Hey everybody! Iâ??m new to this forum, glad to be here. So hereâ??s the thing: I set up a new workout routine which is a powerlift/builder cross that I would like your opinions on.
Before you go on to reading the routine let me share something first. I had an ACL reconstructive surgery and meniscsectomy on my right knee 4 months ago. I chose a hamstring autograft.
Well there I was post surgery in nov/dec last year. Recovery and rehab was tougher than expected and I kinda drifted along in to a depression. Couldnâ??t get myself to work out or do anything with my life. Until recently! Decided itâ??s time to get a grip and I am now back in full strength and more motivated than ever! Anyways, back to my work out routine.
Oh wait, a little more about my physical therapy first. I started squatting two months ago with just a broomstick. Surgeon and physio told me to do a high # of reps so I did 30. Now Iâ??m lifting 120lbs with 20 reps. However, I got knee pain after a sumo deadlift session the other day and it still stings right on the surgical wound site. So I gotta stay away from deadlifts for a couple months…
The routine
Day1 post-chain
Bent over rows 5x5
Pull Ups 3x6
Squat 20x3
Good mornings 1x15 (oh so weak!)
One arm dumbbell row 10x3
Day2 pecs, triceps, shoulders
Bench press 5x5
Dips 2x6
Incline dumbbell press 10x3
Military press 5x5
Good mornings 1x15
Day3 rest
Day4 same as day1
Day5 same as day2
Day6 rest
Day7 rest
Iâ??ll also work on my rehab on two of the rest days. Those days are also dedicated to abs and mobility and stretching for deeper squats (and easier deadlift when that time comes).
Are there too few exercises in here? Every sessions feels a bit short.
One more thing to mention: I started this routine with pretty light weights so I will (hopefully) progress 5lbs on every 5x5 exercises every week.
my feedback. it sucks. it is way out of balance in many ways. enough that trying to fix it will take a very long time. to speed things up try a proven program to get the results you want. try 5/3/1 with boring but bug accessories.
No I do 20 reps for 3 sets of squats. just wrote it in the wrong sequence. And yes I do other leg exercises in my rehab program. Im taking things slow yet Im doing my best to work out legs without aggravating the knee.
Could you give me an example of a push/pull/legs split?
@ asooneyeonig
Ive looked through a bunch of those proven programs but because of my knee I cant do a lot of the leg exercises so I would have to switch out a bunch of exercises anyways.
What makes this routine unbalanced? I do have all the major compound exercises (except deadlift) in there.
[quote]mattis wrote:
No I do 20 reps for 3 sets of squats. just wrote it in the wrong sequence. And yes I do other leg exercises in my rehab program. Im taking things slow yet Im doing my best to work out legs without aggravating the knee.
Could you give me an example of a push/pull/legs split?
[/quote]
I’m not going to write you out a routine because I don’t consider myself advanced/experienced enough to do so. They are very versatile splits in that you can go to the gym any amount of days a week and they will fit.
Very simple example:
Day 1: Push: chest, shoulders, triceps.
Day 2: Pull: back, biceps.
Day 3: Legs: quads, hamstrings, calves.
Day4: Off.
Day 5: Repeat.
You can add in rest days wherever you want or you could do less rest days. Push/pull/legs/push/pull/legs/off fits everything twice into one week, for example.
day 1 has 14 sets (im guessing the second number is your sets based up you stated later you are doing 3 sets of 20 squats) and only 3 sets for legs. with a total of 73 reps for upper body and 60 for lower. i left out the goodmornings on this as well. to do 20 reps for squats that would put you at about 50-60% of a max. while your upper body rep/sets would allow for 75-90% of your max. so you are going far heavier and more reps for upper body.
day 2 has no lower body and 19 sets at a possible similar percentage max.
now if you look at pressing vs pulling you have:
pressing: 19 sets for a total of 92 reps.
pulling: 14 sets 73.
that is 25% more pressing then pulling. seeing as how lats and trap strength helps with pressing at multiple angles you would want 25% more pulling then pressing.
as for lower legs. i understand not going heavy due to the surgery. you are doing squats, so why not deadlifts? or even swings? you can do goodmornings which is a variation of those exercises. so unless those specific exercises aggravate the knee then you can do them to up the volume for the lower body. you could even do box squats on the pull day and regular squats on push day.
i would alternate the rows week to week. do face pulls each pushing workout with some snatch grip deads or hang power cleans for some upper trap work. for pressing i would alternate bench and dips & incline and military week to week. do goodmornings on one day and swings on another day. and add in ab work each day. some planks, blast strap extensions, rollouts, satnding cable crunchnes, palloff press, windmills, etc.
for reps and setssome variety IMO is good. start with 3-5 reps for the first exercise. then 5-8 for the next. then 8+ for anything else. once and a while do some 20 rep sets, or shoot for 100 reps and take as many sets as you need. not every workout. maybe on each workout do one movement that way at the end.
OK thanks guys for elaborating on your responses. I see that there’s still a lot for me to learn. There’s so much to think about! I did use a routine last year which was split into push/pull/legs and I had good results with that.