NEW WORKOUT SPLIT AND ROUTINE!!!!!!

DAY 1 SHOUDLERS + TRAPS+CARDIO

Military Press 4 sets 10- 6 reps
Side Laterals 4 sets 15- 10 reps
Front Barbell Raise 4 sets 15- 8 reps
Rear Delt Machine 4 sets 4 sets 12- 8 reps
Barbell Behind the Back Shrugs 4 sets 15 reps
Dumbbell Shrugs 3 sets 15 reps

DAY 2 HAMSTRINGS+ CALVES + ABS

Straight Leg Deadlift (with dumbbells) 4 sets 12 reps
Lying Leg Curl (Hamstring Machine) 4 sets 15 - 8 reps
Seated Calf Raises 4 sets 15 reps
Standing Calf Raises 3 sets 15- 12 reps

DAY 3 CHEST + CARDIO

Incline Dumbell Bench Press 4 sets 12- 6 reps
Dumbbell Incline Fly 4 sets 12- 8 reps
Fly Machine 4 sets 15- 10 reps
Weighted Dips 4 sets 12- 6 reps

DAY 4 BACK + TRAPS

Rack Deadlifts 4 sets 12- 8 reps
Barbell Rows (underhand grip) 4 sets 12- 10 reps
Dumbbell Rows 4 sets 12- 8 reps
Pullups 4 sets 12- 10 reps
Upright Rows (close grip) 4 sets 15- 12 reps
Barbell Shrugs (lean way forward on smith machine) 3 sets 15 reps

DAY 5 BICEPS+ TRICEPS+FOREARMS+CARDIO

Close Grip Bench Press 4 sets 12- 6 reps
Lying Skull Crushers 4 sets 10 reps
Dumbbell Kickbacks 3 sets 12 reps
Cable Pressdown 3 sets 15 reps
Preacher Curl (wide grip) 4 sets 12- 6 reps
Hammer Curl 3 sets 12- 8 reps
Concentration Curls 3 sets 15-10 reps
Wrist Curls 4 sets til failure

DAY 6 QUADS + CALVES+ ABS

Squats 4 sets 12- 8 reps
Leg Presses 4 sets 15- 10 reps
Quad Machine 4 sets 15 reps
Standing Calf Raises 4 sets 10 reps

DAY 7 REST DAY



OK, this is a routine I'm playing around with a little bit.  It's designed for mass.  You have to make sure you're following a good diet routine and taking in at least 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight a day.  It shouldn't leave you too sore.  This is my basic routine.  You can obviously change up the orders of each excerises as the weeks go by, and change the weights if you want.  You can subsitute certain exercises in hear and there when you need to shock your body.  For my cardio days I do 20 to 30 minutes of cardio, either swimming or walking on a treadmill.  On my ab day just makesure youre hitting your obliques as well as your abdominals.  Don't neglect your lower abs either.  I stretch after every workout as well.  It will keep you less sore.  I would suggest taking about a 1 to 2 minute rest between sets as well.  Enjoy it

Powerlfting Winter Workout MASS GAIN

DAY 1 Monday Chest + Back

Bench Press sets 3 3 2 2 1
Dumbell Bench 8 8 6 6
Weighted Dips 8 6 6 4
Seated Rows 10 8 8 8 6

DAY 2 Wednesday Legs

Squat 3 3 2 2 1 1
Leg Curl 8 8 6 6
Leg Extension 8-4
Standing Calr Raises 15 15 15 15

DAY 3 Friday Shoulders and Triceps

Standing Military 10-4
Incline Bench 6 6 6 6
Dumbell Front Raise 8 8 8 8
Close Grip Bench Press 10 8 6 4
Lying Tricep Exentsion 8 8 6 6

DAY 4 Saturday Legs

Deadlift 8 8 8 6 6 6
Leg Curls 10 10 10 10
Smith Machine Lune 6 each leg
Standing Calf Raise 4 15 15 15 15





On tuesday and thursday I usually do ab work and some cardio for 20 minutes.  This is a great program if you want strength and mass gains. 

