Hypertrophy Workout

This is my current workout.
Trying to gain weight and size.
6’2
205
17%bf
25yrs

Day 1 - Legs
Squat 4 sets 10-12 reps
Leg Press 2 sets 10-12 reps
Ham Curl 4 sets 10-12 reps
Standing bb calf raise 3 sets x 15x3=45 (toes out, forward, then in)

Day 2 - Back/Bi
Deadlift 2-3 sets 10-12 reps
T-Bar row 3 sets 10-12 reps
Pull Down 3 sets 10-12 reps
Double DB preacher curl 3 sets 10-12 reps

Day 3 - Rest
I play floor hockey on this day

Day 4 - Chest/shoulders/tri
BB Bench 3 sets 10-12reps
Incline bench 3 sets 10-12reps
Decline Bench 2 sets 10-12 reps
Shoulder Shocker 2 sets
Overhead tricep press 3 sets 10-12 reps

Is this workout getting my whole body and good enough to produce hypertrophy?
I am currently eating 3700cal a day and I am going to up it to 4000-4200 soon.
I used to do other shoulder work (overhead press, push press etc) but I get very bad shoulder pain from an old injury from a car accident so I had to get rid of those lifts.

Thanks in advance!

[quote]Biggers wrote:

Is this workout getting my whole body and good enough to produce hypertrophy?
I am currently eating 3700cal a day and I am going to up it to 4000-4200 soon.
I used to do other shoulder work (overhead press, push press etc) but I get very bad shoulder pain from an old injury from a car accident so I had to get rid of those lifts.

Thanks in advance![/quote]

Personally I wouldn’t do it, but assuming you’re lifting hard and eating properly, sure, it could produce hypertrophy.

Easy answer is take pictures, measure girths, track progress and see if it works for you.

If you’re not happy with your progress after, lets say 3-months doing this, or you post pictures now, come back and you get feedback that your progress isn’t good enough, then it might be time to evaluate what you are doing and what you are/are not responsive to.

[quote]GluteusGigantis wrote:

[quote]Biggers wrote:

Is this workout getting my whole body and good enough to produce hypertrophy?
I am currently eating 3700cal a day and I am going to up it to 4000-4200 soon.
I used to do other shoulder work (overhead press, push press etc) but I get very bad shoulder pain from an old injury from a car accident so I had to get rid of those lifts.

Thanks in advance![/quote]

Personally I wouldn’t do it, but assuming you’re lifting hard and eating properly, sure, it could produce hypertrophy.
[/quote]

I am just going on what I have read and learned over the years. This is similar to what a strength and conditioning coach taught me with a few tweaks. I will search the forums and see if I can find my own answer to this question but what would you suggest instead? I am looking for a workout that ‘will’ produce results instead of one that ‘could’ produce results (barring lifting hard and eating healthy)

note I have read the IBB and the Radical Hypertrophy articles but I feel that I am not an experienced enough lifter to start on that program. I am, however, open to any and all suggestions. I have been working out for to long and have become one of the guys that you don’t really notice getting bigger or stronger.

I will take photos tomorrow and measure.

IMO, many of those standard training templates are very much doable for any level lifter. Its just people who want it to be more complicated that make something out to need you at level X to continue.

I believe DC is an exception (and some of the insane eastern european models), but that is from the combination of a very hard ‘interval’ style weightlifting prescription combined with the mental toughness you get from a few years in the gym.

I wish I could just pick a program out of my head that will work FOR YOU, but the reality is that many programs will work. The common themes is lifting somewhere between a 4-15 rep max level, for as much volume as you can safely tolerate in a given session, using some variety of a split program across the week with direct muscle work combined with large bang for your buck movements.

A few points about your current plan (take them for what they’re worth, I’m more book smart than anything, although in my 3 years training I have gone from 32-45cm arms, and 95-116cm chest)

a) I don’t see the point in 2 sets of leg press when you’re already doing squats, seems like a token gesture. Bump your squat volume up.

b) You’ll find deadlifts a bit more interesting following squat day (low back carryover fatigue), consider switching order around

c) Just a general observation, which I hope many other newB trainers consider, but think about the back vs the chest for a moment or 3, specifically the absolute muscle mass involved…lots more on the back eh? You tend to notice big backs come from pretty brutal back workouts, and at the moment your chest volumes (smaller mass) are equivalent to what you’re doing with back. Check out the alpha cell back thread and/or check out some of the awesome backs developed on here by some of the guys (particular back standouts for me, apologies if I don’t mention you, Synergy, Bugeisha - I always like your back shots, Waylander - aka fucking man-beast, Hungry4More).

Anyways, I’m sure others would rather revamp your entire routine or nitpick to a greater detail, I would prefer to get you thinking about what to do (you’ll learn more).

You’re only doing one exercise each for your biceps, triceps, and shoulders? This is a terrible idea.

Also, doing deadlifts the day after a leg workout usually doesn’t work very well.

