Help an old dog pick a new routine

[Original Poster]

ok, since I have 22-23 weeks until I start cutting for my show and the fact that I have been doing the same bodyparts together for better then 2 years for the msot part, I figure now is a good time to change things up.
With my comp in mind, I figure my hammies and glutes are the two muscle groups that I'd like to improve the most, both in leaness and lean mass.

what I have been doing is this.........

chest/tris/calves (sometimes putting calves or abs on cardio only days)
Legs/abs
shoulders/cales
back/bis/abs

What I am thinking of going to is............

chest/hammies/glutes/calves
back/tris/abs
quads/bis/calves
shoulders/abs

The thinking her being that hammies are good to do together.
.....or should I even split those out ?

My goal will be to add some lean mass while staying under 11-12% BF.
I don't expect large lbm increases but a few lbs would be nice. :)
I will be doing cardio on my off days only (45 mins a session or 2.25 hrs a week)
Cals will start at 3000/day this week and I will increase as needed. Once cycling season starts, I'll be upping cals significantly I am sure.

Any and all comments and suggestions are welcome !

[DarinK]

What I am thinking of going to is............

chest/hammies/glutes/calves
back/tris/abs
quads/bis/calves
shoulders/abs

.....or should I even split those out ?
On your chest day if you put glutes and hammies in there that's a lot of big muscle groups in one day. I have trained the same muscle groups together for some time also, but one thing that really worked for me was to do exercises that I rarely do, or exercises that I have never done. I made a list of all the exercises that I never did, then started doing them. I removed old exercises from my routine, or cut back on them. I started doing stuff like front squats, power cleans, decline dumbbells, reverse preacher curls(the list is long)and I started using different Cybex machines that I never bothered with before as fininishing exercises. That really helped. I now change my routine every week, never doing the same workout twice. You really can stimulate new muscle growth quickly this way because the body is not used to it. Just an idea...

[Gunn27]

How are you setting this up in terms of days? Two on one off, One on one off, something else....?

[Original Poster]

On your chest day if you put glutes and hammies in there that's a lot of big muscle groups in one day. I have trained the same muscle groups together for some time also, but one thing that really worked for me was to do exercises that I rarely do, or exercises that I have never done. I made a list of all the exercises that I never did, then started doing them. I removed old exercises from my routine, or cut back on them. I started doing stuff like front squats, power cleans, decline dumbbells, reverse preacher curls(the list is long)and I started using different Cybex machines that I never bothered with before as fininishing exercises. That really helped. I now change my routine every week, never doing the same workout twice. You really can stimulate new muscle growth quickly this way because the body is not used to it. Just an idea...

That was my frist thought also.......too many big muscle groups.
The changing of what I lift exercisewise is something I was definately planning on doing. I have started recently doing just that.......adding lifts I rarely or never have done. Like today I added some pec dec work as a chest finisher and it felt great. While I do improvise from time to time at they gym if it's busy, I really like to stay on a set routine pretty much for at least 6-8 weeks at a time, but changing up reps per set and pauses between sets and the order I do them.. Winging it has never appealed to me although I know a few people who do this and get awsome results. Engineer by trade, so that's probably why. LOL

Front squats,
pause squats
box squats
reverse lunges
decline db press
decline flys
and powercleans were just a few I was thinking of adding.
I wish my gym had a glute/ham apperatus but they do not.
I have tried them at a racking using the bb to hold feet down, but it's not a movement I have had any luck with the few times I have tried this.

I also plan on mixing up my supersetting and do certain WO's where rest between sets are at a minimum.

[Maui Guns]

Hmmm. I think that if you want to really focus on the hams, glutes and calves, you should plan a day around just those parts. If you are going with a four day split, one rotation per week routine, this might work;

Back and Bi's
Chest, delts and tri's
Quads and abs
Hams, glutes and calves

I agree with the idea of mixing in some new movements. Start the new excercises out with lighter weights and higher reps, and then work up to higher weights, lower reps as the weeks go by. I find there is a mental aspect to starting out deliberately a little on the light side and then working up. That way I know I can look forward to lifting more, which keeps me motivated. It might prevent injuries too, since your body gets to the used new movement before you start working up the weight scale.

[Original Poster]

How are you setting this up in terms of days? Two on one off, One on one off, something else....?

Probably a

Mon: lift
Tues: lift
wed: cardio only
thurs:lift
fri: list
sat: cardio only
sun: cardio only

or

Mon:lift
tues: cardio only
wed: lift,
thurs:cardio only
friday: lift
sat:lift
sun: cardio only

regardless of the split I do, I'll listen to my body and swith up days or take a total rest day from time to time.