Winter Bulk Up Program

Back, Traps, and abs 

Deadlifts 3 sets

Barbell Rows 3 sets

Dumbbell Rows 3 sets

Lat Pulldowns 3 sets

Cable Rows 3 sets
Dumbell Shrugs 3 sets

Barbell shrugs 3 sets

 Chest and cardio 

Bench Press 3 sets

Incline Bench 3 sets

Hammer Strength 3 sets

Incline Dumbbell Flyes sets

Dips 3 sets

 Quads  Calves and abs

Squats 3 sets

Leg Press 3 sets

Hack Squats 3 sets

Quad machine 3 sets

Calf Raises 3 sets

Standing Calf Raises 3 sets

 Shoulders, Traps, Cardio

Sitting Barbell Overhead Press 3 sets

Sitting Dumbbell Overhead Press 3 sets

Side Laterals 3 sets

Barbell Upright Rows 3 sets

Bent  Laterals 3 sets

Barbell shrugs behind the back 3 sets

Close grip upright row 3 sets

Biceps and Triceps

Close grip bench press 3 sets

Lying skull crushers 3 sets

Tricep kickbacks 3 sets

Barbell Curl 3 sets

Preacher Curl 3 sets

Hammer Curl 3 sets

Hamstrings  Calves and abs

Straight leg dumbbell deadlifts 3 sets

Lying Hamstring Machine 3 sets

Seated Hamstring Machine 3 sets

Standing calf raises 3 sets

Seated calf raises 3 sets

This is a basic routine for building mass and strength. For the first 3 times u do this workout routine keep the rep range around 12-15 then if you are feeling strong and confident the next 5 weeks you can keep it 12 reps to 10 reps.  Change up the order you do each exercises.  Stick with mass building exercises first for building mass, such as the bench press, deadlift, and squat.  Machines aren’t going to get you very far if you want to get bigger.  You needs to use free weights, barbells, and dumbbells at this point .  Now its been about 2 months since you started lifting I would move the rep range between 10- 6 reps for the next month.  You are going to feel a lot stronger at this point.  For the 1^st week or 2 keep it between 10 to 8 reps then work your way down to 8 to 6 reps in your 3^rd and 4^th week.  You should be sticking with this routine but once in a while adding in some different exercises here and there Example: Cable Pushdowns instead of Tricep Kickbaks.  Now for the last month you might want to test your luck and see how strong you got, that’s what I like to do.  It’s my favorite part.  So I like to keep the rep rangE between 6 to 4 reps.   During the last 2 weeks of training I get as low as 1 rep on the bench.  I get to a 3 rep max on the deadlift and a 4 rep max on the squat.  This last month you train can be about getting stronger or personal goals you can keep the reps between 8-3 reps if you’re not so concerned with strength,  Once again, you are going to be substituting some exercises hear and there, but sticking with compound movements and varying the order of them.  Example Cable Side Laterals instead of regular side laterals.  When you do cardio in this workout I would do a 25 minute session.  Either walk on the treadmill, do sprints in the gym, box, or swim.  Vary it up to keep your body guessing, When you do abs, you should do a lot of bodyweight and core strengthening exercises.  Lying crunches with your legs in the air are my favorite.  Do medicine ball crunches.  Planks, a lot planks, all the time. Those are very important for building a solid core.  Increase the time you can hold it as the weeks go by.  You might wanna do some regular crunches, decline, off the bench too.  But stick with body weight exercises for the most part, It will get your core very strong.  Now my friend, after this 4 month workout, you take a week to a week and a half off, and relax.  Then on to the next phase.

Bowling Ball Shoulders

In my opinion, what makes the upper body so immense is the shoulders.  You could have the biggest chest in the world, but without those shoulders you really are gonna be lacking something.  I've been having some problems bulking up my shoulders for the longest time now, but I finally found a routine that works for me, maybe it will work for you too.  Along with dieting well and doing some good cardio work, you need to hit your shoulders hard.  A  lot of people will tell you, " your shoulders are being worked on your chest and triceps day, they don't need that much attention to grow."  Not true, your shoulders need attention.  If you're shoulder strength and size is lacking I would highly recommend separating shoulders on its own day at the gym.  That's what I am doing now, and it's working wonders for me.  In order for you to get big shoulders you have to make sure u work out your anterior deltoids, medial deltoids, and your posterior deltoids.  To the average man, your front shoulders, side shoulders, and rear shoulders.  You have to hit each one, every week with compound movements.  Hit the fucking free weights, get some plates on the bar, pick up the heavy dumbbells and get going,  The only way you are gonna get huge shoulders is free weights and compound movements.  Cable exercises are meant for toning the muscle that is already there, but if you need size on your wimpy shoulders stick to compound movements.  Here is my sample shoulder routine...

