My Workout and diet... any advise?

[aaries44]

Ok so I found this website at probably the worst time ever- my grad school finals start next week and i'm addicted to this website!!! haha. So to further fuel my procrastination I decided to post my typical workout for any advise/criticisms. A general background- I have always been athletic and in my opinion fit but on the heavier side (think track and field thrower). I competed in high school and collegiate athletics and now that I am in grad school I am just lifting and working out on my own looking for what I'd like to do next. I have considered trying out for a women's football league or potentially training for some sort of competition but until grad school is over I think I will just be sticking to intramural teams, random 5ks and working out for me. As far as numbers... I'm 5'8" and 170lbs. Over the summer I lost around 20lbs and I am looking to drop some more fat without losing muscle mass. According to one of my male friends who lifts heavy- people probably think I'm fat if they don't know I'm strong (it's ok people think he's fat too- even though he's huge). In class we did our BF% and I was higher than I hoped for (almost 30% eeek) so I'd like to work on getting that down. Presently I am trying the South Beach diet (almost done with phase 1) to help me get enough protien and get rid of refined sugars from my diet and then progress back to a more normal/healthy/balanced diet. My biggest issues are stress eating, volume eating and wants sweets. Oh and I also started taking Xenadrine NRG. Basically I try to have less than a minute between sets and if I successfully complete all sets for a lift then the next week I increase my weight. Ok enough talk here's my workout and what I did this week:
Monday- OFF (classes and work all day ick)
Tuesday- Chest/Back/Shoulders
Flat Bench 4x6 (95-105-115-125)
Incline Flyes 3x12 (20-25-30)
Power Cleans4x6 (95-105-110-115[only got 5])
Lat Pulldowns3x12 (60-75-90)
Military Press4x6 (25-30-30-35[only got 3])
Shoulder Internal and External Rotation3x12 (10lbs...)
25 minutes of intense cardio (7-9RPE)(example-running the rocky stairs)
Physioball abs
Wednesday- Bis/Tris/legs
Olympic curls 4x6 (45-55-60-60[ponly got 4])
Curls @ the cable machine 3x12(25-30-25)
Close grip bench 4x6 (70-80-90-100[got 4])
Tri kickbacks3x12 (12.5-15-15)
Squats 10 to warm up 4x6 10 for form (95-135-145-155-165-95)
Leg curls 3x12 (80-95-80)
Leg ab/ad-ductions 3x15 (weight of my legs)
45 minutes of cardio (5-6 RPE) elliptical etc
Thursday-Cardio: warm up, short sprints, 1-2 mile jog
Abs
Friday-Chest/Back/Shoulders
Incline bench 4x6 (85-95-105-110 [got 5])
Decline flyes 3x12 (15-20-20)
DB rows 4x6 (40-45-50-50)
Seated rows 3x12 (70-80-90[got 10])
Push press 4x6 (75-85-95-105)
lat raises 3x12 (8-10-12.5)
25 minutes of cardio- Plyos or stairs
Hanging and decline abs
Saturday-Bis/Tris/legs
Zottman curls 4x6 (15-20-20-25)
Reverse grip curls 3x12 (30-40-50)
Bench Dips 3x4 (my body weight)
French Press 3x12 (25-30-35)
Lunges 4x6 (20-25-30-35)
Leg ext 3x12 (80-90-80)
Calf raises 3x12 (110-120-130 [got 10])
45 minutes cardio (5-7 RPE)
Sunday-Cardio- warmup, longer sprints, 1-2mile jog
Abs

I can't wait to get some feedback-until then I'll be paper writing and studying

[mommykuce]

Monday- OFF (classes and work all day ick)
Tuesday- Chest/Back/Shoulders
Flat Bench 4x6 (95-105-115-125)
Incline Flyes 3x12 (20-25-30)
Power Cleans4x6 (95-105-110-115[only got 5])
Lat Pulldowns3x12 (60-75-90)
Military Press4x6 (25-30-30-35[only got 3])
Shoulder Internal and External Rotation3x12 (10lbs...)
25 minutes of intense cardio (7-9RPE)(example-running the rocky stairs)
Physioball abs
Wednesday- Bis/Tris/legs
Olympic curls 4x6 (45-55-60-60[ponly got 4])
Curls @ the cable machine 3x12(25-30-25)
Close grip bench 4x6 (70-80-90-100[got 4])
Tri kickbacks3x12 (12.5-15-15)
Squats 10 to warm up 4x6 10 for form (95-135-145-155-165-95)
Leg curls 3x12 (80-95-80)
Leg ab/ad-ductions 3x15 (weight of my legs)
45 minutes of cardio (5-6 RPE) elliptical etc
Thursday-Cardio: warm up, short sprints, 1-2 mile jog
Abs
Friday-Chest/Back/Shoulders
Incline bench 4x6 (85-95-105-110 [got 5])
Decline flyes 3x12 (15-20-20)
DB rows 4x6 (40-45-50-50)
Seated rows 3x12 (70-80-90[got 10])
Push press 4x6 (75-85-95-105)
lat raises 3x12 (8-10-12.5)
25 minutes of cardio- Plyos or stairs
Hanging and decline abs
Saturday-Bis/Tris/legs
Zottman curls 4x6 (15-20-20-25)
Reverse grip curls 3x12 (30-40-50)
Bench Dips 3x4 (my body weight)
French Press 3x12 (25-30-35)
Lunges 4x6 (20-25-30-35)
Leg ext 3x12 (80-90-80)
Calf raises 3x12 (110-120-130 [got 10])
45 minutes cardio (5-7 RPE)
Sunday-Cardio- warmup, longer sprints, 1-2mile jog
Abs

