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Hey Lance,

Long time no see. I've been lifting and recently was thinking of a new way to do a workout routine. I used to follow the Chest/Tris, Back/Bis, Shoulders, and Legs 4 day split, but the downside is each muscle is only getting trained 1x per week. So I was thinking of a split that would hit a muscle group each day primarily, but also factor in some assistance work at the end for another muscle group.

For example, a 4-day split would look something like:
Day 1: Chest/Tris Major - Shoulders Minor
Day 2: Back/Bis Major - Legs Minor
Day 3: Plyos/Rest
Day 4: Shoulders Major - Chest/Tris Minor
Day 5: Legs Major - Back/Bis Minor
Day 6: Rest
Day 7: Plyos/Rest

The first workout would be like this:
Bench Press - 10 rep rest pause method (only 1 set)
DB Press - 4 x 6
Cable Fly - 3 x 12
Weighted Dips - 2 x 10
DB Shoulder Press - 3 sets rest paused
DB Front Raises - 3 sets rest paused

Basically I just add rest pause to the sets that are assistance work, for quicker timing as well as higher intensity overall. As for strength level, right now I'm at 140 x 10 on bench press, doing 57.5 x 5 for DB shoulder press, haven't squatted as much recently so down to about 185 x 10 on squat. Weights at 142lb, looking to hit 150-155 by end of August.

Thanks in advance, appreciate it man

Ayy Lance! Vegetable domination sounds nice haha.

I've been busy, when the site started slowing down I started having more and more stuff with football and other work, but now that Im almost done with school, starting to have nothing to do but think about working out  .

My main goal is kinda strange maybe, I partly want to look good in terms of overall build (need to gain ~10 lb this summer), and partly just can't resist the thought of walking into a room and knowing that if needed I could absolutely rip apart every damn person in that room in any form of physical exercise lol. So that's where the plyo's/speed training stuff comes in. Guess that's a combo of strength/athleticism with gains in hypertrophy kinda coming naturally?

As a sidenote, I'm off to the University of Maryland - College Park, trying to double major in Comp Sci and Kinesiology. The Kines part was all a result of guys like you and Mr. Darqui haha (not gonna mention the Vertfreak forums lol), literally made me develop a passion for this stuff, so big thanks for that. The Kines program is #2 in the nation, and Comp Sci #14 so its gonna be a good tough 4 years ahead, hopefully with lots of lifting and sports mixed in.

Hm, how does this look?

Upper A:
Seated DB OHP - 3 sets RP
Controlled Lat Pull w/ Pause - 3 sets RP
Weighted Dips - 3 sets RP
EZ Bar Bicep Curls - 3 sets RP

Upper B:
Bench Press - 10 rep RP
Controlled DB Row - 3 sets RP
Upright Row - 3 sets RP
DB Lateral Raise - 3 sets RP

Lower A:
Hang Clean - 3 x 4
Squats - 45 sec RP (R.I.P. Legs lmao)
Leg Curls - 3 x 12
Lunges - 2 x 8
Calf Raises - 3 x failure

Lower B:
Hang Clean - 3 x 4
Deadlift - 3 x 8
Box Squat - 45 sec RP
Leg Curls - 3 x 12
Calf Raises - 3x failure

---
Some Notes:
- Basically saying f*ck defined sets and reps, almost all of my exercises are gonna be rest-pause again. That helped enormously before and I don't know why I stopped in the first place. Is that okay or should I change it up a lil more?

- The Upper A & B workouts are pretty basic, which I assume isn't all that bad, but if you can think of any other exercise to add to them, please tell me. Same with the Lower B.

- I used to always perform RDL's and Hang Cleans, but while in school playing football, I had to follow the coach's routine, which had us normally deadlifting and cleaning. Should I revert or go ahead as usual?

- The reason I'm not doing push press / military and instead using seated OHP is because of issues with my back overarching and hurting a little. I've tried keeping my core tight, etc, but still have had the pain occur.

