- Oct 29, 2004
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I structure routines for trainees a variety of ways, dependent on the trainee's goals, recovery ability, and to a lesser degree psychological makeup and lifestyle/work schedule. I am frequently asked what kind of routines I do, and what types of routines I put my trainees on, and as you will see below there is no pat answer because they really do vary a lot. I have other routines posted on my website Iron Addicts if you care to look. Now on to a brief view of some favorites:
Here is a two day a week routine that I have absolute confidence in for myself, and many hardgainers and easy-gainers alike that want to devote time to “bread and butter training. If you have never done a two day a week routine you have no idea how much better you fill “fire” due to the time between workouts and the CNS recovery it allows.
Day One:
Bench Press, or Dumbbell Bench Press
Dips
Military Press, or Dumbbell Press
Heavy Abs
Day Two:
Wide Grip Chins
Barbell Curl
Trap Bar Deadlift Or Conventional Deadlift
Calf Raise
If using a Trap Bar I don't do any other leg-work. When using a strait bar, I will do, or have trainees do leg presses also. Sets can be anywhere from one to ten sets a lift, but are usually closer to 1-3 per lift.
A solid 3-day a week routine format I use a lot is.
Day One:
Dips or Bench Press
Incline Press, or incline Fly
Military Press, Or Hammer Shoulder Press
Day Two:
Hammer Pull-Down or Pull-Up
Hammer Iso-Row, or Barbell Row
EZ-Bar Or Dumbell Curl
Heavy Abs
Day Three:
Squats
Deadlifts, or Stiff-Legged Deadlift
Calf Raise
Sets can again be anywhere from one to ten sets a lift, but are usually closer to 1-3 per lift. This is done Mon/Wed/Fri, or Tues/Thur/Sat. It also works well doing a 3 in 9 day rotation with 2 days rest between workouts.
I also like DC style routines, but I structure the bodypart/days differently than Dogg. To see Dogg does his magic see the “cycles on pennies” thread on “the realm of Doggcrap and Iron Addict” on: http://www.animalkits.be/
For people that “recruit” fairly well, people with slightly above average genetics, or those that want to shift the focus slightly to more size as opposed to strength gains (strength gains are almost always the first priority and size follows) I use a lot of double rotation routines. This is a fancy term for saying the workout changes every other week such as:
Day One:
Bench Press
Incline Press
Military Press
Skull Crushers
Day Two:
Wide grip Pull-Up
Barbell Row
Dumbell Curl
Heavy Abs
Day Three:
Squats
Stiff-Legged Deadlift
Calf Raise
Day One, Week Two
Incline Dumbell Press
Dips
Hammer Shoulder Press
Tricep Push-Downs
Day Two, Week Two
Supinated Grip Pull-Up/Down
Hammer ISO-Row
E-Z Bar Curl
Hanging Leg Raises
Day Three, Week Two
Deadlifts
Leg Press
Leg Press Calf Raise
And yet again, sets can be anywhere from one to ten sets a lift, but are usually closer to 1-3 per lift.
Here is my favorite way to do “volume” work for those that are suited to it. I will list the sets here because it is what defines it as volume.
Day One, Week One
Dumbell Bench Press, 8 sets
Hammer Incline Press 4 Sets
Skull Crushers 5 sets
Lateral Raise 6 sets
Day Two, Week One
Wide Grip Pulldown 8 sets
Chest Supported Row 4 Sets
EZ-Bar Curl 5 sets
Heavy Abs
Day Three, Week One
Squat 8 sets
Stiff legged Deadlift 5 sets
Calf Raises 8 sets
Day One, Week Two
Dips 8 Sets
Fly 5 sets
Dumbbell Shoulder Press 8 sets
Tricep Push-Down 6 sets
Day Two, Week Two
Hammer Row 8 Sets
Supinated Grip Pull-Up/Down 5 sets
Dumbbell Curl 3 sets
Reverse Grip Curl 3 sets
Day Three, Week Two
Deadlift 5 sets
Leg Press 8 sets
Leg Press Calf Raise 6 sets
Hanging Leg Raises 3 sets
All sets are done with a constant weight, and only the last set is to failure.
My Modified Westside Barbell approach is a favorite of mine when all-out strength is the goal. Please note this is NOT how Louis sets up his Westside Routines, but my modification of it for less than gifted lifters. Louis setup works like magic for lifters who recover well though. The max effort lift CHANGES EVERY 2 weeks.
Bench Day:
3 board press. Work up to a max single.
speed bench using 60% of shirtless max 9 sets of 3
tricep pushdown 4 x 10
lateral raise 4 x 10
Squat/Deadlift Day:
good mornings work up to a max single (Louis recommends doing some form of good mornings 60-70% of the time for max effort work. Many variations are done.
Speed squat 9 sets of 2
Glute ham raise 4 x 10
reverse hyper 3 x 10
Upper Back/Assistance Day:
Wide Grip Pull-Up/Down 4 x 10
Barbell Curl 3 x 10
Heavy Abs 2 x 8
Grip Work
OK, there are some of my favorites of mine. Which one is right for you? And in what set/rep structure? Hard to say without knowing a lot about you. But I can say this in full confidence, showing this to 10 lifters, 8 out of ten of them will not pick either of the first two listed, and 8 out of 10 would probably do best doing the first two, or a modified to fit DC style routine. Which do I use? All of them at times. What am I doing at this moment? One similar to the first one…….But that will change soon too.
