The details of my lifting routine...judge if for me?!

Hi all, I mostly read and read and read on here, and I see lots of cool stuff. BUT, in the end, I don't really know where I stand in my own workout. I just wanted to show what I do, and see if its a decent starting workout. I have been doing it for a month now, really enjoy it, and have started seeing some small improvements, so I hope its decent.

Edit - Forgive me, I don't know proper names for some lifts...

Day 1 - Chest/triceps

Flat Bench - bar
Incline Bench - bar
Decline bench - dumbells
Cable cross

Cable pushdowns
Skullcrushers
Behind the backs
Dips

Day 2 - Biceps/Back

Preacher curls - bar
Individual curls - cables
Individual curls - dumbells
Endurance lift - Start at 70, do 10 reps, down to 60, 10 reps, etc continuously...

Lawnmowers
Rows
Chest pull-this ones hard to describe, its a standing machine, you just pull the weight in towards your chest...
Lower back- no weight, then holding a 10, then with a 25 to my chest...

Day 3 - Shoulders/Stomach

Shoulder press - bar
Shrugs
Front lifts/side lifts
Shoulder press - machine

Crunches
Free leg pullups

OK, before anything, I know I still need to get legs involved. Some people have been telling me this: do legs with shoulders, and do stomach each day, in moderate amount...

Oh, and I do cardio these days after lifting, anywhere from usually 3-4miles, occasionally less or more depending how i feel. Do I need to do HIIT? I usually run at 7 mph, and sprint at 8 and 9 as I go on...

Thanks for reading!
 
Put Chest/Shoulders/Tri's on the same day Back/Bi's/Abs and then Legs

Day 1 - Upper Push (Chest/Should/Tri)
Day 2 - Upper Pull (Back/Bi/Ab)
Day 3 - Lower (Quad/Ham/Glute/Calve)

Always go from compound to isolated exercises. Ie. Rows ~> Curls; Bench ~> Pressdowns; Deads ~> Leg Curls

Get it?

Now, for every 1 chest exercise (same ## of sets) you need 1 back exercise. The mreik theory of antagonists lol..

4 Sets flat bench = 4 sets Rows
4 Sets military press = 4 sets Pulldowns/Pullups

That said, you've got WAyyyyy to many chest exercises and not enough back. And way to many bicep curls, just pick one.

And don't do cardio on or after (the day after) leg day, unless it's mild walking.



Now repost your revised workout with sets and reps included, WITH a leg routine. And I'll look again.
 
OK, thanks a lot for the reply, thats exactly what I need, input from people who have been there, done that with weight training...

I'm gonna revise and come up with something along the lines you discussed...

Couple quick Qs tho so I understand better...on any one of those given days, about how many different things should I be doing? When doing compound to isolated, does that apply to the whole workout, so I should be doing the most compound first, then isolated lifts for each muscle group?

I always thought it was best to do as many variations for each muscle, thus why I was doing flat, incline, decline, cables...guess I was taught wrong...
 
Do ALL compounds first. You don't need three types of chest presses and 3-4 tricep exercises, triceps are already heavily used in the presses anyway.

It would look something like this : Flat Bench, Military Press, skull crushers. Or Incline Bench, Dips, pushdowns (if you aren't doing direct shoulder work that day like a military press).
 
Sweet, thanks for the reply...

So, with the example you gave, with the Flat Bench, Military Press, and Skullcrushers, that covers chest, shoulders, and tris. If I do 3 sets of each one of those, is that all I need to do on that given day?

Then next day I do it, maybe switch up different lifts???

Thanks for your help, really!
 
Sweet, thanks for the reply...

So, with the example you gave, with the Flat Bench, Military Press, and Skullcrushers, that covers chest, shoulders, and tris. If I do 3 sets of each one of those, is that all I need to do on that given day?

Then next day I do it, maybe switch up different lifts???

Thanks for your help, really!
You should aim for 3-5 compound exercises, hitting multiple major muscle grounds and then, if needed, 1-2 isolation exercises, focusing on only one muscle group.

Something like

Rows~Pull-Ups~Lat Pull-Downs~Dumbell Curls for Day 2, but you should switch it up as well.
 
OK, I had been sticking with my regular routine, too busy and stressed out to change it right away, but I finally did switch it up, and here's what I did.

It was the first day since abandoning my routine, so I started with chest/shoulders/tris. I did 6 things total.

1. Flat bench, 3 sets, 10 reps.

2. Military press, 3 sets, 8 reps. (Wow this one was a HUGE change over doing presses with the bar!)

3. Cable crosses, 3 sets, 10 reps.

4. Chest press, 3 sets, 12 reps. (The sitting position, may have been unnecessary?)

5. Side/front lifts for shoulders, 3 sets, 10 reps side, 10 reps front.

6. Skullcrushers, 3 sets, 10 reps.

I tried to go with the compound exercises first, and end with a couple isolated ones, hope I did OK.

I felt good the whole time, and am quite sore today from it, which I like. While working out, one of the PTs came up and struck up a convo. He was really friendly, and offered some advise which further confuses me. He recommended not doing shoulders and chest together, they are too big and important, and combining can cause you to not have the energy to do either one. Anyways, he is giving a free session tommorow when I go in for Back/Bis/Abs, just to give some pointers and make sure I'm doing it all right. I guess I'd rather do my own thing, but I didn't want to turn down free help from a pro...so we'll see how it goes.
 
No offense to the trainer, but how is he certified and which certification if so? Is it an online cert in which you pay 10 bucks and answer 5 questions...?

There's nothing wrong with working chest and shoulders in the same workout, if you were overworking/over training and doing 3 types of chest press, 3 types of shoulder press, 3 angles of flys, 3 types of shoulder raises, and then 5 tricep exercises - then yes - it would be too much.

On another note, I'm assuming the chest press is a machine. Stay away from machines, especially if you're comfortable with the free weights already - AND you already did flat bench which is more important than any machine press.
 
I honestly have no idea what his certifications are. I wasn't saying his word was gold, it was just weird hearing such opposite advise from someone. Like I said, I kinda wished he never even talked to me, I'm more comfortable doing my own thing, but I didn't want to be weird and tell him to get lost or anything...

OK, I didn't think it would be a big deal to work both chest and shoulders, I definitely didn't do either in excess. So was that a decent day for a workout? I figured next time, I'd do incline bench instead of flat, chin lifts instead of military press, dumbell flys instead of cables, so on, to keep my workout variable and keep my body guessing and working...is that a good idea?

Thanks for the reply...!
 
Are you talking about your next chest/shoulder/tri (push) day? Or your next back/bi (pull) day? What do you mean by chin lifts, chin ups? Or something else? If chin ups, those are a pulling exercise (a back exercise).
 
I would say to try this at your next Chest/Shoulder/Tri day

~Bench Press (Switch it up between incline, decline, and flat as well as dumbell and barbell)

~Shoulder Press or Military Press (Again switch it up)

~Dips (Weighted, assisted, regular, whatever is right for you)

~Dumbell Flys

~Skullcrushers

That's about an average day of a workout, should wear you out if you are at the right volume.
 
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