*Updated* My new full body workout routine

[Mikey]

Do to a busier schedule due to work and school and hanging with my girlfriend, I've decided to break away from my usual split routine for a full body workout system. I've spent a lot of time trying to find a good routine that can be done in about an hour and will allow me to make gains in muscular growth. I'm currently about 165lbs at 6ft tall. I'm broad and pretty buff for my size. I'm just looking for something that will allow me to make gains in a tight schedule. I intend to work out 3 days a week while alternating between circuits. Here is what I came up with.

Circuit #1
1) Barbell Incline Press
2) Medium Grip L-Pull-ups
3) Barbell Military Press
4) Parallel Bar Dips
5) Standing Barbell Curls
6) Barbell Deadlifts

Circuit #2
1) Dumbbell Incline Press
2) Barbell Bent Over Row
3) Barbell Upright Row
4) Close Grip Bench Press
5) Close Grip L-Chin-ups
6) Barbell Front Squats



What are your thoughts?

 

[MotF Bane]

No squats? No deadlift? No overhead press?

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Originally posted by: MotF Bane
No squats? No deadlift? No overhead press?

Military press = overhead press pretty much.

But the program is still missing squats and deadlifts which are the core components of any serious weightlifting program.

 

[Mikey]

Originally posted by: SociallyChallenged

Originally posted by: MotF Bane
No squats? No deadlift? No overhead press?

Military press = overhead press pretty much.

But the program is still missing squats and deadlifts which are the core components of any serious weightlifting program.

If you guys read correctly, squats are included in the exercise as well. Military press is the same thing as an overhead press. As far as deadlifts go, I just edited my workout, so take a look.

 

[KoolDrew]

So you're going to be doing all of that every single day? Deadlifts alone 3x a week is a terrible idea. If you are able to recover from that, you're definitely not doing them heavy enough. You're going to need to alternate exercises and/or intensity on certain days. I would suggest looking into Bill Starrs 5x5 routine.

 

[brikis98]

Some questions:

1. What are your goals? Adding mass? Strength? Training for a sport?
2. What is your lifting experience? The relevant question here is if you are able to add weight to your core lifts (especially squat) linearly - that is, every workout - or if you've progressed far enough with weightlifting where you can only go up in weight every few workouts? The actual amount of weight your lift is also relevant (see the weightlifting standards), but in general, if you can do a linear progression, you'd be wasting your time doing anything else.

As for the routine you posted, it's hard to judge without knowing the set/rep scheme you are using, but it looks like you are doing way too many exercises. To put it in perspective, the Bill Starr 5x5 routine is an intermediate program where you do 3-4 exercises per workout and that already will take you 60-90 minutes. Since you're using heavy weights and all the exercises are compound motions using the entire body, this 5x5 taxes the ability of your body (and CNS) to recover. There's just no way around it: squatting every single workout (twice heavy, once light) is very tough on the body, but also very effective. Deadlift is included as well, but only once a week, as the lower back tends to recover slower than most other parts of the body.

Now compare that to your routine: 10 exercises per workout and squatting and deadlifting every single time are going to lead to marathon gym sessions and probably overload your CNS. There are also other minor questions: why incline bench press and no flat bench press? Why wide grip pull-ups? Why front squats? Why no olympic style lifts (e.g. power clean)? By "military press", do you mean standing OH press with a barbell?

 

[KingGheedora]

You could also just do starting strength or stronglift 5x5. Those routines have been used by people to gain size and strength, and the workouts are pretty quick.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Originally posted by: Mikey

Originally posted by: SociallyChallenged

Originally posted by: MotF Bane
No squats? No deadlift? No overhead press?

Military press = overhead press pretty much.

But the program is still missing squats and deadlifts which are the core components of any serious weightlifting program.

If you guys read correctly, squats are included in the exercise as well. Military press is the same thing as an overhead press. As far as deadlifts go, I just edited my workout, so take a look.

Front squats in themselves aren't necessarily sufficient. They will dominantly build the anterior chain and will leave you with an imbalance between front/back muscles. If you introduced front squats and back squats along with deadlifts, I would be much less apt to say this is an insufficient program. I will still say that, even with the front squats, it's not all that good. Also why are you writing your own program? Do you have vast experience with lifting and such? It might be best to get on a pre-planned workout routine written by professional with such experience.

 

[KoolDrew]

Front squats in themselves aren't necessarily sufficient. They will dominantly build the anterior chain and will leave you with an imbalance between front/back muscles.

A full front squat will hit the hams and glutes plenty. A little bit more hams and glutes for the back squat since you sit back more and a bit more quads for fronts, but the difference isn't going to be huge as long as the person is doing them correctly and going low enough. The disadvantage of front squats is upper body strength though, which limits the amount of weight that can be done.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Originally posted by: KoolDrew

Front squats in themselves aren't necessarily sufficient. They will dominantly build the anterior chain and will leave you with an imbalance between front/back muscles.

A full front squat will hit the hams and glutes plenty. A little bit more hams and glutes for the back squat since you sit back more and a bit more quads for fronts, but the difference isn't going to be huge as long as the person is doing them correctly and going low enough. The disadvantage of front squats is upper body strength though, which limits the amount of weight that can be done.

