New Father needs workout critique!!

[WalterKohn]

Here is a little background. I recently had a son. He is 6 months old. For the past 6 months my workouts have been almost non-existent. I was on a M-W-F full body workout schedule. Before having my son I was doing this workout consistently for about a year and a half. Nutrition was on point as well. I was at about 215@13% bf. Right now I am about 220 @18-20%bf. I don't have much time during the week for workouts due to having to work a 7-4 and pick up my son and watch him until 8PM, when my wife gets home from work. I have my own home gym with free weights and such. I will be working out with my son in the room and need to get in a solid workout in a hour or less. Here is what I am thinking of doing for the next 12 weeks. Please let me know what you think and if you would make any changes and why.


Monday
Weighted Chest Dip 5x5-15
Bent Over Row 5x5
Squat 5x5
Dumbbell Shrugs 3x8-12
Barbell Curls 3x8-12
Leg Curls 3x10-15
Triceps Extension 3x8-12
Leg Extension 3x8-12
Chinups 2x8

Wednesday
Weighted Chest Dip 5x5-15
Bent Over Row 5x5
Squat 5x5
Deadlift 2x5
Barbell Curls 3x8-12
Leg Extension 3x10-15
Leg Curls 3x10-15
Triceps Extension 3x8-12
Leg Raises 2x15

Friday

Weighted Chest Dip 5x5-15
Bent Over Row 5x5
Squat 5x5
Dumbbell Shrugs 3x8
Barbell Curls 3x8-12
Leg Curls 3x10-15
Triceps Extension 3x8-12
Leg Extension 3x10-15
Chinup 2x8

[Mdenatale]

So all the same expect Wednesdays has deadlifts and the other two have chins and shrugs

I think it is odd that your only chest exercise is dips. Why no pressing at all? Nothing wrong with dips, but I've never seen a routine where they are the sole chest exercise.

Couple other things. I would probably cut out leg curls on deadlift day. And personal preference, but I would have squats and deads at the beginning of the routine. Also, no direct shoulder work? There are lots of good full body routines out there. Why wouldn't you follow on of them?

[Partyrocking]

It seems like this would be a little long if your goal is an hour or less. Kelei has a 5x5 routine template that could work well for you. http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...hp?t=168337473

The idea is that you pick the exercises but you have 2 upper body pushes/2 upper body pulls, 1 lower body push, and 1 lower body pull

[WalterKohn]

So all the same expect Wednesdays has deadlifts and the other two have chins and shrugs

I think it is odd that your only chest exercise is dips. Why no pressing at all? Nothing wrong with dips, but I've never seen a routine where they are the sole chest exercise.

Couple other things. I would probably cut out leg curls on deadlift day. And personal preference, but I would have squats and deads at the beginning of the routine. Also, no direct shoulder work? There are lots of good full body routines out there. Why wouldn't you follow on of them?

Chest Dips are the squat of the upper body. They hit a lot and I dip pretty heavy for reps. I have freakishly long arms and don't like bench pressing at all. Only reason I don't have squats/dls early is to let my body and lower back be fully warmed up. Yea leg curls probably aren't need on DL day so I will nix that. Shoulders get hit pretty hard from weighted chest dips.

I ran something similar to this for a year and half and went from 195 - 215 and was pretty lean and did not use and assistance. Never once did I bench press. I did do standing military press. I stopped the military press once I started dipping heavy weight.

I am not lifting for bodybuilding more for health and being in shape. I play sports actively still so I like functional strength. Thanks for the advice though. I appreciate it.

[WalterKohn]

It seems like this would be a little long if your goal is an hour or less. Kelei has a 5x5 routine template that could work well for you. http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...hp?t=168337473

The idea is that you pick the exercises but you have 2 upper body pushes/2 upper body pulls, 1 lower body push, and 1 lower body pull

I have been running something like this for 1 year and a half with great results. Rests are 2 minutes for 5x5 stuff and 1 minute for accessory stuff. I am usually done within an hour or so. I understand how full body workouts operate. I do not want just 5x5 that is why my workout has some major compound lifts and some accessory. The accessory is there mainly for short rest to get a form of aerobic exercise and the major compounds are to get a form of anaerobic exercise. The exercises I have picked do hit every main muscle group so I am not sure why your talking about push/pull in my workout. I appreciate the response but for my goals a normal 5x5 routine wont work hence why I asked for direct critique of the workout I posted.

[Mdenatale]

Chest Dips are the squat of the upper body. They hit a lot and I dip pretty heavy for reps. I have freakishly long arms and don't like bench pressing at all. Only reason I don't have squats/dls early is to let my body and lower back be fully warmed up. Yea leg curls probably aren't need on DL day so I will nix that. Shoulders get hit pretty hard from weighted chest dips.