Barbell Overhead Presses 3 sets 12 10 8 reps
Dumbbell Overhead Preeses 3 sets 12 10 8 reps
Side Laterals 3 sets 12 10 8 reps
Rear Delt Flyes 3 sets 12 10 8 reps
Barbell Shrugs 3 sets 15 12 10

Notice the, all free weight exericses.  Barbell presses, number 1, most important if you want to put some mass on your shoulders.  Dumbbell Presses are also a great bulking exericise for your shoulders, specifically your front and medial delts.  Then side laterals are all for your medial delts. Then the rear delt flyes work the back of your shoulders.  Then the shrugs I like to do to keep my traps equally as strong as my shoulders, so theres less of a risk for injury.  I keep the reps the way I do, 12 10 8, specifically for building mass.  This shoulder workout hits every head of your shoulder and will leave you very sore for a beginner lifter, but if you want bowling ball shoulders you gotta just do it

The Mystery of Abdominals

How do I get abs?  The key to getting tone around your mid section so that your abdominals show is all in your diet.  Diet, diet, diet and more diet.  Every single person in the world has abdominal muscles.  But what makes some show and some not?  That would be the amount of fat surrounding it.  Before you start doing any ab exercises you need to make sure you have your diet down and your cardio up.  Diet is key to a good looking stomach.  Make sure you do a lot of cardio, because you need to lose weight and lose your fat in order to see your abs.  I would recommend at least a half hour of cardio a day preferably fat burning cardio exercises.  Sprinting is good, fast swimming, boxing, and quick spinning for women. When trying to get your abdominals to pop out it's very important that you go with cardio that will make you burn fat the fastest.  For example, taking a long slow swim or a long and slow run is going to get you into better long term cardio shape, but fast swims and sprints will make you burn calories faster.  The more calories you burn the quicker your stomach will shrink.  Once you've got that down, make sure your diet is flawless from star to finish.  What I would reccomend for good calories are oatmeal, fruits, vegetables, fish, chicken, beans, and yogurt.  I personally live off of this along with 2 protein shakes a day.  Remember, if you don't diet, the road to getting a six pack is almost impossible to travel.  Once you have those two important things mastered then you can hit the gym.  Now, the abdominals are your stabilizer muscles in your body.  Pretty much every exercise reguardless of what muscle you're working, is hitting the abdominals as well.  Your abdominals balance your whole body all the time.When you walk you are working your abdominal muscles.  They do not need all the attention in the world to grow.  Here is my sample ab routine, I usually do this 3 maybe 4 days a week depending on either my leg day or shoulder day.

Hanging Leg Raises (Front and Side) 4 sets 20 reps
Decline Crunches (Front and Side) 4 sets 20 reps
Medicine Ball Crunches 4 sets 15 reps
Rope Crunches 4 sets 15 reps

This is a basic ab routine stressing the lower abdominals which are always the toughest to hit.  I would highly recommend the hanging leg raises for not only for your lower abs, but for your obliques as well when doing them with a twist.  Decline crunches are very basic, and we will hit your lower abs and upper abs.  When you become more advanced and develop more core strength you may be able to twist at the top and try to hit your obliques a little harder, but for now just stick with normal crunches.  Medicine ball crunches are also great for core strength.  Core strength is core if you want to do every exercise the right way and get the most out of it.  There is a million different types of them, just type in medicine ball abdominal work online, there are so many different exercises.  Lastly, I like to end with rope crunches to really tear my abs.  It's another fairly easy exercise you just have to make sure you do it right.  Once again, if you don't know what they are just type in the name "rope or cable abdominal crunches" on google and familiarize yourself.  Now that you know what to do in the gym, go eat some good food and do more cardio.  Remember bodybuilding is 60 percent diet, 30 percent what you do in the gym and 10 percent genetic. 

Cutting Up In The Gym

Gettiug tone when you're at the gym is basically the complete opposite of my previous article.  Personally, I have a lot of trouble getting tone so I try to diet and do as much cardio as possible.  I'm just going to give you a few tips on getting lean muscle mass while workout out.  First rule of thumb is always to do low weight, but more reps.  Personally I follow the general rep range of 15 to 10 reps.  Yes, it's very high, but that's because we want a very high intensity type of training.  You're cutting phase of working out is definitely a much more intense workout than your bulking up routine.  You will really feel the lactic acid build up in your muscles.  It does hurt but this is how you get toned.  Also, another rule I like to follow is going to the gym more days and splitting up your body parts.  This way, you burn more calories every day, and you don't have as many days at rest.  When you bulk up you want to be in the gym about 3 or 4 days a week.  When you are trying to tone up you should be going about 5 or 6 days a week.  Unlike bulking up, getting tone should involve a lot more cable and machine movements and less free weights.  You definitely should throw in some free weight exercises as well, but cable movements, body weight movements, and machine movements are very important.  Also, your rest period should only be about 1 to 2 minutes between sets.  Unlike bulking up, where you rest 3 to 4 minutes, when you tone up your muscles you want them to be just barely able to perform the next series of reps.  It's much more intense this way, that's why you should always strart off with a weight you can handle pretty easily for 15 reps.  I have found that pyramidding downward once again has benefitted me the most, because you still will keep your strength and build lean muscle as you do it.  Below is my cutting up routine in the gym.

