Looking to get massive

[themattster]

How's this routine. I have been weight lifting for a few years now. I am 5' 10" and 190 lbs. My bench is at 225 I couldn't tell you my squat due to a low back injury. (Bulging l4/l5 disc)

Mon. Chest. Some calf work (tiny legs)

Tues. back/shoulders

Thurs. legs

Fri. Arms.

Sat sun. Rest

[themattster]

How's this routine. I have been weight lifting for a few years now. I am 5' 10" and 190 lbs. My bench is at 225 I couldn't tell you my squat due to a low back injury. (Bulging l4/l5 disc)

Mon. Chest. Some calf work (tiny legs)

Tues. back/shoulders

Thurs. legs

Fri. Arms.

Sat sun. Rest

I just worry about small things like since I work some shoulders on incline dumbbell bench and weighted dips on mon with chest will I be alright to work shoulders again on tuesday with back?

[Legendsarebuilt]

I just worry about small things like since I work some shoulders on incline dumbbell bench and weighted dips on mon with chest will I be alright to work shoulders again on tuesday with back?

That should be alright dude, it might be sore to train on the first week or two but after that your body should have adapted and you won't have much soreness. I'm on the arnold split and I'm doing chest/back and shoulders/arms on succesive days, twice per week and don't have any problems with the small stuff.
I would advise you to do calf work first on all four days if you reall want your calves to grow.
As far as your split goes is there any particular reason you've chosen to split your excercises the way you have?

[themattster]

That should be alright dude, it might be sore to train on the first week or two but after that your body should have adapted and you won't have much soreness. I'm on the arnold split and I'm doing chest/back and shoulders/arms on succesive days, twice per week and don't have any problems with the small stuff.
I would advise you to do calf work first on all four days if you reall want your calves to grow.
As far as your split goes is there any particular reason you've chosen to split your excercises the way you have?

Hey. Thanks for the reply. Yea I have tried the split where you do chest and back on the same day and it was just to much for me. I felt like if I did back for a set the when I went to chest I couldn't get the most out of my chest workout. Just personal preference I guess. After a chest back workout though I am totally shot so I decided to split them up and give them their seperate days and it works out better for me. I also am thinking this split because for some reason when I work out I get sore for quite a while I notice. I work out chest with no direct tricep work an I will have sore triceps for like the next 3 days so I wanted to have arms a little further out.
So you are saying I can get away with doing calf workouts every time I go to the gym and they will grow? My legs are super skinny and I'm tired of it due to my genes. Also what kind of sets are we talking about. Thanks

[Legendsarebuilt]

Hey. Thanks for the reply. Yea I have tried the split where you do chest and back on the same day and it was just to much for me. I felt like if I did back for a set the when I went to chest I couldn't get the most out of my chest workout. Just personal preference I guess. After a chest back workout though I am totally shot so I decided to split them up and give them their seperate days and it works out better for me. I also am thinking this split because for some reason when I work out I get sore for quite a while I notice. I work out chest with no direct tricep work an I will have sore triceps for like the next 3 days so I wanted to have arms a little further out.
So you are saying I can get away with doing calf workouts every time I go to the gym and they will grow? My legs are super skinny and I'm tired of it due to my genes. Also what kind of sets are we talking about. Thanks

For calves I'd do 4 sets of 15, with standing calf raises, seated calf raises and leg press calf raises, but if your gym doesn't have that equipment there are other excercises. And yeah that's probably the best way to get them to grow.
I think what you want to do is a split with chest and triceps and back and biceps on the same day with shoulders on their own day. From what it sounds like, if your triceps get sore from a chest workout and then you train them later in the week then you're effectively training them twice per week, this probably makes them sorer for chest training and may cause disproportionate growth.
As far as your legs go genetics don't have that much to do with it. What kind of routine are you doing for leg training, which excercises sets and rep ranges?

[KDG730]

I just worry about small things like since I work some shoulders on incline dumbbell bench and weighted dips on mon with chest will I be alright to work shoulders again on tuesday with back?

How hard do you hit each muscle group on these days? #of exercises/sets/reps?

