Feedback On A New Routine

Hey there everyone. I’m fairly new to lifitng; I started last October after spending July and August ‘dieting’ (I started at around 160lbs, 15.8%).

Stats: 5’10, age: 21, 143lbs @ 9.69%

After reading T-Nation I’ve extrapolated a hell of a lot of ideas and have used them to come up with this routine. The problem is that there is every chance that I’m a moron and hurting myself etc. So if anyone with some experience could check over my Monday routine for me that’d be awesome:

Monday


2 x Insanity Set

15x ‘Kitchen’ Dip
Chest Press Extreme Drop Set
12x Pec Deck (10lb)

NO REST BETWEEN EXERCISES

(Kitchen dips are tricep dips with body in an ‘L’ shape, I do these in the kitchen as the space between worktops is about the length of my legs. I suppose they are the Tricep dip equivalent of ‘bitch ups’, but I’m not brutal enough to add fully fledged dips to this workout)

(Extreme drop set:
start at 200lbsx8, rest for 10s then another 3-4 reps; move down to 120lbs x8, rest 10s then 3-4 more; finally 60lbs x 14)

REST INTERVALS: 120 between each Insanity Set and 120 before moving on to the rest of the workout.


Seated Cable Rows (Wave)

8x 60lbs
REST 45s

8x 70lbs
REST 45s

8x 80lbs
REST 45s

REST 90 secs before moving on


3x Compound Savage Sets

5x Bent Over row (either pronated or supinated)
SNATCH rep 6 INTO:
5x Wide Grip Behind the Neck Press
SLOWLY RETURN BAR TO SHOULDERS ON rep 5
5x Full Squat

NO REST BETWEEN EXERCISES

REST 60s between sets & 120 s before moving on:


Old Fashioned Military Press

3 sets

6x 50lbs

REST 60s between sets & 90s before moving on:


Russian Twists

2 sets

10x bodyweight (1 rep = left & right)

REST 60s between sets & 60s before moving on:


Dragon Flags

2 sets

25x bodyweight

REST 30s between sets

COLLAPSE IN A PITIFUL HEAP 1x bodyweight


Sorry if all this is a bit long-winded but I feel that a lot of the above needs explaining in detail.

The idea I had with the Insanity set was:

‘Kitchen Dips’(Pre-exhaust Triceps)
Chest Press (antagonist; mainly biceps & Chest)
Pec Dec (Post-exhaust Pecs)

Following these PUSH exercises with a wave loading set of PULLS is something that I felt would give more ‘balance’ to the workout. Correct me if I’m wrong here.

The ‘Compound Savage’

Is a set which I sort of stumbled into by looking at where the bar ended on the last rep of an exercise then observing the easiest lift to move into from there.

Putting only 3 sets of squats into the day is pretty weak (especially at 50lbs), I know, however I work legs on thursdays (curse you Tabata) and felt that working them a bit at the beginning of the week wouldn’t cause any harm. Again correct me if I’m wrong.

Finally, Old Fashioneds stop me from cheating and help me to maintain decent posture (something I discovered contributes greatly to the body composition you see in the mirror). Finishing with Dragon Flags means that you are already on the ground, so falling over from exhuastion at the end is not a risk. (I’m not quite sure to what extent that last line is a joke.)

I’ll post the rest of my workouts when I have more time.

If you made it this far, thanks for reading.

What are your goals?

Any reason why you have “extrapolated” ideas and not chosen a program from one of the many well respected coaches on this site and followed it? Do you know better than they do? thought not…

And why all these wacky “Insanity sets” - what is wrong with good old fashioned lifting heavy weights.

My advice to you:

  • Stop over complicating things
  • Compound lifts - do them, and do them heavy
  • Eat some food for Christ’s sake, you are my height and weigh 10stone, you must look like The Machinist.

You’re making many of the same mistakes I did when I first started writing my own routines. The main issue is quit trying to use all the fanciest tricks right away. Pick something really basic like full body compound moves 5x5 or something and start with that, then tweak it as you go.