Is my upper body workout efficient?

[anonymous4732]

I’m a beginner lifter and am wanting some advice on my upper body workout I am currently doing three days a week. I would appreciate it if someone would tell me if I shouldn’t be doing some of these exercises or if I should be doing more of what I’m doing.

Row Machine 3x10 (I do two different rowing machines 3x10 on each)

Pull-ups 3x until failure

BB Bench Press 3x6 (switch between close grip and a wider grip)

Incline DB Press 3x8

Db curls 3x6-8

Rope Tricep Pulldown 3x10

Face Pulls 3x8

Leg Raises 3x until failure for core strength

Like I said I’m a beginner and would appreciate any advice or recommendations. Thanks.

[PurmaBulker1984]

No. Find a real program and work your legs.

[LactoseTolerant]

"Efficient"

[paulinkansas]

This is my own speculation, but 60% of your lifting should be with your upper body; the other 40% should be with your lower body. Others may disagree, please chime in. Leg raises aren't really that great as squats or leg presses or deadlifts.

To end this post on a quick note, I suggest you follow the All Pro program. It's sort of what I'm doing and I don't have my posts or much rep.

[anonymous4732]

I do legs twice a week. Squat and all. I was asking if this upper body workout is good enough for my upper body. I’m talking about hanging leg raises for the core. I know they don’t work the legs at all. Was just trying to get feedback on if this is a good upper body workout.

[anonymous4732]

I know this doesn’t work the legs. If you read my post it says upper body workout. I do legs twice a week.

[LactoseTolerant]

I do legs twice a week. Squat and all. I was asking if this upper body workout is good enough for my upper body. I’m talking about hanging leg raises for the core. I know they don’t work the legs at all. Was just trying to get feedback on if this is a good upper body workout.

You'd be amazed at how many people come here with their lower body absolutely dialed in but are unsure whether they hit their upper body from every possible angle.

[backinthegymbro]

Where's the military press for shoulders?

I also think you would benefit from more volume per muscle group. Like also doing lateral raises for shoulders.
And dumbbell flyes for chest.

I would recommend a split myself, but other people prefer push/pull/legs routines.

A split would look more like: monday - chest and back.
barbell bench, incline bench, db flyes.
wide grip pull ups, pendlay rows, lat pull downs, seated cable rows.

then for tuesday: shoulders and arms.
military press. dumbbell lateral raises. rear delt raises.
barbell curls superset with tricep cable push down.
seated incline curls superset with dumbbell tricep extensions.
concentration curls superset with skull crushers.

You'll have a great upper body work out if you do this.

[n64bomb]

Not good for a beginner. Follow a novice program. You don't know enough to make your own program.

[grubman]

I also think you would benefit from more volume per muscle group.

I think you misread his post...he’s doing this 3 times a week. His volume should actually be about HALF of what he’s doing for proper recovery.

[backinthegymbro]

I think you misread his post...he’s doing this 3 times a week. His volume should actually be about HALF of what he’s doing for proper recovery.

The body recovers fine on a split since you don't train the same muscles twice on consecutive days in a row. If you start with chest on monday, then your chest will be recovered by thursday.

[grubman]

The body recovers fine on a split since you don't train the same muscles twice on consecutive days in a row. If you start with chest on monday, then your chest will be recovered by thursday.

I still think you are misreading...he’s hitting upper body (basically) every other day...I assume Monday, Wednesday, and Friday with legs on Tuesday and Thursday.

If he isn’t doing junk sets, and hitting his exercises with enough intensity to promote growth, 3 sets is enough...6 sets is (most likely) too much at his level, and recommending more is just ridiculous and poor advice (especially when working out 5 consecutive days...despite upper/lower).

[backinthegymbro]

I still think you are misreading...he’s hitting upper body (basically) every other day...I assume Monday, Wednesday, and Friday with legs on Tuesday and Thursday.

If you do chest and back on monday.
Legs tuesday.
Shoulders and arms on wednesday.
Legs on thursday
Chest and back again on friday.

Then you basically have 4 days for your chest to recover before you train it again.
And the shoulders will have 2 days to recover (that partially get used on chest day) before you hit them.
He will have zero problems in terms of recovery.

And even as a beginner, you should try to go with a lot of volume on top of the compound exercises.
So you hit the muscle from all angles.

