Critique my routine

[lostsoulz12]

Hi, 34M here looking to get some feedback on my routine please. I'm 6'2" and 210lbs. Goals are primarily hypertrophy and also strength gain. Also looking to lose a bit of belly fat which I'm managing through diet. I've opted for a 3x a week full-body program (usually Monday, Wednesday, Friday). With each day I do a particular exercise, I increase the number of reps till I can achieve the max in the rep range for all sets, then I increase the weight and start at the lower rep range.

Workout 1

• Dumbbell bench press: 3 sets x 6-8 reps
• Barbell squat: 3 sets x 6-8 reps
• Dumbbell bent-over row: 3 sets x 6-8 reps
• Dumbbell lateral raise: 3 sets x 10-12 reps
• Superset - Cable bent-over tricep extension: 3 sets x 10-12 reps
• Superset - Dumbbell curl: 3 sets x 10-12 reps

Workout 2

• Dumbbell incline bench press: 3 sets x 6-8 reps
• Barbell deadlift: 3 sets x 6-8 reps
• Cable lat pulldown: 3 sets x 8-10 reps
• Dumbbell shoulder press: 3 sets x 6-8 reps
• Superset - Cable tricep pushdown: 3 sets x 10-12 reps
• Superset - Dumbbell hammer curl: 3 sets x 10-12 reps

Workout 3

• Dumbbell fly: 3 sets x 10-12 reps
• Dumbbell lunge: 3 sets x 10-12 reps
• Dumbbell shrug: 3 sets x 10-12 reps
• Superset - Cable bent-over tricep extension: 3 sets x 10-12 reps
• Superset - Dumbbell concentration curl: 3 sets x 10-12 reps
• Front plank

Would love to get feedback on the exercises themselves, the programming, order in which I'm doing everything, sets / rep ranges, etc. Thanks!

 

[jadedjumpman]

@lostsoulz12 It’s probably fine, maybe add some more volume overall, especially for core. 10+ sets per body part per week is a good rule of thumb. I agree with the other person, though, just find a beginner program online and stick with it.

 

[sumeria]

@lostsoulz12 I think at this point a simple full body strength routine where you increase the weight on every session will work much better than this. You're underweight so focus on gaining weight first, add weight to the bar, and the lose the excess fat when it becomes a problem. Like you said, that's a matter of diet manipulation.

p.s.: I've sent you a pm

 

[lostsoulz12]

@sumeria Thanks. Curious about the underweight comment, as that's news to me (I thought I was actually on the heavier side of things for my height, if anything). What do you think I should be shooting for?

 

[amn]

@lostsoulz12 You are not underweight.

 

[dawn16]

@amn Certainly not underweight more probable 10-30lbs over weight. No one is 6'2 240 with abs without drugs or a full time job lifting.

 

[sumeria]

@lostsoulz12 At 6'2" you can be 240 with abs if you're strong. Hypertrophy is the upshot of strength

 

[rsm777]

@lostsoulz12 if you add 3 more sets of the big coumpound lifts that you do for 3-5 reps (dl, squat, bench), you'd be doing pretty good. check out thefitness.wiki if you havent already

 

[amn]

@lostsoulz12 I think it's pretty reasonable.

You've put your chest work as a priority on all days. I don't hate this, just pointing it out as a distinct choice.

As you progress, you may want to try to work in some nordic curls or machine hamstring curls on a day you're not deadlifting.

A thought about progression. 6-8 rep range for dumbbell presses, seems tricky to me. The weight jumps could be too big to make these practical, but this somewhat depends on how strong you are. I would maybe suggest a higher rep range for these, 8-12. Using a barbell variation would make the lower rep ranges more accessible.

Your progression mechanics are probably fine. But I will offer you a different approach which you might like in some contexts. Just set an RIR (RPE) target for all sets, and when you can exceed the rep range for the first set, you should increase the weight.

e.g. Barbell Squat 3x6-8 at 2 reps in reserve (RIR). So if you on your first set you reach 8 reps, and it's not yet 2 RIR, you do another rep. And on your second set you add a little bit of weight. As you get more experienced, you can use your warm-ups to predict whether or not you should try more or less weight on your first set. But that's not super important to worry about that.

If you expect the reps will drop below the rep range for set 2 or set 3 (while maintaining the RIR / RPE), then you can either stick with the same weight, or reduce it. As long as you're getting 5 reps in a given set you're probably getting about the same benefit. If you think you'll get fewer than 5 reps, you probably want to reduce the weight.

Using this kind of auto-regulation for weight selections works well for a lot of people. It manages your subjective relative effort for each workout, so they are roughly the same week to week. And it lets you calibrate your weight selections to your performance potential on the day. If you wait until you get 8 reps on 3 sets of squats in a row, that means that you have to wait until the next week to increase the weight on squats. But your performance next week could go down! (What do you do then?!?) It also means the workout where you perform 8,8,8 on squats is also the easiest relative effort you'll experience, the first set was probably pretty manageable, and the sets got harder, but you didn't have to stop before 8 reps. The weeks where you have to stop the squat set short of 8 reps, mean in theory you went to failure, or as close to failure as you're willing to go, on every set.

 

[lostsoulz12]

@amn Appreciate the detailed response!

I tried to start with the bigger compound exercises on each day, but wasn't specifically trying to prioritize chest. Saves me a bit of time because while I'm in between sets of dumbbell presses, for example, I can start setting up the barbell and rack for squats or deadlifts or whatever (it's an apartment building gym with very few people around, so I don't need to worry about hogging equipment).

I made a few modifications based on feedback from another thread, where people pointed out that my Day 3 was less intense than the other two workouts and lacked some of the bigger push / pull exercises.

• Added machine rows to Day 1
• Moved bent over rows from Day 1 to Day 3
• Replaced flys on Day 3 with machine chest press (I could also do barbell bench press instead...that might be a better choice)
• Replaced lunges on Day 3 with leg press

I'll try increasing the rep ranges for the dumbbell presses to 8-12. I'll also give some thought to the RIR / RPE approach you mentioned and give it a try - it makes a lot of sense. In the past, I enjoyed programs where the final set was AMRAP, and if you exceeded a certain number of reps on that set, you would then up the weight. Seemed like a good approach to getting both strength and volume.

 

[jayaprakash]

@lostsoulz12 Are you staying in those same rep ranges all the time?

What you can try is phasing different rep ranges, low reps 3-5 range for a few weeks, hypertrophy 8-12 for a few weeks, then high reps 15-20 for a few weeks and see how your body responds

 

[lostsoulz12]

@jayaprakash Yeah, I'm staying in those rep ranges (either increasing reps or increasing weight every workout to continue progression). I like the idea of mixing it up after some time though, thanks.

 

[bluesh1ft]

@lostsoulz12 Gonna need some shirtless pics to do a full critique here I think.

 

[lostsoulz12]

@bluesh1ft Oh you...