T Nation

Critique My Plan Please

Bodybuilding
#1

I’ve spent the last several months losing almost 30 lbs of fat. I’m 5’9" and I went from about 178 to 150 and from a 33" to a 29" waist by cleaning up my awful diet and getting in the gym two or three times a week. I’m probably in the best shape of my life at 30yrs old. Now it’s time to put some pounds back on the right way.

My goal is to gain some muscle mass/strength. I don’t want to get huge, but I’m definately on the thin side of where I want to be. I can only get to the gym Monday, Tuesday and Thursday evenings. Here’s what I’m currently doing:

Mon, Tue, Thus:
Deadlift 3x8
Squat 3x8
Bench 3x8
Lat Pulldowns 3x8
Bent Rows 3x8
Curls 3x8
Tricep 3x8
Calf Extension 3x8
20 to 30 minutes cardio on eliptical or treadmill.

2500 to 3000 Cal/day:
250g protien
200g carbs
100g fat

I supplement w/ protien shakes, bars, take 5g creatine daily, multivitamin, salmon oil and chromium.

I take one day off from my deit every week, but don’t go absolutely nuts.

So… Am I eating enough?, working out enough? Is it okay to be doing this back to back Monday and Tuesday? Should I limit my cardio or is this okay? Anything else you can think of?

Thanks

#2

doing the same exact workout two days in a row isnt something I would do. Either have two drasticly different rep/set schemes and/or exercises or forget about doing 3 full body workouts a week.

Some other options:

-alternating upper/lower workouts-

week 1-
mon upper
tues lower
thurs upper

week 2-
mon lower
tues upper
thurs lower

rinse and repeat could even have 2-3 different workouts you cycle through each two week phase. This is the most productive way I have found to train with a similier schedule.

  • lower/upper/full body -

mon- squat and lower body work
tues- bench and upper body work
thurs- deadlift and upper/lower work

#3

If I split into upper and lower, would I add different exercises or more reps or just do the norm and head home early?

#4

I would check out some of Waterbury’s programs. He has written several that are upper/lower splits (ABBH 1 and 2, big boy basics…)

also a great workout:

http://www.T-Nation.com/readTopic.do?id=487636

#5

ghargoyle,

Good work on losing 30 pounds. Your program really is a solid starting point, and if it’s still working, don’t change a thing. That is, after all, what matters.

If you decide to change, JNeves’ advice is spot on. I did an lower/upper/total split some time ago, and it looked like this (sets x reps /rest time in minutes):

Monday (Lower)

  1. Back Squat 5x5 /3’
  2. DB Lunges 3x6-8 /2’
  3. 1-Leg Back Ext. 3x6-8 /2’
  4. Abs 4-5x10 /1-1.5’

Wednesday (Upper)

  1. Bench Press 5x5 /3’
  2. Barbell Rows 5x5 /3’
  3. CG Bench Press 3x8 /2’
  4. Bicep Curls 3x8 /2’

Friday (Total)

  1. Deadlift work-up to 1x3 RM or 2 RM or 5RM
  2. OH Press 5x5 /2’ (go lighter here)
  3. Chin-up/Pulldown 3 sets x max reps /2-3’
  4. Calf Raises 3x10-12 /1-1.5’

Hope this helps. When starting out, intentionally start about 10-15% under what you think you can handle, and work up from there.

#6

[quote]slotan wrote:
ghargoyle,

Good work on losing 30 pounds. Your program really is a solid starting point, and if it’s still working, don’t change a thing. That is, after all, what matters.

If you decide to change, JNeves’ advice is spot on. I did an lower/upper/total split some time ago, and it looked like this (sets x reps /rest time in minutes):

Monday (Lower)

  1. Back Squat 5x5 /3’
  2. DB Lunges 3x6-8 /2’
  3. 1-Leg Back Ext. 3x6-8 /2’
  4. Abs 4-5x10 /1-1.5’

Wednesday (Upper)

  1. Bench Press 5x5 /3’
  2. Barbell Rows 5x5 /3’
  3. CG Bench Press 3x8 /2’
  4. Bicep Curls 3x8 /2’

Friday (Total)

  1. Deadlift work-up to 1x3 RM or 2 RM or 5RM
  2. OH Press 5x5 /2’ (go lighter here)
  3. Chin-up/Pulldown 3 sets x max reps /2-3’
  4. Calf Raises 3x10-12 /1-1.5’

Hope this helps. When starting out, intentionally start about 10-15% under what you think you can handle, and work up from there.

[/quote]

that is a decent plan, after the 5of5 after a few weeks I would do something like 3of3 or 6of 2 and then a couple weeke later I would do 5 sets of 1

#7

[quote]GermanPower wrote:

that is a decent plan, after the 5of5 after a few weeks I would do something like 3of3 or 6of 2 and then a couple weeke later I would do 5 sets of 1 [/quote]

Yes, this is what I usually end up doing, usually over 10-12 weeks in total. Then take a full week off. It might get boring, but one should be able to repeat the full cycle for 2 or times and improve.

#8

Thanks for the suggestions. I like that better than hitting full every day. I also like the idea of upper/lower repeat doing two upper one week one lower and two lower the next with one upper.