list, just some of the basic compound, strength and mass building exercises that every BB has to be familiar with. Of course, you wouldn't incorporate all of these exercises into your weekly workout, but typically choose three for large muscle groups (chest) and two for smaller muscles (biceps). Shoulders are in a category by themselves because they have three separate heads that need to be worked separately. So Arnold presses, upright rows, and side lateral raises are a good starting point. I also do rear lateral raises, but some people skip 'em because the rear delts get a lot of action on back day. Upright rows are a great exercise for working both the front and side delts, and building upper body strength in general - IMO, they're indispensible, but once a month I switch them out for front dumbell lateral raises.

2. Another important point is consistency. Having a basic workout program you stick to week after week is good, but at the same time you can benefit tremendously from minor variations. Earlier I mentioned that I occasionally switch upright rows for front lateral dumbell raises. These kinds of occasional changes to your program keep your muscles guessing and help with muscle development. Another example could be doing Arnold presses twice a month and clean and press twice a month. Or alternating incline and flat-bench flys every other week. Once you've familiarized yourself with the plethora of exercises available, you can then make these occasional changes to your workout plan. The most important thing is to stick to the fundamentals, so that when you do make a change one week you're simply trading one press for another, one curl for another. As you progress in your training, then you can start thinking about using cables and isolation exercises to gain increased definition and development in specific parts of your muscles, i.e. bicep peak, inner chest development. Even then, these types of exercises compliment the basics; they don't replace them.

3. Consider a high intensity/low intensity split. Many bodybuilders will spend three weeks of every month working with heavy weights, low reps, high sets, and then spend one week with lighter weights, higher reps, lower sets. The purpose of this is to allow your body to recover from the high intensity training and also keep your training well-rounded. When doing high-intensity training, large muscles like pecs generally get about 12 sets and between 6-12 reps per set. Smaller muscle groups like bi's get 8 or 9 sets. Low intensity could be 9 sets for large muscles, 6 for small ones. Having medium-to-low rep counts means you're working with heavy weights, which builds both strength and mass. Here's an example of what your flat bench might look like during high intensity training:

Set 1: 12 reps
Set 2: 8 reps
Set 3: 6 reps
Set 4: 6 reps
Set 5: 8 reps

This mix of medium and low-rep sets gives you a mix of strength and mass-building in every workout. When you shift into your lower intensity period, your bench may look something like this:

Set 1: 12 reps
Set 2: 10 reps
Set 3: 10 reps

So you've reduced the number of sets and increased the number of reps by choosing a lighter weight. Personally, I spend two of every three months training with high set/low rep workouts, and then spend an entire month doing low-intensity training. What works best for you will have to be learned through experimentation.

These are just some of the basics I can think of to help you get started. If I think of anything else I'll post it. Hope it's helpful to you.

TOkidd

[Muse]

Well I would suggest that you head to diet section and learn about bulking first. Do you have very busy weekly schedule or?

I have roughly 1 hour per day free for gym

Everybody here has given you some great advice. Perhaps I can add some of the specificity you're looking for.

Although everyone responds differently to different routines in the gym, there are some universal principles for building lean mass and strength:

1. Stick with basic compound exercises using dumbells and barbells.
Chest: Incline/Flat/Decline Bench press; dumbell flys.
Back: Wide/Narrow-grip chins; barbell rows; dumbell rows; deadlifts.
Shoulders: Military press (I actually prefer an exercise called Arnold press. Look it up and consider using it instead of Military Press. You won't be able to lift as much, but IMO it's a better exercise); clean and press; upright rows; front/side/rear lateral raises (but ESPECIALLY side).
Biceps: barbell or EZ-bar curls; hammer curls; dumbell curls; preacher curls.
Triceps: skull-crushers; narrow-grip bench press; dips.
Legs: Squats; lunges; calf raises.