[quote]GluteusGigantis wrote:
You tend to notice big backs come from pretty brutal back workouts, and at the moment your chest volumes (smaller mass) are equivalent to what you’re doing with back.

[/quote]

I understand that bigger muscle groups require more work. I have applied this principle to my arms (one set of direct work on each per week) but had not thought about it in terms of back, or legs, vs chest. I am not 100% sure on your meaning. I will cruise the alpha section and read the one on back.

I understand that there is no cookie cutter routine that will benefit everyone the most and that you must respond as your body progresses.

After reading through articles and the forums:

Day 1 - Legs
Squat 6 sets of 6-8 ramping up
SLDL(ham) 4x6-8
Calf Raise

Day 2 - Back
Deadlifts 6 sets 6-8 reps ramping up
DB Rows or BB rows 3x6-10
T-Bar Rows 3x10
Pull downs 3x10
Preacher DB Curls

Day 3 - Chest/bi/tri
Incline Bench 4 sets of 6 ramping up
DB flies 4 sets of 6 ramping?
Shoulder Shocker

does that look a little better? I have read a lot but it is a lot for me to take in. It is now 5am and I spent close to 2 hours reading and coming up with this split. I am 100% open to any suggestions. Thank you again for your help GG!!!

[quote]mr popular wrote:
You’re only doing one exercise each for your biceps, triceps, and shoulders? This is a terrible idea.

Also, doing deadlifts the day after a leg workout usually doesn’t work very well.[/quote]

I misread what GG said about deads after leg day. I am going to switch it up and space them apart by a workout or two. I am going to read the alpha-cell on arms and go from there

Okay I have read through many of the alpha cell roundtable threads and have come up with what, I think, it a more complete workout that will get me to grow more then the standard 10-12rep scheme I had before hand. Any suggestions?

Day 1
Legs
Squats 6 sets with ramp, 8,8,ramp 6,ramp 6, ramp max reps, rest then widowmaker
2 sets leg extension
I have hamstring issues so I am easing into them again
SLDL
Leg Curl

Day 2
Chest
Flat DB 3x6-8
Incline 3x10
DB Flies 3x10-12
Tri
Skull Crushers 3x10
Single arm overhead db extension 3x10

Day 3
Shoulders
Front Raise superset with Lateral Raise 3setw 6-8 reps
DB Press 3x6-8
Javelin Press 3x6-8
Face Pulls 2x10
Reverse Fly 2x10

Day 4
Back
Deadlifts 6 sets 6-8 reps ramping up
DB Rows or BB rows 3x6-10
T-Bar Rows 3x10
Pull downs 3x10

Bi
Standing DB/Bar Curl (bilateral) 15 reps, moderate weight, not to failure
DB Preacher Curl 10RM, 6RM, 2x4RM
Standing DB/Bar Curl (bilateral) 12-15RM

Go away and crush it!!! Get your protein up, stretch/foam roll any areas of concern, and give it heaps.

Good luck.

Good push/pull/legs split.

Alpha has been a great source of information for me over the last 2 years.

Maybe some extra quad volume (unless your easing into legs).

Also IMO drop 1 shoulder exercise and add extra sets to posterier/medial delt work.

If you stick to that program and don’t eat like a yoga instructor, you will grow.

Good luck,
-Dave

Hey Biggers,

Looking better than the first programme you had. Looks very much hypertrophy than strength+ endurance.

What about trying hack squats instead of leg extension, the ones with heels elevated on a plate, and bar held behind instead of front. This particular exercise always hits my quads right. Leg extension fucked my knees for a while. Once I stopped doing them, everything was fine again. But to each of their own :slight_smile:

[quote]DarkNinjaa wrote:
Hey Biggers,

Looking better than the first programme you had. Looks very much hypertrophy than strength+ endurance.

What about trying hack squats instead of leg extension, the ones with heels elevated on a plate, and bar held behind instead of front. This particular exercise always hits my quads right. Leg extension fucked my knees for a while. Once I stopped doing them, everything was fine again. But to each of their own :)[/quote]

Thanks DarkNijaa

I will try out hack squat on my next leg day.

I did the chest/tri workout today. it was awesome, one of my best workouts in a while. I really focused on using maximal force regardless of which rep it is as per TC principle.
Pictures and nutrition to follow in other threads, thanks for the advice and help!

[quote]PAINTRAINDave wrote:
Good push/pull/legs split.

Alpha has been a great source of information for me over the last 2 years.

Maybe some extra quad volume (unless your easing into legs).

Also IMO drop 1 shoulder exercise and add extra sets to posterier/medial delt work.

If you stick to that program and don’t eat like a yoga instructor, you will grow.

Good luck,
-Dave [/quote]

I think I will alternate and do javelin press for a while then switch to DB press. I will add some more sets to my pos/med work.

Speaking of yoga I thought about it to help open my hips and hammys up more