Workout routine critique please

[blazerelf]

Saw this routine in some site and found it nice but not sure so id like some opinions about it before trying it.
Well im an ectomorph aiming to gain some weight, I have about 2 years workingout. I guess this should be enough to know what im trying to aim on this workout. Thanks

Monday: Chest/Biceps

4 sets of Incline Dumbbell Press, 8-10 reps
3 sets of Bench Press, 8-10 reps
3 sets of Incline Flies, 8-10 reps
3 sets of Chest Dips until failure
3 sets of Barbell Curls, 8-10 reps
3 sets of Preacher Curls, 8-10 reps, then drop the weight to half, and push out another 8

Tuesday: Legs/Calves

4 sets of Squats 8-10 reps
3 sets of Lunges 8-10 reps
3 sets of Leg Press 8-10 reps
3 sets of Leg Extensions till failure
3 sets of Leg Curls 8-10 reps

Calves are self explanatory, just use some of the machines till failure, a lot of reps, feel the burn.

Wednesday: Back

3 sets of Lat Pulldowns 8-10 reps
4 sets of Deadlifts 8-10 reps
3 sets of Bent Over Rows 8-10 reps
3 sets of Dumbell Rows 8-10 reps
3 sets of Hyperextensions 8-10 reps

Thursday: Shoulders/Triceps

4 sets of Shoulder Press, alternate with Barbell & Dumbell every week 8-10 reps
3 sets of Upright Rows supersetted with Lateral Raises 8-10 reps
3 sets of front raises 8-10 reps
3 sets of Lying Rear Delt Raises 8-10 reps
3 sets of Close-Grip Bench Press 8-10 reps
4 sets of Pulldowns 8-10 reps
3 sets of Skullcrushers 8-10 reps

Saturday: Full Body

3 sets of Deadlifts 8-10 reps
3 sets of Squats 8-10 reps
3 sets of Clean and Jerk 8-10 reps
3 sets of Weighted Pull ups 8-10 reps

[brad1986]

Whats your goal??

[blazerelf]

Whats your goal??

AS i specified at the beggining of the post above my goal is to gain weight (muscle) since im ectomorph which means im kinda skinny.

[vtach12]

If you are wanting to bulk up, diet is key. You must be eating cleanly every two hours! Calves should be done with heavy set and lower reps for size. Think about it, we do calves all day when we walk. You have to go heavy. I prefer to keep all the push/pull muscle separate i.e. chest and tris, back and biceps, ect. You Are doing full legs on tuesday, then you expect to do well at dead lifts the very next day? maybe drop dead lifts and do wide grip pull ups?

[TOkidd]

I agree with vtach12 about the pullups - there's no substitute for 'em. Scratch the lat pulldowns and do pullups instead. As an ectomorph, you should have no problems lifting your own weight. I'll tell you a funny story: Back during the first five years I was weight training, wide-grip chins were my pride-and-joy. To walk into a gym, go straight over to the chin bar and crank out 15 or 20 wide-grip chins is a good feeling. It's even better when you can hold a thirty or forty pound dumbell between your knees and still be able to do them. I learned then what I still see today in the gym - lots of guy avoid the chin bar because it takes time to be able to do them. It's much easier to sit your ass down on the lat pulldown machine and do lat pulldowns, especially if you are mesomorphic or endomorphic and have lots of bodyweight to lift.

