+ 1 New Routine, looking for thoughts and feedback.
Was doing a full body routine 3 times a week, but was thinking I should switch it up. As I said in another post, right now I want to focus more on upper body: chest, back, and arms. Thinking that cutting out some leg work will help 1) give me more time to do upper body stuff 2) let my body focus more on hypertrophy on upper body vs trying to build muscle everywhere, 3) reduce fatigue and help with recovery.
My new routine is basically Upper/Lower split. I do Upper / Lower / Upper / Rest / Upper / Rest / Rest. I could maybe do a second lower if I feel like I need it. All rep ranges are in the 8-12 range usually.
Upper #1
Bench Press x 3
Incline Dumbbell Press x 3
Pull Up/ Assisted Pull Up x 6
Standing Overhead Press x 3 - i'm wondering if it's too much shoulder work since Incline press and OHP have some overlap
Lateral Raise (Dumbbell) x 3
Upright Row x 3
Bicep Curl x 2
Tricep Pushdown x 2 - I'd like to do more arm work, but my arms are pretty toasted at the end of the session from all the compounds
Knee Raise Parallel Bar x 3
Lower #1
RDL x 4 sets -
Bulgarian Split Squat x 3 sets
Standing Calf Raise x 3 -
Probably need one more exercise here.
Upper #2
Chest Fly Machine x 3
Assisted Dip x 3
Lat Pulldown x 2
Pendlay Row x 4
Behind Back Cable Curls x 3
Overhead Tricep Cable Extension x 3
Serratus Punch x 2
Single Arm Lateral Raise Cable x 3
Upper #3
Incline Bench Press x 5
Decline Bench Press Machine x 3
Knee Raise x 3
OHP x 3
Seated Row machine x 5
Lateral Raise x 3
Shrug x 3
Bicep Curl(Dumbell) x 2
Skullcrushers x 2
Sets per muscle group for the week:
Chest: 20
Back: 17
Shoulders: 15
Arms: 7 primary sets but getting a lot of work in on the chest and back compounds .with fractional sets: 16?
Hamstrings: 7
Quads: 4
Calves: 7
Glutes 4ish
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mrthrowawayLooks like a solid plan focusing on your upper body goals! That U/L split seems well-thought-out.
mrthrowawayLooks like a solid plan to prioritize that upper body! ----
What exactly are you trying to achieve here - Are you wanting to bulk up with muscle/get stronger or just train and be in shape alongside playing Volleyball?
Just to clarify, the lack of leg work is intentional. I was doing 2 hour full body sessions with squats and deadlifts prior but cutting them out means my sessions are a lot shorter and less fatiguing.
Also volleyball is importsnt to me and I play Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. I don’t think I could lift and play on the same days, would be way too fatiguing and seriously affect my performance so 4 days a week is my max
If you didn’t do direct arm work Monday, then Tuesday’s fine, compounds don’t count the same way
Overall the volume feels a bit much considering you’re hitting upper 3x a week. On your first upper day running three presses in one session isn’t really optimal, and lateral raises + upright rows kind of hit the same thing, so you could drop one. Also, you don’t really have anything directly for traps, might be worth throwing something in. If your arms toasted at the end of the upper sessions, you could push some arm work onto lower days, kind of makes it a torso/limbs split and spreads the load better.
For the lower day, maybe your legs are already ahead, but I’d still add in curls and extensions just to cover the bases.
On the third upper day, I’d switch out the decline press for flys or a high-to-low cable fly to give the chest a different stimulus. Knee raises are good, just make sure you’re actually curling your lower back a bit and not just lifting the knees.
Overall, not a bad split, I’d just spread the volume a bit smarter and up the intensity.
If it hit arms on Tuesday, isn’t that bad since they’ll be recovering from Monday?
Grow an inch on your legs and your arms will follow suit
Squats and lunges on leg day. You’ll burn far more calories and add muscle all over your body. Definitely need more lower body/legs and less upper.
Well as I said I’m trying to focus on upper for a bit. Maybe run this for 2-3 months. My legs are pretty big naturally and I was doing squats and deadlifts prior, but I think defocusing on legs will allow my upper body to grow more since I’m not dirty bulking, I only have so much calories and protein to rebuild. Rather prioritize the top for a bit.
Your upper body will grow with squats and lunges. You’ll burn far more calories too. Muscle really shows through at lower body fat.
How does Squats grow upper body lol?
Also as you’ve been trying to lower your bf, doing squats and other large compound movements you will burn more fat, calories and improve your metabolism. You’ve also mentioned you play volleyball. I’d imagine squats would be the best exercise you can do for this sport.
Barbell squats (back/front squats): your upper back, shoulders, and arms engage isometrically to stabilise the bar. This won’t build a big chest or arms, but it can improve posture and upper-back strength.
Hormonal & systemic effect: heavy squats stress large muscle groups, which may support overall muscle growth and help you push harder in upper-body sessions.
Carryover to compound lifts: stronger core and stability from squats can improve your pressing (bench, overhead) and pulling (rows, deadlifts).
I don’t know about you but after I’ve done a leg session including squats my upper body blows up too.
That's a lot of chest presses. And a lot of rest days. And not enough volume on the back imo. I'm a big fan of training the hell out of my back, big sets of barbell rows, dumbbell rows, tbar rows, meadows rows, pullups, pulldowns etc etc. In fact even when I'm training other stuff I do pullups between sets. Your back can take a beating . Your plan looks like your rotator cuffs are in for some abuse.
That's a ton for upper body and not much of anything for the lower. Maybe try running upper as chest, shoulders and arms then lower is back and legs. Do 2 days for each every week. Your upper days are jam packed with stuff. Too much IMO. 5-6 different exercises per sessions are probably enough so long as you're really pushing yourself.
Well that’s the point. I feel that leg work is eating away at my gains for upper body. Want to focus on chest back and arms for a bit
So you're hoping to increase upper body gains by reducing your legs to almost nothing and increasing your upper work to a level you probably won't be able to recover from long term?
I get your thought process but that's not how things are going to work. Split things more close to even. There's no need to add a bunch of junk volume in to your upper days. Which is exactly what you've done. Added a bunch of pointless junk volume that will make it harder for you to recover from.
Everyday we stray further from god
I like squats, just want to deemphasize legs for a few months to focus on upper
Hahaha
This is just my opinion. So don't take it as I know jack shit about anything. But that looks like a shit ton in one session. I would be gassed out long before I reached the end unless I was holding back on every working set. I'm not saying what your doing won't work but is there a reason your wanting to stick with 3 days?
Exact same thoughts on the 9 exercise workouts. But everyone is different. You could train with more intensity with fewer exercises - making at least equal gains in less time. Especially when training upper body that frequently.