Workout Routine Schedule - Trying something new

[werhardt]

I had a question, my life is pretty busy with my son, but I want to be able to fit in fitness to my schedule. I have a plan that I attached below. I just want to look lean and Fit. Is it ok for me to only work each body part once a week or is it better to work each body part 2 times a week. Please look at my schedule. Any feedback would be great!

I am also adding in some cardio (treadmill/Bike)


Monday
Chest – Flat Bench Press, Incline Bench Press, Dumbell Flys
Shoulders – Barbell Shoulder Press & Lateral Raises
Abs
Forarms - Barbell Curls


Wednesday
back - Lats Pull downs & Bent-over Rows & Deadlifts
triceps – Lying Tricep Ext & Tricep Overhead Dumbell
Abs


Friday
Legs – Leg Press, Leg Curl, Calf Raises
Biceps – Standing Barbell Curles, Seated Dumbell Curls
forarms – Wrist Curls
abs

[Lost Dog]

In general, you'd be better off doing two or three full body workouts, per week.

Are you trying to avoid gym visits, trying to make them shorter, or both?

You could also consider 1 or 2 full body gym workouts, and one body weight workout at home, too.

[Fulmen]

Monday
Chest-Flat BB Bench, Incline DB Bench
Back-Deadlift, BB Row, Pull-Ups
Abs-Incline Sit-ups

Wednesday
Shoulders-Seated DB Press, Lateral Raises
Biceps-Barbell Curl
Triceps-Dips, Pressdowns

Friday
Quads-Squats, Leg Press
Hamstrings-Leg Curls, Stiff-legged DL
Forearms-BB Wrist Curl

Upper/Lower Split with Upper on two days so you won't be too taxed having a kid and all. This is just to spark ideas, since your routine was all over the place.

[Fulmen]

Originally Posted by Lost Dog

In general, you'd be better off doing two or three full body workouts, per week.

Are you trying to avoid gym visits, trying to make them shorter, or both?

You could also consider 1 or 2 full body gym workouts, and one body weight workout at home, too.

Dog has good ideas, too.

[werhardt]

Thanks for you help this will be usful.

Originally Posted by Fulmen

Monday
Chest-Flat BB Bench, Incline DB Bench
Back-Deadlift, BB Row, Pull-Ups
Abs-Incline Sit-ups

Wednesday
Shoulders-Seated DB Press, Lateral Raises
Biceps-Barbell Curl
Triceps-Dips, Pressdowns

Friday
Quads-Squats, Leg Press
Hamstrings-Leg Curls, Stiff-legged DL
Forearms-BB Wrist Curl

Upper/Lower Split with Upper on two days so you won't be too taxed having a kid and all. This is just to spark ideas, since your routine was all over the place.

[werhardt]

Yeah I thought about that too with the full body workout, but I want to get my cardio in (Treadmill/bike) I can really only go 3 days a week.

Originally Posted by Lost Dog

In general, you'd be better off doing two or three full body workouts, per week.

Are you trying to avoid gym visits, trying to make them shorter, or both?

You could also consider 1 or 2 full body gym workouts, and one body weight workout at home, too.

[Depalma2002]

Originally Posted by werhardt

Yeah I thought about that too with the full body workout, but I want to get my cardio in (Treadmill/bike) I can really only go 3 days a week.

Why can you only do cardio after body part splits and not after full body workouts? If you think full body workouts mean longer because you are trying to do exercises for every little body part (i.e., wrist curls) then you are mistaken. You take out some of the small muscle isolation exercises and stick to the major compound movements. Same number of sets, same amount of time and actually better for your stated goals of looking fit and lean. Unless you are doing wrist curls for that lean and fit wrist look, it's time not being used to your goals.

[werhardt]

Depalma, that is what I am thinking that I won't have enough time for Cardio of I do a full body workout. Maybe I will try it and see. I guess I don't need the wrist exercises. What else do you think I should eliminate or is everything else ok?

Originally Posted by Depalma2002

Why can you only do cardio after body part splits and not after full body workouts? If you think full body workouts mean longer because you are trying to do exercises for every little body part (i.e., wrist curls) then you are mistaken. You take out some of the small muscle isolation exercises and stick to the major compound movements. Same number of sets, same amount of time and actually better for your stated goals of looking fit and lean. Unless you are doing wrist curls for that lean and fit wrist look, it's time not being used to your goals.

[Depalma2002]

I would say that on your "leg" workout, unless those are standing calf raises and not seated calf raises, that you would be better off picking at least one leg exercise that requires you to get up on your feet. You do deadlift on your back day, to that is good, but some type of squat variation or a Romanian Deadlift on your leg day would really be beneficial IMHO.

[Depalma2002]

It can really be as simple as:
1. A knee dominant exercise (squat variation)
2. A hip dominant exercise (deadlift variation)
3. A horizontal push (you can do your bench presses here)
4. A horizontal pull (some type of row variation)
5. A vertical push (for instance your shoulder presses)
6. A vertical pull (your chinups, lat pulldowns, etc)

You can stick to the same exercises M-W-F or pick two different sets of exercises and alternate them in an A and B format. You could throw in some core work either after your warmup, before your cooldown, or even during rest periods between sets. If you still want to cut time, divide the six exercises into 3 supersets. This is not really saying this is exactly what you should do, but this is to show that you can hit full body with the same amount of time. You were doing 6 movements in a split fashion and you are still hitting six movements. This way, you are also training movements more frequently which for a beginner is important from a neural aspect.

Again, not saying that you should do full body, although I do personally favor them for myself and favor them for beginners as well. The choice between FBWO and splits is something that you have to decide based on your goals and enjoyment (don't overlook the enjoyment factor). However, if you are dismissing total body workouts because of time, I think you need to reconsider that aspect.

[Depalma2002]

Actually, I can't count you were doing 5 movements not 6.

So in keeping with the 5 movements, a sample full body would be:

A
1. Knee dominant
2. Unilateral hip dominant
3. Vertical push
4. Vertical pull
5. Core

B
1. Bilateral hip dominant
2. Unilateral knee dominant
3. Horizontal push
4. Horizonal pull
5. Core

Alternate between A and B on 3 non-consecutive days. Or instead of doing vertical plane on A and Horizontal plane on B, you could do upper body pushing on A and pulling on B., etc. The possibilities are endless as you expand your exercise menu.

[Fulmen]

As soon as I started seeing the word "dominant" and "planes" I stopped reading.

The best thing you could do right now is state your goals, Werhardt. I hate full body workouts but that doesn't mean I won't recommend them if your goals fit in that paradigm.

[Lost Dog]

Originally Posted by werhardt

Yeah I thought about that too with the full body workout, but I want to get my cardio in (Treadmill/bike) I can really only go 3 days a week.

Full body workouts will likely be better. IMO, people do more exercises than they really need to. After you've hit each group once, the rest is likely fluff unless you're sculpting.

Monday, 3x8
A1, DB Bench
A2, Reverse Lunge
B1, Chinups
B2, Plank
Cardio

Wednesday, 5x5 (or even 3x5)
A1, DB Military Press
A2, Deadlift
B1, Two Point Row
B2, Reverse Crunch
Cardio

Friday, 2x12
A1, Pushups
A2, Seated Row
B1, Squat
B2, Side Plank
Cardio

Just an example...

[Depalma2002]

Originally Posted by Fulmen

As soon as I started seeing the word "dominant" and "planes" I stopped reading.

That's fine. The post wasn't directed at you. It was directed at a beginner with a stated goal of being fit and lean. If it was directed at you, it would have consisted of bodybuilding advice and I would have used smaller words.