Critique my lifting plan, please?

I am 16 years old, 5’8" and 135lbs, and started lifting CONSISTENTLY about 5 months ago. I just came off going 3x a week, full body. I have been using 8-12 reps per exercise. Now I’m going more for 8-10ish.

I am bulking, and trying to gain size and strength over the summer. Please critique my lifting plan?

Exercise # Sets Reps
Monday/Thursday
Chest
DB Bench Press 3 10 - 5
DB Incline Bench 3 12 ? 6
Dumbbell Flies 3 10 ? 8

Shoulders
Seated DB Press 3 12 ? 6
DB Bent Lat Raises 2 10 ? 8
Shrugs 2 20-15
DB Front Lat Raises 1 10 ? 6

Triceps
Close-grip Bench Press 3 8 - 10
Dips 3 8 ? 10
Tricep Extension 2 8 ? 12
Pulley Pushdowns 1 8 ? 10

Tuesday/Friday
Legs
Squats 5 12 ? 6
Lunges 3 12 ? 8
Romanian Deads 3 12 ? 8
Calf Raises 3 15 ? 12

Back
Chin-ups (palms away) 3 8 ? 12
DB Rows 3 8 ? 12
Pullups (palms towards) 3 8 ? 12

Biceps
Concentration Curls 3 12 ? 10
Hammer Curls 2 12 ? 10
Seated Incline DB Curls 1 12 ? 10

Overtraining? I don’t feel tired or anything like that, and my resting heart rate as of yesterday (while sitting down at my computer, measured by a Polar Heart Rate monitor) was 43… so that symptom isn’t present.

Please tell me what you think of this split. I feel if I don’t hit my bodyparts fairly often, they don’t get worked hard enough. I’m rarely all that sore after a workout, for example, no matter how hard I work.

If you know of any other good workout routines, post me a link - I’ve read the sticky, the 4 day split looked good, but only has me hitting each muscle 1x a week, otherwise I like it a lot.

Thanks for all the input, tell me what you think about the set/rep scheme, overall exercises (I tried to stick with mostly compound movements), and how you think it will help me in my summer bulk!

This is a bulking training cycle?

And if you don’t provide them with enough rest/recovery time you won’t see gains, either.

What’s your diet like? I see that you’re 15 - but even at 15, you shouldn’t be taking your youthful recovery ability for granted. Learn to train smart now.

As for good training programs? Uh, right here, guy. Do a search in T-Mag. Read the FAQ. As a matter of fact, read the FAQ first. You’ll see links to ALOT of training programs there.

Ooops, I see that you’re 16 is what I should have said in my previous post.

You’ll find that many people around here tend to be against the idea of training upper body on consecutive days. You might consider looking into an Ian Kind split.

Also, I forgot to tell you to lose the front raises. Your anterior delts are getting plenty of work from all your pressing exercises.

the key word there is feel. emotion should not come into play. i feel like wacking off in public but i dont.

In a previous article (Not sure which one), it has shown that working out your biceps on the same day as calves limits growth in your biceps. Also, your working back and legs (Your 2 biggest muscle groups) on the same day twice a week. Your really gonna stunt your gains this way.

Some good splits I’ve done:
M: Quad movements, calves
T: Back, Bis,
W: Chest, Tris,
R: Hamstrings, calves
F: Shoulders, bis, tris (This was when I was bicep specializing)

4 day split:
M: Quad movements, calves
T: Back, Chest
R: Shoulder’s, Bi’s, Tri’s,
F: Hamstrings, calves
(Thurs, and Friday can be exchanged)

If you want a really good 4 day split for the next 12 weeks, do Ian King’s Twelve weeks of Pain (Limping into Oct. Nov. Dec, and the new millenium), and Twelve weeks to Super Strength. (Day 1 and 3 one program, Day 2 and 4 the other). A lot of people have had success…I’ve just started it this week.

Most importantly, have faith! You don’t need to work out every muscle group more than once (that’s not to say it’s not useful, just that you don’t HAVE too). If your lifting with a good program, you’ll notice phenomenal gains while working out body parts once a week. I also find it easier to specialize in a couple of muscle groups for a while, and then change specialization. That’s as opposed to trying to make gains everywhere at once which is so much harder.

Also, read “Eating massive” if your looking to put on Lean Muscle Mass. It worked for countless T-men and T-vixens.

Best of Luck.

Thanks for the input.

Please keep it coming, I really like to hear from you guys.

I heard King’s programs were for more experienced lifters, that is part of why I avoided them. Furthermore, they have me working bodyparts 1x per week, and I already expressed my feelings about that.

If you really think it would be best, I will definitely change to 12 weeks to super strength/limping (after I do this routine for a week or so more). My lifts aren’t really improving much right now as of last week, although my reps have gone up consistently!

Thanks - keep the input coming!

I remember that article, but let’s face it… that’s just plain stupid.

I think that you’d be okay to stick with 2x per week training; at your training age, I doubt you have the CNS efficiency to really elicit enough of a training stimulus to warrant six days or rest between sessions.

Nonetheless, you still shouldn’t be in the gym for more than 3-4 days per week. I’d go with an upper/lower split where pushes or pulls and quad dominant or hip dominant are prioritized on each day.

Dude lots of good advice here in this forum. Diet is core component of this game. One bit of advice, for now I would stick to the big movements. Your program contains alot of specialized and intermediate exercises. Again I would emphasize on large compound movements. Good luck.

Not saying you did it but the most annoying thing i see is people doing similar exercises on the same day i.e. Bench, Dumbbell Bench, Machine Bench, Flys then Pushups. Why??? What is this achieving that the copycat exercises wont if left for next week. Training variety and plateus are very hard work for these guys. They must all have breathed a sigh of relief when Chad Waterbury’s Build a Huge Chest in Six Weeks article came out. (I love all those Exercises You’ve Never Tried and Money Exercises articles too) Save em for later.

What does everyone else think of my program?

I’m happy with the feedback so far though - it seems you guys think I should stick with it.

Do you suggest barbell or dumbell bench presses? I do DB incline, but usually I do DB bench press too… I’m embarrassed about how weak my bench is…

Which is better for strength gain?

Ike, I don’t think that comment about bis and calves is stupid (well not completely). You’d be drawing blood into opposite extremities of your body, which means less oxygen and nutrients to either than may be optimal. But that’s just my guess.

Depsyphor: I’ve found that strength gains don’t come from using DB vs. Bars…instead it comes from a smart mix of the two. Using DB to strengthen stabilizers can help you lift more with the bar. But, a lot of the stabilizer muscles are worked more directly with movements other than straight Bench motions (incline, flat and/or decline). Read up on some of the back/chest routines on T-mag and you’ll see what I’m talking about.

Also, I used King’s routines with less than a year of SERIOUS lifting under me, and it worked great. But whether or not you’re ready is up to you.

Best of Luck

Talk about overlap! Your poor front delts. And your rear delts! How neglected they must feel.

Truthfully, I’d file that one away somewhere and start a cycle of Ian Kings 'Super Strength, CT’s OVT, and Waterbury’s Anti-BB.

After all that, you’ll have a much better feel for what you can and can’t do in a workout… and you’ll be a hell of a lot stronger to boot.

DI

ND - In that case working any other bodypart would compete for nutrients.
As for drawing blood into opposite ends, look up venous return. Your breathing rate will simply increase to give the simple answer.
The whole principle seems to be based on the PHAS system which is a crock of shit and has no scientific basis.