Workout twice a week - is my workout any good?
Discussion
Due to various commitments, I only have time to work out twice a week.
I'm looking to put on some muscle, and generally keep in shape.
My routine is below:
1. Bench Press 3 sets of 12
2. Squat 3 sets of 12
3. Bent over row 3 sets of 12
4. Ab exercises
5. Shoulder press 3 sets of 12
6. Bicep Curl 3 sets of 12
7. Tricep Press or dips 3 sets of 12
Sometimes I'll throw in another leg exercise as well.
Use whey protein shakes, and I have a reasonable diet as well.
Any help or advice would be gratefully received.
I'm looking to put on some muscle, and generally keep in shape.
My routine is below:
1. Bench Press 3 sets of 12
2. Squat 3 sets of 12
3. Bent over row 3 sets of 12
4. Ab exercises
5. Shoulder press 3 sets of 12
6. Bicep Curl 3 sets of 12
7. Tricep Press or dips 3 sets of 12
Sometimes I'll throw in another leg exercise as well.
Use whey protein shakes, and I have a reasonable diet as well.
Any help or advice would be gratefully received.
I'm sure someone vastly bigger/more qualified than I am will be along in a minute but in the meantime....
personally I would up the weight so I could only manage 8-10 reps of each exercise over those sets, and more importantly split the exercises over the 2 workouts i.e. concentrate maybe on the upper body stuff one day and then lower body the next. That way you should be able to work a bit harder/longer as you'll get a bit more focus as it looks more geared to just staying "in shape" as opposed to adding muscle.
personally I would up the weight so I could only manage 8-10 reps of each exercise over those sets, and more importantly split the exercises over the 2 workouts i.e. concentrate maybe on the upper body stuff one day and then lower body the next. That way you should be able to work a bit harder/longer as you'll get a bit more focus as it looks more geared to just staying "in shape" as opposed to adding muscle.
Up the weights on the big lifts (squat, bench, press, rows) so you're in the range of 5-8 reps, possibly separate your pushing movements (i.e. bench on one day and shoulder press on another day) so that one doesn't affect the other and focus on trying to lift more (weights or reps) from workout to workout. So long as you're lifting heavy, eating well and making progress everything else you should do fine. I'd add some pullups too.
My 2p
Don't split the workout. When you're only training twice a week you need to get everything trained. I'd also ditch the bicep/tricep isolation stuff, arguably totally unneccasary in most workouts and certainly is in this case IMO. Replace with another couple of isolations exercises. Don't do the tricep extensions, always do dips and replace the bicep curls with chin ups. It might be worth adding a secondry leg exercise to the mix as well, something like lunges, nordic curls, bulgarian split squats - you can change week on week just keep the fundemental lifts the same.
It's also good to get in some deadlifts, which I would alternate with squats as if you're working hard enough it isn'y easy to get the most out of them in one day.
In terms of reps it really doesn't matter too much, you can get big and strong on any rep range providing you are working hard and eating well. It is however harder to work hard over 12 reps than it is over 8 or 10 as it becomes more of an endurance event.
Don't split the workout. When you're only training twice a week you need to get everything trained. I'd also ditch the bicep/tricep isolation stuff, arguably totally unneccasary in most workouts and certainly is in this case IMO. Replace with another couple of isolations exercises. Don't do the tricep extensions, always do dips and replace the bicep curls with chin ups. It might be worth adding a secondry leg exercise to the mix as well, something like lunges, nordic curls, bulgarian split squats - you can change week on week just keep the fundemental lifts the same.
It's also good to get in some deadlifts, which I would alternate with squats as if you're working hard enough it isn'y easy to get the most out of them in one day.
In terms of reps it really doesn't matter too much, you can get big and strong on any rep range providing you are working hard and eating well. It is however harder to work hard over 12 reps than it is over 8 or 10 as it becomes more of an endurance event.
Edited by TheBALDpuma on Monday 2nd September 09:54
Routine looks quite good. This is what I would do. No expert, but been training around five years now and enjoy reading up on different routines etc.
