My workout, please criticise.

spooiirt!!

This here is my workout.

monday:

bench press, (about ten sets).
Shoulder press ( about 6 - 8 sets)
Biceps ( about 6-8 sets)

Tuesday:

Lat pulldown ( 6-8 sets)
shoulder shrug ( 6 sets)
barbell pull up - in front from hip to shoulder height ( 6 sets)
upper back, like the butterfly but backwards, hard to describe (5 sets)
Triceps ( 6-8 sets)

Wednesday :

Break, Legs, or football.

Thursday, restart.

Nutrition.
I always eat two protein bars after working out, and rarely eat fast food etc.

tribulus

I'd say more than likely you're over training, particularly if you're hitting failure on some of the sets. Maybe for all I know you've built up your volume tolerance but doing that twice a week will be tough for most people to progress with.

Your diet is also important, having 2 protein bars after training won't do much unless you're eating enough at other times, post up your full diet.

spooiirt!!

Well for example Bench press, is the only exercise i do for my chest, as everything else hurts my shoulder. I so it with two dumbells instead of the long barbell, also because of shoulder problems.
With a weight of 30 kg on each dumbell, i will do about 4-5 sets where i do 10 reps, then 3 or so sets where i only manage 7 reps, then i lower the weight to about 25 kg and so a few sets of ten reps.
I do so much Bench press cos i dont do any other chest exercises. I have continuously increased the weight of my dumbells, i started working out after new years with two 17.5 kg weights, now im at 30.

The exercises i have listed are the only ones i can do with my bad shoulder... so i do them as hard as i can...

Concerning my diet i eat lots of eggs and meat when i can, but i dont have a plan as such. I just try to eat as much as i can. I try to make it healthy when possible. But with college, work, gym and football 3 times a week its hard to find time to eat during the day.

tribulus

My concern wasn't with the exercise but the total load lifted, it seems like quite a lot, but if you're progressing then fair enough.

What's wrong with your shoulder and how are you fixing it? Have you considered that large amounts of pressing and internal rotation exercises could be contributing to the problem?

spooiirt!!

My shoulder is weird, ive been to 4 doctors and 2 physios and it basically comes down to that i can do some exercises and others i simply cant, like benchpressing with the barbell, rowing, incline bench. Ive tried everything, you name it, cooling, warming, stretching, rotator cuff exercises, physiotherapy.

Why do you think i may be doing too much? Is it a bad thing to do a lot? Im in the gym for 2 hours at a time, and always soaked in sweat, it feels good.
theres a lot of stuff i dont know about muscle growth, so please let me know.
PS im also doing tribulus and cre alkyline. Its ok, doesnt do much for me though.

And concerning your question about the large amount of pressing i do, the shoulder and bench press are great, they dont hurt at all. What hurts are rotational things, like the shoulder/neck exercise where you lift the weights up sideways from your hip to shoulder height.

Smellyirishman

spooiirt!! wrote:

Why do you think i may be doing too much? Is it a bad thing to do a lot? Im in the gym for 2 hours at a time, and always soaked in sweat, it feels good.
theres a lot of stuff i dont know about muscle growth, so please let me know.
PS im also doing tribulus and cre alkyline. Its ok, doesnt do much for me though.

What are your goals?

What is your actual diet like? Run us through a full day.

spooiirt!!

My goal is muscles, lots of em...

ok, breakfast, a few slices of toast, some fruit,
during the day ill have a few rolls and sandwiches, and a about 8 eggs in college, in the evening ill have dinner,eg: chicken, pasta, potatoes, fish, sometimes steaks. dont know how many calories I eat, ive no idea how to measure that. I weigh 109 kilos at 6 ft 4. i want to get up to about 120.

J.S. Pill

spooiirt!! wrote:

My shoulder is weird, ive been to 4 doctors and 2 physios and it basically comes down to that i can do some exercises and others i simply cant, like benchpressing with the barbell, rowing, incline bench. Ive tried everything, you name it, cooling, warming, stretching, rotator cuff exercises, physiotherapy.

