My new routine

Hey guys first post here so if this is in the wrong place admins feel free to move it.

Anywhoo here goes. I have been working out for about 3 years now, but stopped seeing improvements after the first year. I started off quite young doing only body weight exercises as this is what the doctor recommended. As you might expect i made some rapid gains early on then sort of plateaued out after about a year. I switched over to weight lifting and body weight exercises combined thinking this would kick start some more gains, but it only caused some minor improvements. I only continued to train because of the beneficial effect on stress relief working out had on me, and to keep what gains i had made.

Now i am out of school and looking to get a little more serious at working out. Not so serious to start dieting and taking protein shakes and shit like that, but serious enough to start researching exercises and techniques. I just started a new job landscaping and my boss was a personal trainer when he was younger, so i had a bit of help from him in developing this new routine. I also put a few hours of research into it.

Because of this new job and the sports i participate in i can only workout 4 days a week, for about 1.5hours a workout. So please keep that in mind when suggesting things.

I split the program into 2 'cycles,' which i could do over the 4 days. Cycle 1 on monday, then cycle 2 on wednesday, then back to cycle 1 on friday, then cycle 2 on saturday or sunday(depending on what day my soccer game is).

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Cycle 1:

- Bycycle leg extensions
- Hanging knee raises
- Any suggestions?

-Decline pushups (Pec, clavicular)
-Chest flys (Pec, sternal)
-Bench press with dumbells (Pec, sternal)
-Any suggestions?

-Standing dumbell rows (Deltoid, lateral)
-Lateral raises (Deltoid, lateral)
-Front raises (Deltoid, anterior)
-Rear bent over dumbell row (Deltoid, posterior)

-Lying tricep extension with dumbells
-One handed push ups
-Bench dips
-Dumbell kickbacks

Now this is where i need help. In what order should i perform these exercises? (1)
Currently i am just doing the ab exercises first to warm up my whole body, then doing one exercise from each of the muscle groups. So i would do decline push ups, then standing rows, then tricep extensions. I would then go back to chest and do chest flys, then lateral raises and then one handed push ups. I would repeat this until i have done all exercises. Is this right? How should i order it? I read that you should work the largest muscle groups first, as these muscle groups often utilize the smaller muscle groups, hence warming them up for their exerices. If this is correct should i maybe do all chest exercises, then all shoulder exercises, then all tricep exercises?

Cycle 2:

-Bycycle leg extensions
-Hanging knee raises
-Any suggestions?

-Cable pulldown (Lats)
-Supermans - also known as back extensions (Lats/general back)
-Shrugs (Traps)
-Any suggestions?

-Squats (Gluteus maximus)
-Lying leg curl (Hamstring)
-Standing calf raise (Calves)
-Step ups with dumbells (Quadriceps)

-BICEP EXERCISES

I also need help on this cycle. What order should i do these in? (2)
Just like cycle 1 i have just been doing the ab exercises to warm up, then performing an exercise from each of the muscle groups in turn. But im also confused as to how i should structure my bicep work out in this cycle. How do you guys suggest i structure it?
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Now to explain why i chose the muscle groups i chose. I spoke to my boss and he said to do chest, shoulders and triceps on the same day, because most chest exercises utilize these muscle groups. Therefore i will be getting a more intense workout by working these muscle groups on the same day. He also said the same thing for the back, leg and biceps cycle. But i read that you should not do certain muscle groups together, as this can cause over-strain and injuries, such as the chest and triceps. Is this true? (3) Id hate to tear something.

Also its probably good to mention that for now i am focusing on building mass, and then later on i will switch my focus over to toning and definition. I dont want to get MASSIVE, but at the moment i am quite skinny and defined (i weigh about 75kgs) due to a lot of focus on defining exercises, and thought it would be good to put on a bit more mass. So my boss told me that for mass building its best to use a high weight, and to do 4 sets. He said start at how ever many reps you can do with 4 sets, and then to try and build up to 8 reps over 4 sets. He said once you can do 4 sets of 8 reps, increase the weight and start over again. Is this accurate? (4)

So thats about it for my new routine, any and all help is greatly appreciated, as i would really like to get these little niggly questions flattened out.

Thanks for reading,
biggest_kid

What is your weight and height?

Squat 3 x 10
Bench press 3 x 8
Bent row 3 x 8
Military press 3 x 8
SLDL 3 x 8
BB curl 3 x 8

Do this 3 times a week. Progressively add weight.

This is more along the lines of what you should be doing mate.
Only 1 out of 23 exercises you do are squats. As a beginner, you should squat..... Lots.

Start that program I posted, do it 2-3 times a week.

Scott, you should become a moderator so you can lock these threads once they have been answered.

Sticky said:

What is your weight and height?

