What weightlifting routines to build muscle?

[tjaisv]

I know some people like to do for example, chest/triceps on Monday, back/biceps on Wednesday, and legs/shoulders on Friday, with abs somewhere inbetween. The thing is a lot of exercises (ie, compound exercises) require these muscle groups be worked together, for example when you do shoulder presses you're working both the deltoids (shoulders) and triceps, or when you do bench presses you're working the chest, deltoids AND triceps, or so on and so forth. And so in actuality there's no real muscle group split unless i guess you do upper and lower body or something like that.

So which muscle groups do you try to target on a daily/weekly basis and which exercises do u do for them? Also, do you work a muscle when it's a little sore? Or is that not a good thing to do?

I also found a useful site that gives the 5 best workouts for each muscle group, complete with pics and brief summaries of each exercise. Your thoughts?

 

[Cerpin Taxt]

I do chest/shoulders, back/abs, legs.

 

[onlyCOpunk]

Chest/back/triceps/abs, shoulders/biceps/abs, legs/abs. I do abs everytime. The usual inclined situp holding a weight and each time a different exercise inbetween reps to mix it up. You should not work a muscle group that is still sore, it means it is still recovering and if you constantly work that muscle while it is recovering it will never fully recover and will take a lot longer to make progress.

It's also good to mix up your routine every so often because everything is different and works the muscles in different ways.

 

[kindest]

i do chest one day, legs, then biceps/triceps.
starting to work the abs in there. i really need to motivae myself to do abs.
i do hard cardio for an hour almost everyday as well.
i use this dudes videos for my excersises.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=UheCchftswc

 

[tjaisv]

Originally posted by: Cerpin Taxt
I do chest/shoulders, back/abs, legs.

Chest/shoulders would probably include the tri's, and back/abs the bi's. This seems like the best split to me, but i don't know, whatever works best i guess. What about the neck? Could go with the chest/shoulders/tri's, that seems like a lot of muscle groups to be working though on one day.

 

[purbeast0]

Originally posted by: onlyCOpunk
Chest/back/triceps/abs, shoulders/biceps/abs, legs/abs. I do abs everytime. The usual inclined situp holding a weight and each time a different exercise inbetween reps to mix it up. You should not work a muscle group that is still sore, it means it is still recovering and if you constantly work that muscle while it is recovering it will never fully recover and will take a lot longer to make progress.

It's also good to mix up your routine every so often because everything is different and works the muscles in different ways.

just fyi, your abs are a muscle just like any other muscle in your body, and needs rest just like every other muscle in your body.

why do your abs 3 times as much as every other muscle in your body?

i do the following:

monday - shoulders/abs
tuesday - back/biceps
thursday - checst/triceps
saturday - legs

i do my back then biceps because bi's are hit secondary while doing back exercises, and they will be warmed up by the time i switch focus to my bi's. same thing goes for chest. and i keep my chest/shoulders as far apart as I can because when shoulders are sore when doing chest day it can cause for me not having my full strength, and vice versa.

i've been doing this schedule for about 2 years or so and i've seen tremendous gains doing so.

 

[jiggahertz]

I prefer shorter, more frequent workouts so I do chest, back, shoulders, arms and legs on different days.

 

[onlyCOpunk]

I don't know why I do abs 3 times a week. My trainer worked them into my routine each time and I figure she knows what she's doing. Also my abs usually never get sore. And in 2 months I've gone from not being able to complete 3x10 at a level 2 incline to 3x12 at a level 5 incline holding a 5lb weight behind my head. So my performance isn't plateauing or decreasing so it's probably why I keep them up. One day a week I do weighted side crunches in between sets and another day I do leg lifts while holding a medicine ball. Clearly I'm not shedding inches from my waist, but I'm gaining strength.

 

[tjaisv]

Originally posted by: purbeast0

monday - shoulders/abs
tuesday - back/biceps
thursday - checst/triceps
saturday - legs

i do my back then biceps because bi's are hit secondary while doing back exercises, and they will be warmed up by the time i switch focus to my bi's. same thing goes for chest. and i keep my chest/shoulders as far apart as I can because when shoulders are sore when doing chest day it can cause for me not having my full strength, and vice versa.

i've been doing this schedule for about 2 years or so and i've seen tremendous gains doing so.

Your routine makes good sense.

When do u do traps and neck?

 

[funks]

Alot of people here seem to think they are full time body builders or something - lol.

For people wanting to spend less than an hour at the gym and getting the most exercise for the time - do compound excercises like snatch, squats, deadlifts and etc..

At least that way, you'll avoid all the posers at the gym using up all the equipment trying to isolate their biceps and etc..

 

[purbeast0]

Originally posted by: tjaisv

Originally posted by: purbeast0

monday - shoulders/abs
tuesday - back/biceps
thursday - checst/triceps
saturday - legs

i do my back then biceps because bi's are hit secondary while doing back exercises, and they will be warmed up by the time i switch focus to my bi's. same thing goes for chest. and i keep my chest/shoulders as far apart as I can because when shoulders are sore when doing chest day it can cause for me not having my full strength, and vice versa.

i've been doing this schedule for about 2 years or so and i've seen tremendous gains doing so.

Your routine makes good sense.

When do u do traps and neck?

i work traps in with my shoulders.

im at the gym pretty much no longer than an hour.

 

[Cyraxx]

Originally posted by: funks
Alot of people here seem to think they are full time body builders or something - lol.

For people wanting to spend less than an hour at the gym and getting the most exercise for the time - do compound excercises like snatch, squats, deadlifts and etc..

At least that way, you'll avoid all the posers at the gym using up all the equipment trying to isolate their biceps and etc..

I know compound exercises make things a little easier - but isolation machines can do the trick as well...often in more time though, but it's also much safer. Just my 2 cents, both seem to have their own advantage