Iron Addict
Here is a two day a week routine that I have absolute confidence in for myself, and many hardgainers and easy-gainers alike that want to devote time to “bread and butter training. If you have never done a two day a week routine you have no idea how much better you fill “fire” due to the time between workouts and the CNS recovery it allows.
Day One:
Bench Press, or Dumbbell Bench Press
Dips
Military Press, or Dumbbell Press
Heavy Abs
Day Two:
Wide Grip Chins
Barbell Curl
Trap Bar Deadlift Or Conventional Deadlift
Calf Raise
If using a Trap Bar I don't do any other leg-work. When using a strait bar, I will do, or have trainees do leg presses also. Sets can be anywhere from one to ten sets a lift, but are usually closer to 1-3 per lift.
A solid 3-day a week routine format I use a lot is.
Day One:
Dips or Bench Press
Incline Press, or incline Fly
Military Press, Or Hammer Shoulder Press
Day Two:
Hammer Pull-Down or Pull-Up
Hammer Iso-Row, or Barbell Row
EZ-Bar Or Dumbell Curl
Heavy Abs
Day Three:
Squats
Deadlifts, or Stiff-Legged Deadlift
Calf Raise
Sets can again be anywhere from one to ten sets a lift, but are usually closer to 1-3 per lift. This is done Mon/Wed/Fri, or Tues/Thur/Sat. It also works well doing a 3 in 9 day rotation with 2 days rest between workouts.
I also like DC style routines, but I structure the bodypart/days differently than Dogg. To see Dogg does his magic see the “cycles on pennies” thread on “the realm of Doggcrap and Iron Addict” on: http://www.animalkits.be/
For people that “recruit” fairly well, people with slightly above average genetics, or those that want to shift the focus slightly to more size as opposed to strength gains (strength gains are almost always the first priority and size follows) I use a lot of double rotation routines. This is a fancy term for saying the workout changes every other week such as:
Day One:
Bench Press
Incline Press
Military Press
Skull Crushers
Day Two:
Wide grip Pull-Up
Barbell Row
Dumbell Curl
Heavy Abs
Day Three:
Squats
Stiff-Legged Deadlift
Calf Raise
Day One, Week Two
Incline Dumbell Press
Dips
Hammer Shoulder Press
Tricep Push-Downs
Day Two, Week Two
Supinated Grip Pull-Up/Down
Hammer ISO-Row
E-Z Bar Curl
Hanging Leg Raises
Day Three, Week Two
Deadlifts
Leg Press
Leg Press Calf Raise
And yet again, sets can be anywhere from one to ten sets a lift, but are usually closer to 1-3 per lift.
Here is my favorite way to do “volume” work for those that are suited to it. I will list the sets here because it is what defines it as volume.
Day One, Week One
Dumbell Bench Press, 8 sets
Hammer Incline Press 4 Sets
Skull Crushers 5 sets
Lateral Raise 6 sets
Day Two, Week One
Wide Grip Pulldown 8 sets
Chest Supported Row 4 Sets
EZ-Bar Curl 5 sets
Heavy Abs
Day Three, Week One
Squat 8 sets
Stiff legged Deadlift 5 sets
Calf Raises 8 sets
Day One, Week Two
Dips 8 Sets
Fly 5 sets
Dumbbell Shoulder Press 8 sets
Tricep Push-Down 6 sets
Day Two, Week Two
Hammer Row 8 Sets
Supinated Grip Pull-Up/Down 5 sets
Dumbbell Curl 3 sets
Reverse Grip Curl 3 sets
Day Three, Week Two
Deadlift 5 sets
Leg Press 8 sets
Leg Press Calf Raise 6 sets
Hanging Leg Raises 3 sets
All sets are done with a constant weight, and only the last set is to failure.
My Modified Westside Barbell approach is a favorite of mine when all-out strength is the goal. Please note this is NOT how Louis sets up his Westside Routines, but my modification of it for less than gifted lifters. Louis setup works like magic for lifters who recover well though. The max effort lift CHANGES EVERY 2 weeks.
Bench Day:
3 board press. Work up to a max single.
speed bench using 60% of shirtless max 9 sets of 3
tricep pushdown 4 x 10
lateral raise 4 x 10
Squat/Deadlift Day:
good mornings work up to a max single (Louis recommends doing some form of good mornings 60-70% of the time for max effort work. Many variations are done.
Speed squat 9 sets of 2
Glute ham raise 4 x 10
reverse hyper 3 x 10
Upper Back/Assistance Day:
Wide Grip Pull-Up/Down 4 x 10
Barbell Curl 3 x 10
Heavy Abs 2 x 8
Grip Work
OK, there are some of my favorites of mine. Which one is right for you? And in what set/rep structure? Hard to say without knowing a lot about you. But I can say this in full confidence, showing this to 10 lifters, 8 out of ten of them will not pick either of the first two listed, and 8 out of 10 would probably do best doing the first two, or a modified to fit DC style routine. Which do I use? All of them at times. What am I doing at this moment? One similar to the first one…….But that will change soon too.
Iron Addict