bigben66
New member
You like to mix things up quite a bit with your sessions so I tried to make suggestions based on the patterns coming out of your workouts in general.
Overall split-
In terms of the overall split, I'm not a fan of the 1 bodypart per session style training - its simply not optimal for maximum growth.
I wasn't keeping track of the exact days that you trained so maybe you still worked each bodypart twice a week? But even then its still not ideal.
It would be more optimal if, for example, your current leg day stays the same, pair chest & back together (lots of superset opportunities with this) & pair shoulders with arms.
Or you could do biceps, rear delts & back with triceps, front/side delts & chest or any other types of split combos that allow you to easily hit everything twice per week (your weakest parts 3 times if you so wish).
There's a bit too much emphasis on pre-exhaust style training as well, especially on legs day.
I understand the need if you have lagging bodyparts - for example pre-exhausting your chest because your triceps fail first when benching - but otherwise its not the best route for building overall mass.
Compounds over isolation moves is still the preferred route.
Now for some more specific tips:
Legs -
As I said about pre-exhaust style training, place the squats, SLDLs (switch to barbell version) & lunges to the start of the workout - with sufficient volume on squats & SLDLs I see no need for the lunges as well but that's up to you.
Lower reps (8-12) for the hamstring movements, specifically SLDLs and hamstring curls.
Your overall calf training is very, very impressive compared to 99% of the other routines I've seen
Standing, seated & single leg calf raise varieties are all awesome movements to stick to, you just need to vary the reps a little bit. Go low for standing (5-8 reps), and high (15+) for the seated calf raises.
Abs -
I'm interested to hear why the leg raises/ab work before chest day lol, not something I see too much.
I normally don't recommend training your core before compound chest lifts for obvious reasons but if its more of a warm up type thing then its fine.
The lying leg raise sucks, swap it out for some weighted crunches + hanging leg raises = all you will ever need for maximum ab development.
AVOID ALL CRUNCH MACHINES! - They cause a lot of unnecessary tension to the lumbar spine through flexion & lead to a lot of lower back problems that can be completely avoided with standard crunches.
Chest-
A little bit too much dropset action going on in some of your chest sessions - keep it to the weakest exercise for the day otherwise its not really effective.
Stuff like dropsets, training to failure, pause sets, etc should be used sparingly in order to be effective for bodybuilding purposes.
I also wouldn't do both db & cable flyes on the same day (unless one is standard and the other incline/decline) so pick the better of the two and stick with that.
I like the fact that your constantly swapping the exercises around in the routine - something I do myself depending on what's my weakest lift in the previous session, etc. As long as its not completely random, I'm all for it.
Back -
I see the DB pullovers as a complete waste of time unless you have access to the actual pullover machine (very rare to find). If your absolutely determined to keep it in then at least switch to a decline version to get more tension.
If your willing to replace it, then some weighted chin ups done consistently will fit your routines nicely.
You do the deadlifts last quite a lot and that can cause a lot of problems unless you go extra light but then what's the point of doing the move?
The deadlift also only works the back in an isometric fashion so it really belongs early on for leg day, however I think its a terrible choice for any bodybuilder beyond the beginner level so I would drop it completely (I know you love going heavy on the big 3 lol).
WHERE IS THE LOWER BACK WORK?
Got to look after your low back health man, especially considering you train abs an do deadlifts, squats and other lower-back intense movements.
Some good form back extensions for 2-3 sets, 12-15 reps twice a week will do.
Delts-
IMO, there is simply way too much volume on these days - another reason I think its unnecessary to have a shoulder day in general.
I love the emphasis on drop sets for the lateral & rear heads, people rarely focus enough on these as you do.
On the other side, there is WAY too much front delt work going on dude.
I saw a few sessions involving behind-the-neck press, front db raise & front bb raise - 3 movements all targeting the front delt is overkill. Then you add the static holds and drop sets on top of this and your asking for major shoulder imbalances & injuries.
Keep the front delt work limited to one exercise only for 2-3 sets, they get hit enough on pushing movements anyway and plenty of guys get more than enough growth in this department with no front delt work whatsoever.
I would personally drop the behind neck press completely - you can only progress so far with this move and the injury risk to your shoulders is pretty high, but I accept that you may have the shoulder flexibility to get around this.
Arms -
Overall your best sessions IMO.
If I was being really picky then switch from wide to narrow grip versions for all the bicep curl exercises to emphasis different parts of the bicep.
Also, I occasionally saw some sessions with more volume for biceps than triceps when it should really be the other way round considering the size and growth potential differences.
I know its a lot of stuff to be changing but if you were to apply anything that I said, I would pay attention to my view on pre-exhaust training, the overall split structure, adding some lower back work and reducing the volume on the front delts for shoulder day.
That's a top notch post Zilla... I'll be adjusting some of my training accordingly!
