After reading through the amazing articles on this website, I have learned so much, and have also realized how much of a beginner I am, regardless of the size of my muscles. I am in the middle of developing an new routine that will stomp my muscles, I don’t want to leave any muscle fiber neglected. I have two simple questions for now to ask:
My old routine consisted of 3x8-10 workouts. Every set would be until failure, and I would do three of them, and be done. Recently, i have changed the last set to drop sets to make sure I really get those fibers owned. Is this ok? How can I improve? I read somewhere on this site that its best to start out doing lighter weights to warm up, then the middle set should be the most weight, and the lest # of reps.
From my mentality, I just want to lift s heavy, and as hard as possible, make sure every set is between 8-9 reps for optimal size gains.
For the second one, My new routine will be split up mainly between three days, the fourth will be HIIT, mobility drills, abs, and working out my rotator cuff (someone recommended it on this forum) Anyways, Say for Monday I want to do Chest, Back, and shoulders.
Would Chest, Triceps, Shoulders be better since when working the chest, your triceps get worked as well? Same goes for the back & biceps. I was simply going to do Isolation workouts specifically for the biceps and triceps on Wednesday. This way every muscle is fully worked.
Okay, you obviously want an answer to your questions, so I’ll see if I can help.
“Drop sets” are an advanced training method used to increase “intensity”. Seeing as you are posting this in the beginner section, I would honestly suggest that you not do them.
You can still make plenty of progress without needing to start implimenting advanced methods at this point in your training.
Just focus on lifting more weight or the same weight for more reps each and every workout. If you want to go to failure that’s fine IMO. Also, make absolutely certain that your diet is in check. Most beginners have a really hard time realizing that diet is equally important to training in terms of building muscle.
Yes, personally I would suggest doing Chest, Shoulders, and Triceps on the same day. That way those muscles have a significant amount of recovery time before they get overloaded again.
I would not suggest doing a day of only arms on Wednesday though. If you want to do a 3 way split (the forth HIIT day not included), then a “Push/Pull/Legs” split would probably be ideal.
Mon- Push- Chest, shoulders, Triceps
Tues- Pull- Back, Biceps, forearms
Wed- Off
Thurs- Legs- Quads, Hams, Glutes, Calves
Fri- HIIT
Sat & Sun- Off
That should assure that all of your major muscle groups get worked. It also includes little if any cross over of body parts.