My workout - critique harshly please!

[Nrg]

Hey guys, I’ve been a lurker that decided to register to ask a few questions. I just changed up my lifting program to a 5 day split and I was looking to get your opinions on it. I also wanted to see what you thought of my weight jumps and warm up weights, etc. and if I’m possibly on track to overtrain my legs and chest or what not. I’ve been training for 5 years, roughly 2 serious but my eating is still a problem I’m trying to line up so I haven’t been growing. I’m 6'0 195 at roughly 12% bodyfat, 19 years old by the way.

I warm up for 5 minutes on a pedal bike before every lift. This was my last week’s lift.

Mon: Chest/Abs
Flat bench: 135x12(warmup) 155x12(warmup) 185x8, 205x8, 225x7, 235x5
   Trying for a 4x8 on this.
Incline Dumbbell: 55x10(warmup) 65x8, 75x8, 80x5
   Trying for 3x8 here.
Decline Dumbbell: 65x8, 75x8, 85x8
That’s it for chest usually. Abs is just 3 sets of 50 crunches followed by machine crunches or weighted ones.

Tues: Quads/Hams
2 sets of very light leg extensions for warmup
Squats: 135x10(warmup) 155x10(warmup) 185x5, 225x5, 245x5, 255x5
Front Squat: 165x6, 185x6
Leg Press: 5 45’s  on each side x 6, 6 45’s x 6, 6 45’s, 1 25 x 6
Leg Extensions: 120x12, 140x12, 160x12
Leg Curls: 120x10, 140x10, 160x10
SLDL with toes on 25 to raise feet: 185x8, 225x8, 230x7

Wed: Shoulders/Calves
Barbell Front Press: 95x8(warmup), 115x8(warmup), 135x8, 145x8, 155x8
Arnold Presses: 50x8, 60x8, 65x7
Upright Rows: 95x8, 105x8, 115x8
L-Lats: 20sx8, 25sx8, 30sx8
Front Raises: 20x8, 22.5sx8, 25sx8
Side Raises leaning on an incline bench: 20x8, 25x8(2 sets)
Calves are DC style: One set of 12 with 15 second reps: 3 45’s, 15

Thurs: Back
Pulldowns: 130x10, 150x10, 160x10
Deadlifts: 135x8(warmup), 185x8(warmup), 225x5, 275x5, 315x5, 355x5, 365x3
Chin ups: 2 sets of 10 with bodyweight
Bent Over Rows: 165x8, 185x8, 195x8

Fri: Arms
Close-Grip Bench: 135x10(warmup), 155x10(warmup), 165x8, 185x8, 205x8
Skullcrushers: 25sx10, 30sx10, 35sx10
Dips: 10xBW+20, 10xBW+25
Barbell curls: 10sx10(warmup), 20sx8, 25sx8, 27.5sx8
EZ Curl Bar: 30sx8, 35sx8, 40sx5

That’s my lift in a nutshell pretty much, not really impressive for someone who has been lifting as long as I have but I think that has more to do with my nutrition. Basically everything I eat is carbs and I have trouble getting protein in. Thanks for taking the time to read it if you do. Critique harshly if you make it this far reading. 

[darksol]

Workout look good, though I would try adding dumbell bench instead of just regular bench.  Considering you are 19 your weight isn't too bad. I think your lack of results are mainly from bad diet.  without protien you won't grow.  Don't just use whey either, try some real food ( lots of eggs, tuna, lean beef ).  Also remember to scoop out your yokes

[BigNBloated]

Is it really that bad to eat whole eggs instead of all those egg whites?

[Old_Rooster]

Is it really that bad to eat whole eggs instead of all those egg whites?

I generally take like 7 eggs, use two of the yolks, spray the skillet with Pam and scramble em up.  thou does need some fat

[blondmusclhunk]

I would skip the warm up on incline and do 5 working sets.  Also If your doing back one day and arms the next your bis are going to be fatigued from the night before since you were getting some bi work with back.

I would change the work out.  This is what I so and others that have tried it love it

Mon chest tris
Tues some cardio
Wed back bis
Thurs legs
Friday shoulders.


You need protein dude at least 1-1.5 grams per pound of bodyweight.  You wont grow without it.  Take some protein shakes with you during the day and mix them up or buy ready made ones.

What is your height weight etc:

[BigNBloated]

I generally take like 7 eggs, use two of the yolks, spray the skillet with Pam and scramble em up.  thou does need some fat

I usually do the same, with 6 whole eggs. thou needeth lots of fat. I dunno it just seems like a pain it the ass to ahve to buy so many f*cking eggs. Eating 10-12 egg whites in the morning. Thats exhausting. Id rather save myself that trouble unless im trying to eat super clean. That way i get all 6 grams of protein for each liquid chicken i devour.

[GET_BIGGER]

Couple things IMO:

I would drop decline and replace with some flys.  Your lower chest will come in naturally.

Legs, I would warm up on a stationary bike rather then leg extensions.  I want my quads to be ready to blast them as much as possible.  I think there is to much of a chance of pre-exhaustion hitting leg extensions first, plus you have to do quite a few of them to get your joints warmed up enough to do any good.  Hitting a stationary bike for a few minutes works perfectly.

I would alternate front squats wtih regular squats or drop the front squats alltogether.  If your hitting regular squats hard enough, thats all you need.  Everything else in legs looks good.