Asking because if you are mostly looking for mass you will probably be better off with a higher volume split

[themattster]

For calves I'd do 4 sets of 15, with standing calf raises, seated calf raises and leg press calf raises, but if your gym doesn't have that equipment there are other excercises. And yeah that's probably the best way to get them to grow.
I think what you want to do is a split with chest and triceps and back and biceps on the same day with shoulders on their own day. From what it sounds like, if your triceps get sore from a chest workout and then you train them later in the week then you're effectively training them twice per week, this probably makes them sorer for chest training and may cause disproportionate growth.
As far as your legs go genetics don't have that much to do with it. What kind of routine are you doing for leg training, which excercises sets and rep ranges?

Well to be honest, I have small legs because I haven't worked them in a very significant amount of time. I had an injury right after basic training in my low back and I have slacked on leg workouts every since. I did Physical Therapy and had injections done but nothing has helped but I cannot do anything like squats or leg press. So I am very limited on what I can do. I did a search on here and found some workouts I can do. I will be doing things like split squats, lunges, leg ext., leg curls etc. and see how it affects me. So in reality my legs are small because I have neglected them. But I have always had a very slender body so that doesn't help. I'll be starting over with legs so I'm all ears with reps and sets for size. I don't really care about strength in that aspect. Because who really cares how much you can LUNGE lol...

Also, my gym has a seated calf raise machine. Is it okay to do it every time or should I switch it up?

[themattster]

How hard do you hit each muscle group on these days? #of exercises/sets/reps?

Asking because if you are mostly looking for mass you will probably be better off with a higher volume split

Usually I do chest day like this..

Incline dumbbell press 4 sets of 6-8
Weighted dips with 25 lb plate 3 sets of I can usually get 8 reps or so
Flat bench 3 sets of 6-8 or this flat bench machine at my gym if I don't have a spotter
Cable flys or pec dec 4 sets of 10 reps

I don't really know if my shoulders are getting worked with any of that but I just don't want to get some kind of injury or something..my shoulders are never sore or anything though.

[KDG730]

Usually I do chest day like this..

Incline dumbbell press 4 sets of 6-8
Weighted dips with 25 lb plate 3 sets of I can usually get 8 reps or so
Flat bench 3 sets of 6-8 or this flat bench machine at my gym if I don't have a spotter
Cable flys or pec dec 4 sets of 10 reps

I don't really know if my shoulders are getting worked with any of that but I just don't want to get some kind of injury or something..my shoulders are never sore or anything though.

Your shoulders get worked indirectly but you should also have some isolation lifts that are only for shoulders.

Since your routine is kind of low volume id suggest maybe looking into doing push/pull/legs or not having 3 days of rest a week. You might benefit more from a higher frequency for mass. This split only works well when you hit each group with an intense amount of volume bc its only once a week.

[Filthmonger]

Thats not a routine its a schedule.

[Legendsarebuilt]

Well to be honest, I have small legs because I haven't worked them in a very significant amount of time. I had an injury right after basic training in my low back and I have slacked on leg workouts every since. I did Physical Therapy and had injections done but nothing has helped but I cannot do anything like squats or leg press. So I am very limited on what I can do. I did a search on here and found some workouts I can do. I will be doing things like split squats, lunges, leg ext., leg curls etc. and see how it affects me. So in reality my legs are small because I have neglected them. But I have always had a very slender body so that doesn't help. I'll be starting over with legs so I'm all ears with reps and sets for size. I don't really care about strength in that aspect. Because who really cares how much you can LUNGE lol...

Also, my gym has a seated calf raise machine. Is it okay to do it every time or should I switch it up?

With the excercises you listed you can still get in a great workout for leg growth. Try starting out with leg extensions, put in on the highest weight you can do six reps with, do six reps with that, then drop the weight one and do six more without resting, do that all the way up to the top of the stack. Then do dumbell lunges(takes the strain off the back) for sets of 15 12 10 10 increasing the weight each time. Follow that up with split squats with the same set pattern and increasing weight. After that go back to leg extensions and do sets of 30, increasing the weight each time. Do leg curls for sets of 30 following the same principle.
I would use the seated calf raise machine everyday yes it's a really good excercise.

[themattster]

Your shoulders get worked indirectly but you should also have some isolation lifts that are only for shoulders.