I ran something similar to this for a year and half and went from 195 - 215 and was pretty lean and did not use and assistance. Never once did I bench press. I did do standing military press. I stopped the military press once I started dipping heavy weight.

I am not lifting for bodybuilding more for health and being in shape. I play sports actively still so I like functional strength. Thanks for the advice though. I appreciate it.

The anterior delts get worked while doing dips, but not much of anything going on for lateral and posterior delts. I would personally try to fit something for them in there. Also, no calf work?


Forgot to say in my first post, congrats on the new young man

[WalterKohn]

The anterior delts get worked while doing dips, but not much of anything going on for lateral and posterior delts. I would personally try to fit something for them in there. Also, no calf work?


Forgot to say in my first post, congrats on the new young man

Thanks its been a hectic six months so far !

My lateral and posterior delts get hit from Barbell Bent Over Rows and Weighted Chest Dips 3 times a week. I used to think that you need to specifically isolate shoulders. You don't; dips, rows, pull-ups etc. will hit all of the shoulders. Maybe at times not directly but they are all activated. Calves are hit when you squat if you do it properly. I took calf raises out because for the past year and half I was nailing them from squatting and weighted calf raises. My calves are bigger then my arms right now lol. From a picture you couldn't tell but they are.

I am just looking for critiquing of this because I am only running it for 12 weeks since I am strapped for time. I will be switching it up after. My workout before I had my son was 1hour to 1hour 30 minutes M-W-F. I am trying to get it to 45 minutes to an hour tops. Just not sure what should be added or taken out etc. I keep my compound lifts first due to not wanting to be fatigued before a little accessory work for finishing off my workout that is cardio"ish" with low rest time/hi reps with sets.

May I ask what current workout you are running?

[ds4545]

Why not run Ice Cream then? Tighter workout times and compound driven.

For saying you want to limit gym time you're proposing a lot of unnecessary ancillary and iso work

[WalterKohn]

Why not run Ice Cream then? Tighter workout times and compound driven.

For saying you want to limit gym time you're proposing a lot of unnecessary ancillary and iso work

ICF = 5x5 and Accessory
My workout = 5x5 and accessory subbing weighted chest dips for benching

I don't have a hyperextension machine, cable crunches are a joke, I don't like any form of bench press due to freakishly long arms. Also Jason Blaha is absolute joke. I Wouldn't want to associate myself with anything connected to him.

I appreciate the response but I don't need another workout plan, just possible tweaking of what I have now.

[Mdenatale]

Thanks its been a hectic six months so far !

My lateral and posterior delts get hit from Barbell Bent Over Rows and Weighted Chest Dips 3 times a week. I used to think that you need to specifically isolate shoulders. You don't; dips, rows, pull-ups etc. will hit all of the shoulders. Maybe at times not directly but they are all activated. Calves are hit when you squat if you do it properly. I took calf raises out because for the past year and half I was nailing them from squatting and weighted calf raises. My calves are bigger then my arms right now lol. From a picture you couldn't tell but they are.

I am just looking for critiquing of this because I am only running it for 12 weeks since I am strapped for time. I will be switching it up after. My workout before I had my son was 1hour to 1hour 30 minutes M-W-F. I am trying to get it to 45 minutes to an hour tops. Just not sure what should be added or taken out etc. I keep my compound lifts first due to not wanting to be fatigued before a little accessory work for finishing off my workout that is cardio"ish" with low rest time/hi reps with sets.

May I ask what current workout you are running?

I do an Upper/Lower split. Started off with Lyle McDonald's Generic Bulking Routine, but I've tweaked and modified it over time to fit what I prefer.

Lower A
Squats: 3x6
Deadlifts: 2x6
DB Lunges: 3x8-12
Calf Raise: 5x15 (optional)

Upper A
Bench: 3x6
Pendlay Rows: 3x6
Seated OHP: 2x6 
Pull-Ups: 2x6
Skull Crushers: 3x8-12 (optional)
Lat Raises: 3x8-12 (optional)

Lower B
Leg Press: 5x8 (replace with squats if I'm working out at home)
Romanian Deadlift: 3x8
Calf Raise: 5x15
Hamstring Curl: 3x12 (optional)
Leg Extension: 4x8-12 (optional)
Abs: 4x15

Upper B
Bench: 4x8
Machine Row: 4x8
Incline Dumbbell Press: 4x8
Pullups: 4x8 
DB Curls: 3x10 (optional)
Shrugs: 4x8-12 (optional)
Rear Delt Flies: 4x8-12 (optional)

If I'm pressed for time I drop the couple iso exercises at the end of each workout, that's what I mean by optional. I try not to, but sometime life is quite busy.