*This isn't a comprehensive list, just some of the basic compound, strength and mass building exercises that every BB has to be familiar with. Of course, you wouldn't incorporate all of these exercises into your weekly workout, but typically choose three for large muscle groups (chest) and two for smaller muscles (biceps). Shoulders are in a category by themselves because they have three separate heads that need to be worked separately. So Arnold presses, upright rows, and side lateral raises are a good starting point. I also do rear lateral raises, but some people skip 'em because the rear delts get a lot of action on back day. Upright rows are a great exercise for working both the front and side delts, and building upper body strength in general - IMO, they're indispensible, but once a month I switch them out for front dumbell lateral raises.

2. Another important point is consistency. Having a basic workout program you stick to week after week is good, but at the same time you can benefit tremendously from minor variations. Earlier I mentioned that I occasionally switch upright rows for front lateral dumbell raises. These kinds of occasional changes to your program keep your muscles guessing and help with muscle development. Another example could be doing Arnold presses twice a month and clean and press twice a month. Or alternating incline and flat-bench flys every other week. Once you've familiarized yourself with the plethora of exercises available, you can then make these occasional changes to your workout plan. The most important thing is to stick to the fundamentals, so that when you do make a change one week you're simply trading one press for another, one curl for another. As you progress in your training, then you can start thinking about using cables and isolation exercises to gain increased definition and development in specific parts of your muscles, i.e. bicep peak, inner chest development. Even then, these types of exercises compliment the basics; they don't replace them.

3. Consider a high intensity/low intensity split. Many bodybuilders will spend three weeks of every month working with heavy weights, low reps, high sets, and then spend one week with lighter weights, higher reps, lower sets. The purpose of this is to allow your body to recover from the high intensity training and also keep your training well-rounded. When doing high-intensity training, large muscles like pecs generally get about 12 sets and between 6-12 reps per set. Smaller muscle groups like bi's get 8 or 9 sets. Low intensity could be 9 sets for large muscles, 6 for small ones. Having medium-to-low rep counts means you're working with heavy weights, which builds both strength and mass. Here's an example of what your flat bench might look like during high intensity training:

Set 1: 12 reps
Set 2: 8 reps
Set 3: 6 reps
Set 4: 6 reps
Set 5: 8 reps

This mix of medium and low-rep sets gives you a mix of strength and mass-building in every workout. When you shift into your lower intensity period, your bench may look something like this:

Set 1: 12 reps
Set 2: 10 reps
Set 3: 10 reps

So you've reduced the number of sets and increased the number of reps by choosing a lighter weight. Personally, I spend two of every three months training with high set/low rep workouts, and then spend an entire month doing low-intensity training. What works best for you will have to be learned through experimentation.

These are just some of the basics I can think of to help you get started. If I think of anything else I'll post it. Hope it's helpful to you.

TOkidd

Thanks very much!! That was very useful! I will create one and post it here for you to look over. appreciated very much.

[Muse]

How Does This Seem? = Please give advice where required

Monday (Legs):
Barbell Squats: 1x12, 1x10, 1x8, 2x6
Lunges?
Stiff Legged Deadlifts: 1x12, 1x10, 3x8
Hamstring Curls: 3x8 Something to replace this

Standing Calve Raises: 3x8/12 Dropsets

Tuesday: (Shoulders & Triceps)
Military Press/Arnold Press: 1x12, 3x8
Seated DB Press: 3x6
DB Lat Raise/Front Raise Supersets: 2x10/10

Skullcrushers: 1x12, 3x8
Narrow Grip Bench: 3x8
Triceps Bar: 2x12

Wednesday: Rest Day

Thursday: (Back & Traps)
Deadlifts: 1x10, 1x8, 3x6
Barbbell Row: 1x10, 1x8, 1x6
Wide Grip Pullups: 2x10

DB Shrugs: 1x12, 1x10, 3x8

Friday: (Chest & Biceps)
Incline Bench Press: 1x20 (warm-up/pre-exhaust), 3x8
Incline DB Press: 3x8
Incline DB Flyes: 2x10
Flat DB Flyes: 2x10
Flat DB Bench: 3x8

Barbell Curls: 1x12, 1x10, 1x8, 1x6, 1x4
Seated Incline DB Curls: 2x8
Single Arm DB Preacher Curls: 2x10