Why do you think i may be doing too much? Is it a bad thing to do a lot? Im in the gym for 2 hours at a time, and always soaked in sweat, it feels good.
theres a lot of stuff i dont know about muscle growth, so please let me know.
PS im also doing tribulus and cre alkyline. Its ok, doesnt do much for me though.

And concerning your question about the large amount of pressing i do, the shoulder and bench press are great, they dont hurt at all. What hurts are rotational things, like the shoulder/neck exercise where you lift the weights up sideways from your hip to shoulder height.

You really got to sort this problem out once and for all or it will seriously stall your progress even in the exercises that aren't painful. Example, I have a simular problem with my rotar cuff on my right side. I find all kinds of shoulder flys and incline benchs quite painful. When I'm doing a flat bench press its not painful as such (insofar as i don't feel the strain in my shoulder) but I can really feel my right side weakening before my left - I 've added bugger all to my bench in the last month as a result.

Physio gave me some rotar cuff exercises to do and advised me to stay away from all shoulder exercises for a month even though presses aren't painful. She said I can continue with flat benches if I wish put not to bring the bar all the way down to my chest (leave it at about 4 inches above).

This, coupled with my knee injury, means fridays (legs and shoulders day) are going to be pretty light for the next month or 2!

The moral of the story is don't put injuries on the long finger. There has to be a solution to your problem, your current course of action isn't going to do you any favours at all.

Where are you living spooiirt!!? perhaps someone can reccomend a decent physio for ya

Chunks

spooiirt!! wrote:

This here is my workout.

monday:

bench press, (about ten sets).
Shoulder press ( about 6 - 8 sets)
Biceps ( about 6-8 sets)

Tuesday:

Lat pulldown ( 6-8 sets)
shoulder shrug ( 6 sets)
barbell pull up - in front from hip to shoulder height ( 6 sets)
upper back, like the butterfly but backwards, hard to describe (5 sets)
Triceps ( 6-8 sets)

Wednesday :

Break, Legs, or football.

Thursday, restart.

Nutrition.
I always eat two protein bars after working out, and rarely eat fast food etc.

Ok, no offence, you asked for criticism, but.... it's all over the place.

Right, you said you wanted to gain muscle and by reading your posts it looks like upper body is your main aim.

If you want to build muscle you have to push yourself to failure. Also, one exercise on one muscle group is not enough... it should be 3 exercises per muscle group.

Why not do something like

Day #1

Chest - Bench press (3sets of 12) you should be failing on the last set

Back - lat pulls (3 sets of 10)
Seated rows (3sets of 10)
overhand pullups(3sets of 10) very hard at first, might need someone to hold you legs

Shoulders - seated dumbell press (3sets of 10)
- dumbell side raises (3 sets of 10)
- dumbell front raises(3sets of 10) very hard after the other 2 exercises

then do some core. Core is essential to any weights progrm as every movement goes through your core

Day #2

biceps - seated dumbell curl (3sets of 10)
- standing barbell curl (3sets of 10)

triceps - tricep dips (3 sets of 12) add weight when you get all 3 sets out
- overhead rope pull (3 sets of 10)

legs - seated extensions(3 sets of 12)
- squats(3 sets of 12)

do some more core work


Eat properly, possibly even drink a protein shake halfway through your workout and then the rest after.

you'll see large gains with a program like above within a matter of 2 weeks. It'll hurt but then again what doesnt

Hope this helps

agentgreen

Chunks wrote:

Day #1

Chest - Bench press (3sets of 12) you should be failing on the last set

Back - lat pulls (3 sets of 10)
Seated rows (3sets of 10)
overhand pullups(3sets of 10) very hard at first, might need someone to hold you legs

Shoulders - seated dumbell press (3sets of 10)
- dumbell side raises (3 sets of 10)
- dumbell front raises(3sets of 10) very hard after the other 2 exercises

then do some core. Core is essential to any weights progrm as every movement goes through your core

