1st cyc workout: Opinions please

GettinSwoll · Apr 19, 2007

Here is the workout I plan to use for the first 6 weeks. Dropsets will be most intense sets, last set on all other exercises will be to failure. Thanks in advance.

MON: Shoulders/Traps

Dumbbell Military Press: 15,8,8,8,5,Dropset
Dumbbell Lateral Raise: 15,15,12,12
Dumbbell Rear Delt Raise: 15,15,12,12
Dumbbell Front Raise: 15,15,12,12
Dumbbell Shrug: 15,15,15,15,Dropset

TUE: Legs/Calves

Squat: 15,12,12,8
Leg Press: 12,12,8,8,Dropset
Hamstring Curls: 20,15,15,12,Dropset
Single Leg Curls: 12,8
Seated Calf Raise: 20,15,12,Dropset
Leg Press Calf Raise: 15,12,8,8

WED: Back

T-Bar Row: 15,12,12,8
Wide-Grip Seated Row: 12,12,8,8,Dropset
Dumbbell Row: 12,12
Lat Pull: 15,12,12,8,Dropset
Hyper/Reverse Hyper 3 sets each

THU: Off

FRI: Chest/Traps

Incline Bench Press: 15,12,12,8,Dropset
Dumbbell Bench Press: 12,12,8
Incline Cable Flye: 15,12,12,8
Barbell Shrug: 15,12,12,12,8,Dropset

SAT: Arms/Calves

Barbell Curl: 15,12,12,8
-superset with:
Close-grip Bench: 15,12,12,8
Cable Reverse Curl: 15,12,12,Dropset
-superset with:
Tricep Pressdown: 15,12,12,Dropset
Seated Calf Raise: 15,15,15,10,10,10, Dropset

SUN: Off

oldfella · Apr 19, 2007

Personally I think your workout is not looking very productive for serious gains. You are missing the key components to growth of the larger muscle groups. There are NO DEADLIFTS for back and overall strength. You are over emphasising your smaller groups like shoulders and not working the larger muscle groups hard enough. There are NO SQUATS for legs, Supersetting arms????? What for???? Not enough work there either. Heavy inclines for chest, etc etc. Go back and re think your training. This will not yeild very good gains.

GettinSwoll · Apr 20, 2007

oldfella said:
Personally I think your workout is not looking very productive for serious gains. You are missing the key components to growth of the larger muscle groups. There are NO DEADLIFTS for back and overall strength. You are over emphasising your smaller groups like shoulders and not working the larger muscle groups hard enough. There are NO SQUATS for legs, Supersetting arms????? What for???? Not enough work there either. Heavy inclines for chest, etc etc. Go back and re think your training. This will not yeild very good gains.

I didn't include deadlifts cuz i've been doing them for a long time now, I was going to put them back in after the first 6 weeks. I was emphasizing smaller groups (namely the shoulders) becausue I that is where I want to see the most growth. I do have squats in there on legs day and I've read in many places that supersetting arms promotes good growth. Are you saying heavy incline for chest is good or bad? Please give me more info or a sample routine of what I should model mine off of.

Thanks.

skinny D · Apr 20, 2007

If you want small muscle group growth ei. delts,bi's,ect... Do spot inj. works great on smaller muscles

I'd do some thing like this:
Mon: delts
tris
chest
back
Tues: OFF

Wen: legs
abs
bis
Thur: OFF

Fri: same as mon
Sat: OFF

Sun: same as wens

And so on.

You'll need to lift powerlifting style, Super heavy weight low reps. You need the time off to regroup. IMO this is the best way to add mass

skinny D · Apr 20, 2007

BTW whats your stats, and what does your Cycle look like?

oldfella · Apr 20, 2007

I train 5 days a week. One BP p/day. I usually do what I call volume training. 5 sets per exercise and for the large groups 4 or 5 exercises. For the smaller ones 3-4 exercises. On legs I play it by ear. My training partner and I will do up to 8 sets of squats, depend on the way I feel and how the strength levels are that day. Same for deads, can do a whole shitload of sets if the groove is right. Arms is usually 4 exercises for tri's and three for bi's. I will superset when prepping for a show! I do not make a full routine out of them in offseason. Shoulders is 4 exercises and between 4-5 sets of each exercise. One of those exercises is shrugs. When enhanced you can train this way as long as food is right. Loads of protein and same for carbs. Keep some good fat in the diet and you should grow well. I'm 48 BTW and my training partner is 23 yrs younger than I am. He's usually in a lot of pain after our workouts but he is growing fast and big. Hope this gives you an idea or two!!