Critique my exercise program

james
03-05-2008, 05:17 AM
Well, I guess we'll start off with me and my goals

5' 9" ~145 lbs right now

Fairly skinny, except for my college fat (LOL BEER LOL!) in my belly

I work midnights and sometimes midnights+day tours so my eating/sleeping schedule is all kinds of fucked up

My goal is pretty much, vanity. I'd like pec development, along with tri/biceps and 4 pack/6 pack abs. I'm not really looking in to being a 'real' bodybuilder and be bench pressing a Buick, but some growth in strength would be appreciated.

My routine right now is:

Every day:
3 sets of push ups
1 set crunches

Monday + Wednesday (Upper):
Barbell bench press
Dumbbell fly
Dumbbell curl
Dumbbell Bent-over Row
Dumbbell Triceps Extension
Dumbbell Wrist Curl*
Dumbbell Reverse Wrist Curl*
Dumbbell Pronators*
Dumbbell Supinators*
Dumbbell shoulder shrug

Tuesday + Thursday (Ab/Legs):
Squats
Lunges
Crunches
Side crunches
Crunch up
Flutterkicks

Friday or Saturday (Depending where I am/where I am working):
1) Repeat Monday or 2) Circuit Training @ World Gym

+

30 minutes on treadmill on "fat burn"
At least 5 minutes on stairclimber

If exercise Friday: Rest Saturday (Except for pushups/crunches)
If exercise Saturday: Rest Friday (Except for pushups/crunches)

Sunday: Full Rest

I'm taking whey protein after exercising and TestoGrowHP** with every meal.

In the 2 to 4 or so weeks I've been doing this I've noticed some growth in biceps and pecs. Is this expected?

* I have torn ligaments in my left wrist from a skiing injury (I can bend it an ungodly direction which could put any :closet: to shame) and I 'd like a little more strength in it... plus I think its ridiculous when you see 'gym guys' with huge biceps... and pencil wrists.

** The store was running a sale where I got a big discount on the protein if I bought it... I'm not sure if its actually helping or if you guys have any feedback on something better or if I actually need anything like it in the first place

Fartypants
03-05-2008, 07:40 AM
looks good for a beginner

if you want to keep seeing gains i'd suggest slowly building up your volume in a month or two: flat bench then incline bench, bent over rows then tbar rows, maybe do squats one workout then next time do front squats, etc.

james
03-05-2008, 09:25 AM
ooh, forgot, i started incline barbell bench press the other day

the other thing is, i'm going for form over weight or reps. this is wise, correct? i try to push to failure (usually happens halfway through 3rd set on things like bench press) but if i start getting sloppy i stop

Rayn
03-05-2008, 10:51 AM
Definitely go for form, especially as a beginner. Progress only with good form from the beginning because a rep with good form is worth more than a shitty rep.

I'd like to see more back and shoulder work in your routine. You don't really have much for the back besides rows and I don't see anything that is really for the shoulders. (Shrugs are for traps) Standing military press is a good exercise, but not on the same day as incline bench press.

I think a complete pec workout should cover the following per week:
Incline Bench
Weighted Dips (ALL the way down til the shoulder blades touch)
Cable Cross-overs

flat bench is good for strength, but eventually I switched to these 3 exercises instead to develop a more even pec.

james
03-06-2008, 12:07 AM
What about the TestoGrowHP? Keep taking? Yes or no?

kMz.
03-06-2008, 02:20 AM
hey man im about the same stature as you(kinda), 5 8 136lbs so i can relate
are you just starting working out?

i might be missing something but it doesn't seem like you have a lot of bicep/shoulder work in there? i do bicep/forearm/shoulders on a seperate day from chest.

do some trap workouts too; they will also make you look bigger

keep in mind with all that cardio, your gains won't be as rapid. you being skinny already won't require much cardio to stay at a low body fat. just get some lean muscle promoting whey like isopure and workout - your "beer belly" will go away when u start doing abs and as you workout you'll lose some fat. i went from flat stomach to ~6pack in 3months with no cardio just by doing hardcore abs.

legs are always very crucial to do, but maybe you'd want to consider splitting upper body to 3x a week and legs/abs to 1 (i do some abs everyday, but go hardcore on leg day) since you want more upper body definition (yes i know legs help upperbody growth). just a possible suggestion

& my #1 thing to improvement - spotter