New Workout Plan, any ideas to add?

[mlc82]

I've just whipped this workout up for myself, 3-4 times a week, geared toward really beating myself to a pulp in the gym and building better high-rep muscle endurance and cardio conditioning, along with adding some extra muscle. I've been lifting weights for 7 years or so now, mainly combining bodybuilding and powerlifting training, so I'm pretty strong when it comes to low rep sets (2-6 reps), but once I start hitting rep 12 or so I give out pretty quickly- I need to increase my endurance and start nailing those muscle fibers that don't get stimulation from very heavy lifting!

I've got a pretty muscular (bulky and not really defined) build, I'm 5'10 and weigh around 215lbs, but also have a little gut that I'd love to get rid of- I'm not trying to get myself "shredded" (I like beer too much to care ) but would like to lose what belly I have left.

Here's what I've got, done one after the other or maybe supersetted (one exercise, straight into the next with no break, then rest, and repeat), with my reps varying from 25-50 on all.

Deadlift- 50 rep w/ 135lbs to start

Pushup or Bench Press (alternating per workout)- 50 rep or 20 rep respectively

Chin up- 50 total reps done in as many sets as required throughout workout (I'm a wimp on these, no way I'm getting anywhere NEAR 50 in a single set right now- maybe substitute with high rep lat pulldowns once a week instead)

Leg Press or Squat- 20-50 reps (depends on which gym I'm at)

1 Arm dumbbell clean and press- 25 reps per arm

Sit Up on Incline Bench- 25 reps (another wimpy one, I want to get up to 50, my abs are feeling neglected)

Farmer's Walk- 100 steps w/ heaviest dumbbells I can hold on to (I'm thinking 90's to start, I'm already pretty strong at this)

Calf Raise- 25 reps as heavy as possible (I have REALLY strong calves)

I'm thinking 2-3 sets per exercise starting out, eventually going up to 3-4. I have a feeling that after two 50 rep sets of deadlifts, I'll probably be barfing or about to, so 3 likely won't happen for the first week or so. Squats, Calf Raises, and etc I'll start out at 3 sets or maybe even 4. This should hit every muscle in my body as it is, and I'm thinking I might include some high rep bicep curls 1-2x a week because my triceps currently overpower my bi's by a large margin. If anyone can think of any other good compound exercises to add in here

[shiggityjoe]

Don't you think 25 - 50 reps is alittle excessive? I've often heard to not go over 20 reps because it's useless and will just make you prone to injury (just what I heard).

I was always taught that 2-6 reps is fast twitch, and 10-15 is slow-twitch.
All the bodybuilding stuff I've read says that 10x10 is a pretty dam good workout for building endurance. 10 reps, 10 sets. So, I suggest trying that. Also, make sure that you make it an intense workout. Meaning like 30 seconds of rest in between sets, none of that chit-chatting in between. Save the long wait times for when you are powerlifting.

By the way, drinking alcohol is going to totally sabotage any kind of possible weight loss or muscle gaining regime. It is full of empty calories, and causes a decrease in testosterone...Read my article about how bad alcohol is for those trying to stay fit, College Guide to Alcohol & Fat Gain

Make sure your diet is in check, fitness and health is a two prong ordeal- no matter how much you exercise if your nutrition is wrong you won't get the most benefit - and same vice versa, with perfect nutrition and inadequate exercise the same....

Also... in terms of compound exercises. You should definitely work in dips and pullups. Those are compound exercises and are way more effective than lat pulldowns or tricep pulldowns. I know you said chinups but those are more biceps and less back than pullups. Believe it or not, chinups are when your palms are facing you - pullups are when the back of your hands face you. With pullups you also should have a widergrip.

My 2 cents

[BamBam]

lunges

you need to get your glutes on

[mlc82]

Originally Posted by BamBam

lunges

you need to get your glutes on

I think I may alternate lunges and squats instead of leg presses and squats. Nothing hits my glutes harder than deep squats, I usually feel like I've been stabbed in the butt for days after those

[mlc82]

Originally Posted by shiggityjoe

Don't you think 25 - 50 reps is alittle excessive? I've often heard to not go over 20 reps because it's useless and will just make you prone to injury (just what I heard).