Squat 3 x 10
Bench press 3 x 8
Bent row 3 x 8
Military press 3 x 8
SLDL 3 x 8
BB curl 3 x 8

Do this 3 times a week. Progressively add weight.

This is more along the lines of what you should be doing mate.
Only 1 out of 23 exercises you do are squats. As a beginner, you should squat..... Lots.

Start that program I posted, do it 2-3 times a week.

Click to expand...

Weight is ~75kgs, height is 180cm.

I was actually looking for something more advanced than that program though, which is why i decided to create my own. Because the program you suggested only targets a few muscles.

LOL

the skinny kid giving advice to big scotty..

mate your a bit out of your depth. take advice, you will get big and strong.. i guarantee you can't bench 110, squat 140 or deadlift 180 yet.

The program I suggested targets A LOT more muscles that the one you posted.....
If you cant squat 140kg, bench 100kg, or deadlift 180kg, you are a beginner, thus should be doing a beginners program like I posted.
The beginner programs are designed around major compound movements which use many muscles per exercise. This will also help create better neural pathways, meaning you will use more of your muscle to preform the exercises.

You also need to eat a lot more food. Post up what you eat in the diet section of this site and people may be able to help you out.

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jchen said:

Scott, you should become a moderator so you can lock these threads once they have been answered.

Click to expand...

Then how is the OP suppose to ask questions LOL ???????????????????


OP, do what Sticky suggested. You will probably get the same answer 50 times over here.

I agree, people need to ask question, and they also need to listen to the answers.

You should have seen my first program . It was eleventy billion times worse than the O.P's.

Luckily I had somebody to
A) tell me Im a dick head - yes, those words.
B) take the time to invite me to their house and run though the exact program I posted.

BB programs a great if you want to do BB, but IMO they arent for beginners.

How much can you bicep curl kid? And what are your best lIfts?

jchen said:

LOL

the skinny kid giving advice to big scotty..

mate your a bit out of your depth. take advice, you will get big and strong.. i guarantee you can't bench 110, squat 140 or deadlift 180 yet.

Click to expand...

When was i giving advice? I was just saying why i chose my program over scotty's. And i wasnt saying mine was better either.

And scotty i have been doing weights for about 2 years now (this isnt my first program, i have tried many, both my own creations and from the internet), would u still recommend i do ur beginners program?

It seems you're the only one really concerned with helping me so far, so ill just direct all my questions to you.

You will find that everybody on this site is willing to help.
Its just that new people come to the site, ask the same questions, have bizarre programs that wont work, and then ignore the advice. Thats why some people may come across a bit rough at first.

If you cant go 140/100/180, yes, Id still recommend you do the program I posted.
Its balanced, simple, and is very good bang for buck. If you follow it, train hard, eat big, rest well, you should have no problem hitting the above mentioned numbers in under 6 months, and weigh upwards of 80kg.

Lots of people on this site start off with it, then move onto more advanced routines, either strength or BB inspired.

post up your diet, and start a training log when you start so people are able to track your progress and make some suggestions that may help you out along the way.

Ok, but there is some things you should know.

I dont have a great deal of weights, may have to get some more but my financial situation is quite tight at the moment. Because of this i cant really diet too well either.

And i have some questions on ur program too lol.
Im assuming this program is focused on mass building?
If so can i get to a certain weight(say 95kg) then work on definition?
What weights should i start on?
How progressively do i add weight? Each week? And how much weight do i add?
Can i do this routine 4 times a week?
Do you suggest a warm up/down and stretching?

Lots of questions i know, but just trying to make sure im getting max efficiency. Also, just out of curiousity, if i wasnt a beginner, would the program i created be any good to anyone haha?

Thanks a lot for the help so far,
big

Read this

T NATION | Who Wants to Be a Novice? You Do.

Ok i read that thanks it cleared up pretty much all of my questions above, but now i have a few different ones.

The program that scotty suggested is based on power-lifting is it not? So what if i wanted to get big not to enter competitions but just because i think it looks good? What if i want to get big but keep the current level of definition i have?

Thanks for all the help so far guys

What if i want to get big but keep the current level of definition i have?

Then look towards your diet to achieve this.

The rep scheme will determine weather you train for strength or size. The exercises in Scott's example can be done between 6-12 reps.

Like shrek said definition is about diet. Not doing hundreds of isolation exercises.

biggest_kid said:

Weight is ~75kgs, height is 180cm.

I was actually looking for something more advanced than that program though, which is why i decided to create my own. Because the program you suggested only targets a few muscles.

Click to expand...

^ It doesn't matter.

I've been doing the program that Scotty recommended for the past 4-6 weeks, and my deadlift max went up 40kg from previous. I'm sure my squat benefited also.