New Workout...Too Intense?

Hey everyone. I've been working out intensely these past few months and have been changing my diet to include protein shakes and meal replacement shakes. I'm looking to reshape my workout to be more intense.

My priorities are to increase my muscle mass, especially in the shoulders, back, and chest.

I have about 30 min to work out monday through friday during school and about 40-45 min after school on mon/wed/fri to work out. I came up with this workout plan after reviewing various articles on bodybuilding.com. I pretty much took my favorite ones for back, chest, shoulders, and abs and put them all together in this schedule.

My concern is that it may be too intense, but I do allow 48 hours to rest before working out the same muscle groups. Your opinions?

Mon/Wed/Fri During Class:
Chin-ups 3 sets (10, 8, 6 reps)
Bent Over Rows 3 sets (10, 10, 8 reps)
Lat Bar Pulldowns 3 sets (12, 10, 8 reps)
Seated Cable Row 1 set (8 reps)
Shrugs 3 sets (12 reps)

Mon/Wed/Fri After School:
Barbell Bench Press 4 sets (12, 10, 8, 6 reps) 2 min rest
Dumbbell Incline/Decline Press 4 sets (8 reps) 1.5 min rest
Superset:
Dumbbell Flys 3 sets (12 reps)
Straight-arm Dumbbell Pullovers 3 sets (12 reps)
1 min rest
*Notes: Bring weight down slowly (2 sec) and explode up

Tuesday/Thursday During Class:
Full Squat 4 sets (10, 8, 8, 6 reps)/Deadlift 4 sets (8, 6, 6, 4 reps))
Side Lateral Raises 3 sets (12, 10, 8 reps)
Reverse Fly 3 sets (12, 10, 8 reps)
Seated Military press 4 sets (10 reps)

Tuesday/Thursday After School:
Crunches 4 sets (30 reps) 15 sec rest
Leg Lifts 4 sets (20 reps)
Leg Crossed Crunches 4 sets (30 reps)
 
Quit pyramidding. You're also doing too much overlap. Add some deadlifts and/or lunges, and quit neglecting your hamstrings.
 
Hey, JPfitness, I was planning on doing full squat Tuesdays and deadlifts on Thursdays. Would you recommend I try to find time for deadlifts twice a week?

Also, what's wrong with pyramiding? And what do you mean by overlapping?

Thanks a lot.
 
For daily sessions you want to hit the same muscle group(s) each session. I suggest a heavier session the first session and use lighter loads with slower tempos for the 2nd session and use different excercises or varations.

Don't excess 120reps per muscle group per week if you train each bodypart one day a week.

You need more lower body work dude.
 
Are you sure I should hit the same muscle groups each session? I need 48 hours to rest each muscle group before working them again, right?

OH, i see, you mean for my morning/afternoon splits.

I have trouble arranging workout for muscle groups across the two sessions. I'll use chest for example. I've read that I can make the most gains by doing a big compound movement (bench press) which will cause the body to release testosterone, which promotes muscle growth. But I also need to perform my stretch/isolation exercises immediately afterwards. If i do them later, my muscles won't be warmed up so it would be dangerous to do flys in a second session without benching again. Do you kinda understand my dilemna? If only my school session were longer but that's not gonna happen.

How would you change my workout? Thanks a lot Newf.
 
Well what bodyparts do you want to target each day? That would be a start :)

fullbody?, 3,4,5 day split?, upper/lower split?, push/pull/legs?
 
Chest/Triceps
Back/biceps/shoulders
Legs/lower back (core)/abs

Maybe a three day split? My focus is less on legs than upper body.
 
Chest/triceps

1set session
Barbell bench press - 5x5
Dips - 5x5
Lying barbell extenstions - 3x5

2nd session
Incline Dumbell press - 3x12
Flyes - 3x12
Tricep pressdowns - 3x12

Are you planning on hitting the chest/triceps once or twice a week?
 
twice, maybe three times? Is that too much (i.e. overtraining)? I'm trying to target the lower pecs.
 
Last edited:
You can train you chest 3x per week but you will have to adjust the volume accordingly. Since you will be using a higher frequency you will need perform a relatively low volume session each time.

You have to make up your mind dude. :)
 
Most everything works if applied right. Personally i enjoy higher frequency. I hit all the major muscle groups at least 3x per week. But you have to start at 2 or 3 if your haven't been expose to high frequency training in the past.
 
Back
Top