Bodybuilding Workout Routine

Posted by: boxing_kid

Bodybuilding Workout Routine - 07/04/10 08:20 PM

I have finally decided to switch to basically a 1 body part a day routine for muscle mass. Would appreciate any opinions. I workout at home but have access to a lot of equipment; which are freeweights including a bench press, squat rack, lat pulldown (powerline add your own weights), chin up bar, treadmill, adjustable bench, dumbells, so i have all the equipment needed. Here is my routine over a period of 7 days.

Day 1 - Chest - Dumbbell Bench Press, Dumbbell Flys, and Regular Bench Press, (also at the end of the workout i do clap push ups to end the workout so i at least have some explosive strength)

Day 2 - Triceps - Dumbbell Military Press, Tricep Pressdowns, Dips

Day 3 - Biceps/ Upper Back - Pull Ups, Lat Pulldowns, seated dumbbell curls, and barbell curls ( i do all the sets for the back work first before i start any curls)

Day 4 - Legs - Squats and calves raises on my stairs (holding a dumbbell)
(also at the end of this workout i do jumping bodyweight squats for some explosive strength)

Day 5 - Traps/Legs & Abs - Barbell Deadlifts (also shrugging the weight for extra trap work) sit ups, and at the end of the workout i do the plank for as long as i can hold it.

Day 6 - Sprints on Treadmill, Shadowboxing, Tabata on Punching Bag or skipping, (im leaving this day optional for whatever cardio i feel like doing)

Day 7 - Rest

I was also thinking of adding in a few sprints after each workout to boost my metabolism more considering the more isolated workouts. I don't have the sets put down because they are undecided and up to how i am feeling that day but i do as many as i can. Also i have to add in wrist curls somewhere and ideally i'd like to add them in twice a week because i have had issues with my wrist in the past. Don't hesitate to comment or pick apart my routine that's what its here for any advice or tips are appreciated thanks.
Posted by: Cord

Re: Bodybuilding Workout Routine - 07/05/10 04:18 AM

Sorry, but this is not a well planned workout. The volume is uneven, and, having started with the statement that you are dedicating yourself to muscle growth, you then start adding exercises devoted to other purposes, diverting precious energy and time away from your stated goal. If you want to devote yourself to bodybuilding, then by all means do so, but if you have other concerns, then address them properly, not as footnotes that do nothing but hamper any results you seek.

Also, the weekly breakdown of bodyparts and exercises is far from ideal. Let me know if you really want a bodybuilding routine, or a hybrid, and I would happily construct something for you, but please dont waste your time doing what you posted, its not going to get you what you want.
Posted by: MattJ

Re: Bodybuilding Workout Routine - 07/05/10 09:54 AM

Ditto what Cord said. Your day 1 and day 2 workouts are working mostly the same thing. Drop the regular bench from day 1 and replace it with the dips from day 2. Drop the barbell curls, and do standing dumbbell curls. Is muscle mass all you are looking for?

Cord will probably have better ideas.
Posted by: boxing_kid

Re: Bodybuilding Workout Routine - 07/05/10 01:31 PM

Alright well i guess i do have to get my priorities straight. Muscle mass is my main goal but second to that is strength and power so i would like to keep some compound lifts in there and do isolation work afterwards. I would like to beable to workout 5 to 6 days a week it keeps me buay and in a good state of mind i hope you can work something around that. I would like to only work each bodypart once a week giving lots of recovery time as i have never worked out like this before it was always each bodypart twice a week. I know my goals are contradicting but if you could help me make the best of it i would greatly appreciate it thanks.
Posted by: Cord

Re: Bodybuilding Workout Routine - 07/05/10 02:42 PM

Compound lifts are essential to building muscle, and bodybuilding training will not make you weak, or cause a stagnation in your strength increase - some of the strongest guys I have ever known were pure bodybuilders.

Training one bodypart a day is not the only way to bodybuild, and in fact, may not be the best way for natural bodybuilders to train anyway, as the overload in single bodypart workouts tends to be more than can be adapted to, also, remember that you grow when you rest, not when you train, so do not be scared of rest days.

Here is something that will be more suitable for what you want to achieve:

Option 1: 3 day split.

