Hello guys,

Okay here's the situation, and i'll apologise in advance for the length of this post as i'm gonna give you all the details possible and hopefully one or two of you more experienced guys will be able to help me, as you kindly have done in the past.

Right so I started working out last April with the immediate intention of adding some bulk. I read all the stickies and significantly increased the amount of food I was taking in and also cleaned it up a lot, ie removed all the crap i was eating and replaced it with massive portions of quality foods like lasagne and chicken - I wont pretend my diet is 100% spot on as i think my carb/protien/fats ratios are somewhat out but thats for another day.

I started religiously with Rippetoe's starting strenght as this appears to be gospel for any newbie and in the first three months I added 12lbs and many kilos on all the the lifts. Then I'd heard that its best to do each body part once per week and completely cream it - I was told by the instructor "if you can do a muscle more than once in a week you're not hitting it hard enough on its particular day". So then I moved on to a routine as follows:

Monday - Legs and Tri's

Smith squats (4x8)
Leg press (4x8)
Calf raises (4x8)
Leg extensions (3x8)
Leg curls (3x8)

Dips (4x8)
Cable overhead extensions (3x8)
Pushdowns (3x8)


Wednesday - Chest and Bi's

Bench press (4x8)
Incline bench (3x8)
Flys (3x8)

Preacher curls (4x8)
Chin ups (3x8)
Dumbell curls (3x8)

Friday - Back and shoulders

Deadlift (4x8)
Bent over rows (3x8)
Lat pull downs (3x8)
Pull ups (3x8)

Shoulder press (4x8)
Lateral raises (3x8)
upright rows (3x8)

I have also been mixing it up from week to week, for example changing my barbell bench to dumbell, however this is a typical week. In addition i would add a bit of ab work in at the end of most sessions.

I have to say this did suit me a bit better it just seems a bit simpler to only have to deadlift for example one per week - also after squatting my legs suffer such bad DOMS I really need at least 3/4 days to recover between sessions. Furthermore it means i never have to do two of the big movements on the same day (apart from shoulder press on the same day as deadlift).

Okay so after my beginner gains in the first three months i managed a further 7lbs in the following 9 months, although only a couple of these in the final 3 months of my years training. Therefore I have certainly hit a bit of a wall and plateauxed somewhat. However I am still getting a bit stronger and i finished the year with 5 weeks of 5-rep sets of a much higher weight to change it up a little and I have not lifted a single weight for the last 4 weeks as i've been on a bit of a cut and simply a rest (I have lost 12lbs of the 19 I had put on as i have been mega cardio training - although I look fairly stripped so I'm okay with it).

My questions are as follows:

1) What is the deal do I work at 100% once per week on every muscle or at say 80% twice a week? Seems everyone i speak to has a different idea although it would seem to me better to do it twice a week.

2) Was my old routine any good and where did I go wrong?

3) Where do I go from here? I'm looking to work out 3 or maybe 4 times a week if necessary to squeeze it all in.

I have been thinking of a workout A and workout B scenario, and going ABA one week and of course BAB the follwing - this has the effect of 3 or 4 days rest between working a particular muscle group. If this is the way to go can someone please tell me what splits to do? Please don't tell me I have to dead on the same day as squat either I have no idea how some guys do it!!

Again I will apologise for the length of the post but look forward to hearing your opinions.

Regards
Max