Since your routine is kind of low volume id suggest maybe looking into doing push/pull/legs or not having 3 days of rest a week. You might benefit more from a higher frequency for mass. This split only works well when you hit each group with an intense amount of volume bc its only once a week.

When you say an intense amount of volume what do you mean exactly.. Whenever I do that chest workout for example I do the most weight I can possibly do and I will barely get the last rep on the 6th one. And I do that for all of the workouts, my chest is completely shot afterwards.. Are you saying I could get away doing this again a few days later? I have searched alot on here and you hear alot about overtraining and there is no such thing as overtraining just undereating..I still have no idea if its true or not

[themattster]

With the excercises you listed you can still get in a great workout for leg growth. Try starting out with leg extensions, put in on the highest weight you can do six reps with, do six reps with that, then drop the weight one and do six more without resting, do that all the way up to the top of the stack. Then do dumbell lunges(takes the strain off the back) for sets of 15 12 10 10 increasing the weight each time. Follow that up with split squats with the same set pattern and increasing weight. After that go back to leg extensions and do sets of 30, increasing the weight each time. Do leg curls for sets of 30 following the same principle.
I would use the seated calf raise machine everyday yes it's a really good excercise.

I def will doing that for legs and see how it works then. Thanks man

[kpawlicki]

An example of low volume would be 3 sets of 2-5 reps.

High volume would be 5 sets of 8-15 reps or something similar to that.

Either way, training to failure is good for shocking the muscles and promoting hypertrophy.

I usually train each muscle group once a week, but sometimes I'll hit something twice in a week. Like now, I've been trying to build my chest a bit more, so I've been hitting it twice a week. If the muscle you want to train is fully recovered from last time you worked it (not sore) then go ahead and train it. A proper diet will go a long way for recovery

[themattster]

An example of low volume would be 3 sets of 2-5 reps.

High volume would be 5 sets of 8-15 reps or something similar to that.

Either way, training to failure is good for shocking the muscles and promoting hypertrophy.

I usually train each muscle group once a week, but sometimes I'll hit something twice in a week. Like now, I've been trying to build my chest a bit more, so I've been hitting it twice a week. If the muscle you want to train is fully recovered from last time you worked it (not sore) then go ahead and train it. A proper diet will go a long way for recovery

So the volume is pretty much the reps and sets. Idk I have tried the high reps but I get more enjoyment doing heavy weight with low reps. It's more fun lol. And isn't that the point of all this? I'm with you on working a muscle twice a week and I was thinking about doing legs twice a week but I'll just have to see how they feel after doing this new SCHEDULE as Filthmonger calls it.

[KDG730]

When you say an intense amount of volume what do you mean exactly.. Whenever I do that chest workout for example I do the most weight I can possibly do and I will barely get the last rep on the 6th one. And I do that for all of the workouts, my chest is completely shot afterwards.. Are you saying I could get away doing this again a few days later? I have searched alot on here and you hear alot about overtraining and there is no such thing as overtraining just undereating..I still have no idea if its true or not

What I am basically saying is that you could get more results by lifting each muscle group twice a week. I personally do not believe in over-training unless you are physically hurting yourself. If you are in good physical condition and eat/supplement enough you could %100 be training each muscle twice a week. I used to have a split similar to yours but switched to a 2x per week "routine" a few months ago and have seen great results. I guess it varies from person to person but it was just another option I was throwing out there for you.

I'm doing the Arnold program right now which is every muscle 2x a week if you want to check it out and see what it is like

[Legendsarebuilt]

What I am basically saying is that you could get more results by lifting each muscle group twice a week. I personally do not believe in over-training unless you are physically hurting yourself. If you are in good physical condition and eat/supplement enough you could %100 be training each muscle twice a week. I used to have a split similar to yours but switched to a 2x per week "routine" a few months ago and have seen great results. I guess it varies from person to person but it was just another option I was throwing out there for you.

I'm doing the Arnold program right now which is every muscle 2x a week if you want to check it out and see what it is like

Mattster you're welcome about the leg training idea, let me know how it goes! You should a really good pump and some wicked doms but your legs will grow in the long run.
I'm also on the arnold program at the moment but do not recommend you do as well. I think with your back injury you're best to consistently stick to hitting everything once a week and then maybe a few months down the line when you've made some solid gains but progress has slowed think about switching to 2x per week.