Day 1
Squat 3 sets of 8-10
Bench Press 3 sets of 8-10
Bent over row 3 sets of 10-12
Shoulder press 3 sets of 8-10
Pull-Up/Chin-Up 3 sets of 10-12
[Bicep Curl 3 sets of 10-12
Tricep Press or dips 3 sets of 10-12]
Day 2
Deadlift 3 sets of 6-8
Bench Press 3 sets of 8-10
Bent over row 3 sets of 10-12
Shoulder press 3 sets of 8-10
Pull-Up/Chin-Up 3 sets of 10-12
[Bicep Curl 3 sets of 10-12
Dips 3 sets of 10-12]
Note:
Exercises are in order of how to do them - also I would do two warm up sets of 10-15 reps 50% of your 1 rep max for each exercise, but that is personal preference.
I've lowered the rep ranges for the compound movements as I think it is more effective for strength (which in turn acts as a basis for size/conditioning) to do these at a higher weight/lower rep than lower weight/higher rep.
[]=optional if you're not too knackered.
If you don't want to do deadlifts (which I really think you should), then I would replace the rowing on day 2 with rack pulls.
Day 1
Squat 3 sets of 8-10
Bench Press 3 sets of 8-10
Bent over row 3 sets of 10-12
Shoulder press 3 sets of 8-10
Pull-Up/Chin-Up 3 sets of 10-12
[Bicep Curl 3 sets of 10-12
Tricep Press or dips 3 sets of 10-12]
Day 2
Deadlift 3 sets of 6-8
Bench Press 3 sets of 8-10
Bent over row 3 sets of 10-12
Shoulder press 3 sets of 8-10
Pull-Up/Chin-Up 3 sets of 10-12
[Bicep Curl 3 sets of 10-12
Dips 3 sets of 10-12]
Note:
Exercises are in order of how to do them - also I would do two warm up sets of 10-15 reps 50% of your 1 rep max for each exercise, but that is personal preference.
I've lowered the rep ranges for the compound movements as I think it is more effective for strength (which in turn acts as a basis for size/conditioning) to do these at a higher weight/lower rep than lower weight/higher rep.
[]=optional if you're not too knackered.
If you don't want to do deadlifts (which I really think you should), then I would replace the rowing on day 2 with rack pulls.
Routine looks quite good. This is what I would do. No expert, but been training around five years now and enjoy reading up on different routines etc.
Day 1
Squat 3 sets of 8-10
Bench Press 3 sets of 8-10
Bent over row 3 sets of 10-12
Shoulder press 3 sets of 8-10
Pull-Up/Chin-Up 3 sets of 10-12
[Bicep Curl 3 sets of 10-12
Tricep Press or dips 3 sets of 10-12]
Day 2
Deadlift 3 sets of 6-8
Bench Press 3 sets of 8-10
Bent over row 3 sets of 10-12
Shoulder press 3 sets of 8-10
Pull-Up/Chin-Up 3 sets of 10-12
[Bicep Curl 3 sets of 10-12
Dips 3 sets of 10-12]
Note:
Exercises are in order of how to do them - also I would do two warm up sets of 10-15 reps 50% of your 1 rep max for each exercise, but that is personal preference.
I've lowered the rep ranges for the compound movements as I think it is more effective for strength (which in turn acts as a basis for size/conditioning) to do these at a higher weight/lower rep than lower weight/higher rep.
[]=optional if you're not too knackered.
If you don't want to do deadlifts (which I really think you should), then I would replace the rowing on day 2 with rack pulls.
Day 1
Squat 3 sets of 8-10
Bench Press 3 sets of 8-10
Bent over row 3 sets of 10-12
Shoulder press 3 sets of 8-10
Pull-Up/Chin-Up 3 sets of 10-12
[Bicep Curl 3 sets of 10-12
Tricep Press or dips 3 sets of 10-12]
Day 2
Deadlift 3 sets of 6-8
Bench Press 3 sets of 8-10
Bent over row 3 sets of 10-12
Shoulder press 3 sets of 8-10
Pull-Up/Chin-Up 3 sets of 10-12
[Bicep Curl 3 sets of 10-12
Dips 3 sets of 10-12]
Note:
Exercises are in order of how to do them - also I would do two warm up sets of 10-15 reps 50% of your 1 rep max for each exercise, but that is personal preference.
I've lowered the rep ranges for the compound movements as I think it is more effective for strength (which in turn acts as a basis for size/conditioning) to do these at a higher weight/lower rep than lower weight/higher rep.
[]=optional if you're not too knackered.
If you don't want to do deadlifts (which I really think you should), then I would replace the rowing on day 2 with rack pulls.
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