Please critique my current workout...

[BrysZ]

Please critique my current workout. My main goal at the moment is to reduce body fat while maintaining muscle or maybe add some new lean muscle. I have listed my exercises below followed by the typical number of sets not including warm-up sets. For the 5 sets per exercise I typically complete 10, 8, 6, 6, 10 repetitions. If only 3 sets 10, 8, 6 repetitions. I strive to always finish my sets with at least one or two forced reps if I have a spotter available. Please excuse me if I don’t know all the proper names of the exercises I tried my best.

Day One Chest/Triceps:
Flat Barbell Bench Press 5 sets
Incline Bench Dumbbell Press 3 sets
Decline Bench Barbell Press 3 sets
Incline Bench Dumbbell Flies 3 sets
Seated Overhead Two Handed Dumbbell Extensions 5 sets
Cable Overhead Rope Extensions 3 sets
Cable Pushdowns 3 sets
30 minutes Cardio
Ab workout of choice

Day Two Back/Biceps
Wide Grip Pull-Downs 5 sets
Narrow Reverse Grip Pull-Downs 3 sets
Seated Cable Rows 3 sets
T-Bar 3 sets
EZ Bar Curl Wide Grip 5 sets
Dumbbell Curls 3 sets
Cable EZ Bar Curl Narrow Grip (drop set) 3 sets
30 minutes Cardio
Ab workout of choice

Day Three Off

Day Four Legs/Shoulders
Squats 5 sets
Leg Curls 3 sets
Calf Raises 3 sets
Smith Machine Behind the Head Military 5 sets
Arnold Presses 3 sets
Cable Upright Rows 3 sets
Smith Machine Shrugs 5 sets
Cable Lateral Raises 3 sets
30 minutes Cardio
Ab workout of choice

Day Five Biceps/Triceps
Straight Bar Wide Grip Preacher Curls 5 sets
Normal Grip Barbell Curls 3 sets
Cable Single Arm Curls (drop set) 3 sets
Skull Crushers 5 sets
Single Arm Dumbbell Extensions 3 sets
Bench Dips 3 sets

Day Six Off

Day Seven - Repeat Day One

[HyPeRtRoPhIc]

why are you taken dy three off? id throw your legs in there and have shoulders on thursday

[stack_it]

Taking day three off isn't bad. Sometimes it's nice to take a break in the middle of the week.

[stack_it]

What rep range are you doing all of these sets in?

I think you should drop the tris down to two sets instead of 3 after chest and do the same for bi's after back. Since you're already hitting them as a secondary during the first part of the night it doesn't take much. Then you are hitting them again on there own day so it may be close to overtraining them.

That's a pretty light leg routine. Add in leg presses or straight leg deadlifts.

On back night I would do the t-bar rows early in the night. Either first or second. It's a big mass movement and you'll be able to go heavier that way.

[stack_it]

Only other problem I could see is by only taking one day off in between bi/tri and chest/tri. Your tris more than likely haven't had time to recover.

[HyPeRtRoPhIc]

Taking day three off isn't bad. Sometimes it's nice to take a break in the middle of the week.

i totally agree, im just saying i feel like i work that muscle better with a day of its own, using a day to concentrate on my legs, and shoulders separately, ya know?

[BrysZ]

why are you taken dy three off? id throw your legs in there and have shoulders on thursday

I agree but at my age (44) I really need a day off after two on...otherwise my last two days are not as productive.

[BrysZ]

What rep range are you doing all of these sets in?

I think you should drop the tris down to two sets instead of 3 after chest and do the same for bi's after back. Since you're already hitting them as a secondary during the first part of the night it doesn't take much. Then you are hitting them again on there own day so it may be close to overtraining them. I agree dropping both down to two sets

That's a pretty light leg routine. Add in leg presses or straight leg deadlifts.I had leg presses in there but with shoulders it became a looonnngggg night and I ran out of steam...how about 7 sets of squats instead????

On back night I would do the t-bar rows early in the night. Either first or second. It's a big mass movement and you'll be able to go heavier that way.

sounds good...thanks

^^^^^^^

[BrysZ]

Only other problem I could see is by only taking one day off in between bi/tri and chest/tri. Your tris more than likely haven't had time to recover.