If he's hitting his exercises with enough intensity to promote growth, 3 sets is enough...6 sets is (most likely) too much at his level, and recommending more is just ridiculous and poor advice

6 sets divided over 2 opposite muscle groups is actually not much at all. Since this is a split, on chest and back day for example, you only have 3 exercises for chest. Which is not a lot.
Then when the chest is exhausted, you do 3 exercises for back.
Since back consists of pulling exercises, your muscles will still be fresh and not be fatigued from the chest routine which consist of pushing exercises.
It's not too much at all because you're saving energy by grouping those specific muscle groups.

Sure the absolute beginner will struggle with completing every exercise and they don't have to. Do 4 exercises instead of 6.
But after 3 weeks of training, you'll be able to handle this much volume.
This is how i started out and my body adapted in a great way, gaining more muscle and growth in 3 months than a lot of people in my gym who have been training for years.

Despite the volume, it's a lot less taxing than a Push/Pull/Leg routine for example, where they want to combine bench press, incline press and shoulder overhead press all on the same day.
Which not only puts a lot of stress on your shoulders, but your shoulders muscles will actually suffer since you'll have used up most of your strength on bench press (if you do them in that order).

In the end, OP is free to decide what routine he wants to pick.
I can only speak from personal experience and this routine does come from the Arnold Schwarzenegger Encyclopedia, so it's not some bs i just put together.
But any routine with compound exercises will help him gain muscle if he stays consistent, i just want him to get the maximum results possible.

[grubman]

If you do chest and back on monday.
Legs tuesday.
Shoulders and arms on wednesday.
Legs on thursday
Chest and back again on friday.

Then you basically have 4 days for your chest to recover before you train it again.
And the shoulders will have 2 days to recover (that partially get used on chest day) before you hit them.
He will have zero problems in terms of recovery.

And even as a beginner, you should try to go with a lot of volume on top of the compound exercises.
So you hit the muscle from all angles.




Since this is a split, on chest and back day for example, you only have 3 exercises for chest. Which is not a lot.
Then when the chest is exhausted, you do 3 exercises for back.
Since back consists of pulling exercises, your muscles will still be fresh and not be fatigued from the chest routine.
It's not too much at all because you're saving energy by grouping those specific muscle groups.

Sure the absolute beginner will struggle with completing every exercise and they don't have to. Do 4 exercises instead of 6.
But after 3 weeks of training, you'll be able to handle this much volume.
This is how i started out and my body adapted in a great way, gaining more muscle and growth in 3 months than a lot of people in my gym who have been training for years.

Despite the volume, it's a lot less taxing than a Push/Pull/Leg routine for example, where they want to combine bench press, incline press and shoulder overhead press all on the same day.
Which not only puts a lot of stress on your shoulders, but your shoulders muscles will actually suffer since you'll have used up most of your strength on bench press (if you do them in that order).

In the end, OP is free to decide what routine he wants to pick.
I can only speak from personal experience and this routine does come from the Arnold Schwarzenegger Encyclopedia, so it's not some bs i just put together.
But any routine with compound exercises will help him gain muscle if he stays consistent, i just want him to get the maximum results possible.

I give up...you can obviously write a lot, but have problems reading, even though I politely pointed you back to the OP 2 times.

EDIT: and PLEASE don’t try to school me...there is absolutely NOTHING you know that I don’t.

[backinthegymbro]

I give up...you can obviously write a lot, but have problems reading, even though I politely pointed you back to the OP 2 times.

EDIT: and PLEASE don’t try to school me...there is absolutely NOTHING you know that I don’t.

Well all i see from your post is saying how 6 sets is ''too much volume'', when it's actually not much if split on 2 opposite muscle groups, hence my reply to you to explain that reasoning.
And i'm not here trying to ''school you''. I'm explaining the theory behind the split, why these muscle groups get put together, and what the downsides are of a regular PPL routine.

Maybe you're already aware of all this, but i'm sure OP as a beginning lifter is not. So i wrote it so he can learn more about it.
No need to take this personal. I'm here to help OP, not to discredit you.

[n64bomb]

The body recovers fine on a split since you don't train the same muscles twice on consecutive days in a row. If you start with chest on monday, then your chest will be recovered by thursday.