So after five years of steady training I went on an extended hiatus from weight training, punctuated by a few brief returns that never lasted more than a few months. My life was in a tailspin and I just couldn't get it together long enough to train properly. Over the past two years, I went from being a lean ectomorph who had to work and eat his ass off for every pound of muscle to a guy who could finally put on weight and was starting to look more mesomorphic. In one year my weight shot up by forty pounds and I wasn't even training. So I thought it was time to get back in the gym and make the most of my slower metabolism, hoping I would finally be able to gain weight easier. For my first back workout, I walked straight over to the chin bar in the middle of a packed gym and triumphantly grabbed a hold of the bar. I went to do my first chin and could barely bring myself up an inch! All that time out of the gym and the extra pounds I had packed on made it impossible for me to crank out a single chin. I was so discouraged! But I was not about to do lat pulldowns - chins are a point of pride that every bodybuilder should be able to have. So I turned to the assisted chin-and-dip and started with sixty pounds of assistance. Gradually, I worked my way to less and less assistance and just as I was getting to the point where I could stop using assistance I was forced to take a six month break from the gym. By the time I started training again, my membership had lapsed and I was working out at home. I had purchased a door-frame chin bar and couldn't bloody use it. I had gained even more weight in the interim and couldn't crank out a single chin. So I grabbed a chair and used my legs to assist me just enough to crank out a chin, and typically did 6-8 per set for 5 sets. I did this for weeks, wondering if it was working. Then, only a month ago, I decided to try without the chair and was able to do 5 wide-grip chins right off the bat. I did 5 more sets of five chins each and it was the best feeling in the world. Now I'm doing five sets of eight reps each and I'm feeling stronger every week. I alternate wide-grip and narrow-grip every week.

The point of this long, silly story is that chins are a tough exercise, but one that is irreplacable. It's a core movement and I don't believe any pulldown can replace it. My story is meant to illustrate that, despite the challenges chins may present at first, if you stick with them you'll be rewarded with much more than bragging rights - my lats are still my strongest muscle and I have to attribute this to years of doing chins. So scratch the pulldowns and start doing chins...NOW!

Also, consider a split that doesn't have you working certain muscle groups on consecutive days like vtach12 pointed out. This is my split:

Monday: Chest
Tuesday: Arms
Wednesday: Legs
Thursday: Rest
Friday: Shoulders
Saturday: Back
Sunday: Rest

Also, I thought I should add that, as an ectomorph, overtraining is a real possibility if you spend too much time in the gym. I think 12-14 sets for large muscle groups and 9 for smaller muscles is plenty. Stick to core exercises like bench press, incline press, bent-over rows, pullups, barbell curl, hammer curl, skull crushers, narrow-grip bench press, Arnold press, lateral raises, deadlifts, squats. Keep your workouts to an hour or so, taking two-minute rests between sets. Work each muscle group once-per-week and eat as many calories as you can. As an ectomorph with lots of experience using all kinds of training regimens, I've found that this is the best way to grow. Keep it simple, don't overdo it, take extra days of rest if you need to. If you stick to these principles, you'll be happy with your gains and limit the chances for overtraining. Looking at your training regimen, I think you might be trying to do too much. Keep it to the number of sets I've recommended and you'll be happy, I promise. Just make sure you're giving every set your all, focusing all your attention on getting the largest range of motion and keeping your form perfect. Start with a weight you can do 10-12 reps with, and work to a weight that you can only do 5-6 reps with. After two months of heavy sets, switch to 10 rep sets for a month, incorporating more sculpting exercises. This is your de-loading period, where you decrease your volume a bit and lay off the heavy weights. If you want more suggestions, I'll be happy to help. Just let me know.

[blazerelf]

I agree with vtach12 about the pullups - there's no substitute for 'em. Scratch the lat pulldowns and do pullups instead. As an ectomorph, you should have no problems lifting your own weight. I'll tell you a funny story: Back during the first five years I was weight training, wide-grip chins were my pride-and-joy. To walk into a gym, go straight over to the chin bar and crank out 15 or 20 wide-grip chins is a good feeling. It's even better when you can hold a thirty or forty pound dumbell between your knees and still be able to do them. I learned then what I still see today in the gym - lots of guy avoid the chin bar because it takes time to be able to do them. It's much easier to sit your ass down on the lat pulldown machine and do lat pulldowns, especially if you are mesomorphic or endomorphic and have lots of bodyweight to lift.