Monday: Legs

Squats 4 x 15, 12, 8-10, 6-8
Dumbell Lunges 4 x 10
Overhead Barbell squats 4 x 10

Wednesday: Chest, Shoulders, Biceps

Flat Dumbell Press 4 x 15, 12, 8-10, 6-8
Incline Flyes 4 x 10
Standing Barbell Press 4 x 15, 12, 8-10, 6-8
Lateral Raises 4 x 10
Barbell Curls 4 x 8-10

Friday: Back and Triceps

Deadlifts 4 x 15, 12, 8-10, 6-8
Single Arm Dumbell Row 4 x 10
Dumbell Shrugs 4 x 10
Skullcrushers 4 x 8-10

You can do Cardio on thurs and sat, but leave tues and sunday as pure rest days.
Posted by: boxing_kid

Re: Bodybuilding Workout Routine - 07/06/10 12:44 PM

I appreciate the workout routine thanks but could you tell me what exactly is wrong with the one i posted? I didnt put any sets or reps so it may appear uneven but i would work every muscle as hard as i could each day. Also as far as rest time goes i would be working a different muscle group each day besides the odd secondary work so i would have a lot of rest for each muscle group. I know the original plan wasn't perfect and could be tweaked for sure but i'd really like to keep the weights at 5 days a week. I did the upperbody/lowerbody split twice a week and got great results but now i'd like to move on to 5 days a week. If you could even tweak my original 5 day a week workout plan or tell me whats wrong and improve on it id appreciate it.
Posted by: sstefan

Re: Bodybuilding Workout Routine - 07/06/10 01:00 PM

my hypertropy (muscle mass) workout looks like this:
-Day 1: Chest and Legs (bench press, dumbbell flies, decline
bench press, back squats, forward lunges, side lunges, calf
raises)
-Day 2: Biceps and Abs (barbell curls, dumbbell curls, hammer
curls, weighted situps, V-ups and ended with a plank)
-Day 3: Back and Shoulders (deadlifts, lat pulldowns, dumbbell
reverse flies, dumbbell lateral raises, dumbbell front raises,
military press)
-Day 4: Triceps and Abs (weighted tricep dips, triceps
extension, triceps push-ups, weighted situps, V-ups)
-Day 5: Forearms and Traps (wrist curls, reverse wrist curls, shrugs, rotating shrugs - forward then backward)

3-4 sets/exercise, do 8-10 reps with a weight with that you can do only 9 reps.
Also nutrition is 50% of mass building, not just lifting and pulling weights.
Posted by: Prizewriter

Re: Bodybuilding Workout Routine - 07/06/10 02:42 PM

Originally Posted By: boxing_kid
I appreciate the workout routine thanks but could you tell me what exactly is wrong with the one i posted? I didnt put any sets or reps so it may appear uneven but i would work every muscle as hard as i could each day. Also as far as rest time goes i would be working a different muscle group each day besides the odd secondary work so i would have a lot of rest for each muscle group. I know the original plan wasn't perfect and could be tweaked for sure but i'd really like to keep the weights at 5 days a week. I did the upperbody/lowerbody split twice a week and got great results but now i'd like to move on to 5 days a week. If you could even tweak my original 5 day a week workout plan or tell me whats wrong and improve on it id appreciate it.


Cord knows best! I am an amateur hobbyist at best, but looking at your program, you seem to be hitting a lot of similar muscle groups on consecutive days. For example:

Day 1
Push Ups

Day 2
D/Bell Military Press

Day 3
Lat Pulldowns

All of those are going to work your shoulder area in a major way. You are basically exercising the same area for 3 days in a row!!!

My background is mostly in Olympic style weightlifting. When I was buidling up my leg/posterior chaing strength, it took me at about 48 hours to fully recover. Now what you seem to be doing is hitting the same area over and over again day after day without proper rest.

I don't know your background or who you have trained with, but if you are working like that day after day, you aren't getting enough rest. Muscle grows during the rest period. It is broken down while you work out. Essentially you are breaking down your muscle day after day.

Again, I don't know who you trained with or what you have studied, but if you are training with the proper intensity to build muscle, no way are you going to be good to go less than 24 hours later. You don't always have to fatigue the muscle to build mass, but you have to work it pretty darn hard.

If you are working properly with good form and intentsity you won't be fit to pump iron in the same way day after day.

Rest is essential to build muscle. If you don't feel tired or like you are getting a good workout after your session, you may not be working hard enough!!! Quality of training beats quantity of training each time.

Please also bear in mind Cord worked professionally in the fitness industry and is by far the most knowledgeable and experienced person I have "meet" in pretty much any forum!