Hmmm. I think that if you want to really focus on the hams, glutes and calves, you should plan a day around just those parts. If you are going with a four day split, one rotation per week routine, this might work;

Back and Bi's
Chest, delts and tri's
Quads and abs
Hams, glutes and calves

I agree with the idea of mixing in some new movements. Start the new excercises out with lighter weights and higher reps, and then work up to higher weights, lower reps as the weeks go by. I find there is a mental aspect to starting out deliberately a little on the light side and then working up. That way I know I can look forward to lifting more, which keeps me motivated. It might prevent injuries too, since your body gets to the used new movement before you start working up the weight scale.

I have been doing back and bis together for over 2 years..same with chest and tris. I was thinking of doing glutes and hammies together for sure just for the fact that many exercisesor variations of the same exercises can hit booth.

[Gunn27]

CHI!!! You need to plan a day off in there somewhere, lol!! Yeah, I know... you already know that! :D

[Mark1T]

Just a suggestion, Pete. Since you have approx 22-23 weeks, you can do something similar to DC training, by splitting that period into about 3 periods (periodization - 7 weeks each period), by keeping the following muscle groups, but completely changing your exercises each period.

chest/quads/calves
back/bis/abs
hammies/glutes/calves
shoulders/tris

[jmc53]

Chi, IMO one of the best exercises for hammy's and glutes (but not popular in the modern era for some reason), is SLDL performed from a raised platform so that you can lower the bar to your ankles on each rep. They're brutal, but worth the effort.

[StlBarbie]

Also DP . Bulgarians will FRY the hammies and the glutes!!! :)

[Mr. Someday]

Pete - if you're going to change things up, add in the biggest, most basic, compound lifts with lower volume, heavier weights and higher frequency. I will absolutely gaurantee you that if you use higher reps lower weight to try and stay leaner, you will not add an ounce of appreciable muscle. You need to eat more than 3000 calories, especially on lifting days. You should be at least 4k or more with 400-450g of those calories coming from protein on any day you lift. Make leg days your biggest calorie day (highest carbs) and drop the cals on cardio only days. You will be able to add some size and stay lean at the same time. Stick to carb cutoffs during this run as well whenever possible, ESPECIALLY on cardio only days. With 22 week to go, you should plan on about 8 weeks of blasting away at eating and heavy weights. 14 weeks should be enough to get you ready considering your condition right now. If you find yourself adding more fat than you like, add PWO cardio for 20 minutes a couple of your lifting days.

[Original Poster]

CHI!!! You need to plan a day off in there somewhere, lol!! Yeah, I know... you already know that!

I do !


Just a suggestion, Pete. Since you have approx 22-23 weeks, you can do something similar to DC training, by splitting that period into about 3 periods (periodization - 7 weeks each period), by keeping the following muscle groups, but completely changing your exercises each period.

chest/quads/calves
back/bis/abs
hammies/glutes/calves
shoulders/tris

Mark, With the time I have I thought about maybe doing some DC training.
After seeing Steve's and results others have had, I may just have to reconsider this.


Also DP . Bulgarians will FRY the hammies and the glutes!!! Thanks Barb, I will keep that in mind.


Pete - if you're going to change things up, add in the biggest, most basic, compound lifts with lower volume, heavier weights and higher frequency. I will absolutely gaurantee you that if you use higher reps lower weight to try and stay leaner, you will not add an ounce of appreciable muscle. You need to eat more than 3000 calories, especially on lifting days. You should be at least 4k or more with 400-450g of those calories coming from protein on any day you lift. Make leg days your biggest calorie day (highest carbs) and drop the cals on cardio only days. You will be able to add some size and stay lean at the same time. Stick to carb cutoffs during this run as well whenever possible, ESPECIALLY on cardio only days. With 22 week to go, you should plan on about 8 weeks of blasting away at eating and heavy weights. 14 weeks should be enough to get you ready considering your condition right now. If you find yourself adding more fat than you like, add PWO cardio for 20 minutes a couple of your lifting days.

Steve I like this idea. Bro, I have 22 weeks before I need to start cutting which would be 16 weeks out. So for 22 weeks I can try and add some mass, but I defiantely have to stay leaner. I DO NOT WANT TO GO over 12%...no way. !

[oldsuperman]

On your chest day if you put glutes and hammies in there that's a lot of big muscle groups in one day. I have trained the same muscle groups together for some time also, but one thing that really worked for me was to do exercises that I rarely do, or exercises that I have never done. I made a list of all the exercises that I never did, then started doing them. I removed old exercises from my routine, or cut back on them. I started doing stuff like front squats, power cleans, decline dumbbells, reverse preacher curls(the list is long)and I started using different Cybex machines that I never bothered with before as fininishing exercises. That really helped. I now change my routine every week, never doing the same workout twice. You really can stimulate new muscle growth quickly this way because the body is not used to it. Just an idea...


