Month Long Lurker's Routine

I’m doing a push-pull routine. I’m getting married in May and my main goal right now is a beach body for the honeymoon in St. Lucia. I work out Mon, Tues, Thur, Fri - with the push on mon/thur and the pull on tues/thur. Please give me some feedback on the overall routine.

PUSH:

Bench-
135x8
185x8
225x6-8 (usually failure)

Squat
135x8
185x8
225x8

Dumbell Shoulder Press
45x8
50x8
55x5-6 (failure)

Calves on Leg Press
12x 2 plates on each side
12x 3 plates on each side
12x 4 plates on each side

Hammer Strength Machine Incline
8x45 on each side
8x70 on each side

Tricep pulldown
3 sets to failure

PULL:

Lat Pulldown
140x8
160x8
185x5-6 (failure)

Row
3 sets of 8, unsure of weights, partner usually chooses, but third set is hard to finish

Deadlift (Just started last week)
135x8
185x8
225x8

Rear Dumbell Fly
2 sets of the heaviest weight i can handle

Barbell Curl
60x8
70x8
80-90xwhatever is left in the tank

A little background:

I played soccer all my life and was a sprinter in high school. I was the only soccer player who lifted weights so back then I was 165 lbs lifting what I lift now with a measured 5% BF. I went to college, gained weight, and now am around 190ish lbs. I carry probably 10-15 lbs of excess fat on my torso (mainly stomach, some chest). I’m working on bulking up now before I start to really do some serious cardio and cut back the calories about 2 months before the wedding.

My partner and I have jobs which are not conducive to lifting right now, so we probably average 3/4 workouts a week.

My diet is not the best right now (my job sucks - most days I go in at 6-7am and don’t eat a regular lunch until well after 2) but it’s probably better than most average peoples. Heavy on protein (i love meat), low on cards, and I’m not a sweets person.

That said, I know I’m not at the serious level most of you are, but I was looking for some critique of the routine.

We’ve been doing it about 2 months now. MY muscles are slightly bigger and much denser and I’ve maintained the same weight so I know I’ve lost some fat even if its not totally visible on my beergut.

Thanks in advance guys.

Your diet is going to be the limiting factor. If your diet isn’t optimal now, make it optimal. Don’t worry about bulking, and then cutting. You may end up cutting away all your muscle. You are only in the gym for 4 hours a week (or so), your diet is going to determine your gains.

I would pick a program from one of the many training articles here on T-Nation. Yours isn’t bad though in reality. You have Deadlifts, Squats, Presses, Rows, add some chin ups and you have the basics.

Keep a log so you know what YOU lift, not your partner.

Thank you for the reply. I know my diet sucks and is holding me back, right now I’m just working on building a base of strength. When I get closer to the date, my plan is to clean up the diet and just run more. Right now I do a 10 min run every time we work out.

If anyone else has any advice or criticism I’d sure appreciate hearing it. I think I’ve read damn near every article on this site and half the threads, so I’m not afraid of a little flaming.

FYI- I know people here hate the “beach-body” guys but thats my current goal. I will still be working out after the honeymoon for long term strength and health reasons. Thanks again.

I second the fact that your diet is the make or break of your beach body. Running is good, but if your body gets used to your 10 minute run every time, the results will be minimal. Try once and a while, just sprinting for burts for 5 minutes or run for 15 min or a mix, etc…

Thank you.

The bad part is that I’m in such bad cardiovascular shape that generally by the end of the run my HR is 180-195 area.

I do prefer sprints tho (was a sprinter in HS - pretty fast for a white boy) I just don’t really have a place to effectively do them right now. I always like to finish my runs strong. Like the last minute or so kick it up 2-3mph.

Thanks again guys.