Day #2

biceps - seated dumbell curl (3sets of 10)
- standing barbell curl (3sets of 10)

triceps - tricep dips (3 sets of 12) add weight when you get all 3 sets out
- overhead rope pull (3 sets of 10)

legs - seated extensions(3 sets of 12)
- squats(3 sets of 12)

do some more core work


Eat properly, possibly even drink a protein shake halfway through your workout and then the rest after.

you'll see large gains with a program like above within a matter of 2 weeks. It'll hurt but then again what doesnt

Hope this helps

Would you reccommend any cardio in that work out?

And how often if so?

In regards to the bench press, how does the chest press rate compare to it?

Smellyirishman

agentgreen wrote:

In regards to the bench press, how does the chest press rate compare to it?

The machine? Same idea, working the pecs, but you're not getting the same stabalising work on a machine as you are when your stuck under a barbell with nowhere to go.

spooiirt!!

Hi, thanks for taking the time to do this.

From what i can see you mainly changed that day one is for chest, shoulder and back, and day 2 is arms and legs. Im curious as to why its better to do arms in one day and upper body the next. Anyway your plan sounds cool and i am going to start it on sunday.

Im not sure about seated rows or pull ups, rowing hurt a few weeks ago (shoulder) and i gave it up.

Also, concerning bench pressing, is it a good thing to do a little lighter weights at the end, after ive started failing in the " main heavy sets".
Actually this question goes for all muscle groups.

My shoulder: i hurt it attempting a one armed tackle about two years ago, and ive never been the same since. I spent all of 2006 resting, did nothing at all sportswise, other than running from doc to doc. The docs did nothing for me.
But with the tight dumbell bench press and, tight dumbell shoulder press i am at least able to do some heavy weights. side and front raises are out of the question, they really hurt, even with small weights.
The protein shake during a break in training sounds interesting, but ive been told by a bodybuilder sized teamate that you should take them afterward, not before or during.
Thanks!

mloc

Personally, I'd recommend including much more compound lifts and less isolation work; for example for back, deadlifts, chins and bent over rows. Squats and SLDLs for legs would be a good idea; even if your interested mostly in upper body work, you're really better off starting working on legs now and not later on when you realise you've neglected them and you look silly with skinny legs... sounds harsh but it will happen, and they'll have a lot of catching up to do.

It's quite surprising that you can manage an upright row (what you call barbell pull up) and not manage chest exercises such as the flie because of a shoulder problem. This is definately something you want to get properly sorted, take it from me as someone who's overcome serious injury before.

spooiirt!!

Well i do squats about once a week, not enough, i know. But i dont feel i have the time to do legs sometimes. Maybe i could use heavier weights when i do biceps ( or something else), so that i have less sets to do, and more time to do legs at the gym?
I do realise legs are important, im not one of those guys that does no legs. I play american football so leg drive is important. But i still neglect my legs, its just that i Looove working out my upper body after 1.5 years of abstinence because of my shoulder. Im still high on upper body, cos i used to only do legs in that injured time.
My shoulder is insane, i was able to row for 3 months and then a few weeks ago it started hurt so much i had to kick rows out alltogether. I bet the upright row ( thanks) will start to hurt pretty soon and ill have to kick that out too...
But theres nothing i can do to sort it out, like i said, ive tried everything. I feel grateful that i can at least do the exercises that im doing now.

J.S. Pill

spooiirt!! wrote:

My shoulder is insane, i was able to row for 3 months and then a few weeks ago it started hurt so much i had to kick rows out alltogether. I bet the upright row ( thanks) will start to hurt pretty soon and ill have to kick that out too...
But theres nothing i can do to sort it out, like i said, ive tried everything. I feel grateful that i can at least do the exercises that im doing now.