I was always taught that 2-6 reps is fast twitch, and 10-15 is slow-twitch.
All the bodybuilding stuff I've read says that 10x10 is a pretty dam good workout for building endurance. 10 reps, 10 sets. So, I suggest trying that. Also, make sure that you make it an intense workout. Meaning like 30 seconds of rest in between sets, none of that chit-chatting in between. Save the long wait times for when you are powerlifting.

By the way, drinking alcohol is going to totally sabotage any kind of possible weight loss or muscle gaining regime. It is full of empty calories, and causes a decrease in testosterone...Read my article about how bad alcohol is for those trying to stay fit, College Guide to Alcohol & Fat Gain

Make sure your diet is in check, fitness and health is a two prong ordeal- no matter how much you exercise if your nutrition is wrong you won't get the most benefit - and same vice versa, with perfect nutrition and inadequate exercise the same....

Also... in terms of compound exercises. You should definitely work in dips and pullups. Those are compound exercises and are way more effective than lat pulldowns or tricep pulldowns. I know you said chinups but those are more biceps and less back than pullups. Believe it or not, chinups are when your palms are facing you - pullups are when the back of your hands face you. With pullups you also should have a widergrip.

My 2 cents

I want to do this as less of anything to do with bodybuilding (that's all I've done for 7 years, lately it's been low rep but plenty of 12-15 or 20 rep workouts in the past)- I mainly want this to be a 2 month or so period of just shocking my whole body like it's never been shocked before- I partly took some of the plan from the "300 Workout", and want this to be one of those "dig deep, scream, dig deeper, barf, keep digging for willpower and don't stop!" kind of workouts- believe me, I'm not a "chatter" in the gym I dont' want to do this long-term at all, just an all out shock period and then change it to something like you outlined, either 10x10 or probably a 12-15 rep average setup.

I'm not a huge alcohol drinker, maybe a 6 pack of beer over the whole weekend, but no binge drinking, rarely small amounts of whiskey, and NONE of those nasty sugary mixed drinks that make me crash hard almost immediately after drinking them- I just love that Guinness with my buddies on fri/sat nights! Nice article btw!

I may have gotten chinups and pullups mixed up- I thought it was the other way around, pullups were palms facing you (back in my old "I want to join the military!" days as a teen, I remember doing boot camp drills with what they called "pullups" that were palms facing you, I've nearly always done them palms away though. I thought of occasionally substituting lat pulldowns 1 time a week or so because I'm a big wimp on pullups, and will be lucky to get 10 or more in a single set. They were easy when I weighed 145lbs, not so anymore at 210-215 I forgot about dips, those definitely need to be in there! Probably in place of my beloved overhead extensions

[shiggityjoe]

I hear ya, back when I was a lineman in high school I couldn't ever do more than 2 dips and a few pullups. Now, a fews years and after a lot of work I'm lean at 176 and I can pound them out and am even adding the chain belt and some 45's. Dips are great for triceps and even work some chest depending on your angle when doing them (plus triceps naturally will increase your bench anyway).

I agree, short-term it's prolly not a risk. Myself, On occasion I'll do dropsets for a few weeks and just wreck my self. Everyone needs a plateau buster...

Good luck, I'd like to hear how it turns out for you.

[mlc82]

Well, it was fun in a sick sort of way- I honestly thought I was going to pass out by the end, and was hoping and wishing to barf but it wouldn't come up So much for the 2 sets of everything idea, I barely made it through 1, and rarely got a full 50 reps in except on Deadlifts (with my usual warm up weight which felt like air til rep 15, burned like hell at 25, and had me screaming by 40-50 then nearly unable to move afterward), leg presses, and calf raises- everything else was getting to 50 as fast as possible with as few sets as possible, on average something like set 1: 20 reps, 20 second break, set 2: 10 reps, 20 second break, set 3: barely 6 reps, keep repeating til 50, stand by trash can. I collapsed on the mat and laid there for awhile at the end Nothing to make you feel out of shape like that did- my next workout is going to be on mon or tues (whenever the worst of the soreness wears off) and I'm going to ratchet it up a bit each time. It was fun!

Edit: 1 arm DB clean and press quickly became a standard shoulder press- my back was so tired after deadlifts and leg pressing that there was simply no way I was going to accomplish much by clean and pressing. I'm going to do them first next time!