8 months bulking, seeking for feedback to my current workout program

[pastordavid7398]

Hello! I (27m) has been working out for about 8 months after being sedendary for quite a few years. Below are my current stats:

H: 173m

W: 78kg/171lb

Bf: 25.8%

Muscle percentage 33%

I have maintained my body fat at the same value since I started, however, my muscle percentage went from 27% to 33% which I consider good progress, however, I came here for feedback mainly because despite the research that I have done, I believe that there are many things that I could improve in my workout program, any help is appreciated.

My current goal is to reach a muscle percentage of 40%, and then to start cutting in order to decrease bf% to something like 15%.

Below is my current program:

Day 1: Back/Biceps

Seated cabke row - bar wide grip 4x10/12 reps at 100lbs currently.

Lat pulldown 4x8/10 reps at 90lbs

Seated cable row - v grip 4x12/10/8 at 100lbs

Bicep curl with barbell - 4x8 40lbs

EZ bar bicep curl - 4x 8 50lbs

Preacher curl with barbell 4x 10 40lbs

Day 2: Chest/Triceps

Chest fly 4x 10 140lbs

Incline bench press with dumbells - 4x 12 30lbs each dumbell

Bench press barbell - 4x 12/10/8 100lbs

Cable fly crossovers - 4x12 65lbs

Skullcrusher barbell 4x 12/10/8 30lbs

Skullcrusher dumbell 4x 12/10/8 20 lbs each dumbell

Day 3: Legs

Leg extension 4x12 170lbs

Hip abduction 4x10 120lbsd

Calf raise machine - 4x10 160lbs

Seated calf raise 4x12 90lbs

Hip thrust machine - 4x 10 70lb

Seated leg curl machine 4x 10 120lbs

Day 4: Abs/shoulders

Leg raise parallel bars 4x 12

Superman - 4x 1min

Crunch machine 4x18 120lbs

Shoulder press 4x8 30lbs

Abs elevations with ball 4x 15

In addition to above:

I eat at a 200-300 calorie surpluss.

I take creatine, 5g daily.

15 mins of cardio per training day.

Only train 4 times a week.

 

[dinafrancis]

@pastordavid7398 I would pick a proven routine from the r/fitness wiki, there are plenty of 4 day options.

I would also say increase your cardio, 15 minutes is basically nothing. You can do cardio on your off days as well. Hell, just go for more walks around your neighborhood.

Also, ignore everything from your scale except weight. It's inaccurate and inconsistent. At your size and length of time you've been training, you are due for a cut now imo. There's basically no way your bodyfat % hasn't increased in this time. You WILL gain fat during a bulk.

 

[pastordavid7398]

@dinafrancis Will look into that, thank you!

 

[johnsonboy]

@pastordavid7398 The biggest flaw I can see is that you are only working each muscle group once per week.

Almost all established programs (full body, upper/lower, and push/pull/legs) will hit each muscle group twice per week or more for a reason. Unless your absolutely crushing a muscle with multiple sets to failure in a variety of weights and rep ranges, you should be able to recover in time to work them out twice a week, which means twice the time under tension and twice the stimulus to grow.

 

[pastordavid7398]

@johnsonboy Thank you for the advice, if I can only go to the gym 4 times a week for about 1.5 hours do you still consider I should balance my current plan more towards training each muscle twice a week ? Like for example reducing the number of series for back on day 1 to then have time to do back again on day 3 ?

 

[johnsonboy]

@pastordavid7398 I'd run an upper/lower split.

Something like:

Workout 1: Flat Barball Bench, Incline Dumbell Bench, Lat Pulldown, Cable Rows, Shrugs, Shoulder Press and finish with some form of Bicep Curl and Tricep Extension. (I generally alternate chest and back exercises so one can rest while the other is working)

Workout 2: Barbell Squat, Romanian Deadlift, Walking Lunges, Leg Extensions, Hamstring Curls, Calf Raises.

Rest a day, repeat the workouts, rest 2 days, and that's your week.

You can add core work at the end of a leg day, or on an off day. Off days are good for cardio too, but I have been known to almost drop cardio completely when bulking.

That's a general guideline. You can find tons of detailed programs from people smarter than me. Pick one that looks good and try it out for a month and go from there.

 

[pastordavid7398]

@johnsonboy Thank you, this helps. Will also look into the existing programs

 

[anonymous18]

@pastordavid7398 ”Only” four times per week with 1,5 hours to spare each time? That is very generous. I can usually squeeze in 3 workouts per week, with 30-45 mins each. Personally I feel like any workout should be done within an hour

 

[cloe33fbcdavis]

@pastordavid7398 Keep up the good work. Everyone’s advice is good and valid but also keep in mind many people made huge gains hitting each body part once a week on a typical 5-6 day bro split. Consistency is king and do whatever fits your schedule and keeps you lifting. Don’t fall into the over analyzing/optimal trap.

 

[pastordavid7398]

@cloe33fbcdavis Thank you, so far I have only made gains but indeed I was afraid I would get stuck if not doing things properly. Will also look into those other existing programs