It's actually Arnold Schwarzenegger's program, but thanks for making that dumb assumption like you know me.

I was talking to OP, not you. I didn't reply to you. Thus, one should assume I'm talking to the original poster. Wait, who is the one making a false assumption? Also, the context of my comment makes it 100% clear I was talking to the OP.

[backinthegymbro]

I was talking to OP, not you. I didn't reply to you. Thus, one should assume I'm talking to the original poster. Wait, who is the one making a false assumption?

My bad, since your reply was directly under mine where i did post a program, i figured it was directed towards me. Misunderstanding.

Will rep you on the r/c.

[Ghawk21]

Well all i see from your post is saying how 6 sets is ''too much volume'', when it's actually not much if split on 2 opposite muscle groups, hence my reply to you to explain that reasoning.
And i'm not here trying to ''school you''. I'm explaining the theory behind the split, why these muscle groups get put together, and what the downsides are of a regular PPL routine.

Maybe you're already aware of all this, but i'm sure OP as a beginning lifter is not. So i wrote it so he can learn more about it.
No need to take this personal. I'm here to help OP, not to discredit you.

OP isn't doing a PPL or Bro split though, hes running and Upper/LowerX3. So it isn't, for example, 6 chest sets is too much but hes doing it 3x/week so thats actually 18 sets which is far more than a beginner needs.
OP, if you like the Upper/Lower split, try checking out some of the ones in the stickies in the workout programs forum and run one. Better off as a 4 day and you can bump it up to a 6 day if you really want to somewhere way down the line when you actually need a bunch more volume.

[Squid24]

OP isn't doing a PPL or Bro split though, hes running and Upper/LowerX3. So it isn't, for example, 6 chest sets is too much but hes doing it 3x/week so thats actually 18 sets which is far more than a beginner needs.
OP, if you like the Upper/Lower split, try checking out some of the ones in the stickies in the workout programs forum and run one. Better off as a 4 day and you can bump it up to a 6 day if you really want to somewhere way down the line when you actually need a bunch more volume.

We shall see if he reads what you wrote, or assume you meant something else...like he did when grubman was trying to explain it.

Got to read the whole OP before giving advice...right? Right!

[backinthegymbro]

OP isn't doing a PPL or Bro split though, hes running and Upper/LowerX3. So it isn't, for example, 6 chest sets is too much but hes doing it 3x/week so thats actually 18 sets which is far more than a beginner needs.
OP, if you like the Upper/Lower split, try checking out some of the ones in the stickies in the workout programs forum and run one. Better off as a 4 day and you can bump it up to a 6 day if you really want to somewhere way down the line when you actually need a bunch more volume.

True, but i just gave him my routine in case he wanted to try it. And then i don't think 6 sets divided on chest and back would be too much.
However if he's set on upper/lower split, then i agree with you. It shouldn't be too hard for him to find a known working routine.

[jthomasofficial]

Stick to key lifts, you have too many accessories. 3 sets of pullups is not enough, I would focus on the 4+ set range. 3 sets is also not enough volume, 4 sets is the bare minimum I use for my programs.
Get stronger and increase your volume on these exercises: Pullup, squat, bench, and overhead press.

[jademonkey]

You two are definitely talking past each other cuz I fully agree with both of you.

BITGB: 6 sets if split up differently is fine.

grubman: 6 sets of bench press 3 days a week as a beginner may be too much.

BITGB: Do flys and side raises and military press

grubman: no he shouldn't do more he should do less

BITGB: not saying do more total, saying do more at once but split it up over the week

Me: at the very least, trade the incline press for an overhead press. Try it for a while. If you want to split it up, or add sets, or run out of time, you can add sets and not spend all that time switching exercises. You can still do full upper, of split it.

Full upper split might be:
Workout A:
Bench 5 sets
Row 5 sets
Rear delt flys 3 sets
superset side raises and curls

Workout B:
Pull ups/pull downs 5 sets
Overhead press 5 sets
Chest flys 3 sets
superset face pulls and triceps

Split might be:
Workout A:
Bench press 5 sets
Overhead press 5 sets
Chest flys
superset side raises and triceps

Workout B:
Pull ups 5 sets
Rows 5 sets
Superset rear delts and biceps
Superset Y raise and external rotations (I do this to combat forward rolling shoulders)