Post: #26

Looks good. I would do pullups on leg/shoulder day too. Also, mix up the type of pullups you do. Wide grip pullups are great for a wider upper back.

Also, mayber superset pushups with your pullups on chest day. Good to end the workout with a high rep burnout.

Post: #27

I personally don't think that is a great and certainly not an ideal program or training split.

Triceps and biceps? What are you 16? I don't like the chin ups a day after you just did pull ups and lat pull down on the Monday. I think you can devise a far more efficient program than that. An all arm day has never made much sense to me. I mean maybe once in a while if your bored or whatever it shouldn't form one of the 3 core days in your routine.

You will get much faster results with a 4, 5 or even a 6 day split even as a natural. It depends on how long you've been training, capacity to recover and how good you are with your nutrition.

I would strongly suggest a split that involves utilising the muscle groups that work together on particular exercises.

For example back and biceps are utilised primarily in all pulling, rowing and curling movements.

Chest and triceps for pressing, pushing and extension.

Shoulders you can fit with either. I tend to always hit rear delts on back and front delts on chest day. I'll throw lateral raises and other medial deltoid work to either workout depending on how I feel. People tend to vary on which day they hit traps as well. It's mostly just preference because the whole shoulder and neck circuit assist in many movements.

Very basic example 5 day split would be:

Monday - Chest, Triceps, front and medial deltoids
Tuesday - Back, biceps and rear delt.
Wednesday - Legs and ab work
Thursday - Full rest
Friday - repeat Chest day
Saturday - repeat Back day
Sunday - Full rest

I'd explain in depth but I'm on my mobile on the way to the gym.

Hopefully somebody else will further explain to you why there are more efficient ways of going about your goals.

Quick edit: The most important factor is effort. Give it 110 in the gym every single time. Sweat it out and push yourself near your limit. Force your body to adapt and grow.

Post: #28

^^

Yeah that's the standard programme I'd recommend to anyone looking to put on some size; except repeating leg day on day seven and cycling rest days if possible.

Post: #29

Theres plenty of people who get good results working out triceps and chest together and back and biceps together. And other people who get great results with push/pull days (back and chest) and then a seperate day for arms. Both systems have worked. Actually doing it consistently and properly is the bigger issue.

If a full arm day isn't strenious enough, just add some intense abs or cardio. Plenty of people do similar systems to OPs and Blackwells and both can work.

Post: #30

(05-14-2015 09:22 AM)Sensei Creation Wrote:  I started the following program in the gym this morning :

Chest / Back

Bench Press
Cable Rows
Lat Pull Downs
Barbell Rows
Incline Bench Press
Machine Pec Fly
Pull ups

Triceps / Biceps

Barbell Curl
Hammer Curls
Chin ups
Dips
Seated Triceps Press
Kneeling Cable Triceps Extension


Legs / Shoulders

Squats
Narrow Stance Leg Press
Deadlifts
Side Lateral Raise
Seated Dumbbell Press
Overhead Press

Added to that is one of Brandon Lamars Ab workouts .

Why so many different exercises?
And also, as multiple posters already suggested, a push/pull/legs split would be a lot better since there is far less overlap between the different days.

I would suggest something like this:
day 1 push: bench press, overhead press, triceps pressdown
day 2 pull: pull-up, row, curl
day 3 legs: squat, romanian deadlift, calf raise
day 4 rest
day 5 repeat

Post: #31

Sensei, check this thread out /thread-38372.html

It seems like an intelligent and interesting approach. I'd like to apply myself to it.

Post: #32

(05-13-2015 04:37 AM)Sensei Creation Wrote:  

Your body looks a lot like my body.

(05-13-2015 04:37 AM)Sensei Creation Wrote:  I've always had no trouble getting toned muscular legs coming from a soccer background and genetics .

Your legs are good. Obviously, you need to spend more time on your upper body.

(05-13-2015 04:37 AM)Sensei Creation Wrote:  Is there any way to reduce body fat to get at least a four pack whilst growing muscle in the other areas of my body ?

Yes, of course.

To improve your "4 pack":

No carbs, sugar, or fat at night.

Eliminate all useless alcohol, sugar, and carbs from your diet. Eliminate all the artificial flavors, colors, preservatives, low quality fats, low quality calories from your diet.

At night, try to only eat vegetables and very lean protein.

Don't go to bed with a full stomach.

To add muscle:

Eat a lot of protein and lift like a motherfucker!

It's that simple!