I can understand that concern...especailly since I tend to need extra time for triceps to heal....I will keep close attention to how they feel going into Day One and might have to adjust things if they seem too sore

[stack_it]

i totally agree, im just saying i feel like i work that muscle better with a day of its own, using a day to concentrate on my legs, and shoulders separately, ya know?

Yeah I beleive they are worked better separately also. I thought you were wondering just about the day off. I interpreted your post wrong.

[stack_it]

Brysz could you move calves to arm day and put the presses in there? That should keep it close to the same workout time and arms should be a fairly quick night so adding in calves shouldn't be hard.


I lift with a 4 day routine and this is what I do.

Monday - legs
Tuesday - chest tri
Wednesday - back bi
Thursday or Friday - shoulders calves.

You could still take wed off and go mon, tues, thurs, fri.

[BrysZ]

Brysz could you move calves to arm day and put the presses in there? That should keep it close to the same workout time and arms should be a fairly quick night so adding in calves shouldn't be hard.


I lift with a 4 day routine and this is what I do.

Monday - legs
Tuesday - chest tri
Wednesday - back bi
Thursday or Friday - shoulders calves.

You could still take wed off and go mon, tues, thurs, fri.

I like that routine. I recently added in the extra arm workout because of my lacking success in that area. That is why scheduling gets hard for me when going with the four days per week. If I took out the extra arm workout I would have plenty of time.

[BrysZ]

Brysz could you move calves to arm day and put the presses in there? That should keep it close to the same workout time and arms should be a fairly quick night so adding in calves shouldn't be hard.


I lift with a 4 day routine and this is what I do.

Monday - legs
Tuesday - chest tri
Wednesday - back bi
Thursday or Friday - shoulders calves.

You could still take wed off and go mon, tues, thurs, fri.

Also calves I superset with leg curls so I don't use up much or any time. How about adding in leg extensions? I could superset leg extensions, leg curls, and calves in a rotation with no rest...just an idea?

[stack_it]

Also calves I superset with leg curls so I don't use up much or any time. How about adding in leg extensions? I could superset leg extensions, leg curls, and calves in a rotation with no rest...just an idea?

That would help. Make sure you are still taking breaks in between supersets. Meaning do your sets, rest, then do your sets again.

[HyPeRtRoPhIc]

I agree but at my age (44) I really need a day off after two on...otherwise my last two days are not as productive.

o ok understand bud, sounds good to me then

[HyPeRtRoPhIc]

Yeah I beleive they are worked better separately also. I thought you were wondering just about the day off. I interpreted your post wrong.

o no lol its cool bro

[BrysZ]

Only other problem I could see is by only taking one day off in between bi/tri and chest/tri. Your tris more than likely haven't had time to recover.

You had it dead on...went to do chest Saturday and triceps were still pretty burnt up from the arm workout two days before...

What do you think of this

Chest/Triceps
Back/Biceps
Off
Legs/Shoulders/Triceps
Biceps/Traps
Off
Repeat

[stack_it]

You had it dead on...went to do chest Saturday and triceps were still pretty burnt up from the arm workout two days before...

What do you think of this

Chest/Triceps
Back/Biceps
Off
Legs/Shoulders/Triceps
Biceps/Traps
Off
Repeat

That will work if you really wanna train arms twice per week. Just be careful not to overtrain.

Many people see great results with just hitting bi's and tris after back and chest only.

So something like this would work for that.
Chest/tris
Back/bi's
Off
Shoulders
Legs
Off
Repeat

[BrysZ]

That will work if you really wanna train arms twice per week. Just be careful not to overtrain.

Many people see great results with just hitting bi's and tris after back and chest only.

So something like this would work for that.
Chest/tris
Back/bi's
Off
Shoulders
Legs
Off
Repeat

Thanks...I might switch to this if arms twice a week doesn't produce any results. I have added about 15-20 pounds to my ez bar curls and about 10-15 pounds to my skull crushers though. But its hard to tell for sure because its a big difference in strength from doing arms after chest or back or doing arms alone on their own day...