[KDG730]

Mattster you're welcome about the leg training idea, let me know how it goes! You should a really good pump and some wicked doms but your legs will grow in the long run.
I'm also on the arnold program at the moment but do not recommend you do as well. I think with your back injury you're best to consistently stick to hitting everything once a week and then maybe a few months down the line when you've made some solid gains but progress has slowed think about switching to 2x per week.

Word, didn't see the injury. Yeah it can be a lot on your back/legs. But it is pretty awesome

[themattster]

What I am basically saying is that you could get more results by lifting each muscle group twice a week. I personally do not believe in over-training unless you are physically hurting yourself. If you are in good physical condition and eat/supplement enough you could %100 be training each muscle twice a week. I used to have a split similar to yours but switched to a 2x per week "routine" a few months ago and have seen great results. I guess it varies from person to person but it was just another option I was throwing out there for you.

I'm doing the Arnold program right now which is every muscle 2x a week if you want to check it out and see what it is like

Okay I see what you're saying. The problem I have with following routines like Arnold's and other bodybuilders is they were on roids like a mug and I wonder if I should even take their advice. Are you seeing good results on it? What does it consist of. Is it the chest/back routine legends was talking about earlier?

[Legendsarebuilt]

Okay I see what you're saying. The problem I have with following routines like Arnold's and other bodybuilders is they were on roids like a mug and I wonder if I should even take their advice. Are you seeing good results on it? What does it consist of. Is it the chest/back routine legends was talking about earlier?

I wasn't referencing the chest and back routine earlier to suggest you go on it, just to say that's what I'm currently doing. I think the consensus is you shouldn't switch to twice a week until you've got more experience and if and when your back is capable of handling the load.

[themattster]

I wasn't referencing the chest and back routine earlier to suggest you go on it, just to say that's what I'm currently doing. I think the consensus is you shouldn't switch to twice a week until you've got more experience and if and when your back is capable of handling the load.

Agreed

[themattster]

With the excercises you listed you can still get in a great workout for leg growth. Try starting out with leg extensions, put in on the highest weight you can do six reps with, do six reps with that, then drop the weight one and do six more without resting, do that all the way up to the top of the stack. Then do dumbell lunges(takes the strain off the back) for sets of 15 12 10 10 increasing the weight each time. Follow that up with split squats with the same set pattern and increasing weight. After that go back to leg extensions and do sets of 30, increasing the weight each time. Do leg curls for sets of 30 following the same principle.
I would use the seated calf raise machine everyday yes it's a really good excercise.

So I did this today and holy crap it wore me out. To say the least it honestly pissed me off because I didn't realize how out of shape I am with legs and I only have myself to blame. Either way it's a great workout but I feel terrible after completing it lol

[Legendsarebuilt]

So I did this today and holy crap it wore me out. To say the least it honestly pissed me off because I didn't realize how out of shape I am with legs and I only have myself to blame. Either way it's a great workout but I feel terrible after completing it lol

Yeah it's a pretty difficult workout to run through, but it is probably the best workout that you could do for legs so it doesn't really get tougher! You'll get some pretty severe soreness the next few days, and each week you will get some soreness but it gets less each time you do it. I suppose it's good that you've realized you weren't getting your legs to be as good as they could be. Moving forward you want to turn that negative into a positive by being determined not to repeat that mistake and training legs smart and hard. I think in the past you've used your lower back injury as an excuse to avoid leg training, and while that is a valid reason to avoid squat variants it's not stopping you getting in a great leg workout. One last thing, you may find you need to eat more training this way since now your largest muscle groups are growing like they haven't in the past and you want to make sure you eat enough to fuel that growth. Glad it went well if you have any other questions or anything else I'm happy to give you my opinion.

[Legendsarebuilt]

So I did this today and holy crap it wore me out. To say the least it honestly pissed me off because I didn't realize how out of shape I am with legs and I only have myself to blame. Either way it's a great workout but I feel terrible after completing it lol

How're things going? You keeping up with the leg training?