Hello H&F, I doubt anyone here remembers me - it's been many years since I've posted. (I used to share selfies in the Ultimate Post Your Picture Thread.) I have kept in shape fairly consistently since then, but recently decided that I would add a little structure into my routine. So I put together this little plan while at work...

The idea is to take rest days, as needed, anticipating every 2-3 workouts. On most of the lifts I do a couple of warmup sets, and then a couple of heavier sets, and finally a few sets that I can only do for a few reps. I know some minor details are a bit unconventional, but I don't see a problem with doing things like putting certain isolation movements on days apart from their corresponding compound movements. (If this is a mistake let me know.)

I suppose my primary goal would be to improve my physique, but strength gains are nice too. I'm currently tracking my calorie intake to put me in a surplus. Not overly worried about Macros, as my bodyfat is not an issue.

Hoping for a little feedback from anyone particularly knowledgeable with programming.

Day 1
Crunch
Bench Press
Overhead Press
Incline DB Press
Barbell Bicep Curl

Day 2
Russian Twist or Cable Twist
Face Pull
Cardio (20 minutes at medium intensity)
Standing Calf Raise

Day 3
Hanging Knee Raise
Barbell Squat
Leg Curl
Weighted Lunge
Skull Crusher (sub Cable Tri extension if my elbow is acting up)

Day 4
Reverse Hyperextension
Dumbbell or Machine Row or both
Dumbbell or Smith Machine Shrug
Pull Up or Lat Pulldown
Incline Dumbbell Bicep Curl

Day 5
Plank (rotate between regular and sides for 1 min. intervals for 7-10 minutes total)
Dumbbell/Cable Lateral Raise
Cardio (20 minutes at medium intensity)
Seated Calf Raise

Day 6
Straight Leg Raise (captains chair)
Single Leg Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift
Bar Deadlift
Tricep Isolation
Leg Press

are the exercises in the order of execution? seems like a salad to me.

also why would you do legs and triceps? for example. back and chest...

regarding rest days, for me works nice to have a rest day after 3 days of training. I tend to take 2 per 8 calendar days.

Yes, order of execution. Plan to use the ab exercises kind of like a warmup. Pretty much stuck the most demanding lifts at the beginning of each workout... I can see why you'd consider it a salad though.

Why not do legs and triceps? That question is pretty much what prompted me to make this post. If I am hitting a group of muscles with a compound lift, is there a known reason why it would be suboptimal to do an isolation movement on a seperate day? I appreciate your feedback.

This post was edited by Decarnate on Mar 15 2022 03:45am

the way I see it, you want to build muscle. so you want to get as much blood in that muscle group. legs and triceps are kinda opposite in the body. people usually do triceps with chest or with back. I prefer with chest.

nowadays it's also popular to have two days per week of chest / shoulders / triceps (check nick walker on youtube for example).

another thing is that for example, on day three, I would do leg extensions before squats.

you want to do cardio at the end of the training so you use the glycogen for lifting rather than walking.

not a big fan of planking, not sure how it building muscle. I guess it's good to keep the abs line in check.

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I would suggest something like that day already mentioned, chest shoulders tris / back biceps abs / legs / rest / repeat.

My split is back and bis / chest and tris / shoulders and traps and abs / rest.

The cardio is pretty much at the end, only calves come after because they seem to respond best to a lot of volume. The way I see it, running on my toes/balls of my feet is a decent way to get the calves stimulated before I finish them off with the calf specific training. I guess by your logic, I am pumping blood into the area beforehand.

Regarding the planks, the side plank portion is really where I feel the most benefit, mainly to engage my obliques in a way that incorporates a bit of stabilization. If you have a superior suggestion, I am open to ideas but I will definitely pass on weighted side bends. Don't feel much benefit to those.

I see what you are saying with pumping blood into that muscle group, but my program is essentially doing just that. I have a day primarily for pushing, pulling, legs, etc. If the goal is to have blood reaching a certain part of your body as a means for building muscle, would it really be that much of a detriment to activate a very small single muscle group at the end of my workout? I mean, isn't there more than enough blood to go around? If I am trying to grow my triceps, wouldn't it be better to hit them 3x per week instead of just focusing on them during just my push day? Same goes for side delts, biceps, etc.

if you think it works for you, don't change anything.

EDIT: you would be doing tris and bis twice per 8 days (including 2 rest days) with my suggestion, I think that is enough.

three times per week is too much imo. you're also using it for chest and shoulders.

This post was edited by SanduLungu on Mar 15 2022 05:34am

Well hey thanks for the replies. Interested to see if anyone else with similar knowledge has thoughts or anything to add.

With regard to 3x per week being too much on the triceps, I forgot to mention that my triceps are pretty stubborn and require a lot to actually grow. Do you think it would be more beneficial to combine all of the volume that I am spreading across the week, ie stimulating the muscle a bit each time vs instead packing it all onto a single day? I'm just thinking that could be a lot on my bad elbow, injured it during my time in the military...

my triceps are the same, basically my worst muscle. I noticed that hitting it hard and often doesn't do much. I don't train it that much anymore, but do chest and tris twice a week, seems fine.