Or you could try your own workout and see if you get the results you want. Up to you chief.
Posted by: Cord

Re: Bodybuilding Workout Routine - 07/07/10 06:58 AM

Originally Posted By: boxing_kid
I appreciate the workout routine thanks but could you tell me what exactly is wrong with the one i posted? I didnt put any sets or reps so it may appear uneven but i would work every muscle as hard as i could each day. Also as far as rest time goes i would be working a different muscle group each day besides the odd secondary work so i would have a lot of rest for each muscle group. I know the original plan wasn't perfect and could be tweaked for sure but i'd really like to keep the weights at 5 days a week. I did the upperbody/lowerbody split twice a week and got great results but now i'd like to move on to 5 days a week. If you could even tweak my original 5 day a week workout plan or tell me whats wrong and improve on it id appreciate it.


OK. Its only right that you should question, and seek explanation - thats a good mindset, and the only way to get info. People who never use the word 'Why' are seldom intelligent.

What you are coming up against here is the difference between what, logically, should be the best course of action, and what, in reality is the best course of action for success when it comes to training.

Logic tells you that if 4 sets of arm curls gets you results, then 10 sets will get you even greater results. Thats how life works right? Those who put in the extra work get rewarded with the benefit.

Sadly, your physiology does not hold with such a work ethic. It responds to different rules than that of a conscious social contract.

Exercise is nothing more, or less, than a stimulus that the body interperates as stress that it must adapt to until such a time as the stimulus is manageable and no longer a strain. This relationship between exertion and change in physiology is called 'Overload, and adaption'

Exercise is the 'overload'. The body is lazy, and wants nothing to be taxing, or difficult, and so its response to regular exposure to a given exercise is to change in such a way as to make that exercise less difficult to perform. This is the 'adaption' Ironically, this search for ease of function is what we percieve and define as improved fitness.

For the adaption to take place, the body needs rest. Remember this is forcing bodily changes on a cellular level - you are increasing the surface volume of the alveoli in the lungs, creating muscle tissue, opening synaptic pathways in the nervous system, creating capilliarisation in the vascular system. Its an incredible internal metamorphosis far more complex than any cosmetic surgery. They dont call it body building for nothing, but in truth, all exercise is bodybuilding on a technical level.

The body simply cannot adapt to its best ability without adequate rest. The idea of 'bodypart training' is a bit of a myth, because no muscles work alone. They have secondary agonists, antagonists, stabilisers and rely on the entire musculo-skeletal system to function. Simply put, every exercise is a compound exercise.

So, in a 5 day 'split', if you train your back on day 1, and your chest on day 2, your back (traps, rhomboids, rear delts, lats) act as antagonists and stabilisers during the chest workout. Day 3, you do your shoulders, and now you are revisiting pre-exhausted delts and triceps from the chest workout, as well as relying on the back muscles listed as stabilisers and antagonists (thats now 3 days in a row that you back has been working, not resting). Day 4, you do legs. Total rest for the upper body right? Wrong. Squats require full back engagement, deadlifts and weighted lunges also work back, biceps and forearms. (thats 4 days in a row your back has not been allowed to recover and adapt). Day 5 you train your arms. Not only are your elbows not warmed up, and your central nervous system (CNS) not primed by larger lifts (making the exercises less effective), but you are, once again, relying on a by now overtrained back, and arms already fatigued by a weeks work.

Pro Bodybuilders can handle this indirect stimulus and high volume because they ALL take drugs that allow the body to function above and beyond natural limits of physiology.

For the rest of us, we have to train smarter, not harder.

Thats why your 5 day split is not a good plan - it dooms you to overtraining.

After 21 years of natural training, academic learning, and trial and evaluation, I type this at 275lbs, with a 55 inch chest and 19 inch arms.

I gave up on 5/6 day splits in 1994, and have not missed them, nor the overtraining and performance plateaus they create.

My word is not law, and you are more than entitled to make your own mistakes, but I would save you that if you let me. Nothing is worse than a young persons enthusiasm working against them.
Posted by: JasonM

Re: Bodybuilding Workout Routine - 07/07/10 12:25 PM

wow, awesome reply cord. I think it should be stickied. :-)
Posted by: boxing_kid

Re: Bodybuilding Workout Routine - 07/07/10 06:41 PM

Thanks Cord I really appreciate the response. I know that post took a while to put together and I understand exactly what your talking about now and will adjust my routine. I also think this should be stickied.