- Another question that came into my mind...on exercises like Lat Pull/DB Row, I often feel like I'm somewhat cheating. At times, I'm just barely letting the bar travel under chin  (if at all) before the weight carries it up or just barely getting the DB to my chest - no control is present. I think I should lower the weight slightly and focus on controlled movements, maybe add a quick pause before the eccentric motion. Is that a good idea? I'm going to try to still keep some reflexive motion and speed in the exercise.

Hm, how does this look?

Upper A:
Seated DB OHP - 3 sets RP
Controlled Lat Pull w/ Pause - 3 sets RP
Weighted Dips - 3 sets RP
EZ Bar Bicep Curls - 3 sets RP

Upper B:
Bench Press - 10 rep RP
Controlled DB Row - 3 sets RP
Upright Row - 3 sets RP
DB Lateral Raise - 3 sets RP

Lower A:
Hang Clean - 3 x 4
Squats - 45 sec RP (R.I.P. Legs lmao)
Leg Curls - 3 x 12
Lunges - 2 x 8
Calf Raises - 3 x failure

Lower B:
Hang Clean - 3 x 4
Deadlift - 3 x 8
Box Squat - 45 sec RP
Leg Curls - 3 x 12
Calf Raises - 3x failure

---
Some Notes:
- Basically saying f*ck defined sets and reps, almost all of my exercises are gonna be rest-pause again. That helped enormously before and I don't know why I stopped in the first place. Is that okay or should I change it up a lil more?

- The Upper A & B workouts are pretty basic, which I assume isn't all that bad, but if you can think of any other exercise to add to them, please tell me. Same with the Lower B.

- I used to always perform RDL's and Hang Cleans, but while in school playing football, I had to follow the coach's routine, which had us normally deadlifting and cleaning. Should I revert or go ahead as usual?

- The reason I'm not doing push press / military and instead using seated OHP is because of issues with my back overarching and hurting a little. I've tried keeping my core tight, etc, but still have had the pain occur.

- Another question that came into my mind...on exercises like Lat Pull/DB Row, I often feel like I'm somewhat cheating. At times, I'm just barely letting the bar travel under chin  (if at all) before the weight carries it up or just barely getting the DB to my chest - no control is present. I think I should lower the weight slightly and focus on controlled movements, maybe add a quick pause before the eccentric motion. Is that a good idea? I'm going to try to still keep some reflexive motion and speed in the exercise.

Rest pause is great and you know how to use it right so that should work well for you, main thing is constant progression, smash your last workout rep PR's over and over and youll always do well.

I would take out upright rows and put in rack chins or recline rows.  Use rear delt flys if you want more delt work.

deadlift or rdl is fine, deads take a little more out of you recovery wise so account for that. 

Always control the eccentric, powerful concentric.  If you cant feel the  target muscle doing the work, its probably not working optimally.

Awesome, thanks a ton. So other then the Incline Row part, everything looks good as is? For the Upper A/B, should I add one more exercise to each? With rest pause, the time will go by pretty quick, and I wouldn't mind adding an exercise to each (not trying to fluff up the routine though, just more work).


And for the Recline Row...

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fP7YDtQu7Ag" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fP7YDtQu7Ag</a>

Is that a correct demonstration? How do you progress on this exercise, just add weight on your stomach/crotch? Is the seated row grip a better idea or the bent row grip?

 Dont add exercises until youve gone at it a while.  If you add volume NOW, what are you going to do when you NEED to add volume to progress?  Yea that row is fine, you can add weight holding a plate on chest, or simply elevating feet higher.  Once you can do a 45 pound plate for 15 reps on the first set, with feet elevated, start single arm recline rows.

yep.

?

Quote from: LanceSTS on May 29, 2013, 02:13:44 pm

 Dont add exercises until youve gone at it a while.  If you add volume NOW, what are you going to do when you NEED to add volume to progress?  Yea that row is fine, you can add weight holding a plate on chest, or simply elevating feet higher.  Once you can do a 45 pound plate for 15 reps on the first set, with feet elevated, start single arm recline rows.

[cough]entropy[cough cough]

I was trying for a while to understand how physics and disorder had to do with anything, then I read the thread. Gotcha.

Plus, after the first two workouts (especially legs)... the low rest time is enough to wreck my body lol, no need for extra.