Training Program In Need of Work

busyliving

Hey all,

Firstly would like to apologize for the long post...

So I have been training in the gym for nearly 3 months now, and I've been working off a three day spilt, which turned into a two day spilt...

So as it stands, I am currently doing
Mondays: Arms & Shoulders
Tuesdays: Legs, Abs, Back & Chest
Wednesday: Rest
Thursday - Sunday: Cycling

So as it stands, my program is

Monday
Seated Hammer Curls 3x10
Seated Tricep Extension 3x10
Bicep Curls 3x10
Tricep Kickbacks 3x10
21's 3x10
Tricep Pulldown 3x10

Delt Raises 3x10
Delt Rows 3x10
Arny Press 3x10
Shrugs 3x10

Tuesday
Dumbell Squats 3x10
Dumbell Step Ups 3x10
Calf Raises 3x10
Leg Extension 3x10
Leg Curl 3x10
Leg Press 3x10
(Plank, Side Plank, Side Plank) x3

Back Bridge
Back Extension
Flys 3x10
Chest Pullover 3x10
Bench Press or Chest Press 3x10
Lat Rows 3x10
Lat Pulldown 3x10
Seated Row Machine 3x10

I have noticed an improvement in certain areas in terms of strength and even definition...

But I have noticed I have went a little backwards in terms of what I'm lifting now and what I was lifting at the start. An example of this would be the arny press...

23/1 Arms & Shoulders*each weight x10reps
Seated Hammer Curls(Dumbbells*2) 8kg,10kg,12kg
Seated Tricep Extension(Dumbbells*2) 6kg,8kg,8kg
Bicep Curls(Bar) 10kg,15kg,20kg
Tricep Kickbacks(Single Dumbbell) 6kg,8kg,8kg
21's(Dumbbells*2) 6kg,8kg,8kg
Tricep Pulldown 20kg,25kg,30kg*6reps,25kg

Delt Raises(Dumbbells*2) 6kg,8kg,8kg
Delt Rows(Bar) 10kg,15kg,20kg*7reps
Arny Press(Dumbbells*2) 8kg,10kg,12kg*7reps,12kg*6reps
Shrugs(Dumbbells*2) 16kg,20kg,20kg

19/3 Arms & Shoulders*each weight x10reps
Seated Hammer Curls(Dumbbells*2) 10kg,12kg,12kg
Seated Tricep Extension(Single Dumbbell) 12kg,14kg,14kg
Bicep Curls(Bar) 17kg,19.5kg,22kg
Tricep Kickbacks(Single Dumbbell) 6kg,8kg,8kg
21's(Dumbbells*2) 6kg,8kg,8kg
Tricep Pulldown 25kg,30kg,30kg

Delt Raises(Dumbbells*2) 6kg,6kg,6kg
Delt Rows(Bar) 14.5kg,17kg,19.5kg
Arny Press(Dumbbells*2) 8kg,10kg,10kg*7reps,8kg*8reps
Shrugs(Dumbbells*2) 18kg,20kg,20kg all *20reps

25/1 Legs, Abs, Chest & Back
Lunges(Dumbbell x2) 10kg,12kg,14kg
Squats(Dumbbell x2) 15,16,18
Calf Raises(Single Dumbbell) 14kg,16kg,18kg
Leg Press 53kg,61kg,69kg
(Plank, Side Plank, Side Plank) (30sec,30sec,30sec)x3

Fly's(Dumbbell x2) 8kg,10kg,12kg
Chest Pullover(Single Dumbbell) 8kg,10kg,12kg
Bench Press 35kg,40kg,45kg
Lat Row's 14kg,18kg,18kg
Lat Pulldown 30kg,40kg,45kg
Seated Row Machine 32kg,32kg,32kg

20/3 Legs, Abs, Chest & Back
Dumbell Squats(Dumbbell x2) 14kg,16kg,18kg
Dumbell Step Ups(Dumbbell x2) 12kg,14kg,16kg
Calf Raises(Smith Machine) 35kg,37.5kg,40kg,42.5kg
Leg Extension(Single leg) 15kg,20kg,25kg
Leg Curl 40kg,50kg,60kg
Leg Press 85kg,93kg,101kg
(Plank, Side Plank, Side Plank) (40sec,40sec,40sec)x3

Flys(Dumbbell x2) 12kg,12kg,12kg
Chest Pullover 12kg,14kg,14kg
Chest Press 40kg,45kg,50kg
Lat Rows 16kg,18kg,20kg
Lat Pulldown 30kg,35kg,40kg
Seated Row Machine 40kg,45kg,50kg

As you can see the weights for Delt Raises and Arny Press are reduced over time...I have found that I just can't do the higher weight as my arms and shoulder can't physically do it...If anyone can explain why this is it would be greatly appreciated...

Also can anyone suggest were I can improve, I am also considering doing 4 days in the gym from now, something like Monday, Tuesday, Thursday & Friday, could I ask for advice on now I'd spilt my days in terms of what muscle groups to do...