[WalterKohn]

I do an Upper/Lower split. Started off with Lyle McDonald's Generic Bulking Routine, but I've tweaked and modified it over time to fit what I prefer.

Lower A
Squats: 3x6
Deadlifts: 2x6
DB Lunges: 3x8-12
Calf Raise: 5x15 (optional)

Upper A
Bench: 3x6
Pendlay Rows: 3x6
Seated OHP: 2x6 
Pull-Ups: 2x6
Skull Crushers: 3x8-12 (optional)
Lat Raises: 3x8-12 (optional)

Lower B
Leg Press: 5x8 (replace with squats if I'm working out at home)
Romanian Deadlift: 3x8
Calf Raise: 5x15
Hamstring Curl: 3x12 (optional)
Leg Extension: 4x8-12 (optional)
Abs: 4x15

Upper B
Bench: 4x8
Machine Row: 4x8
Incline Dumbbell Press: 4x8
Pullups: 4x8 
DB Curls: 3x10 (optional)
Shrugs: 4x8-12 (optional)
Rear Delt Flies: 4x8-12 (optional)

If I'm pressed for time I drop the couple iso exercises at the end of each workout, that's what I mean by optional. I try not to, but sometime life is quite busy.

Thanks! I was thinking about doing an upper/lower split mid next year when I am at about 2 years in to resistance training. So what days of the week do you do this? How long are your workouts etc.?

[davisj3537]

It's rather high volume, but there are no major flaws. It is odd that you want a 45 minute workout and cram all this sh*t into your program. A 45 minute workout would have 5 exercises tops. That's not even accounting for warming up and stretching which is essential.



One thing I would caution you about is overhead activities are good for shoulder health. Whether that is some kind of incline push/fly or ohp variant doesn't matter. Doing strictly weighted dips is a recipe for shoulder issues. I'm not talking growth; I couldn't care less about lateral delt isolation. I'm talking about cartilage, tendon and bursa problems. Taking out dips one day and subbing them for something else is all you need to do really.

It takes a long time to reach pathology on something like this, but I sure as hell wouldn't keep doing what you're doing cuz it was fine in the past. Take it from me; I did the same thing and going on my second shoulder surgery early next year.

[Lil Freek]

Subbed for details from Mdenatale. That looks like a solid workout, something I could manage in my short lunch break.

To OP - congrats on the kidlet. As much as physique is important, make sure you get sleep wherever you can find it.

As random exercise around the house, I do bicep curls and overhead presses with my daughter in my hands. They're like little dumbbells that grow with your muscles Mine is up to 35lbs, so you can feel some burn after a while. She now insists on doing push-ups on my back while I'm doing push-ups - talk about a badass workout for your stabilizers, trying to do a pushup while trying to stop your kid from falling on their head and going full derp on ya.

[Mdenatale]

Thanks! I was thinking about doing an upper/lower split mid next year when I am at about 2 years in to resistance training. So what days of the week do you do this? How long are your workouts etc.?

Ideally you do it like this: Lower/Upper/Rest/Lower/Upper/Rest/Rest then repeat. I do it something like Lower A on Monday, Upper A on Tuesday, rest, the Lower B/Upper B on Thursday/Friday. It doesn't always work out that clean with my schedule. I have 2 teenagers that take a lot of time. So long as I complete the cycle of 4 workouts in a week I'm happy. With my home gym I can squeeze in a workout just about any time.

Typically it is about an hour. I try to stick to 1-2 minutes of rest between sets, but a little longer on Lower A. That is my heavy day, so I give myself a little more time to recover between sets. It has fewer exercises though. Upper B can go a little more than an hour, but again if time is short I make sure I get through the core compound exercises. Without the optional exercises the workouts are all under 1 hour, right around 45 minutes.

[ds4545]

ICF = 5x5 and Accessory
My workout = 5x5 and accessory subbing weighted chest dips for benching

I don't have a hyperextension machine, cable crunches are a joke, I don't like any form of bench press due to freakishly long arms. Also Jason Blaha is absolute joke. I Wouldn't want to associate myself with anything connected to him.

I appreciate the response but I don't need another workout plan, just possible tweaking of what I have now.

Not a fan of Blaha either but his plan is proven.

Anyways, why not run Fierce 5 then with dips? Its ju St your insistence on a father friendly routine that's half unnecessary auxiliary exercises is silly. Your plan isn't bad so much as it's poor for what you keep saying you want.

Also if you're going to squat they should be done first every time