Little bit of background info: Ive been lifting for 6 months, going from 157 lbs to 170 lbs. All of my lifts have increased, and Ive put on size and strength all over. I lift every other day, rarely 2 days in a row. When bulking I was eating around 2700-2800 calories consistently to minimize fat gain, and currently I am eating around maintenance to just maintain during the summer months. Below is my lifting routine, and I was just wondering what, if anything, you guys would change.
My goal is to bulk for 6 more months until February (hoping to be 185-190), and then cut from Feb. until the end of May to end up around 175 lbs. I also included a picture of my progress up to this point. Anyways, here is my routine, please give any suggestions/feedback you have!!
Let’s see… Three chest exercises, A megaton of curl variations, ONE back exercise done for three sets (OK, let’s count the chins - 2 for 6 total), loads of machine work, neither squats nor deadlifts, low frequency… Yup.
F.
Dude, seriously, do a routine created by someone knowledgeable. There’s a huge archive on this site.
[quote]nighthawkz wrote:
Let’s see… Three chest exercises, A megaton of curl variations, ONE back exercise done for three reps (OK, let’s count the chins - 2 for 6 total), loads of machine work, neither squats nor deadlifts, low frequency… Yup.
F.
Dude, seriously, do a routine created by someone knowledgeable. There’s a huge archive on this site.[/quote]
[quote]nighthawkz wrote:
Let’s see… Three chest exercises, A megaton of curl variations, ONE back exercise done for three reps (OK, let’s count the chins - 2 for 6 total), loads of machine work, neither squats nor deadlifts, low frequency… Yup.
F.
Dude, seriously, do a routine created by someone knowledgeable. There’s a huge archive on this site.[/quote]
Agreed Id give it F-[/quote]
This. I’d also like to point out that it’s entirely possible to add muscle while minimizing or eliminating fat gain, yet everyone seems to be in this endless, progress-less cycle of “bulking and cutting” where they look either like a manatee who has never touched a weight or a beanpole. You’re somewhat lean as it is, keep slowly adding muscle without eating tons of shit and you’ll look the way you want. There’s no need to gain and lose 15 pounds of fat (190 to 175) while doing it.
This website is full of great workout plans. Choose one, stick to it, eat clean, and take care of peri-workout nutrition. Congrats on the progress so far, just know that with some discipline more will come.
If you weigh 170 and your goal is to add 5 pounds of muscle in almost a year, you definitely shouldn’t have to put on any fat to achieve that. In fact you could add more muscle than that without fat gain easily if you get on a good plan and watch diet and peri-workout nutrition. I don’t even train to add muscle and in the past year I’ve added (estimated based on measurements) 10 pounds while maintaining the same body weight, so I’m certain you could exceed that.
I agree with everyone above and would also point out that it’s just a classically bad split. You’re hitting triceps 3 out of 4 days and only have 1/2 a day for the entire back (which is a huge group of muscles). You also don’t need a full day devoted to arms at your stage, imo.
There are a lot of good programs on the site. I think you’d be much better off with a full-body plan or upper/lower split.
Get on a more established routine, you seem to have done well and managed to gain some weight and fill out. But you could have probably made better progress on a solid program.
At your stage if you like training 4 days per week then you would be better off with something like an upper/ lower or a push /pull/ legs split . Choose a ready made one though as you have no idea what you are doing.
The plan is garbage if you’re really interested in a good overall physique. The focus is obviously on arms arms arms arms all the arms arms. It sounds good in theory, but it really doesn’t translate to aesthetics the way you probably want it to.
As others have suggested, pick an established program. Don’t try to make one up. You’ll waste so many years when you could have made great progress. Simple programs work for me. I wouldn’t even consider doing half the exercises you have listed. And not surprisingly, you left off squats and deadlifts. You know this makes you look like a pussy, right?
If you want big traps, shoulders, and an upper back, deadlifts are awesome. Squats are the king of lower body exercises, and if you can perform them safely, they should probably be incorporated in some capacity. Girls love great legs and ass. Filling out a pair of jeans well is a good thing. A lot of girls appreciate that more than arms.