Another problem with front squats is wrist flexibility and elbow flexibility as well. Back squat can be done day one while the front squat will have to be worked on a bit more. I still say both should be involved in any good routine.

 

[brikis98]

Originally posted by: KoolDrew

Front squats in themselves aren't necessarily sufficient. They will dominantly build the anterior chain and will leave you with an imbalance between front/back muscles.

A full front squat will hit the hams and glutes plenty. A little bit more hams and glutes for the back squat since you sit back more and a bit more quads for fronts, but the difference isn't going to be huge as long as the person is doing them correctly and going low enough. The disadvantage of front squats is upper body strength though, which limits the amount of weight that can be done.

The back squat - especially the low bar variety - definitely hits the posterior chain more than the front squat, which tends to use the quads a lot more. The involvement of the posterior chain is one of the reasons that most people can move much heavier loads on the back squat. The other reason, as you indicated, is that it's more difficult to maintain the upright posture of a front squat with heavy weight pulling you forward. Including both types is a great way to have a well rounded routine. However, if for some reason you only had to pick one, the back squat is probably a slightly better choice primarily due to the heavier loads it allows.

 

[KingGheedora]

Originally posted by: SociallyChallenged

Front squats in themselves aren't necessarily sufficient. They will dominantly build the anterior chain and will leave you with an imbalance between front/back muscles. If you introduced front squats and back squats along with deadlifts, I would be much less apt to say this is an insufficient program. I will still say that, even with the front squats, it's not all that good. Also why are you writing your own program? Do you have vast experience with lifting and such? It might be best to get on a pre-planned workout routine written by professional with such experience.

About this, I've only been doing squats, and mostly lighter weight (haven't gone over 100lbs yet) just as a warm-up activity sometimes before starting my boxing workouts or on days when I don't want to box. Back squats are the ones where the bar rests behind the neck right? Is there anything wrong with just doing those and not front squats or deadlifts? Will I be creating any imbalance?

Nevermind, I posted that before reading the rest of the thread. Question answered.

 

[Ballatician]

Don't know about your routine but 6ft/165? Is it just me or is that kind of light?

 

[wonSR4]

Originally posted by: Ballatician
Don't know about your routine but 6ft/165? Is it just me or is that kind of light?

I'd say it's a little light, probably 180ish+ is normal

 

[GenHoth]

Originally posted by: wonSR4

Originally posted by: Ballatician
Don't know about your routine but 6ft/165? Is it just me or is that kind of light?

I'd say it's a little light, probably 180ish+ is normal

I'm 5'10" and 165, I consider myself to be light. Then again since I hang out in the power lifting and body building sections plus almost all my friends play football my view may be a bit skewed :laugh:

 

[KingGheedora]

Originally posted by: wonSR4

Originally posted by: Ballatician
Don't know about your routine but 6ft/165? Is it just me or is that kind of light?

I'd say it's a little light, probably 180ish+ is normal

I'm 5'10 and 160. I don't think 6' and 165 is anything to be worried about. He could be muscular and not have a lot of fat and be in great shape at that height and weight.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Originally posted by: KingGheedora

Originally posted by: wonSR4

Originally posted by: Ballatician
Don't know about your routine but 6ft/165? Is it just me or is that kind of light?

I'd say it's a little light, probably 180ish+ is normal

I'm 5'10 and 160. I don't think 6' and 165 is anything to be worried about. He could be muscular and not have a lot of fat and be in great shape at that height and weight.

Everybody's different. Unless someone is underweight or overweight then it's up to them what they want their body composition to be. Personally, I think you're a bit light as well, but that's because I have different views. Weight doesn't matter. Performance does. If you do your things well, then screw thinking about weight unless it might potentially help you.

 

[KoolDrew]

Try something like this.

Workout A:
Squat
Bench Press
OH Press
Dips

Workout B:
Deadlift
Chins
Rows
Curlz

You'll still be hitting upper and lower body on every workout, but with a different emphasis. Other options would be alternating upper/lower days, HST, Bill Starrs 5x5, Texas Method, etc. I personally recommend Bill Starrs 5x5. About a year ago I got my bench up to 275, squat up to 405, and deadlift up to 495 using it. With the significant strength increases came significant size gains as well.

Regardless of what your routine ends up being, the important factor is always going to be adding weight to the bar. If you're not getting stronger, something needs to be changed.

 

[dealmaster00]

Originally posted by: KoolDrew
Try something like this.

Workout A:
Squat
Bench Press
OH Press
Dips

Workout B:
Deadlift
Chins
Rows
Curlz

You'll still be hitting upper and lower body on every workout, but with a different emphasis. Other options would be alternating upper/lower days, HST, Bill Starrs 5x5, Texas Method, etc. I personally recommend Bill Starrs 5x5. About a year ago I got my bench up to 275, squat up to 405, and deadlift up to 495 using it. With the significant strength increases came significant size gains as well.

Regardless of what your routine ends up being, the important factor is always going to be adding weight to the bar. If you're not getting stronger, something needs to be changed.

this. You probably want to get on a routine developed by professionals, rather than something you make up.