So after five years of steady training I went on an extended hiatus from weight training, punctuated by a few brief returns that never lasted more than a few months. My life was in a tailspin and I just couldn't get it together long enough to train properly. Over the past two years, I went from being a lean ectomorph who had to work and eat his ass off for every pound of muscle to a guy who could finally put on weight and was starting to look more mesomorphic. In one year my weight shot up by forty pounds and I wasn't even training. So I thought it was time to get back in the gym and make the most of my slower metabolism, hoping I would finally be able to gain weight easier. For my first back workout, I walked straight over to the chin bar in the middle of a packed gym and triumphantly grabbed a hold of the bar. I went to do my first chin and could barely bring myself up an inch! All that time out of the gym and the extra pounds I had packed on made it impossible for me to crank out a single chin. I was so discouraged! But I was not about to do lat pulldowns - chins are a point of pride that every bodybuilder should be able to have. So I turned to the assisted chin-and-dip and started with sixty pounds of assistance. Gradually, I worked my way to less and less assistance and just as I was getting to the point where I could stop using assistance I was forced to take a six month break from the gym. By the time I started training again, my membership had lapsed and I was working out at home. I had purchased a door-frame chin bar and couldn't bloody use it. I had gained even more weight in the interim and couldn't crank out a single chin. So I grabbed a chair and used my legs to assist me just enough to crank out a chin, and typically did 6-8 per set for 5 sets. I did this for weeks, wondering if it was working. Then, only a month ago, I decided to try without the chair and was able to do 5 wide-grip chins right off the bat. I did 5 more sets of five chins each and it was the best feeling in the world. Now I'm doing five sets of eight reps each and I'm feeling stronger every week. I alternate wide-grip and narrow-grip every week.

The point of this long, silly story is that chins are a tough exercise, but one that is irreplacable. It's a core movement and I don't believe any pulldown can replace it. My story is meant to illustrate that, despite the challenges chins may present at first, if you stick with them you'll be rewarded with much more than bragging rights - my lats are still my strongest muscle and I have to attribute this to years of doing chins. So scratch the pulldowns and start doing chins...NOW!

Also, consider a split that doesn't have you working certain muscle groups on consecutive days like vtach12 pointed out. This is my split:

Monday: Chest
Tuesday: Arms
Wednesday: Legs
Thursday: Rest
Friday: Shoulders
Saturday: Back
Sunday: Rest

Also, I thought I should add that, as an ectomorph, overtraining is a real possibility if you spend too much time in the gym. I think 12-14 sets for large muscle groups and 9 for smaller muscles is plenty. Stick to core exercises like bench press, incline press, bent-over rows, pullups, barbell curl, hammer curl, skull crushers, narrow-grip bench press, Arnold press, lateral raises, deadlifts, squats. Keep your workouts to an hour or so, taking two-minute rests between sets. Work each muscle group once-per-week and eat as many calories as you can. As an ectomorph with lots of experience using all kinds of training regimens, I've found that this is the best way to grow. Keep it simple, don't overdo it, take extra days of rest if you need to. If you stick to these principles, you'll be happy with your gains and limit the chances for overtraining. Looking at your training regimen, I think you might be trying to do too much. Keep it to the number of sets I've recommended and you'll be happy, I promise. Just make sure you're giving every set your all, focusing all your attention on getting the largest range of motion and keeping your form perfect. Start with a weight you can do 10-12 reps with, and work to a weight that you can only do 5-6 reps with. After two months of heavy sets, switch to 10 rep sets for a month, incorporating more sculpting exercises. This is your de-loading period, where you decrease your volume a bit and lay off the heavy weights. If you want more suggestions, I'll be happy to help. Just let me know.

1 word to say about the little story: DEDICATION.
Well pulldown isn ot somethign i do that frequently i do is pullups more tha anything but we could say i ahve almost 2 year doing pullup n eevry single routine i have had for backso i tought hey lets vary it but well idk;anywyas how many sets u say is ok then

[TOkidd]

If the pullups aren't doing it for you anymore, try doing them weighted. That'll shock your lats into growth. Most back days I do five sets of chins, but once-a-month I'll go nuts with the chins until I can barely do a rep - like 5 sets of wide-grip followed by five sets of narrow-grip. That will leave you feeling a bit sore the next day, truss.

TOkidd