Pete - if you're going to change things up, add in the biggest, most basic, compound lifts with lower volume, heavier weights and higher frequency. I will absolutely gaurantee you that if you use higher reps lower weight to try and stay leaner, you will not add an ounce of appreciable muscle. You need to eat more than 3000 calories, especially on lifting days. You should be at least 4k or more with 400-450g of those calories coming from protein on any day you lift. Make leg days your biggest calorie day (highest carbs) and drop the cals on cardio only days. You will be able to add some size and stay lean at the same time. Stick to carb cutoffs during this run as well whenever possible, ESPECIALLY on cardio only days. With 22 week to go, you should plan on about 8 weeks of blasting away at eating and heavy weights. 14 weeks should be enough to get you ready considering your condition right now. If you find yourself adding more fat than you like, add PWO cardio for 20 minutes a couple of your lifting days.

I agree that these two post are your best options. Someday's is on the mark here as far as I'm concerned.

I can't do the heavy lifting method generally for my legs, yet I have added one inch to legs this year by doing high reps lower weight, yet it is common knowledge "lift heavy for size". I believe intensity is the key to adding size tho weather heavy weights and lower reps or lighter weights and more reps.

You may want to give certain individual muscle groups their own day from time to time also.

One thing about your training tho. You know your body and what has worked in the past and present, so if it ain't broke, don't try and fix it.

Best of luck. ed

[Original Poster]

I agree that these two post are your best options. Someday's is on the mark here as far as I'm concerned.

I can't do the heavy lifting method generally for my legs, yet I have added one inch to legs this year by doing high reps lower weight, yet it is common knowledge "lift heavy for size". I believe intensity is the key to adding size tho weather heavy weights and lower reps or lighter weights and more reps.

You may want to give certain individual muscle groups their own day from time to time also.

One thing about your training tho. You know your body and what has worked in the past and present, so if it ain't broke, don't try and fix it.

Best of luck. ed

Ed thanks for chiming in. While I throw in some high rep stuff from time to time, I have definately gotten my best results when eating like a mofo and lifting heavy. I do agree though that it's INTENSITY more then anything. It took me a few more years then I would have liked to learn that.......but now it's something I understand very well. IMO most people have no idea what intensity is.

I think today is a re-read up on DC training day.

More thoughts and suggestions are welcome.
Thank you all so much.

Happy Tuesday !

[Bob45]

I like the original grouping of bodyparts more. There is more rest for overlapping muscle groups. Using the different lifts like others are suggesting would be a big enough change IMO.

[Original Poster]

It's really looking like DC training it's going to be.
The reduced volume fits me like a glove this time of year.
And I like the idea of doing rest and pauses. I have done very little of that over the years and together with the extreme intensity and the fact that I'll end up switching lifts pretty often should really mix things up for me.

I re-read all the info I had on DC training today and I think it's going to be a go. Now all I have to do is come up with enough different exercises as I can to put this all together. Which should not be that much of a task.

Thank you all for your input on things.
I value it all more then you know.

Happy Hump Day Eve !

[NuclearArms]

Give the new split a chance. It will work for a while, just as good as anything else. If you like - continue, if not - drop it after two months so you have enough time for contest prep routines.

I wouldn't DC with cutting and contest prep. The 2 really don't mesh in my book.

[Original Poster]

Give the new split a chance. It will work for a while, just as good as anything else. If you like - continue, if not - drop it after two months so you have enough time for contest prep routines.

I wouldn't DC with cutting and contest prep. The 2 really don't mesh in my book.


Bro if I can stay lean enough, I have 22 weeks until I need to start cutting, maybe a bit less if I decide to try and do that show on November 21st.

Plenty of time IMO.

[resurrected]

ok, since I have 22-23 weeks until I start cutting for my show and the fact that I have been doing the same bodyparts together for better then 2 years for the msot part, I figure now is a good time to change things up.
With my comp in mind, I figure my hammies and glutes are the two muscle groups that I'd like to improve the most, both in leaness and lean mass.

what I have been doing is this.........

chest/tris/calves (sometimes putting calves or abs on cardio only days)
Legs/abs
shoulders/cales
back/bis/abs

What I am thinking of going to is............

chest/hammies/glutes/calves
back/tris/abs
quads/bis/calves
shoulders/abs

The thinking her being that hammies are good to do together.
.....or should I even split those out ?

My goal will be to add some lean mass while staying under 11-12% BF.
I don't expect large lbm increases but a few lbs would be nice. :)
I will be doing cardio on my off days only (45 mins a session or 2.25 hrs a week)
Cals will start at 3000/day this week and I will increase as needed. Once cycling season starts, I'll be upping cals significantly I am sure.

Any and all comments and suggestions are welcome !

Don't laugh you prick. but I like Ian kings strenght series.
Kicks ass for me.
wait you are cutting huh?
How about t mags cutting routine. I will find it and post it. It is actually Poliquins manly weight loss plan