Shoulders I am a lil biased to dumbell presses.  For me its easier and more natural than lifting a bar behind or in front of your neck....to much stress on the joints.  Plus dumbells you hit all 3 of your shoulder heads better than using a bar cause you can place the weight directly over your shoulder.  Then hit each head seperatly with some lateral raises, front raises and make sure you hit your rear delts, either a reversed butterfly peck machine or bent over lateral raises.  Again I would switch up your routine with arnolds instead of dumbell or barbell presses.  If you do them the same time its too much IMO.  Use the different movements to switch it up when you hit a plateau. 

Back looks pretty good.  If your doing chin ups make sure your pulldowns are behind your head.  I would add some one arm dumbell rows, that way you have two movements to get some width and two movements to add some thickness.  With deadlifts that will be a tough workout but you should get some good results. 

Arms......skullcrushers is a good movement for mass.  I would then do 2 movements to dial in on your tris such as kickbacks, one arm cable pressdowns...ropes....et c.  Something that you can really focus on the squeezes and get some good definition.  Same thing with bis, do your mass building with a barbell (switch with EZ bar every other week cause they hit inner and outer sperately) then really focus on teh squeezes with some one arm dumbell curls or preacher dumbell curls, concentration curls, one arm cable curls, etc.  Arms dont need a lot, they are more of a finess movement. 

You asked for harsh criticism.....hope it helps.  Take it for what its worth, just my .02.  You have any questions ask bro.

Oh and I would switch arms with back....hitting legs on tuesday and back on thur....thats pretty close...especially with doing deadlifts.  I would put an extra day of rest between the two and do arms on thur. 

[Nrg]

Couple things IMO:

I would drop decline and replace with some flys.  Your lower chest will come in naturally.

Legs, I would warm up on a stationary bike rather then leg extensions.  I want my quads to be ready to blast them as much as possible.  I think there is to much of a chance of pre-exhaustion hitting leg extensions first, plus you have to do quite a few of them to get your joints warmed up enough to do any good.  Hitting a stationary bike for a few minutes works perfectly.

I would alternate front squats wtih regular squats or drop the front squats alltogether.  If your hitting regular squats hard enough, thats all you need.  Everything else in legs looks good.

Shoulders I am a lil biased to dumbell presses.  For me its easier and more natural than lifting a bar behind or in front of your neck....to much stress on the joints.  Plus dumbells you hit all 3 of your shoulder heads better than using a bar cause you can place the weight directly over your shoulder.  Then hit each head seperatly with some lateral raises, front raises and make sure you hit your rear delts, either a reversed butterfly peck machine or bent over lateral raises.  Again I would switch up your routine with arnolds instead of dumbell or barbell presses.  If you do them the same time its too much IMO.  Use the different movements to switch it up when you hit a plateau. 

Back looks pretty good.  If your doing chin ups make sure your pulldowns are behind your head.  I would add some one arm dumbell rows, that way you have two movements to get some width and two movements to add some thickness.  With deadlifts that will be a tough workout but you should get some good results. 

Arms......skullcrushers is a good movement for mass.  I would then do 2 movements to dial in on your tris such as kickbacks, one arm cable pressdowns...ropes....et c.  Something that you can really focus on the squeezes and get some good definition.  Same thing with bis, do your mass building with a barbell (switch with EZ bar every other week cause they hit inner and outer sperately) then really focus on teh squeezes with some one arm dumbell curls or preacher dumbell curls, concentration curls, one arm cable curls, etc.  Arms dont need a lot, they are more of a finess movement. 

You asked for harsh criticism.....hope it helps.  Take it for what its worth, just my .02.  You have any questions ask bro.

Oh and I would switch arms with back....hitting legs on tuesday and back on thur....thats pretty close...especially with doing deadlifts.  I would put an extra day of rest between the two and do arms on thur. 

Yeah, I'm very thankful your and Darksol's reply. This is exactly why I posted it. I was actually leaning towards doing everything you posted. I actually did some 1 arm DB rows today but I didn't drop anything else. It sounds good and I'm going to give it a try. I honestly think my biggest problem is my eating. The majority of my food is carbs such as potatoes and rice and the majority of my protein comes from shakes. I think I'm going to start pounding cans of tuna and what not. Was thinking of trying that suggested diet in the sticky.

[darksol]

Good idea, I think once you add some real food protien to each meal you will notice some great results.

[IceCold]

personally, i think how you pyramid your weights isnt great enough.

i dont really see the point in only going up 5 or 10 lbs. for a lift. 

your wasting strength. 

for instance, you could do 40,50,60, and 70 or 75's for a dumbell lift.

also, in response to the larger pyramid increases, you could make your rep range larger.

instead of just doing 8, try for 6-10.  do 10 reps for the 40's and 50's, 8 reps for the 60's and 6-8 for your max set.

also, i would increase the reps for the leg pressess.  continously doing 6 reps on the LP could hurt your knees.  8-10 would be better.   

[Cavalier22]

how often do you go to failure

[Nrg]

Thanks for all the advice again guys. In response to IceCold, yeah I noticed that I am probably not bumping up the weights enough when moving up. I'm going to try out moving up in bigger increases. I should be able to handle an extra 5-10 pounds here and there.

Cavalier, I generally only go to failure on my last set of flat bench and deadlift when I move up in weight. Sometimes SLDL, also.