M/22/6'4"/~185 lbs/WFPB -- Soliciting feedback on my routine and answers to several questions

leinad4mind

New member
Hi everyone!

Would really appreciate your feedback on my routine. I'm a relative newcomer to the serious lifting world--I've lifted on and off for several years, mostly SL 5x5, sometimes just a few lifts that felt good. I've been following GZCLP seriously since April and have had a lot of fun with it, but still have some lingering questions, and would appreciate your feedback on my routine more generally, if you have some!

My routine w/ most recent weights:

Warmup: some yoga until I feel more limber, 10 min on a treadmill or erg.

A1: T1 squat @ 145x5 (set) x 3 (rep) || T2 Bench @ 75x3x10 || T3 Bulgarian split squat 0x3x15 || T3 Seated leg curls 50x3x15

B1: T1 OHP @ 90x5x3 || T2 Deadlift @ 105x3x10 || T3 Bent Over Row @ 25x3x15 || T3 Hammer Curl @ 10x3x15

A2: T1 Bench @ 130x5x3 || T2 squat @ 125x3x10 || T3 Lat Pulldown 80x3x15 || T3 Lateral Raise 10x3x15

B2: T1 DL @ 155x5x3 || T2 OHP @ 70x3x10 (failed set 2) || T3 Bent Over Row @ 25x3x15 || T3 Back Extension @ 0x3x15

Long(ish) run, 4-5 miles, on Sundays followed by 50 min of yoga.

Diet:

I eat a WFPB diet (vegan, no refined oil, sweetener, white flour) and aim for 2400 cal daily. I typically get just over 100g of protein, about .56 g per lb. I feel like my BF% is sorta high but have no way to test it, so I think .56/lb is fine for me.

I've had a history with binge eating disorder and am extremely conscious of my eating as a result.

Other notes:

Just recently finished undergrad and transitioned from a lifestyle with lots of movement to being stationary for ~7 hours a day, though I try to stand move as much as possible and don't know if I'll be in the same position after the end of September.

Some lifts are way bigger than others because I've done them for a while, and started the others from the bottom. My DLs, for example, feel super light bc I started them recently, as opposed to my bench, which I've been doing for a while. I assume these will even out as I progress.

My goals are primarily to maintain good health and look hot. lmao.

Questions:

1) Should my T3s be the same between A and B workouts? That is, if I do seated leg curls on A1 days, should I necessarily be doing them on A2s or can I switch it up? I've noticed that I've been making progress on my bent over row, which I do on both B days, but haven't made any on my T3s on A days (though I did configure them relatively recently.)

2) 3x15 Bulgarian Split Squats on each side destroy me. My legs and ass feel amazing afterwards though. Normal? Should I decrease volume?

3) I'm anxious that instead of just letting myself fail sets, I'm powering through with improper form to assist myself. Is it normal that I haven't failed any of these (besides T2 OHP last workout) yet at the weights I'm at?

4) Any other feedback on my routine?

Thanks a ton folks. Hope to pay this forward!
 
@leinad4mind Doing 4-6 sets of low reps (anything under 8 reps) really doesn’t lend itself to muscle growth. It’s all about the perfect form, lots of reps and calories in. What are your goals? Get stronger?

If you are failing on sets of 3 that taxing to the nervous system and not a lot of work on the muscles. Don’t be afraid to bench/squat 15 reps. Embrace the burn.
 
@jewelz613 My goals are to maintain my health and look good (so yeah, get stronger.)

Haven't failed any sets of 3 yet. This program is recommended in /r/fitness pretty universally so I'm probably gonna keep running it for a bit. Would you recommend against that?

Thanks for your help.
 
@leinad4mind You’re a big dude and new to lifting you mentioned so I’d recommend following a program, I liked the free bridge from barbell medicine, and I would suggest eating a bit more. If you’re relatively new take advantage and eat. You can cut later and look even better than if you start out cutting and not taking advantage of the good muscle building newb gainz. That was a big mistake I made 🤷‍♂️
 
@dawn16 Ah yeah I'll consider eating some more. Ideally trying to recomp right now, not bulk or cut-- maybe I'll bump up to 2600 or so.

And re: program, I'm running GZCLP!

Thank you very much mate :)
 
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