Am I doing too much in the gym?

[kgts]

First off, I've had excellent progress. The weight is coming off and I'm roughly 7lbs away from hitting the 100lb loss mark, which is when I'll flip around to a bulk.

My question is, am I overdoing it? I tend to hit muscles at EVERY angle possible. Here's a sample of what my workout looks like...

Back/Biceps:
deadlifts 3x3
Barbell rows 3x10
One arm dumbell rows 3x6
Pullups 5x6
Wide grip lat pulldowns 3x8
One arm lat pulldowns 3x8
T bar rows 3x8
cable rows 3x8
One arm cable rows 3x8
Horizontal "row" machine 4x5
Iso Row machine 3x6
Barbell curls 3x5
EZ bar curls 3x5
Dumbell curls 3x5
Hammer curls 3x10
Pullups to failure

It is a ton of work. Granted, I love every moment of it in the gym, but am I overdoing it? My results have been great in combination with my macros. Would I have even better results if I were to cut the work load? I'm not sure if it matters or not, but I'm 17 and it seems as if I recover fairly quickly.

[speedjason]

a rule of thumb is not longer than 90 mins workout.
I try to keep it that way so I usually split in two days.
anyways, you seem to be doing way too much pulling.
where are all the pressing exercises, such as bench press, shoulder press?
more importantly, where are the leg exercises?

[chazzy1864]

Depends. Some people respond well to high volume, others not so much. There is a good chance you don't need that much. I am positive most on here would say you're overdoing it. However, there is a chance your body responds better to the volume. Also, and in my opinion it is a very major factor that people don't take into account, you enjoy the volume. A workout you enjoy will net you better results than a "more optimal" one you don't.

That being said, you're doing 33-35 work sets just for back. My guess is you could cut that down to 1/2 or 1/3 and see results. You could also choose to cut it down and split the workout over two different days in the week. Lessen volume per workout and increase frequency.

[DerekEt]

HOLY SMOKES.

Typical back training session for me is 1 working set Barbell Row,1 working set T-BAR Row,1 working set Pullups or Lat Pulldown & Cable Row.

This is totally insane, I have no idea how you do this. The next Jay Cutler I guess? Watch videos of Arnold,Yates,Coleman,or Lee Haney; they only do about ~4 exercises , sometimes 3 or 5, and only ramp up to 1 working set.

[oldballs]

HOLY SMOKES.

Typical back training session for me is 1 working set Barbell Row,1 working set T-BAR Row,1 working set Pullups or Lat Pulldown & Cable Row.

This is totally insane, I have no idea how you do this. The next Jay Cutler I guess? Watch videos of Arnold,Yates,Coleman,or Lee Haney; they only do about ~4 exercises , sometimes 3 or 5, and only ramp up to 1 working set.

oh my god, lets not get into THIS again!

[kgts]

As for the comment about chest,legs, shoulders, etc, I simply didn't post those routines. They are pretty similar in regards to volume. However, I do much less work with my legs as I train fasted and something with the blood flow causes me to become light headed.


I essentially try to hit every "major" exersise with each muscle group.

[vampborn]

First off, I've had excellent progress. The weight is coming off and I'm roughly 7lbs away from hitting the 100lb loss mark, which is when I'll flip around to a bulk.

My question is, am I overdoing it? I tend to hit muscles at EVERY angle possible. Here's a sample of what my workout looks like...

Back/Biceps:
deadlifts 3x3
Barbell rows 3x10
One arm dumbell rows 3x6
Pullups 5x6
Wide grip lat pulldowns 3x8
One arm lat pulldowns 3x8
T bar rows 3x8
cable rows 3x8
One arm cable rows 3x8
Horizontal "row" machine 4x5
Iso Row machine 3x6
Barbell curls 3x5
EZ bar curls 3x5
Dumbell curls 3x5
Hammer curls 3x10
Pullups to failure

It is a ton of work. Granted, I love every moment of it in the gym, but am I overdoing it? My results have been great in combination with my macros. Would I have even better results if I were to cut the work load? I'm not sure if it matters or not, but I'm 17 and it seems as if I recover fairly quickly.

You have a lot of redundancy that could be omitted for the sake of higher intensity on the rest of the lifts. Volume and Frequency determine the Intensity. Drop the volume and you'll have more intensity. Jack of all trades - master of none. With less lifts, you can focus on technique more. I would up the poundages if you're recovering fairly quickly.

[Celtic8Laoch]

Curls curls curls O_o

[DJAuto]

You're seeing good progressive results; that's all that matters.

[kgts]

Curls curls curls O_o

I actually hate curls. It's just that I try to hit muscle groups at every angle possible. I also don't get any pump unless I have super high volume and intensity.

I'll keep doing this for a little while. It will help me lose more weight and seems to be working for muscle growth on a cut as well.

