Gym Routine Urgent Help

Dont really feel like my current gym routine is working. I have been advised on the sets but dont think that they are effective nor proven.

Would anybody be prepared to help me out and sort my gym plan out ?

My current sets are like this
It consists of 4 sets.
1st set - 50% max weight till failure
2nd set - 75% max weight till failure
3rd set - Max weight 6 to 8 reps
4th set - 50% of max weight till failure.

I train 3 times a week. If i post my current plan would somebody beable to advise me on what to add, remove and do sets properly etc ?
Just dont have anywere else to look to. Dont have a clue what exercises are effect, what work with each other. How many sets, reps etc
I can post my current 3 days routine if needed.
Thanks
 
Post more information on what you do.

Also, you say max weight 6 to 8 reps. Something isn't right about that, if you were maxing, you would be doing 1 rep or two...

Either way, post up what all you do so we can have a look at it.
 
Hi man, Youve definately come to the right place, many people on here who got so much knowledge! :)

Yea post your routine, plus your goal etc. If your bulking and wanting to get bigger, just remember that you need to be eating loadssss for those muscles to grow.
 
Im not saying what i do is right. I understand what you mean. Max weight should be the maximum possible weight i can do in 1 rep.
Well i go 3 times a week. monday, tues and thursday.

Monday - biceps and triceps
Bicep Curls on the machine
10kg barbbell curl - 10 full reps,6 half, quater till failure. x 2 sets
Dumbbell curls - 10kg - 10 reps of straight, twist, hammer
Tricep dips - 4 sets of 10 dips
Tricep Pushdowns

Tuesday - Chest
Bench Press
Dumbbell Bench Press
Cable Crossovers

Thursday - Shoulder and Back
Shoulder Press
Dumbbell Shoulder Press
Shrugs - For traps
1 arm dumbbell row
Seated Cable Row
high cable row

Im just basically looking for somebody with more experience to tweak my programme, alter , change , remove etc

Thankyou very much, all help will be much apreciated.
 
Many people will say that you need to include more leg workouts in there as these can help upper body gains aswell.

Add squats and pullups and deadlifts etc.....things like that.

Youll probably get advised to totally scrap the routine and do a FBW (full body workout) 3 times a week. Although i do body part splits.
 
The thing is i train monday, tuesday and thursday. Therefore doing a 3day full body workout, i would be training the same muscles two days on the trot which wont give them adequate rest time ? right ?

Would anybody be prepared to sort me out a workout plan which will be best for adding strength and size ?
 
Youll probably get advised to totally scrap the routine

Yep. Full body or not, without some larger movements, it's going to be tough. Get some squats and deadlifts in there. And yes, I'd add pullups, too.

I'd recommend and upper/lower split, a push/pull split or a 3 day full body workout. Any of those will be an improvement. The bicep/tricep and chest days are wasting your valuable time.
 
I agree with DEF. I'm a big believer in full body workouts, 3 times a week. You will be rested plenty, if you are getting enough sleep and eating in a healthy surplus. If you did Mon, Wed, and Fri, you get the day off between, and then both weekend days off. That will give you time to recover.

You need to research compound lifts, and employ them to your advantage. Fully functional, and will make you grow. Squats, deadlifts, and pullups as DEF said, and rows, lunges, dips, and bench.
 
Think i might go for a full body workout then.

However i do have to train monday, tues and thurs as there are my only free days.

My diet isnt the best, because im a very fussy eater. Im not over weight but i really do eat unhealthy.

Might sound stupid but will simple things like having cereal at morning and night instead of biscuites make a bit of difference ?
Will eating more beans ( its a veg ) make a difference ?
 
Yea eat your beans if thats the only veg you like. Instead of biscuits, yea suppose you could eat cereal, porridge is good.

You need to be eating more than your average daily amount of calories to gain optimal muscle growth. Chillen has all the info on calculating how much cals your body needs to maintain its weight etc, and therefore you will prob need to add 500 or so cals onto that.
 
Looked into things and done a bit of research and come up with this routine. Is this fine ? Does it contain enough compound exercises etc ?

Perform the routine as follows: Day 1, Chest and Tri, Day 2 - Back and Bi's, Day 3 - Legs and shoulders.

Warm up 5-10 mins, stretches 5 mins, cool down at the end of the routine.

Also warm up with 2 sets on 1st exercise per bodypart, 1 set very light weights x 15-20 reps, 2nd set approx 1/2 the weight you are going to use in your exercise x 10-12 reps.

Day 1. Flat barbell bench press, incline dumbell press, Incline fly's, Pec dec. Skull crushers, pushdowns. 3 x 10 reps on each.

Day 2. Pulldowns (front), 1 arm dumbell rows, seated rows. Barbell curls, alternate dumbell curls, Hammer curls. 3 X 10 reps on each

Day 3. squats or leg press, leg extension, leg curl, seated calf raise. Dumbell shoulder press, dumbell or cable side laterals, dumbell or cable rear delt raise, dumbell shrugs. 3 x 10 reps on each

Abs twice per week.
 
If I were you, I'd just go with a standard full body routine while you read around forums, articles, stickies, etc.

That routine is pretty crappy if you ask me.
First of all "squats or leg press" that's the worst thing I see in a routine. The two are very different.
 
The full body workouts are designed for alternating days.

I can only do monday, tues and thurs.

Therefore doing a workout on monday and then doing it again on tuesday doesnt give me enough rest wrong does it ?
 
Well as for the leg routine. Scrap the leg routine and have.
Day 1. Flat barbell bench press, incline dumbell press, Incline fly's, Pec dec. Skull crushers, pushdowns. 3 x 10 reps on each.

Day 2. Pulldowns (front), 1 arm dumbell rows, seated rows. Barbell curls, alternate dumbell curls, Hammer curls. 3 X 10 reps on each

Day 3. Day 1. Flat barbell bench press, incline dumbell press, Incline fly's, Pec dec. Skull crushers, pushdowns. 3 x 10 reps on each.

Day 2. Pulldowns (front), 1 arm dumbell rows, seated rows. Barbell curls, alternate dumbell curls, Hammer curls. 3 X 10 reps on each

Day 3.Back Squat, Romanian Deadlift, Step-up, Leg Curl
Seated Calf Raise. Dumbell shoulder press, dumbell or cable side laterals, dumbell or cable rear delt raise, dumbell shrugs. 3 x 10 reps on each

Looking at the chest and triceps. in my opinion it looks weak in triceps, so maybe remove peck deck and add something in ?
Does everything else look ok ?
 
Most chest exercises work the triceps also, so theres more than enough for your triceps there. Id even consider doing less reps than 10 for some things, maybe 8 or even 6 with some high weight! Not with everything tho, just experiment a bit. :)
 
On the 3 sets shall i increase the weight on each ? Like on bench press go
25kg, 35kg then 45kg ?

I don't see why you would start out so low and then nearly double your weight by the 3rd set. That means you are barely working the first set if you can still finish with 45kg at the end of your 3x10. I'd say start out at 40kg and see if you can do it all the way through.
 
Thats the thing i dont understand how i should do my sets.

Use 1 weight throughout the 3 sets of 10 making sure that my last set is almost impossible to complete.

Increasing the weight each time. Therefore if my max is about 45kg do i start with about 30 then 35 then 45 ?

Just want to gain strength and build muscle.
I think using the same weight would work me more, is this true ?
 
It doesn't make sense to start out with a really light weight and end with what your real 10 rep would be. You'd be better off starting with your 10 rep and only getting 8-9 for your last set. When you can do all 3 10 reps, it's time to move up.
 
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