Changing my bulking routine

[Xardioso]

Hey I want to know what you guys think of my old and new routines. I'm switching over today. I feel lousy only doing legs once per week but alot of people I know who work out don't do *any* legs and they look good. And I get sick when I do legs, heh.

Last 6 weeks:
Mon- Abs,Calves/Legs
Tues- Chest,Biceps
Wed- Abs,Calves
Thurs- Legs
Fri- Abs,Calves/Tricep,Back
Sat- Rest
Sun- Shoulders,Forearms

Starting today:
Mon- Chest,Biceps
Tues- Abs,Calves
Wed- Tricep,Back/Shoulders,Forearms
Thurs- Abs,Calves/Legs
Fri- Chest,Biceps
Sat- Rest
Sun- Abs,Calves

With the following exercises for the diff muscle groups:

Chest,Biceps - Flat bench press, Incline bench press, flat db press, incline db press, fly machine, db flyes, lat pulldowns, preacher dumbell curls

Abs/Calves - Standing calf raise, seated calf raise, reverse calf raise, hanging leg raise, crunch machine, back extension machine, decline crunches, cable kneeling crunches

Tricep/Back - Pullups, dips, close grip bench press, tricep press, skullcrusher, cable pushdown, behind-the-head lat pulldowns, bent-over barbell rows, seated cable rows, bent-over db rows

Shoulder/Forearms - Military press, arnold press, db shrugs, smith-press shrugs, db seated rear lateral raise, lateral db raise, front db raise, reverse curls, behind-the-back barbell wrist curls, reverse db wrist curls, db wrist curls

Legs - Smith-press squats, deadlifts, leg press machine, hip adduction machine, hip abduction machine, leg extension, leg curls

Keep in mind my goal is to gain alot of mass and get strong. So far progress has been great, I've gained lots of mass and strength. I'm changing my routine just to keep my body guessing and because I think it might be better to have a bigger chest and arms. My legs don't need to grow quite so rapidly.

 

[newf]

Why all the calf work? Its a pretty unqiue routine. Why are lat pulldowns on your list of chest/tricep excercises? I would not do behind the neck pulldowns. Try to get into free weight squats.

Few things i see but your gains are going good which is cool. Kept at it until they stop

 

[Xardioso]

The calf work is because I have heard time and time again that calves can be one of the most stubborn groups to add mass to. Also, I've heard a good standard is to have your calves the same size as your biceps. I have relatively large biceps, so I'm trying to make sure my calves keep pace. Also, it is true that if you do calves on the same day as your full leg workout you tend to leave the calf part for last as an afterthought. I thought the best way to make sure I am good and rested for those exercises is if I do them before I do my ab exercises. Besides, I feel like I'm wasting a trip if I go to the gym solely to work my abs.

Lats are typically grouped under the heading of 'back' no? So I do behind-the-neck lat pulldowns on my back day. What is wrong with them? My understand is that they are good for the lats and rhomboids. During the summer my lats were really big... out of proportion with the rest of my musculature. So I haven't really been doing much for 'em. I don't want to neglect them entirely, however, so I do a couple sets of pulldowns on my chest day, just to prevent them from becoming atrophied.

As to free-weight squats: I actually had someone come up to me in the gym and tell me that I shouldn't do my heavy squats on the smith press. But I can do sets with around 285 on the smith press. I tried doing about 135 with a barbell and I got a crappy range of motion and STILL nearly fell on my arse. With the smith press I can do more weight, get a better range of motion, and I can really push myself without fear of hurting myself seriously. Typically I do my squats until failure; with a barbell I would be afraid to do that. If you really think switching over if worthwhile I'll give it another shot, but I don't see how it can be worth it.

 

[newf]

Many people think smith squats will lead to injury, besides that free weight squats will make you a lot stronger and bigger.

Behind the neck pulldowns put too much stress on the shoulders do them in front.

I wish my arms were has big has my calves lol Hold the strech part of the calf raise for 5sec before the concentric for one of the workouts. Its proven to get the stubborn calf to grow but i have naturally big calves myself.

Good Luck