I can't wait to get some feedback-until then I'll be paper writing and studying

This site can be a killer when trying to get homework done! I just have a few suggestions for your workouts. Instead of working Chest/Shoulders/Back twice a week, try separating them. Either do the shoulders or back on the separate day. Your back is the opposite muscle groups as shoulders/chest, but it is up to you and depends on how heavy you are working chest and maybe what parts are lacking. The same would go for your other split. You don't need to train the bodyparts twice a week, but the split is good. I never recommend doing cardio after a leg day, cause if you are really working your legs then you aren't giving your legs enough recoup time (besides you might not even be able to walk the next day after a good leg day). If you can do squats, try adding them into the legs as your first leg exercise. They are really one of the best ways to work your entire legs muscles, and there are different kinds of squats so you dont' get bored. Maybe work the muscle group that you separated from your Tues workout on Thurs so you are giving your legs the days rest. Then stick your cardio in the day after that. Don't do any more than 2-3 days of cardio because you will be overtraining.

As for the diet thing, I don't know much about the South Beach Diet so I can't help you there.

[Paichka]

Welcome!

Monday- OFF (classes and work all day ick)
Tuesday- Chest/Back/Shoulders
Flat Bench 4x6 (95-105-115-125)
Incline Flyes 3x12 (20-25-30)
Power Cleans4x6 (95-105-110-115[only got 5])
Lat Pulldowns3x12 (60-75-90)
Military Press4x6 (25-30-30-35[only got 3])
Shoulder Internal and External Rotation3x12 (10lbs...)
25 minutes of intense cardio (7-9RPE)(example-running the rocky stairs)
Physioball abs

I think you could break this up -- I don't recommend doing Chest & Back on the same day -- some people like to as part of a push-pull split, but I think it's more effective (for my body anyway) to break up Chest/Shoulders on one day, and Back on another.

Your cardio looks great! I love the rocky stairs, used to run those for crew whenever our team would go to Philly for Stotesbury or the Independance Day Regatta. Oof! Ever been to DC? Next time you're in my neck of the woods, trying running the Exorcist stairs...ohmigod, we dropped a boat on the dock once and snapped the rudder off...in punishment, my coach had us run the Exorcist stairs FOR AN HOUR AND A HALF. I thought I was going to die.

Wednesday- Bis/Tris/legs
Olympic curls 4x6 (45-55-60-60[ponly got 4])
Curls @ the cable machine 3x12(25-30-25)
Close grip bench 4x6 (70-80-90-100[got 4])
Tri kickbacks3x12 (12.5-15-15)
Squats 10 to warm up 4x6 10 for form (95-135-145-155-165-95)
Leg curls 3x12 (80-95-80)
Leg ab/ad-ductions 3x15 (weight of my legs)
45 minutes of cardio (5-6 RPE) elliptical etc

I second Mommykuce's opinion, don't do cardio after your legs. Your squat numbers are really impressive! I'd drop the isolation exercises like leg curls & ab/ad-ductions -- the ab/ad machines are a waste of time, IMO, and you can hit your hammies doing other things. Here's my leg workout --

Squats
2 x 10 @ light, medium (ATG)
4 x 8-10 @ heavy (90 degrees)
2 x 20 @ medium (slightly below 90 degrees)

Glute Ham Raises
4 x 10-12 @ bodyweight

Plie Squats (These are fantastic for your glutes & your inner thighs)
4 x 8-10 @ heavy

Overhead Lunges
3 x 10 @ heavy

Calf Raises

I don't do anything else on this day, but I think the best muscle group to pair with your legs is your shoulders. Bis & Tris get a great workout on your chest & back days, if you use a lot of compound movements.

I think it's great that you alternate your exercises throughout the week. This is my suggestion:

Chest/Shoulders/Triceps
Back/Biceps
Legs

Or

Chest/Back
Arms
Legs/Shoulders

Or

Chest/Biceps
Back/Triceps
Legs/Shoulders

There's a really old thread (a week maybe?) in the Training section called "Which Split Should I do?" that I started, and Emma-Leigh gives some GREAT examples of training splits to use. Go check that out, if you like.

Your cardio looks great overall -- as for your diet, I did South Beach and I didn't feel like I was getting enough carbohydrates to fuel my workouts -- I was doing a TON of cardio at the time. I think as long as you still have energy and aren't feeling overly depleted, your diet is fine. The only time I would be worried is during Phase I, and you say you're almost done with that. As long as you're getting enough calories (1800 at least) then I think you're good to hook.

Hope I didn't write too much. Good luck with your classes & tests & finals & whatnot!
Sunny

[TheDiz]

WELCOME!!!!!!!!! I didn't really have a chance to look at your routine, I did skim it a little, and now I'm confused as hell (been a long day) I didn't notice at first that you had stuff on sat and sun. I thought everything was mon, tues, weds and fri. My bad. I will take a look at it closer. One thing though is break it up a little more. Good luck!

[aaries44]

Hey everyone thanks so much for your advise! I will definately work on modifying my workout... as soon as I finish this 20 page paper.

As for a workout today.. my basketball team played in a tournament, 3 games and lucky us we had NO subs so I'm a little tired- good thing I take mondays off.

Thanks again!