3 Day Routine Help

Hey guys,

I've been going to the gym 3 times per week for 4 months now, without really having a proper routine. I think it's time now I sorted one out. I've been benching 3 times per week, which I believe might be overtraining? Is it possible I'll get better gains only benching once a week? (Benching I use as an example, I work all muscle groups each visit).

So, I'd like a routine which is fairly basic but will keep me progressing. I've looked around a bit and it looks like a 3 day split might be a good idea, I naively thought that if you work 3 days you'd have to do full body each time.

So, any help on the split of muscle groups etc?

Thanks in advance.

Depends on your goals and stuff.

Overtraining refers entirely to your nervous system, read more on it here.

A good, balanced, 3-day full body routine would go like this, here is my favorite:

Workout A:
**Squat
**Bench
**BB Row
**GHR

Workout B:
**Squat
**OHP
**Chin-up
**Stiff-leg deadlift

For a beginner, try to stick with lower reps, 4-6 reps, 3 sets. 2 warm up sets, 3 working sets.

If muscle gain is the goal, you'll need to now post your nutrition, since it's the most important thing.

ACE-CPT, NASM-CPT, AFPA-Nutrition Consultant 

Thanks a lot for that, looks good to me. Only problem is my gym doesn't have the equipment for GHR's...I do have a machine to work the hamstrings, should I use this instead? Also, I'm not entirely sure what OHP is!

So would you rotate this such as week 1: ABA, week 2 BAB?

As for my nutrition, I know I need to improve. A typical day for me would be a bowl of oats for breakfast, some fruit around 11am, tuna sandwich at 12pm, pasta 4pm (workout) protein shake, evening meal (I need to improve my evening meal to add more protein).

You mention warm up sets - obviously with weighted exercises you'd increase the weight? What about with chin ups?

Thanks again.

Also, I'm not entirely sure what OHP is!

Overhead Press. Look it up on google.

So would you rotate this such as week 1: ABA, week 2 BAB?

Correct

You mention warm up sets - obviously with weighted exercises you'd increase the weight? What about with chin ups?

Chinups are fine without 'warmups'.

However, for me I would replace SL deadlifts with the conventional deadlifts, but just done 1x a week.

As for my nutrition, I know I need to improve. A typical day for me would be a bowl of oats for breakfast, some fruit around 11am, tuna sandwich at 12pm, pasta 4pm (workout) protein shake, evening meal (I need to improve my evening meal to add more protein).

Try to have a proper meal (protein/carb/fat) for each time you eat, preferably 4-6 meals a day. Get rid of your pasta for your post-workout. Consume either fruit or glucose with your protein shake, and then about 1hour later, have your meal.

Hope this helps.

I think 4 meals should be fine for me. I'll take your advice with the fruit also.

I did workout A today and feel really good for it. I just focused on getting my form right, obviously I don't want to do it all wrong and get injured!

This may sound naive but I noticed my forearms, biceps and calf muscles weren't really touched on at all. Is this just that I'm not noticing it?

Workouts like this you shouldn't go by "feel". It's more about increasing the weight in linear fashion, so what you would want to do is add resistance each time you perform each movement. Every other time can work good as well, but after about 6-10 weeks of adding 5lbs per session you should definitely "feel" your muscles working.

Biceps grow with rows and chin-ups,  triceps grow with benches, presses, and weighted dips. Stick to the program as it is, I titled that routine "Compound Movement Training", so the point of it is to stick with your basic compounds; however, if you don't feel parallel dips are hitting your triceps hard enough, you can replace it with a similar exercise: close grip bench presses should work fine in this case.

Chin-ups you should be increasing overload through reps at first, don't apply weight until you can do about 15 in a straight set, that way you know your ready for weight. If you can only do 10 with bodyweight chances are you can only do 6 with 10lbs applied, which won't cause enough microtrama overall for hypertrophy. Once you get to the point where you can strap a 25 on your belt and do sets of 8-12 with chin-ups, you'll really notice a good lat spread.

