New Routine Review
 

Hey guys,
I'm a new member.
I have been bodybuilding for a solid year now, before that time I almost never worked out consistently and thus received few positive results.

After my first year my upper body is in good shape, especially the chest.

Now I've reached a point where I feel most of my upper body is where I want it, yet that leaves my lower body looking somewhat thin and unproportional...most likely a common problem.

I have revised my old routine extensively to work harder new areas that I feel still need improvement, while reducing the amount of time spent on well developed areas.

I was hoping I could get some reviews and suggestions for my new routine...keep in mind that my problems areas would be gluts, thighs, hamstrings, calves, interior triceps, lingering fat around the gut..and perhaps forearms.

It may seem like a lot on paper...so to shorten it you could say lower body and inner triceps.

The routine is listed below, I would appreciate suggestions of any kind.
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Monday
20-Minute Hill Sprint Warm-up
Legs
Squats - 4 sets, 8-12 reps
Leg presses - 4 sets, 8-12 reps
Leg extensions - 4 sets, 12-15 reps
Leg curls - 4 sets, 10-12 reps
Lunges – 4 set, 10-12 reps
Calves
Dumbbell calf raises - 4 sets, 10 reps
Seated calf raises - 4 sets, 15 reps
Back
Front wide-grip chin-ups - 3 sets, to failure
Seated cable rows - 4 sets, 6-10 reps

Tuesday
20-Minute Hill Sprint Warm-up
Biceps
Alternating dumbbell curls(standing) - 4 sets, 8-10 reps
Seated dumbbell curls - 4 sets, 8-10 reps
Triceps
Dips – 3 sets, 10 reps
Press-Downs – 3 Sets, Decreasing Reps
Forearms
Wrist curls (forearms on knees) - 3 sets, 10 reps
Standing dumbbell reverse curls - 3 sets, 8 reps

Wednesday
Recreation & Abs

Thursday
20-Minute Hill Sprint Warm-up
Legs
Squats - 4 sets, 8-12 reps
Leg presses - 4 sets, 8-12 reps
Leg extensions - 4 sets, 12-15 reps
Leg curls - 4 sets, 10-12 reps
Lunges -4 sets, 10-12 reps
Calves
Dumbbell calf raises - 4 sets, 10 reps
Seated calf raises - 4 sets, 15 reps
Back
Front wide-grip chin-ups - 3 sets, to failure
Seated cable rows - 4 sets, 6-10 reps

Friday
20-Minute Hill Sprint Warm-up
Chest
Bench press - 3 sets, 6-10 reps
Flat bench flies - 3 sets, 6-10 reps
Incline bench press - 3 sets, 6-10 reps
Cable crossovers - 3 sets, 10-12 reps
Dips - 3 sets, to failure
Dumbbell pullovers - 3 sets, 10-12 reps
Shoulders
Seated dumbbell presses - 3 sets, 6-10 reps
Lateral raises (standing) - 3 sets, 6-10 reps
Triceps
Dips – 3 sets, 10 reps
Press-Downs – 3 Sets, Decreasing Reps

Saturday
20-Minute Hill Sprint Warm-up
Legs
Squats - 4 sets, 8-12 reps
Leg presses - 4 sets, 8-12 reps
Leg extensions - 4 sets, 12-15 reps
Leg curls - 4 sets, 10-12 reps
Lunges – 4 set, 10-12 reps
Calves
Dumbbell calf raises - 5 sets, 10 reps
Seated calf raises - 3 sets, 15 reps
Dumbbell single leg calf raises - 3 sets,12 reps
Back
Front wide-grip chin-ups - 3 sets, to failure
Seated cable rows - 4 sets, 6-10 reps

Sunday
Recreation & Abs

sounds intense, keep posted on how it works:biglaugh:

Wow, that certainly is alot of volume. How come so much? and How long does each workout take?

I leave 2 days for some off-time, the rest of the days I tend to go pretty hard at my workout.

I may be in the minority that I actually have a good amount of free time, so my workouts provide a steady source of activity.

The extent of my workout hasn't really changed in this revised version, only the warmup uphill runs are tacked on. Making my workout increase from 1 hr to 1hr 20 min on average.

Then again maybe I am doing too much, which is partly why I'm asking for advice...at first glance I would take out the lunges on my lower body days...thoughts?

If you're doing all that in 1hr, how 'hard' do you actually think you're lifting?

I would take out more than lunges...I would drop leg press, curls, extensions, lunges and all of saturday. And I would add some deadlifts on one of the 'lower' days and drop the squat volume on that day as well.

Similar sort of plan for the upper days as well.

That only leave me with calves, squats, and my uphill run....so to parallel your original question I guess...why drop so much?

I don't think I go too fast in my routine, it honestly doesn't seem like a whole lot to me...Ive been doing leg press, extensions, curls, and calves every day I work lower body for a good two weeks now...at least since I started dedicating two to three days a week to lower body to help that are catch up with my upper body progress...

It all boils down to quality over quantity. You don't grow in the gym and you definitely don't need soo much volume to stimulate a response.

Think about how much effort you're actually putting into those extensions or better yet, the lunges. You've already done 4 sets of squats, 4 sets of leg press and 4 sets of lunges! How much effort are you actually putting into that exercise. Fatigue would tell you that you're putting alot of effort into it, but I would disagree.

Yep...these types of routines have people mistakenly thinking they are working out "hard". They say it is "intense". But it is percieved effort and would be more "intensiveness" than intense. Your workouts are colored by fatigue. You don't you workouts to be based on perception but on actual iron :)

And three times a week? No way you can be working very hard...it just feels hard.

If you look at what you body is like now, with the lower body needing to "catch" up then that is the proof of the adage "form follows function" if anything is.

You don't necessarily have to drop everything..it depends on your goals, etc...but basically you should listen to what Kane is saying. Quality over quantity.

My $0.02

--You are working legs and back 3x a week, Triceps directly twice and everything else just once. Why?

--Abs on your "off days"? Why?

--No dead lifts? Why?

My thoughts:

--You are doing back the day before you are isolating the biceps. They (the bi's) should get hit hard if your back exercises are done with any intensity.

--You are doing squats the day after your ab workout. Squats are very core-intensive, so you may be short-changing your squat workout due to insufficiently-rested abs.

--You are doing a lot of direct forearm work. It's sucha little muscle. If you did deadlifts and shrugs along with the chins and rows, the grip work on those alone should be enough for the forearms.

--You have no work on the traps that I can see.

I am attempting to work with more frequency areas that seem to have been neglected, or have not developed at the pace of other parts of my body.

I have taken some of your suggestions concerning bi's, abs and back and revised my routine again, so ty for your suggestions there.

Any traps exercises you would recommend?