[jolanar1]

Yikes, your doing more volume on your back/bicep than I do on my full body routine. Ultimately though it probably comes down to just how much time you personally enjoy spending in the gym each day more than anything.

[-Lucifer]

Watch videos of Arnold,Yates,Coleman,or Lee Haney; they only do about ~4 exercises , sometimes 3 or 5, and only ramp up to 1 working set.

No, you're wrong.

[Rasputin4]

Here's an example of my upper pull day: 3 sets bent barbell row, 3 sets t-bar row, 3 sets pendley row, 3 sets dumbbell curls (I do 3 sets deadlifts on leg day).

WAYYYYYYYYYY too much volume and I have a sneaky hunch you are doing way submaximal effort to burn calories. It would be better to do more maximal effort at WAYYYYYYYYYYY less volume and up the cardio if you want to burn more calories (plus eat at a caloric deficit).

[merritboyle123]

First off, I've had excellent progress. The weight is coming off and I'm roughly 7lbs away from hitting the 100lb loss mark, which is when I'll flip around to a bulk.

My question is, am I overdoing it? I tend to hit muscles at EVERY angle possible. Here's a sample of what my workout looks like...

Back/Biceps:
deadlifts 3x3
Barbell rows 3x10
One arm dumbell rows 3x6
Pullups 5x6
Wide grip lat pulldowns 3x8
One arm lat pulldowns 3x8
T bar rows 3x8
cable rows 3x8
One arm cable rows 3x8
Horizontal "row" machine 4x5
Iso Row machine 3x6
Barbell curls 3x5
EZ bar curls 3x5
Dumbell curls 3x5
Hammer curls 3x10
Pullups to failure

It is a ton of work. Granted, I love every moment of it in the gym, but am I overdoing it? My results have been great in combination with my macros. Would I have even better results if I were to cut the work load? I'm not sure if it matters or not, but I'm 17 and it seems as if I recover fairly quickly.

First off, congrats!!! That is an incredible accomplishment!

Your body will tell you when it's too much. I try to limit my time in the gym to 1 1/2 hrs on the longest days. As you're hitting higher plateaus, you'll want to change things up a bit. You want to keep your muscles in shock mode. I would suggest you begin rotating in 2/3 new exercises each day. You would rotate 2/3 out as well...

Great job!

[kgts]

Thanks for all the responses. From the information in this thread and google, it seems as if I am doing too much. While it might work for a while, my body will eventually adapt and progress will stop.

The problem with cutting back the volume though is that I have way too much energy to just do 12 sets a day... I also hate cardio, but hey, who doesn't?

[speedjason]

Thanks for all the responses. From the information in this thread and google, it seems as if I am doing too much. While it might work for a while, my body will eventually adapt and progress will stop.

The problem with cutting back the volume though is that I have way too much energy to just do 12 sets a day... I also hate cardio, but hey, who doesn't?

do more compounds. 3x3 deadlift is not enough. do 5x5.
also try do sets like 12/10/8 instead of 8/8/8. start with the heaviest weight you can maintain a proper form, then drop if needed (mostly dont).

[kgts]

do more compounds. 3x3 deadlift is not enough. do 5x5.
also try do sets like 12/10/8 instead of 8/8/8. start with the heaviest weight you can maintain a proper form, then drop if needed (mostly dont).

I don't do a ton of deadlifts because I injured my back a while back while doing deads, and I'm too apprehensive to go heavy on them.

Also, should deads be done on leg or back day?

[mrschneeebly]

Thanks for all the responses. From the information in this thread and google, it seems as if I am doing too much. While it might work for a while, my body will eventually adapt and progress will stop.

The problem with cutting back the volume though is that I have way too much energy to just do 12 sets a day... I also hate cardio, but hey, who doesn't?

I feel like you have too much energy because you aren't lifting enough weight. If you lift heavier it'll be pretty tough to continue to do the amount of sets you've been doing. But congrats man, keep it up.

[kgts]

I feel like you have too much energy because you aren't lifting enough weight. If you lift heavier it'll be pretty tough to continue to do the amount of sets you've been doing. But congrats man, keep it up.

I do as much weight as I possibly can without letting form slip. An example of this is with lat pulldowns. I can move the whole stack for 5 reps, but I don't feel it in my lats. If I back it off to 170, I can feel the full weight load being exerted only on my lats, resulting in a great burn.

I'll try going heavier for a little while and cutting out some volume. Would it be better for me to give myself more rest time as well?

Also, the energy most likely comes from a scoop of craze and 1/2 cup of coffee before each workout. Maybe that's why I can do so much volume and still want to do more at the end?

[mrschneeebly]

I'd also up your reps while cutting out your unnecessary exercises, like instead of 3x5 on curls do 3x10 or 3x12 or a variation. But if you've lost 93 pounds and your loving your time the gym then why change it man?