[lifter65]

i dont know where tokid got his understanding of HIT, but it is incorrect if im understanding him, HIT is doing one set of an exercise and going directly to the next, but each 1 set is to failure, look man the best thing for you is full body thrice or upper/lower twice a week, dont fall into the "i lift weights so i train body splits" rut, think about it, if you train chest once per week that equals "progress" 52 times per year, but if you hit it twice or even thrice, that number goes to 104 or 156 which is vastly superior for strength, growth, and fat loss, that is... if your not nearing your genetic potential which would require you to train a bodypart less becuz of higher intensity and volume

[TOkidd]

Dammiit! I just spent half-an-hour writing a post, but I hit some key and it brought me to another page, and the post was gone. Oh well. Now I don't feel like going into detail like before, so I"ll keep it brief.

lifter65: Many advanced bodybuilders, trainers, and "academic" bodybuilders have their own definition of high intensity and low intensity. That's fine. I don't dispute them. But when I say high intensity, I simply mean a workout that has high sets, medium-to-low reps, and heavy weight. By low intensity I mean a period of recovery where you continue your workouts same as usual but with less sets, higher reps, lower weights. This gives your body time to recuperate from the high intensity workouts, and also keeps your workout regimen well-rounded by giving you an opportunity to throw in some isolation exercises like tricep cable pulldowns and bent-over dumbell curls, and also giving you the opportunity to work on muscular endurance and definition by doing higher reps.

Lifter65, if you want to add your definition of high/low intensity and provide the OP some links to some of the better threads concerning this topic, I'm sure the OP would find that very helpful.
As far as training each body part twice a week, that's opening a debate that has been raging as long as I've been working out (1999). Having used both training regimens (once per week per muscle, and twice per week), I've learned that if you are not on a cycle then one focused heavy-duty workout per body part per week is just as good as two, except you get far more time for recovery. IMO, 1 body part once-a-week is the way to go when not on cycle. Just make sure your workouts are HARDCORE! ***In response to lifter65's next post, I want to clarify that I am not talking about upper/lower body training splits which is a completely different approach to training. If Muse wants to take a look at this approach, there are plenty of threads on this website dealing with the topic and he can decide if it's right for him. I have no opinion on whether or not it's better than one muscle group per day because I've never done an upper/lower body training split. I've always been happy with the results I got isolating a particular muscle group each day, so there was never a need to completely change my approach to training.

Muse: Your workout plan looks pretty good to me. I'll add my critiques and hope others chime in with theirs.

Legs: Save the deads for back day. Also, take the question mark off lunges. Lunges are a basic, mass building exercise that you must incorporate into your workout. Try 5 sets of squats, 5 sets of lunges, 3 sets of hamstring curls alternated every other week with quad raises. For calves, I do 4 sets of standing raises, 4 sets of seated raises. I work out at home, so I have to pay $10 every weeks to work out at the local rec center on leg day :P

Shoulders: You don't need 2 pressing exercises. Try 5 sets of Arnold Presses alternated ever-other-week with clean & press (IMO, the best strength & mass builder for your shoulders bar none). Follow up with 3 sets of heavy upright rows and 5 sets of side dumbell lateral raises. You can also throw in shurgs and bent over dumbell raises for the rear delts, but that would make this a very long day at the gym. Of course, there's always supersets! For tri's, I personally do 3 sets of skull-crushers, 3 sets of
narrow-grip bench, then 3 sets of dips to finish them off. I'm not sure if this is too much for you, so you'll have to experiment and see how many sets per body part are bast for you. For me, I generally keep it to 12-14 sets for large muscles and 9 for small (this doesn't include warm-ups).

Back: Looks fairly good, but I'd do the shrugs on shoulder day and the deads ONLY on back day. Lower back muscles need the longest to recover, so once-a-week is plenty. For me, I do 5-8 sets of wide-grip chins alternated with narrow-grip every-other-week. I sometimes do 8 sets, but not often - only if I don't feel I've gotten enough out of 5. Then I do 3 sets of heavy barbell rows and 3 sets of dumbell rows (8 reps typically)

Chest and Bi's: Personally, I think 5 sets of incline, 5 sets of flat, and 3 sets of flat-bench flys alternated every-other-week with incline flys is good for chest. For bi's, you can do 4 sets pf EZ bar curls, then 4 sets of hammer curls alternated with seated dumbell curls.

