Trying to build a routine and looking for feedback!

[spanda10]

Here are two workouts I’ve kind of put together, would love anything anybody has to add. I’m trying to look for a full body, 3 day week schedule. Haven’t put together the third day yet but figured I’d stop and ask!

I haven’t worked out in a very long time and don’t want to just walk in with no plan- I’ll end up just milling around.

• I am trying to do things that are varicose veins friendly if that means anything!

1:

Barbell Bench Press
8x3 lb tbd

Barbell Hip Thrusts
8x3 lb tbd

Glute Bridges
8x3

Front Squat Lunges
6-15 reps sets/lb tbd

Parallel Dips
6-15 reps sets tbd

Elliptical or Cycle

2:

Bent Over Barbell Rows
8x3 lbs tbd

Barbell Deadlifts
8x3 lbs tbd

Lunges
8x3 lbs tbd

Seated Row
6-15 reps sets/lbs tbd

Good Mornings
6-15 reps sets/lbs tbd

Elliptical or Cycle

 

[unikue]

@spanda10 Full body three days a week is my shtick lol. It's cool to see someone wanting to try it out. It looks pretty random honestly. Very interesting choice of exercise selection. No direct arm work, no machine work for that matter. Do you only have access to barbells and dumbbells?

 

[spanda10]

@unikue I can be a little finicky when I comes to sticking to my routine sometimes- I would feel better getting a full body every time rather than running behind schedule lol.

I have access to equipment. I didn’t know anything about compound exercises and full body vs splint until a couple weeks ago, so I’m trying to work through it step by step.

I actually was worried about that! I chose these specifically because there’s an upper and 2 lower compound exercises, with an upper and lower assistance (accessory?) and then cardio. But while I was typing this up I was worried that I still wasn’t hitting all the muscles I needed too.

3 sets of 8, sorry

 

[unikue]

@spanda10 Your second day is pretty good. If not a little fatiguing to central nervous system. You have a ton of leg work, going with lots of lower body in both workouts. Bench is your only pressing movement.

So in your program currently you have a lot of lower body leg work and some decent back volume.

You are lacking pressing movements and direct arm work. There's also smaller muscle groups that could stand to be worked as well. Core, calves, most heads of the deltoids, etc.

Is the goal to be decently strong? Are you trying to focus your legs more intentionally or was that just by coincidence? Knowing what your goals are can help to build a more structured plan tailored to you specifically.

 

[spanda10]

@unikue Thank you so much for the feedback btw

 

[unikue]

@spanda10 Of course. Feel free to ask me anything. I really enjoy three days full body haha.

 

[spanda10]

@unikue My goal is to build back what I’ve lost.

A few years ago I had a lot of muscle, but lost it all to an eating disorder. Not sure how I built it, but my dad raised me doing P90X in the basement three times a week so it was probably that. I am healthy now, and eat fine (if anything I’m trying to eat wholesome foods vs processed, lots of colors), but I’m squishy. And weak. And I wasn’t before!

Aesthetically, I’d really like to build my glutes and hips, and I’d like to do core as well. I have an hourglass shape so I’m not really worried about whether or not I’ll achieve a specific look. I’ve already had it after all. But I was worried I might overload myself and plan to do too much at a time, and then not want to return. So that’s why my plans are not very well rounded- I was hesitant.

Health wise, I want to be able to meet expectations for my age (25 yr woman), and I want to be able to travel and explore comfortably. I don’t want to go on a hike or something and huff and puff the whole way, so leg muscle and stamina is important. And I want to focus on my overall health so I stay at low risk for heart disease as I age.

Im not super pressed about arm strength, but I definitely want it.

 

[unikue]

@spanda10 Standing barbell overhead press 3 sets of 8 reps
Incline dumbbell curls 3 sets of 8 to 12 reps
Concentration curls 3 sets of 10 to 15 reps
Cable rope extensions 5 to 6 sets of 10 to 15 reps
Lying or seated leg curls 3 sets of 10 to 15 reps
Elliptical work.

What do you think of this for your final day? You get another pressing movement that will build shoulders and back at the same time. There's enough arm work in this one day and it finishes off with a hamstring isolation which will carry over to your compound leg work.
You can change sets and reps however you like. I kept compound movement the same as your other big lifts and just used the rep schemes I would choose for these exercises, getting more sets on rope extensions since it's your only tricep isolation exercise. Let me know what you think.

 

[spanda10]

@unikue So keep the other days, but use this as the third day? Then each day kinda has a theme but is still full body. That’s awesome.

Perhaps I could add some core to the first day to help round it out a bit!

Also, what did you mean by fatiguing to the central nervous system?

 

[unikue]

@spanda10 Yeah! Add this day and keep your days as well. I have six workouts that I alternate between each week (3 days a week) for my full body plan. A lot of them end up being somewhat of a theme. One day is way more chest and tricep focused. Another day is all back and legs. It's still full body cause I do a lot of smaller movements like calves and abs every workout.

Adding core is always good. Hanging leg raises, ab wheel rollouts, decline bench crunches are good choices to name a few.

CNS fatigue happens during really huge compound movements. Usually hip hinge movements that involve the moving of your spine and spinal erectors. So things like deadlifts and good mornings will do this. They will hit a lot of lower back as well. Barbell rows and lunges can do this too so just watch your fatigue levels when you do this day. I actually really like that day you made, I think it's good, just watch how fatigued your body feels. CNS fatigue is hard to explain what it feels like but your lower back will certainly feel exhausted from all those movements. So just keep an eye on how your body is feeling and take it back a bit if you're burning out really hard.

 

[spanda10]

@unikue Maybe I should switch out the good mornings or lunges with something else, something core focused or hip abduction/adduction.

 

[unikue]

@spanda10 I would switch out good mornings as I feel they're less valuable than lunges. Hip adduction is a fantastic exercise machine to use. Or you could do any core exercise for sure.

 

[unikue]

@spanda10 I'd also like to ask a few more things. Front squat lunges? You've combined two movements together somehow? And your big compound exercises are 8 sets of 3 reps? Or is it 3 sets of 8 reps?