Got an idea.....

T-mag has provided great info, and some excelent workout routines emphasizing everything from strength to hypertrophy to well, TC’s rod. However, how about some of us post some workouts we’ve designed that have been helpful in our on training from time to time (maybe they can help someone else)? That way we all (a) have some new stuff to try, (b) might learn somethin’, and (c) get bigger and/or stronger. Since this is my little brain child, I guess I should start.

You can use this on a 5-7 day split (depending on your recovery. It’s for the chest and back. It does, however, have a draw back, you need to use both the incline and decline bench (or I guess you could use chest dips). Therefore go when the gym is not crowded or follow one Ian’s suggestions and just piss on the bench (marking your territory) until you get done, then you can clean up. And obviously it can be modified in order to fit your needs (e.g., more/less sets/reps/rest, etc.).

Day 1 Chest/Back: (A1) Incline DB press Sets: 3-5 (build up to 5 sets) Reps: 6-8 Tempo: 3210 Rest: 2 minutes

(A2) Wide Grip Pull Ups
Sets: 3-5
Reps: 4-10 (then add weight, and use a 6-8 rep range)
Tempo: 4010
Rest: 2 minutes

(A3) That’s right, do these before going back to A1.
Decline DB presses (if getting the bench is a problem use chest dips, the chinning bar and dip station are rarely crowded.
Sets: 3-5
Reps: 6-8
Tempo: 4110
Rest: 2 minutes

(A4) Semi supinated or supinated chins
Sets: 3-5
Reps: 6-8 or as many reps as possible
Tempo: 3210
Rest: 2 minutes

(B) 3-4 sets of some external rotator work.
Or you may want to do this first, I generall incorporate a few sets into my warm up however.

Todd, good little routine! I only have one suggestion. You have two vertical pulling exercises (wide-grip chin and supinated chin), but you don’t have any horizontal pulling exercises (rows). In order to prevent head tilt and muscle imbalances, you may want to use one chinning exercise and one rowing exercise!

Unless of course you have another day where you do rowing exercises (heavy deadlift day). This is something I have become very aware of after reading Ian's books and articles. Many people don't do enough rowing exercises.

Luckily, my back is probably my best bodypart. But I have done more chinning exercises than rowing exercises. So I'm working on correcting that.

Great idea for the forum, Todd!!!

Excellent suggestion. I posted what I had used and responded to best. Chins (and variations thereof) are the staple of my back training (I simply respond better in both strength and size). The varied grips in my opinion though are what made this work well for me. Also, if you have better recovery it may be beneficial to lower the rest periods to 90 seconds. The reason I didn’t was that my bi’s and tri’s would start giving out on me.

Todd, I couldn’t agree more. After reading Poliquin’s book and his articles on back training, I used chinning exercises exclusively (except during my training for Olympic lifting).

But in the past two years, my back has improved tremendously thanks to variations of the chin. I still need to work on my wide-grip chins. They are my weakest area. But I am addressing that in my current workout!

Anyone else have a cool routine to share?

Day 1 - SHOULDERS
DUMBBELL SHRUGS 5 sets 15,12,10,8,6
BARBELL UPRIGHT ROWS 5 sets 15,12,10,8,6
FRONT DUMBBELL RAISES 5 sets 15,12,10,8,6
LATERAL DUMBBELL RAISES 5 x 15,12,10,8,6
SEATED BARBELL FRONT PRESS 5 x 15,12,10,8,6
DAY 2 - LEGS
first part of Ian’s limping
DAY 3 - CHEST
INCLINE BARBELL PRESS 5 x 15,12,10,8,6
BARBELL BENCH PRESS 3 x 12,10,8
Dips 5 x as many as possible
DECLINE DUMBBELL PRESS 5 x 15,12,10,8,6
Low Dumbbell Flies (1 1/3) 4 x 12,10,8,6
CABLE CROSSOVER alt between upper and lower cables 4 x 12,10,8,6
DAY 4 - ARMS
STANDING DUMBBELL CURLS 4 x 12,10,8,6
SEATED HAMMER CURLS 4 x 12,10,8,6
lying down on a high bench DUMBBELL CURLS 4 x 12,10,8,6
CALBE CURLS upper cables 4 x 12,10,8,6
DECLINE TRICEPS EXTENSION 4 x 12,10,8,6
CABLE PUSH DOWNS 4 x 12,10,8,6
CABLE PULL DOWNS4 x 12,10,8,6
LYING CABLE FENCH PRESS 4 x 12,10,8,6
DAY 5 - BACK
WIDE-GRIP BEHIND-THE-NECK PULLDOWNS
5 x 15,12,10,8,6
SEATED LOW CALBE ROWS 5 x 15,12,10,8,6
ONE-ARM DUMBBELL BENT-OVER ROWS 4 x 12,10,8,6
WIDE GRIP CHINS 4 x as many as possible
CLOSE GRIP CHINS 4 X as many as possible
For cavles I do every other day. 1st high reps light weight 2nd low reps heavy weight

I know this seams like a heavy load, but my body doesn’t respond well to less then 4-5 sets.

Hey guys, I have a great chest and back routine too. I kind of varied the x-comp trainig a bit. Here it is. A1) Flat Bench Press 5 sets of 3 reps 210, rest 2 min. A2) deadlifts 5 sets of 3 reps 210 rest 2 min.
B1) incline DB Press, 3 sets of 5 reps 210, rest 2 min. B2) wide grip chins 3 sets of 5 reps 201 rest 2 min.
C1) supine flies 1 set of 10 reps 505 rest 90 sec. C2) prone flies 1 set of 10 reps 505 rest 90 sec.
I found that doing bench and deadlifts together pumps me up. I get a real rush from doing deadlifts and my bench seems to get easier and easier form one set to the next.