Chest

Bench Press 3 sets 15 12 10
Dumbell Flyes 3 sets 15 12 10
Cable Flyes 3 sets 15 12 10
Machine Flyes 3 sets 15 12 10
Dips 3 sets 15 15 15

Legs

Squats 3 sets 15 12 10
Lunges 3 sets 15 12 10
Quad Extensions 3 sets 15 12 10
Hamstring Exentsions 3 sets 15 12 10
Calf Raises 3 sets 15 12 10

Back

Barbell Rows 3 sets 15 12 10
Lat Pulldowns 3 sets 15 12 10
Hyper Extensions 3 sets 15 15 15
Seated Rows 3 sets 15 12 10
Pull Ups 3 sets 15 15 15

Shoulders

Dumbell Overhead Press 3 sets 15 12 10
Cable Front Raises 3 sets 15 12 10
Cable Crossovers 3 sets 15 12 10
Rear Delt Flyes 3 sets 15 12 10
Barbell Shrugs 3 sets 15 12 10

Biceps, Triceps

Cable Bar Curls  3 sets 15 12 10
Concentration Curls 3 sets 15 12 10

Rope Pushdowns 15 12 10
V Bar Cable Pushdowns 15 12 10

This in a nutshell is my cutting up routine during the spring and summer.  Along with dieting and cardio this is a pretty solid program to follow, and will definitely help you avoid overtaining.  As you can see the reps are high and the weight is low.  This is a 5 day a week program, unlike my bulking up routine which is 3 days a week.  I also throw in abs every day during this routine and I do a short 15 minute cardio session after each workout.  See if it works for you

Bulking Up In the Gym

For some people putting on size is pretty difficult, for other others it is pretty dam easy.  When I first started working out, the easiest thing for me to do was put on weight and get bigger.  I just naturally can get bulky in the gym.  I'm not gonna talk about what foods you should be eating or how much or that what not in this article.  This is strictly gym etiquette how to build mass.  What I have found to work the best for me is to use heavy weight and low reps.  Almost any bodybuilder will tell you the same thing, go heavy and use free weights.  They're correct.  Personally I like to go between 10 to 4 reps in my bulking up phase of training.  For the beginning lifter who wants to get big I wouldn't recommend going anywhere under 4 reps.  The risk of injury is too much.  Go with a weight that you can handle.  Now, once you've gotten that exercise technique down flat you may want to experiment with negative reps or 2 or 1 rep sets.  A negative set is when you work on the downward movement of the muscle contraction.  For example, on a normal curl, you curl the weight up and then you bring it back down.  On a negative set, you start with the weight up and slowly let it go back down until your arms are straight, and then another person lifts the bar back up for you.  This is a little bit of an advanced technique for a young weightlifter.  If you're concentrating on bulking up your body needs rest and you need to have a solid 3 minutes between sets at the gym.  Without that rest, your muscles will not properly be recovered enough to perform more sets.  Bulking up is my favorite part of working out specifically because of the strength gains you make.  If you want to get into a sort of powerlifting routine, your strength willgo up dramatically rather than you doing high reps and low weight.  The key things you have to remember if you're trying to put on size in the gym are as follows.....Keep the reps low, keep the weight high, change up your routine every once in a while to shock your body, use predominatly free weights with some cables thrown in here and there, and make sure you rest a good amount between sets.  This is my sample Bulking up Routine below...And also, all my sets I like to increase the weight a little bit and do more weight lower reps


Chest, Triceps

Flat Bench Press 3 sets  8 6 4
Incline Bench Press 3 sets 8 6 4
Dumbbell Flyes 3 sets 8 6 4
Dumbelle Pullovers 3 sets 8 6 4
Dips 3 10 10 10

