Routine Question

[Travers54]

Hey all, I've been reading around the site about overtraining and stuff and I was just curious if you could tell me if you think I am?
Mon/Fri: Chest, Shoulder, Tris
Tues/Sat: Bis, Forearms, Upper back
Wed/Sun: Legs, Lower Back
Thurs: Rest
From what I have read this seems to be overtraing, I am 17 years old 6' ft. and around 180 lbs and I have been lifting for about 8 months, my goals are to gain mass while keeping off as much fat as possible I would like to gain about 10 to 15 lbs of muscle. Currently I eat 7x a day and take in 2000-2500 cals and I drink 1 gallon of water per day. My Meal plan looks as follows:

Meal #1 6:00am: 1-1/2 cup Shredded wheat w/8oz fat free milk, scoop of whey, and a slice of whole wheat bread.
Meal#2 9:00am: 2tbl spns of nat pb on whole wheat bread and 1 6 oz chicken breast.
Meal#3 12:00pm: pre-workout 1/2 cup oatmeal and 1 scoop whey
Meal#4 2:00pm: post-workout 8oz grape juice and 1 scoop whey
Meal #5 4:00pm: Can of tuna or 6oz chicken breast and 1 slice whole wheat bread
Meal #6 6:30pm: Chicken, Fish or Steak (depends) and 1/2 cup of brown rice
Meal #7 9:00pm: 8oz fat free milk, 1 scoop whey, couple of scoops of natty pb

What I'm looking for is for you to critique pretty much all of what I am doing. If possible you could give me some insight on my training, I see a lot of you guys saying to train a muscle once per week, not sure if being 17 years old I need to be training differently. Thanks.

[Stonecold54]

if that is your meal plan you are on your way to a good start...you might want to slowly increase the calories if you can to maximize muscle gain...also no one can tell you if you are overtrained as that is more of an endocrinology question but if you list sets, reps and frequency of training days I can have a better idea in which direction you should head.

[Pumpdogg]

^
:agree:

PD

[Travers54]

Originally posted by stonecold54
if that is your meal plan you are on your way to a good start...you might want to slowly increase the calories if you can to maximize muscle gain...also no one can tell you if you are overtrained as that is more of an endocrinology question but if you list sets, reps and frequency of training days I can have a better idea in which direction you should head.

Ok cool, well my routine goes like this:
Abs-Mon, Wed, Fri:
Decline situps: 4x20
Leg Lifts: 4xTill I feel the burn

Mon/Fri: Chest, Shoulders, Tris
Chest:
Bench press: 4x8-10
Incline DB press: 3x10
DB flys: 3x10
Shoulders:
Lateral Raises: 4x10
Front Raises: 3x10
Tris:
Lying Tricep Extensions: 4x8-10
Dips behind back w/ weight: 4x10

Tue/Sat: Bis, Back, Forearms
Bis:
Standing E-Z bar curls: 4x8-10
Alternating DB curls: 3x8
Preacher Curls: 4x8-10
Back:
Wide grip chin ups: 5x10
Forearms:
Reverse Grip Preacher Curls: 4x10

Wed/Sun: Legs, Lowerback
Legs:
Squat: 4x10
Lunges: 3x10
Hamstring Curls: 3x12
Leg Extensions: 4x12
Calf Raises: 3xTill if feel the burn
Lower Back:
Straight Leg dead lift: 4x8
Good Mornings: 3x8

[Timma]

Originally posted by Travers54
Ok cool, well my routine goes like this:
Abs-Mon, Wed, Fri:
Decline situps: 4x20
Leg Lifts: 4xTill I feel the burn

Mon/Fri: Chest, Shoulders, Tris
Chest:
Bench press: 4x8-10
Incline DB press: 3x10
DB flys: 3x10
Shoulders:
Lateral Raises: 4x10
Front Raises: 3x10
Tris:
Lying Tricep Extensions: 4x8-10
Dips behind back w/ weight: 4x10

Tue/Sat: Bis, Back, Forearms
Bis:
Standing E-Z bar curls: 4x8-10
Alternating DB curls: 3x8
Preacher Curls: 4x8-10
Back:
Wide grip chin ups: 5x10
Forearms:
Reverse Grip Preacher Curls: 4x10

Wed/Sun: Legs, Lowerback
Legs:
Squat: 4x10
Lunges: 3x10
Hamstring Curls: 3x12
Leg Extensions: 4x12
Calf Raises: 3xTill if feel the burn
Lower Back:
Straight Leg dead lift: 4x8
Good Mornings: 3x8