Don’t have an arm day. Incorporate arms into your workout on other days. Your choices are excessive. Having 4 variations of curls is dumb for someone at your level. Instead, maybe incorporate arms into your shoulder day, and then have a separate back day. The best way to achieve that ‘V taper’ look is big lats. It’s not about chest. It’s not about arms. It’s about the back. And by the way, if you can develop a great back, it’s almost a certainty that your arms will come along as well.
[quote]flipcollar wrote:
The plan is garbage if you’re really interested in a good overall physique. The focus is obviously on arms arms arms arms all the arms arms. It sounds good in theory, but it really doesn’t translate to aesthetics the way you probably want it to.
As others have suggested, pick an established program. Don’t try to make one up. You’ll waste so many years when you could have made great progress. Simple programs work for me. I wouldn’t even consider doing half the exercises you have listed. And not surprisingly, you left off squats and deadlifts. You know this makes you look like a pussy, right?
If you want big traps, shoulders, and an upper back, deadlifts are awesome. Squats are the king of lower body exercises, and if you can perform them safely, they should probably be incorporated in some capacity. Girls love great legs and ass. Filling out a pair of jeans well is a good thing. A lot of girls appreciate that more than arms.
Don’t have an arm day. Incorporate arms into your workout on other days. Your choices are excessive. Having 4 variations of curls is dumb for someone at your level. Instead, maybe incorporate arms into your shoulder day, and then have a separate back day. The best way to achieve that ‘V taper’ look is big lats. It’s not about chest. It’s not about arms. It’s about the back. And by the way, if you can develop a great back, it’s almost a certainty that your arms will come along as well.[/quote]
Listen to this guy, Flips been killing it with the advice recently
[quote]flipcollar wrote:
The plan is garbage if you’re really interested in a good overall physique. The focus is obviously on arms arms arms arms all the arms arms. It sounds good in theory, but it really doesn’t translate to aesthetics the way you probably want it to.
As others have suggested, pick an established program. Don’t try to make one up. You’ll waste so many years when you could have made great progress. Simple programs work for me. I wouldn’t even consider doing half the exercises you have listed. And not surprisingly, you left off squats and deadlifts. You know this makes you look like a pussy, right?
If you want big traps, shoulders, and an upper back, deadlifts are awesome. Squats are the king of lower body exercises, and if you can perform them safely, they should probably be incorporated in some capacity. Girls love great legs and ass. Filling out a pair of jeans well is a good thing. A lot of girls appreciate that more than arms.
Don’t have an arm day. Incorporate arms into your workout on other days. Your choices are excessive. Having 4 variations of curls is dumb for someone at your level. Instead, maybe incorporate arms into your shoulder day, and then have a separate back day. The best way to achieve that ‘V taper’ look is big lats. It’s not about chest. It’s not about arms. It’s about the back. And by the way, if you can develop a great back, it’s almost a certainty that your arms will come along as well.[/quote]
Listen to this guy, Flips been killing it with the advice recently[/quote]
I sincerely appreciate that. I try to stay on the right track.
[quote]flipcollar wrote:
The plan is garbage if you’re really interested in a good overall physique. The focus is obviously on arms arms arms arms all the arms arms. It sounds good in theory, but it really doesn’t translate to aesthetics the way you probably want it to.
As others have suggested, pick an established program. Don’t try to make one up. You’ll waste so many years when you could have made great progress. Simple programs work for me. I wouldn’t even consider doing half the exercises you have listed. And not surprisingly, you left off squats and deadlifts. You know this makes you look like a pussy, right?
If you want big traps, shoulders, and an upper back, deadlifts are awesome. Squats are the king of lower body exercises, and if you can perform them safely, they should probably be incorporated in some capacity. Girls love great legs and ass. Filling out a pair of jeans well is a good thing. A lot of girls appreciate that more than arms.
Don’t have an arm day. Incorporate arms into your workout on other days. Your choices are excessive. Having 4 variations of curls is dumb for someone at your level. Instead, maybe incorporate arms into your shoulder day, and then have a separate back day. The best way to achieve that ‘V taper’ look is big lats. It’s not about chest. It’s not about arms. It’s about the back. And by the way, if you can develop a great back, it’s almost a certainty that your arms will come along as well.[/quote]
Listen to this guy, Flips been killing it with the advice recently[/quote]
x2
I was going to reply the same thing yesterday that it was solid advice but got distracted and eventually forgot, lol.