Skull Chrushers 3 sets 8 6 4
Rope Pushdowns 3 sets 10 10 10

Back, Biceps

Deadlifts 3 sets 10 8 6
Barbell Rows 3 sets 10 8 6
Dumbell Rows 3 sets 8 6 4
Lat Pulldowns 3 sets 10 8 6
Seated Rows 3 sets 10 8 6

Preacher Curls 3 sets 8 6 4
Hammer Curls 3 sets 8 6 4

Legs, Shoulders

Squats 3 sets 10 8 6
Hack Squats 3 sets 10 8 6
Quad Extensions 3 sets 10 8 6
Hamstring Extensions 3 sets 10 8 6
Calf Raises 3 sets 10 8 6

Barbell Overhead Press 3 sets 10 8 6
Lateral Raises 3 sets 10 8 6
Rear Delt Raises 3 sets 10 8 6
Shrugs 3 sets 10 8 6

This... in a nutshell is my Bulking Up routine for the winter.  I throw in my abdominals usually once every 3 days as well.  This is a good routine and will definitely help you avoid overtraining.  I like to separate the three biggest body parts on diffferent days, chest, back, and legs.  This makes for an easier workout, and you can put way more effort into each muscle group.  Notice, I do not workout my biceps that much because the workout from your back overloads your biceps as well.  The chest routine is pretty tough and definitely will do a number on your triceps as well, so that's why I only work my triceps a little bit afterwards as well.  Your tricep makes up 2/3 of your arm and your bicep is the smallest muscle in your body.  Your triceps are being worked a lot with your chest and shoulder workout, and your biceps get mangled with all your back exercise movements.  Therefore I only throw in 2 exercises for each.  Other than that, Legs is a very difficult day with this routine, but once again, if you are trying to bulk up, it should definitely benefit you.  I know the shoulders routine does look like a lot, especially after a long leg workout, but each exercise I put in is hitting all the heads of your shoulders.  The overhead press is doing a number on your front delts, lateral raises are working the sides of your shoulders, rear dealt raises are working the back of your shoulders, and the shrugs are working your traps.  All in all, I still use this workout today and it has done wonders for my Bulking Phases, hopefully you can get something out of it too. 

Biography

Biography

I've been around the weightlifting lifestyle for quite sometime now. I started playing football when I was a sophomore in High School. As soon as the season came, our coaches made us get into a vigorous fitness program. After the season ended I kept myself in the gym. I had a bench press and some dumbbells downstairs in my basement. Every other month I would go online and read up about weightlifting and design my schedule and diet program accordingly. I stood 5'4 140 pounds after my football season. With all the hard work I put in from sophomore to senior year I walked through the doors of my high school, as a senior with a staggering 5'8 190 pounds build. I was getting complimented left and right about my new appearance and I loved it. My senior year is when I read up a lot about supplementation with different products. Now, I didn't go crazy like some people. I didn't buy the labels that looked the best or the so called "best" supplements. I bought the necessites, your basic creatine and protein. After lifting 5 days a week, 2 hours a day during my senior year I graduated at 5'9 205 pounds. I had a 300 pound bench press, a 475 pound squat, and a 455 pound deadlift. Weightlifting changed my life, and it can do the same for you. In this blog, I'm going to show you some real good links that will help you get into the swing of things and get that body into shape.

Cardio

What I have found the best to do for toning up your muscles and getting defined is swimming.  I swim a quarter mile every day, not all at once though.  I like to do one lap at a time, pretty intense speed, then rest, then do another.  This is a great form of cardio for all weightlifters because it takes a solid 30 seconds a lap .  When you do a set of benching or deadlifting or whatever exercise you may do, you push yourself really hard for about 10 to 15 seconds usually, sometimes more, and sometimes less depending on your rep range.  Well, this type of swimming is perfect for that, because it conditions your heart to work very hard for a shorter period of time, whereas long distance running or long distance swimming will make your heart healthier for the long haul.  I definitely am not gonna say that a long swim and a long run will not help you, but weightlifting wise, the proper way to do cardio should be in short fast movements.  Like sprints for example.  Another short but very intense form of cardio training.  Personally I don't like doing them because, after a while, they start to tear on your knees, but everyone is different.  Personally I have found that short quick swims are the best way to make gains in the weight room as far as cardio endurance.  Any form of cardio is bound to get you lean though, because you are burning calories.  It;s common sense, the more cardio you do, the more calories you burn.  You burn more calories with short quick motions than you do with a long slow cardio session.  Let's not forget that your heart is the biggest muscle in your body.  You have to make sure you work it just as much as every body part.  A simple 15 20 minute cardio session after every workout is all you need.