[Breton101]

People will say, "don't spend more than an hour in the gym or don't train your whole body more than twice a week"; I say that's BS. There's no such thing as over training, only under resting and under eating. Do you think world record holders only spend 30-90 mins training a day? NO. A marathon runner spends hours running to build endurance. When they run a 26.2 miler, it's ran for 3+hours and there are people that run 50+ miles a day. Look at Ben Rice, he is under 200 lbs and dead lifts 700+ all drug free. He talks about spending 4 hours in the gym a day. Cross Fits Rich Froning trains 5+ times a day. Floyd Mayweather Jr has talked about training 4-5 times a day in interviews. IMO it does not matter what sport you play volume is the key to growth and strength. I say, if you can train for 1 hour then train for an hour. I mean train, don't go to the gym for an hour but only workout 30 minutes cause you spent all your time BS'ing about some girls ass. Go in there take little rest between sets and get **** done!

[renferos]

Been lurking these posts hating on volume I ask you tho man is it really a work set if god helps you with it.

There is only one way to train as we are all genetically identical

Ps chemistry and physics are the basis of nutrition

[kgts]

Tried cutting some volume today. Chest/tricep. Lift numbers went up of course, but I didn't really get any pump.

Dumbell bench press-80lbsx6 reps, 80lbsx4 reps, 85lbsx2 reps.
Decline barbell-205x3, 185x5, 185x3, 185x3, 185x2
Flat barbell-225x1, 135x10, 135x10
Incline dumbell- 3 sets of 8, 60lb dumbells
Dips-3x8, body weight+45lbs
Tricep push downs-180lbs 3 sets of 8.
25 minutes of cardio.


Does this look better?

[kgts]

I hate to bump this, but I would really like to know if the workout I did above looks a little better.

[Jasonk282]

Tried cutting some volume today. Chest/tricep. Lift numbers went up of course, but I didn't really get any pump.

Dumbell bench press-80lbsx6 reps, 80lbsx4 reps, 85lbsx2 reps.
Decline barbell-205x3, 185x5, 185x3, 185x3, 185x2
Flat barbell-225x1, 135x10, 135x10
Incline dumbell- 3 sets of 8, 60lb dumbells
Dips-3x8, body weight+45lbs
Tricep push downs-180lbs 3 sets of 8.
25 minutes of cardio.


Does this look better?

Yes looks better, but I would dial some that even more. and a pump is not a sign on a good workout. adding more weight is, which you did.

If you want a full body program look into HST or PHAT

BTW...225x1 bench and 205x3 decline?

[kgts]

Yes looks better, but I would dial some that even more. and a pump is not a sign on a good workout. adding more weight is, which you did.

If you want a full body program look into HST or PHAT

BTW...225x1 bench and 205x3 decline?

What's wrong with the flat and decline? I'm horrible at regular benching. That 225 almost killed me... I can't quite touch my chest with the bar or my elbow dislocates.

[kgts]

Focused on weight and form today for shoulders. Still trying to hit the muscle group with multiple different excersises. How does this look?

Standing barbell press- 125lbs 3 sets of 6
Dumbell shoulder press-50lbs, 3 sets of 8
Seated barbell shoulder press-135, 4 sets of 5
Hammer strength shoulder press-45 on each side, 3 sets of 3
Dumbell lateral raises-2"lbs, 3 sets of 8
Upright rows-90lbs 3 sets of 6
Shrugs-275lbs, 5 sets of 5.

[midcoastking33]

Focused on weight and form today for shoulders. Still trying to hit the muscle group with multiple different excersises. How does this look?

Standing barbell press- 125lbs 3 sets of 6
Dumbell shoulder press-50lbs, 3 sets of 8
Seated barbell shoulder press-135, 4 sets of 5
Hammer strength shoulder press-45 on each side, 3 sets of 3
Dumbell lateral raises-2"lbs, 3 sets of 8
Upright rows-90lbs 3 sets of 6
Shrugs-275lbs, 5 sets of 5.

That's probably too high for shoulders if you're doing moderate/high volume on chest and back

[Arm_Wrestler]

Regarding your first post. It is not that you are doing too much, but I think you will find your intensity, strength, and energy (not perceived, but what is still actually available in your muscle) will all be sub par by the time you reach biceps. With that much back work, I would suggest adding biceps into another day's routine.

[TheSkins]

I can't help but think you're probably not lifting anywhere near intense/heavy enough on all those exercises. You have "pullups to failure" at the end of your list and I know that if I did anywhere near that amount of volume for back and bis I probably couldn't do a single pullup afterwards!

Then again you said you're trying to lose 100lbs and getting results so perhaps what you're doing is working you aerobically as much as anything. When you switch to trying to bulk you may not see such good results.

Regardless, whatever works for you is always the best programme.