finally taking u guys advice, changing routine! suggestions please!

[MDAM21]

ok, so i've been doing body part training, hittin the weights 6 days a week for about 4 months now, getting good results, but i am finally ready to take your guys advice and do a split routine. trying to gain some lean muscle poundage and give my joints a rest. my old routine was:
Monday: chest (4 exercises at 3 sets)
Tuesday: biceps(ditto w/ ex. and sets)
Wednesday:legs(ditto)
Thursday:tri's(ditto)
friday: back(ditto)
Saturday shoulders and traps(ditto) Sunday: rest
SO MY NEW PROGRAM IS:
Monday: chest and bi's (3 sets per muscle)
Tuesday: traps, abs, and cardio(ditto)
Wednesday:shoulders and legs
Thursday: light cardio, light abs, heavy stretching
Friday: Back and tri's
saturday: rest
sunday: calves
keep in mind i play basketball a few times a week as well and my cardio is either running or hitting the heavy bag for about half an hour. what do you guys think? i'm open to suggestions

[Stonecold54]

This will probably sound terse, but explain how that change in routine will increase lean muscle mass and give your joints a break. I am not trying to be snide just honest questions. thanks

[JUICE]

Re: finally taking u guys advice, changing routine! suggestions please!

Originally posted by MDAM21
ok, so i've been doing body part training, hittin the weights 6 days a week for about 4 months now, getting good results, but i am finally ready to take your guys advice and do a split routine. trying to gain some lean muscle poundage and give my joints a rest. my old routine was:
Monday: chest (4 exercises at 3 sets)
Tuesday: biceps(ditto w/ ex. and sets)
Wednesday:legs(ditto)
Thursday:tri's(ditto)
friday: back(ditto)
Saturday shoulders and traps(ditto) Sunday: rest
SO MY NEW PROGRAM IS:
Monday: chest and bi's (3 sets per muscle)
Tuesday: traps, abs, and cardio(ditto)
Wednesday:shoulders and legs
Thursday: light cardio, light abs, heavy stretching
Friday: Back and tri's
saturday: rest
sunday: calves
keep in mind i play basketball a few times a week as well and my cardio is either running or hitting the heavy bag for about half an hour. what do you guys think? i'm open to suggestions

it sounds good brother, but what you eat is whats going to put on some weight. I before kept the diet the same before but changed workouts and I stayed the same, but when i increased my protein and upped my calories a bit, that when i started putting on muscle.

Workout routine changes are good, very good.

[Slashmonay]

you need to change your excersises Bro,

[MDAM21]

stonecold, to answer your question, i thought having an extra day of rest would give my muscles a day to recooperate, and by only doing traps and bi's on tues and thursday(only one muscle each day) and not hitting a major group, allowing more recovery time. this in turn would let my joints (knees mainly) rest as well. i do try to eat, from the advice of S.M. members. but slashmonay, what do u mean by change exercises? R u sayin u dont like the routine? if so why not?

[Slashmonay]

i mean, instead of changing days and bodyparts, change excersises and ways you do them, supersets,giants, etc...instead of flat bench, do some dumbell presses

[MDAM21]

oh yeah for sure. i never do the same workout 2 weeks in a row. if i do bench press on week one, i always do dumbell bench on week 2. same with weight and repetitions. my workouts are pretty varied, but what do you think of the split routine? better than single body parts?

[mastakillah]

dude, give legs there own day! you do bis in one workout and tris in another, if anything you should split quads one day and hams the other. building legs will definitely add more weight and strenght faster than prioritizing arms

your gonna end up top heavy

[MDAM21]

yeah, i know what u mean, but i bicycle to and from work, and play basketball a few times a week, and run a couple times a week. so i feel i more than one heavy day for quads and hammys is too much. i am pretty strong in my legs and gaining strength, and im pretty proportional, i mean, i bench press 225 6-8 reps for 3 sets, sometimes more weight less reps. and i can squat(with good form, im a stickler for form) 315 6-8 times for 3 sets as well. so i dunno, i think im doin ok in the leg dept.

[mastakillah]

in that case you might not have to.

your legs sound like they grow the way my shoulders do. i actually stopped training shoulders for about a 1 1/2 years and they're still my biggest bodypart!

[MDAM21]

yeah, genetically my legs just grow, i lift with my friends and by the time they are burnt out of the leg workout i am still fresh. too bad the rest of my body isnt like that

[slimer]

Your new routine looks better. when you say (3 sets per muscle) is that total or are you still doing 4 exercises per muscle. 4 exercises per muscle is too much. I used to do a similiar routine to yours for about 2 years after the first year I had almost no strength gains and no size gains for almost a year. So I started changing my routine untill I found I gain a lot more doing 3-5 heavy warm up sets and then one all out set with a few negative or rest pause reps at the end. One exercise per muscle group. Dogg Crapp style, I grow every week. I've been doing this for 6 months and my bench has gone from 330 to 375 and still going up.

[MDAM21]

one exercise per muscle huh. yeah thats about what i do..like on my chest/bi's day, i do one flat press(bench, or D.B. bench, or hammer strength) one incline press, and one flye movement. is that what you mean, always 3 to 4 sets per exercise

[MDAM21]

hey fella's, if any of you care, i've been on my new program about 2 weeks now and in conjunction with eating a little more regularly i've gained 3 lbs! not a huge feat but shit, i was stuck at 191 forever. 194 and i feel massive! ha ha, well not massive, but it feels good

[slimer]

Thats great that your making good gains, Has your strength gone up?
My workout is 1 working set per muscle group train M/W/F it looks more like this.
Day1
Flat bench- 3 warm up sets(135*12 225*8 265*4) 1 working set of 315*6 rest pause 10 seconds 315*3 rest pause 10 seconds 315*1 with 1 forced rep Then a static hold about 6inches off my chest for about 10 second but I try for 20 seconds then thats it for chest and its off to bent over rows, then deadlifts, then hanging clean and presses, and finally dips focusing on tricepts

Its agreat program for hardgainers.