Rows are better for the thickness of your back and arguably hit the lower back better. But movements are necessary with any routine. The posterior chain is worked with rows and chinups isometrically to stabilize the hips. You should really feel your glutes contracting at the top of your chinups.

ACE-CPT, NASM-CPT, AFPA-Nutrition Consultant 

I see you mention dips but these aren't included in the routine?

Also, what grip do you recommend for the chin-ups?

Only worry is, my legs are really aching today and I'm not sure if I'll be able to squat tommorow!

Thanks a lot for your post, it's very informative.

feeling sore shouldn't prevent you from completing your session,

the only change i would make is to use squat variations such as front squats, split squats or lunges, within the same rep range as above, as well as back squats.

trublu


I see you mention dips but these aren't included in the routine?

Any news on that?

I've been going with this routine now, and I'm really enjoying it. My only issue is with the GHR, I hate the machine I'm using for this and I'm really not liking the exercise... Can you recommend an alternative?

Thank you.

I like pullthroughs more myself.

Hey guys,

Still sticking with this. However I have a few questions... Firstly, I'm struggling to increase my bench weight. I'm still only bencing 45kg, which I feel is really poor... I've been there for quite a while now.

Also, is squatting 3x a week quite intense? I've noticed a bit of soreness in my knees and feet.

Finally, is there any room to add maybe a calf exercise in there or a few more to just spruce it up a bit?

Thanks.

soreness is fine. just the muscles getting used to the heavy work 3x a week. I wouldnt add anything this workout is proven to work just the way it is.

Height = 5'9
11/01/09...11/12/09...06/19/10
Weight = 184...186...195   
B.Squat = 315...365...435
Deadlift = 385...405...455
Cleans = 155...175...275
Bench = 245...255...335

Where exactly are you feeling sore? in your muscles? or is it exactly your knees??

It is very rare to expirience soreness in your feets, wich leads me to believe you might have a bad stance when squatting wich would mean you're squatting the wrong way. Post a vid of your squat so we can judge

Another thing you're not supposed to start the workout program at high %RM, the goal is to progress each week by small increments.

Is there anyone teaching you how to perform the lifts?

Also are you doing warmup sets for squats? or some type of cardio before starting?

Squat max - 275lbs  30/07/09
Bench max - ¿?
Front Squats(atg)- ¿?

I believe I hurt my foot doing something else, and that transferred to pain when squatting. That seems to have cleared up now.

As for the weights, I started very modestly and have added as recommended. Is it ok to be stuck on a certain weight for a while? Each time I move up, I add 2.5kg which is the lowest possible.

No-one is teaching me the lifts but I had taken a few sessions just doing them with the bar only to practice proper form. Also studied videos on the subject so I'm fairly confident I'm lifting correct.

And yeah, I'm doing warm-up sets for the squats. Don't do cardio before but do walk to the gym so that gets my heart pumping a bit!

One more thing - MVP said "if you don't feel parallel dips are hitting your triceps hard enough, you can replace it with a similar exercise: close grip bench presses should work fine in this case.". I'm a bit confused, is this supposed to be in the routine?

Thanks guys, much appreciated.

I have no idea about that my friend..

You should be able to lift more weight, try pushing yourself a bit harder, if you really are stuck the try increasing the reps (same weight though) say 3x6 or 3x7... eventually you should be able to increase the weight and go back to 3x5 (if that's the set/rep range you're using)

Squat max - 275lbs  30/07/09
Bench max - ¿?
Front Squats(atg)- ¿?

I believe I've found the problem. Basically, my warm up sets were more like working sets, rather than just to get the muscles pumping.

Therefore, what I've done is increased the weight by 7.5kg in a month, and added a set! No wonder I was struggling. I'm going to warm up with a much lighter weight now and I'm confident I'll notice improvements in my bench weight.

Thanks.