My Compound Routine

Hello, I have recently changed from a 3 day split to a 2 day a week full body. My workout is as follows:

Leg Press (Only got that or a smith and keep reading smith is bad for squatting)
Dumbell press (3x6)
Overhand pull ups (8,6,6,5)
Calf raises (on leg press machine)
Dumbell Shoulder press (3x6)
Seated row (3x6)
Dips (15,12,12)
Bicep Curls (3x6)

All of these are done at the heaviest weight I can manage and i have been adding weight almost every week. Doe's anyone have any comments or tips on this workout.

Also I weigh just over 10 stone and am what you would call a hardgainer (find it hard to put on weight/build up)

Thanks in advance.

K

Hey feek, welcome to DB-
Let me see if I have this right- You're working your entire body in a single day, twice a week? Or is that workout split over two seperate days?
Either way, it sounds like it's too much to me. Trying to work all those muscles out in one day means you're not getting the amount of intensity you need for each muscle group. After a while, your body's not going to be able to put out the kind of energy you need for a really good workout. Besides, your body builds muscle while it's resting, not while you're lifting- If you're hitting every muscle group twice a week, that might be too much.
The other thing about your workout is, you're not giving each group enough attention. You should try to do at least 3 exercises per muscle group, 3 sets per exercise.
Try this out- One muscle group per day. For example-
Monday- Chest
Bench presses, 3 sets
Incline bench presses, 3 sets
Weighted dips, 3 sets
And then on Tuesday, you could do legs. Wednesday, shoulders.
Or, if you prefer, you could do a three day split, where you do just two muscle groups per day- Just make sure each muscle group gets a GOOD workout.
Hope this helps!

im with cpl, the training of other muscle groups will affect the performance of all your other muscles as well...and your workout wont be as effective or efficient, is it NOT possible for you to hit the gym more often???

Yeah I can go mon, Weds and Fri would this be OK?

Sure, try to do two muscle groups on each of those days. For example-
Mon- Chest and abs
Wed- Legs and back
Fri- Shoulders and arms
Or something like that. By the way, Smith machines are not necessarily bad for doing squats- It's just that free weights are better to use for any exercise, because you use all kinds of other muscles to help stabilize the weight you're lifting. Since a smith machine keeps the weight aligned for you, those muscles don't get a workout. I'd do some smith squats if I were you. Also, your workout didn't list anything at all for working out the hams- add in some straight leg deadlifts to your leg routine, and post what your new workout is going to look like, I'm sure we can help you fine tune it.

One more thing- You list dips there, but the reps seem sorta high- Try adding some weight when you do them, so you can only do a lower number of reps, it'll promote more growth.

Thanks, sorry I forgot to mention I have now added weight to the dips and lowered the reps, I am going to look at my routine and change it to a three day split if this is what everyone thinks is the best way to promote muscle growth. Which two muscle groups would be best to work together so im no overtraining one muscle group to much in one session?

There's a few different opinions on this floating around the site, actually. Some people say you should train triceps and chest in the same day, but personally I think the triceps are involved in bench presses too much- I've tried it, and I've found that if I work my tris first, my bench press suffers because my tris are tired- And if I work my chest first, my tricep workout suffers.
Try something like this-
Chest and back
Legs and shoulders
Arms and abs
Also, if you read through the downloadable document on this thread-Max OT You'll have a much better understanding of how muscle grows. There's a link in the first post there, download that doc and you'll be able to see why we're telling you to change your routine- Instead of you changing it and not knowing why. Over the years, I've wasted time trying out different workouts people suggested, only to find out later they had no idea what they were talking about. Reading that manual will help you put together a killer routine.
Hope this helps!

Thanks for your help all!