The above recommendations for your workout program are just my opinion, and of course they are for the high-intensity periods. Hopefully others will chime in with suggestions, but IMO, this is a great mass and strength program for beginner and intermediate level.

TOkidd

*As a note, lifter65 seemed to suggest that by HIT I meant going straight from 1 set to another. This is not true. The rep #'s I give are meant as a suggestion to choose a weight that would cause your muscles to fail at that number of reps. For me, a set is ALWAYS to failure. Furthermore, I like to take a two-minute break between sets. Minimum 1-miunte.

[lifter65]

ehh... well im just trying to help man people can debate all day, but when i say that i train upper and lower body twice a week, i dont train bodyparts separately, i train movements, big compound sexxy shit haha, but saying that doing that is only for people on roids is saying mark rippetoe, zach evenesh, tony gentilcore, chad waterbury, dave tate, jim wendler, louie simmons,and possibly the biggest joe defranco are all wrong, their athletes are huge, ripped, and strong because they train the human body it was meant to be trained, believe me 99% of kids in highschool and college train wityh bodypart splits and are weak, slow, but just becuz they have abs they think they are strong or something /rant over

[TOkidd]

lifter65:

I don't have any opinion on your upper/lower body training regimen, and never suggested that you need to be on cycle to make it work. I was referring to a regimen more like the one I have posted where a specific muscle or muscle group is trained hard once a week. If one were to try an do 12 sets for chest twice a week, my opinion is that they should probably be on a cycle if they even did it at all.
I know many people here do an upper/lower body training split and it works well for them. I don't believe steroids are necessary for this type of training to work.

TOkidd

[Muse]

Thanks for all the advice, and interesting debate guys. Appreciate it.
Nice write-up TOkidd

Muse.

[lifter65]

lifter65:

I don't have any opinion on your upper/lower body training regimen, and never suggested that you need to be on cycle to make it work. I was referring to a regimen more like the one I have posted where a specific muscle or muscle group is trained hard once a week. If one were to try an do 12 sets for chest twice a week, my opinion is that they should probably be on a cycle if they even did it at all.
I know many people here do an upper/lower body training split and it works well for them. I don't believe steroids are necessary for this type of training to work.

TOkidd

ok man i gotcha, but no way in hell would i do 24 sets for chest, lol im a powerlifter more like 4 total in a week

[spywizard]

lean bulk?? it's more about diet than the routine you do..

besides you should change up whichever routine you follow every 6-8 weeks to keep progress going..

[TOkidd]

lean bulk?? it's more about diet than the routine you do..

besides you should change up whichever routine you follow every 6-8 weeks to keep progress going..

I agree that diet is very important, but this is the Workout forum and the OP asked a question about a workout routine so that's the advice he was given. As far as changing your routine every 6-8 weeks, when you're first starting out I don't believe that's necessary. By constantly increasing the weight every week you are changing the workout during the first few months of serious training. As you get more advanced and the gains start to slow, then changes can be made, but only to a certain extent. It's not like you can stop doing bench press, incline press, chins, lateral raises, etc. But your strategy can change, exercises can be rotated, drop sets, forced reps, forced negs, supersets, etc. can be thrown in now and then, but there are core exercises that can't be changed. In these cases, your approach to the exercise can change - do wide-grip bench for a few weeks, use the bar instead of dumbells or vice-versa, do forced reps, start your workout with incline if you normally start with flat-bench, do decline press for a few weeks, etc.

TOkidd

[FreshOatmeal]

lol, almost every thread I read on this forum, there always seems to be some kind of bickering going on... insanity!

I just looked up the Arnold press, I had never heard of it before. Good call TOkidd, it looks intense. I want to give it a shot.