Thats a seriously poor attitude to have. Have you really 'tried everything'? What exactly have the physios said to you? You have to bear in mind that some physios are a lot better than others. Again, I suggest telling us what area you live in and someone may be able to reccomend a decent physio - a lot of people here would have had to see one at some stage.

Even if your injury seems bearable now it will come back to haunt you in the future. From what you've told us it doesn't seem like on of those problems thats going to 'fix itself'. Now this isn't a medical board and I'm not going to try and relate this to my own injury - you just have to prioritise this matter and take it seriously, I can't stress that enough

spooiirt!!

Ive done

-rotator cuff strengthening exercises,
-rotator cuff stretches,
-cooling,
-warming,
-resting for almost two years,
-ultra sonic and other electric therapy,
-stupid pills different doctors gave me that fight infection,
-even bought a retarded 90 euro support for my shoulder that does nothing
-had my physio prod my shoulder with a wooden spoon handle for months
-had plenty of injections into my shoulder.

Eventually the docs ran out of ideas and i started to test what exercises i can do.

I live in germany, and ive already been to good physios and doctors that came highly recommended.

mloc

have you considered having an MRI scan to determine the cause of the problem?

spooiirt!!

Ive had two
Trust me, im a weight lifting addict, ive spent 2 years out of the gym, in those 2 years i tried everything to get back in!

J.S. Pill

spooiirt!! wrote:

Ive done

-rotator cuff strengthening exercises,
-rotator cuff stretches,
-cooling,
-warming,
-resting for almost two years,
-ultra sonic and other electric therapy,
-stupid pills different doctors gave me that fight infection,
-even bought a retarded 90 euro support for my shoulder that does nothing
-had my physio prod my shoulder with a wooden spoon handle for months
-had plenty of injections into my shoulder.

Eventually the docs ran out of ideas and i started to test what exercises i can do.

I live in germany, and ive already been to good physios and doctors that came highly recommended.

Christ, sounds nasty. I'm sorry to hear about that.

spooiirt!!

Thanks, those two years were seriously depressing. But now im so high that i can build up my upper body again!

J.S. Pill

spooiirt!! wrote:

Thanks, those two years were seriously depressing. But now im so high that i can build up my upper body again!

One more thing I will suggest (though seeing as you've got a lot of professional advice so far you've probably heard this already) is to ask a physio about getting the form right for the exercises that you can perform at the moment. Some may need to be modified slightly for your own requirements (e.g. a smaller range of motion) so that you don't do any further damage to your shoulder. I mentioned the example of me having to keep the barbell a few inches off my chest for benching.

All the best

spooiirt!!

Yes, your definitely right there. Ive been meaning to get my workout supervised, just havent had the time. Ive a week of holidays so ill see if i can get it done.

spooiirt!!

By the by ive tried flys and it went good today, looks like i got me a secnd chest exercise to do now besides bench press.

GerryRyan

When you say you're doing only doing the bench press or chest - is it just the flat bench ... or can you do slightly inclined or declined ones with your injury?

MA

"Ok, no offence, you asked for criticism, but.... it's all over the place."

Id agree with chunks on this one, thats a weird 2 day split you have there. your working the same muscle group on each days and not giving the muscle time to repair. stick to 3 muscle groups a day chest back shoulders and then legs biceps triceps.

Make sure your back includes lower back! Especially if your working abs, you should treat abs like any other muscle group but you can train these more regulary.

Also - you should be working till failure, your last rep should be near impossible on each set. Time your breaks to, give your self one minute between reps - even longer if your just working on strength.

Chest - Bench press (3sets of 12) you should be failing on the last set

Shoulders -do the dumbell side and front raises against a wall, leaning on it with your feet slightly out - stops you using body momentum.

Back - include lower!!

Biceps- do the seated dumbell curls with an incline so your working a slightly different part of the bicep that the standing curl.


Legs- do Leg extensions, then leg curls.. Then do your squats, this burns out your halmys and quads so when it comes to squats your glutes work harder!


Also if you can whey protein is even better, take within half an hour of finishing your workout

Goodluck