Also for any and all criticism of my routine please feel free to let rip, I put the current program together as a starter program to get my into the feel of the gym and lifting weights and its been very helpful in that regard...

My main goal in the gym is to get stronger, more definition and tone of my body as well as lose fat off my body...I'm not looking to be huge just have a good shape and to be generally fitter, stronger and healthier...


Cheers in advance for your help...

Scuba Ste

I think you do too many exercises.

As for why your seeing disimprovements in those two exercises. Could be lots of things. But, I'd bet it's because they're the 7th or so exercise of the day so it's going to be very hard to measure progress on them when they come after so many other exercises.

I think your arm routine is overkill. Small muscles which don't need so much emphasis imo and probably shouldn't be first.

I'd look to do something more like a push/pull/legs type split or simply push/pull with 2 exercises per body part. Bigger muscles first, smaller last.

Something like this might suit you better. http://forums.lylemcdonald.com/showthread.php?t=1696

What are goals anyway? Training and diet will be slightly different depending on your goals.

BTW this is the logs section. Probably get more responses in the main forum.

busyliving

Scuba Ste wrote: »

I think you do too many exercises.

As for why your seeing disimprovements in those two exercises. Could be lots of things. But, I'd bet it's because they're the 7th or so exercise of the day so it's going to be very hard to measure progress on them when they come after so many other exercises.

I think your arm routine is overkill. Small muscles which don't need so much emphasis imo and probably shouldn't be first.

I'd look to do something more like a push/pull/legs type split or simply push/pull with 2 exercises per body part. Bigger muscles first, smaller last.

Something like this might suit you better. http://forums.lylemcdonald.com/showthread.php?t=1696

What are goals anyway? Training and diet will be slightly different depending on your goals.

BTW this is the logs section. Probably get more responses in the main forum.

Cheers for the reply,

My primary goal is to lose fat, followed by get stronger and toned...Yes I know its a lot, but I'm looking to achieve these goals over night either...

If I were to go to a 4 day spilt, is it a good or bad thing to do the same body part twice in a week...with different exercises

Also the reason I start on Arms, is because I do a cycle on Sunday, and was fearful of doing Legs on Monday for fear of injury...

Can you explain how to choice how many reps you do per exercise, for example how do you decide between,

3 sets of 10 reps
3/4 sets of 6/8reps
3/4 sets of 15,12,10,8 reps

busyliving

What do ye think of the this split

Monday - Chest/Tricep
Tuesday - Legs/Core
Wednesday - Rest
Thursday - Back/Bicep
Friday - Shoulders

Scuba Ste

busyliving wrote: »

Cheers for the reply,

My primary goal is to lose fat, followed by get stronger and toned...Yes I know its a lot, but I'm looking to achieve these goals over night either...

If I were to go to a 4 day spilt, is it a good or bad thing to do the same body part twice in a week...with different exercises

It's neither particularly good or bad but I'd go with the same exercises because it's easier to focus on progression of a smaller number of exercises than a larger number.

Also the reason I start on Arms, is because I do a cycle on Sunday, and was fearful of doing Legs on Monday for fear of injury...

I don't mean Arms first in the week, I mean arms (smaller muscles) before shoulders (bigger muscles). It's probably why your not seeing much progress on the shoulder exercises as well as the fact you do so many sets and reps.

Can you explain how to choice how many reps you do per exercise, for example how do you decide between,

Generally lower reps for strength (like 3/4 sets of 6), middle reps for size (3x10) and higher reps for prehab, endurance, conditioning and stuff. Generally. There's a fair crossover between rep ranges too. Generally I'd say as a beginner aim for 8-12 on most lifts maybe 5-8 if your more concerned with strength. You'll get stronger and bigger either way really. More specifically going for lower reps (5-8) on compound lifts and middle reps (8-12) on isolation stuff is a good way to go. Again, generally your looking for 30-60 total reps per body part so how you achieve this is largely an individual matter.

busyliving wrote: »

What do ye think of the this split

Monday - Chest/Tricep
Tuesday - Legs/Core
Wednesday - Rest
Thursday - Back/Bicep
Friday - Shoulders

Well, I think it's names of body parts so it's impossible to know whether it's good or not. Your OP was Arms&Shoulders etc. which is grand but the detail showed otherwise. I would say you can probably get more by training each bodypart twice per week instead of once.

Splits are not that important in my opinion, you can split your training as you have or you can try a more full body routine. The main reason I'd split is time, you might not have the time to do a full boy type program so a split might better suit. And even so a full body routine need only be 3-5 exercises so time may be even be a factor. As a beginner almost anything will make you progress as along as your consistent. I'd be more inclined to either go for full body 2-3 times a week or upper/lower twice per week for a total of 4 days training.

In an attempt to jump on the Hanley wagon, there's an article here that's worth reading.

If your not sure about programming for yourself do one of the many programs you can get online, stronglifts, starting strength, etc. They've been used by tonnes of people fairly successfully.

Hopefully that's helpful.