Post: #33

The main problem with Stronglifts and Rippetoe for someone who wants to build upper body is that those programs put more focus on the lower body.

If you like the programs overall but are fretting about your upper body progress, do your bench press and press before the squats, and chop the squat frequency down to 1-2 times a week, and add in more upper body work, like weighted pullups and dips. Or just add an accessory exercise to target a specific muscle.

Post: #34

Rippetoe's Starting Strength, based on Bill Starr's "Only the Strongest Shall Survive", is designed for building basic strength in athletes (i.e. Football players, etc.), not aesthetics.

Post: #35

Basil offers some sensible tips here. Moves such as dips are among the elite exercises as far as recruiting pec and tricep involvement, and can be weighted, such as with the bench press. Also, pull-ups and dips prime you to make gains on the overhead press, a critical, but often overlooked movement for the upper body. The Mehdi and Rippetoe routines do address this, but as mentioned, they are indeed a squat-centered platform.

Post: #36

So in light of the general Stalin progress thread , I thought it would be a good idea to document my own gains . I'll be updating it every couple of months just to show my progress .

As you can see from the picture below . My chest is a lot more defined compared to the picture in the original post as are my abs . I was 75 kilos in the OP , now i'm sitting at 81 kilos . My short term goal is to get to 85 . Long term is 90 kilos .



This is my current workout regiment :



Right now my main goals are fixing my weak points and getting to 85 kilos . I figured its easier if I focus on one weak point at a time and just work that muscle group twice a week which is why I have two arm days . My arms look better than they did in the OP from the side, but from the front they haven't grown much at all. I'm hitting them hard and will post progress in a month or two.

The leg work is light , the reason being is that I have naturally huge calves just by walking to work every day so i've ignored legs for quite some time and i'm only just getting back into leg days . I'm keeping it light this month to avoid injury and getting back into the groove of things and will probably add more volume next month .

Post: #37

Good progress - particularly width, shoulders, traps, chest - but to really pack on the mass, you need to cut the cables/machines/isolations and double down on what works. Especially for your arms. Add weight and reps to the core mass builders and you'll progress quicker. Former skinny guy speaking here.

e.g.

Back/Bis:

Weighted chinups (palms facing ) - the best bicep builders
DB Rows
Deadlifts
Barbell Curl
Reverse Barbell curl

NO cables, preachers, pulldowns, etc etc.

Chest/Tris:

Incline Bench
Weighted Dips
Close Grip Bench
Overhead Dumbbell Tricep Extensions

Shoulders/Legs:

Overhead press (standing, seated, DB or BB - but no machines!)
-Lateral raises
-Rear lateral raises
-Squats.


That's all. Keep the focus on adding weight and reps to these core mass builders. You'll grow faster than messing around with all those cables/machines/etc.

Optional:
-Behind-the-back wrist curls for extra forearm growth.

Post: #38

Thanks for your input Richie , I've taken the liberty of bolding the excercies that you suggested that are already in my current workout .

Weighted chin ups is an excellent shout , as is barbell curls . Switching to barbell overhead press rather than a machine is also a good suggestion . Cheers .

I could easily add those to my workouts .

However a couple questions : You believe that weighted dips are a superior low chest mass builder to the straight bench ?

I'm not too sure on the deadlift , I just can't get the form right and I'm abit nervous about doing something to my back . Not worth the risk in my opinion .

(08-29-2016 07:16 AM)RichieP Wrote:  Back/Bis:

Weighted chinups (palms facing ) - the best bicep builders
DB Rows
Deadlifts
Barbell Curl
Reverse Barbell curl

NO cables, preachers, pulldowns, etc etc.

Chest/Tris:

Incline Bench
Weighted Dips
Close Grip Bench
Overhead Dumbbell Tricep Extensions

Shoulders/Legs:

Overhead press (standing, seated, DB or BB - but no machines!)
-Lateral raises
-Rear lateral raises
-Squats.

Post: #39

Cool mate glad you like.

Up to you re: dips/bench. Do what you enjoy, both are solid honestly.

For deadlifts - not absolutely necessary for a mass program, but they do thicken up that lower back and traps. It's OK to leave them out since you'll be working hard on squats and rows/chins.

However deadlift form should be straightforward and pleasant, unless you have an injury. Done with correct form and straight spine, you will be fine as long as you dont push too hard and go for max efforts.

Sure you're doing them right? Form is here (courtesy of Rip):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4AObAU-EcYE

Post: #40

Sprints.