Critique my routine

[jon4127]

My question to all the board readers is to please critique my routine and make any suggestions/pointers you might come up with. I am a novice at weight lifting and don’t want to be wasting my time by going about it the wrong way. The most glaring thing I have noticed with the routine the trainer gave me is that there is no bench/squat/deadlifts, which seem to be the holy trinity of weightlifting. The main thing is that I don’t want to get huge, just stronger and in better shape.

I am not sure what body type I am but I am built pretty “normal” not thin or huge. And I seem to be responding well so far to the routine based on comparing myself to my best friend who also started the same time as me.

Your age: 22

Your height and weight: 5 11 – 200 lbs

How long you have been training (seriously!) – 3.5 months

Your goals (Lose weight, gain weight, improve weak points etc etc): strengthen overall, get in better shape for summer,.

A breakdown of your current routine (Including split, exercises, sets and reps): I work out exclusively on machines as this is what the trainer at Planet Fitness (the local gym) told me to do. This is the workout he gave me when I started. For the first 2 months I was doing 13 reps by 3 sets (not counting 7-rep light warm-up). After that he had me to 13,10,8 for reps.

Mon/Thurs - total time in gym 1-1.75 hr
15 min cardio – 10 min stretch
Chest press
Chest incline press
Wide grip lat pulldowns
Row
Overhead press
Arm curl
Arm Extension

Tues/sat – total time in gym 1 – 1.75 hr
15 min cardio – 10 min stretch
Leg press
Leg extension
Leg curl
Hip Abductor
Hip Adductor
Rotary caff
Ab Bench
Lower Back extension

Wed – total time in gym 1hr
.75 hr cardio
.25 hr stretching


Have you made gains on this routine, and if so in what way (Heavier weights / mass)
Yes I have been very happy with this routine, I have lost 1.5 inches on my waist, my upper body is toner and my arms/legs/chest are definitely stronger, more tone.

What is your diet like – reasonable but I have been eating like a horse for that last 2 months! When I started working out I switched to 5 meals a day (per reading this site) but I am really eating 5 full meals because of how hungry I always am. I eat a lot of meats and protein, cereal/oatmeal for breakfast and 3 pieces of fruit every day. Never fast food. No chips/ minimal soda, I drink 1-2 nights a week on the weekends and let my diet go on Sunday when watching the game/race and eat chips/soda.

Have / are you taking any supplements and/or anabolic agents (optional)
I started taking a multivitamin when I started working out. For the last 2 months I have been eating powerbars after workouts (I am always starved when leaving the gym).

[jon4127]

As near as I can tell my body type is Mesomorph.

Any help, ideas or criticisms would be helpful.

Thanks in advance

[jon4127]

^^

[xenithon]

Hi There. It looks quite solid, just a few things I think you may want to look into.

1. Rather do 5-10 minutes stretching at the beginning, then another 5-10 stretching and the cardio at the end. Don't do cardio before the weights IMO
2. Try keep the time under 90 minutes. That includes all the stretching and cardio. I say try make it 45-50 minutes of weights max.
3. I see you have split it into an upper body and lower body/abs day. Looks solid, but for a few exercise choices I would change as follows (in CAPS):

Mon/Thurs
Chest press MAKE SURE IT'S DB/BB, NOT MACHINE
Chest incline press SAME AS ABOVE. YOU MAY WANT TO TRY SOME ALTERNATIVES ONCE IN A WHILE LIKE DECLIE PRESS OR CHEST DIPS. THIS WILL START GETTING YOU USED TO THESE VERY IMPORTANT MOVEMENTS SO THAT AS YOU PROGRESS YOU CAN FULLY INCORPORATE THEM.
Wide grip lat pulldowns IF YOU HAVE THE STRENGTH RATHER TRY PULLUPS OR CHINUPS
Row
Overhead press TRY MILITARY OR DB PRESS
Arm curl DO STANDING BB CURL RATHER THAN A DB MOVEMENT IF YOU HAVE ONLY ONE EXERCISE FOR BIS
Arm Extension SIMILAR TO ABOVE, RATHER DO A GOOD COMPOUND LIKE SKULLCRUSHER OR CLOSEGRIP BENCH

Tues/sat
Leg press
Leg extension DO SQUAT RATHER. ANY KIND - BACKSQUAT, FRONT SQUAT, ZERCHER SQUAT OR HACK SQUAT. LOSE THE EXTENSIONS IMO - CAN CAUSE PAIN AND INJURY TO THE KNEE.
Leg curl GOOD. BUT TRY DOING SLDL ONCE IN A WHILE TO GET USED TO IT AS LATER IN IT WILL BE FAR MORE IMPORTANT AND POTENT THAN LEG CURL
Hip Abductor/Hip Adductor USELESS IMO. DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME. RATHER DO CALF RAISES, AS I SEE YOU HAVE NOTHING FOR CALVES!
Rotary caff I BELIEVE YOU MEAN ROTATOR CUFF? WHAT ARE YOU DOING FOR THESE? IF ANYTHING, DO SOME CUBAN ROTATIONS, BUT THAT YOU CAN DO ON UPPER BODY DAY AS THEY DON'T TAKE TOO LONG.
Ab Bench
Lower Back extension DITCH THIS IMO. RATHER DO ANOTHER AB MOVEMENT LIKE CRUNCHES, REVERSE CRUNCHES, SWISS BALL CRUNCHES ETC.

4. Final comment - DITCH THE POWERBARS Read up the sticky on Pre/Post Workout Nutrition by Alan Aragon. It should spell out the basics and I suggest you start following them as these details are vital

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