Definitely overtraining. Try reducing your sets to like two or three. Here's an example:

Mon/Fri: Chest, Shoulders, Tris
Chest:
Bench press: 2x8-10
Incline DB press: 2x10
DB flys: 3x10 Take these out and do some declines
Shoulders:
Lateral Raises: 1 set to failure
Front Raises 1 set to failure
Tris:
Lying Tricep Extensions: 3x8-10


Tue/Sat: Bis, Back, Forearms
Bis:
Standing E-Z bar curls: 3x8-10
Back:
Wide grip chin ups: 3x10
Throw some rows in here.
Forearms:
Reverse Grip Preacher Curls: 1 set to failure.

Wed/Sun: Legs, Lowerback
Legs:
Squat: 3x10
Lunges: 3x10
Hamstring Curls: 3x12
Leg Extensions: 3x12
Calf Raises: 3xTill if feel the burn
Lower Back:
Straight Leg dead lift: 3x8
Good Mornings: 3x8

There are some exercises I took out cause you are working those muscles enough with other exercises. Personally I would cut some more reps and sets out, but this is a start.

[Slashmonay]

ya throw some rows in there, and some lat pulldowns.

[Travers54]

Originally posted by Timma
Definitely overtraining. Try reducing your sets to like two or three. Here's an example:

Mon/Fri: Chest, Shoulders, Tris
Chest:
Bench press: 2x8-10
Incline DB press: 2x10
DB flys: 3x10 Take these out and do some declines
Shoulders:
Lateral Raises: 1 set to failure
Front Raises 1 set to failure
Tris:
Lying Tricep Extensions: 3x8-10


Tue/Sat: Bis, Back, Forearms
Bis:
Standing E-Z bar curls: 3x8-10
Back:
Wide grip chin ups: 3x10
Throw some rows in here.
Forearms:
Reverse Grip Preacher Curls: 1 set to failure.

Wed/Sun: Legs, Lowerback
Legs:
Squat: 3x10
Lunges: 3x10
Hamstring Curls: 3x12
Leg Extensions: 3x12
Calf Raises: 3xTill if feel the burn
Lower Back:
Straight Leg dead lift: 3x8
Good Mornings: 3x8

There are some exercises I took out cause you are working those muscles enough with other exercises. Personally I would cut some more reps and sets out, but this is a start.

Ok, Thanks Timma.
So is the routine that you gave me good for adding size, strength, both? And do I need to take a little time off before I adjust my routine? The reason I ask is one guy found that he was overtraining and said he was gonna take like 3 weeks off.

[JACKAL]

personally i prefer training a muscle a week, but if youre making gains then more power to you. the only suggestion i have is more protein post-workout. i would try and get atleast 40-50g PWO. good luck to you.

[Timma]

Nah you can adjust right away. This will give you size more than strength. If you want more strength, you'll have to up the weight and decrease the reps. And like jackal said take in more protein PWO, and take in some more carbs.

[Travers54]

Originally posted by Timma
Nah you can adjust right away. This will give you size more than strength. If you want more strength, you'll have to up the weight and decrease the reps. And like jackal said take in more protein PWO, and take in some more carbs.

Post work out I have 8oz of grape juice which is 40g of carbs, could you tell me how many g's of carbs I should be taking in PWO?

[Timma]

I'd say around 60g. You could get some dextrose and add like a tablespoon or two of that. Stuff is really cheap.

[Travers54]

So, what exactly does dextrose do Post-Workout does it increase the insulin spike, I'm not to familiar w/ dextrose

[meat12]

Originally posted by Travers54
So, what exactly does dextrose do Post-Workout does it increase the insulin spike, I'm not to familiar w/ dextrose

restores glycogen levels

http://www.supplementdirect.com/?con...=1&history=2#1

[BBAddict]

I think you should have a balance of some simple and some complex carbs postworkout-don't make it all simple carbs. Get some maltodextrin along with the dextrose to keep your muscles fueled for recovery until your next meal.

[Timma]

Originally posted by BBAddict
I think you should have a balance of some simple and some complex carbs postworkout-don't make it all simple carbs. Get some maltodextrin along with the dextrose to keep your muscles fueled for recovery until your next meal.

This is why you should have a meal within an hour of working out. If you do this you won't need the complex carbs in the PWO shake.