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Originally Posted by BigBen931
It actually looks pretty good, but there are two things I can mention without seeing your form, your weight set, your intensity, et cetera.
I hope you just forgot to write it down but are actually doing it: COOLING DOWN. Your 5-7 minutes of stretching at the beginning is a little short, IMHO, but if done very well and you stretch during the workout as well, 5-7 minutes can cut it. You absolutely positively need 10 minutes of cooldown with this routine, especially since some of the exercises you do can really pump you up.
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I do some stretching again at the end, but that's it. I don't get injuries, nor do I get especially sore. I think both the six-second negative and my refusal to do a full negative rep minimizes wear and tear on joints, ligaments, etc. -- at least, that's what the book I got some of my ideas from ("Astrofit") suggested. I'm nearing 50, and when you lift at my age you always have to think about your joints -- at least, if you want to keep on lifting. Are there any cardio health issues involved in cooling down properly?
I don't stretch as such during the workout, but on the day that I do three back extension sets, I space them out throughout the workout. I do them with no weights and a six-second negative, and hang for a bit at full extension on each rep. Both my back and hamstrings get a good stretch.
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Second: If these exercises are in the order you do them, I might be a little concerned about it. You are doing back-to-back sets of back pulldowns, and just adjusting the grip. I would rather you to a leg set (calf raise) in between to give the lats a chance to 'catch their breath'.
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Yes. I often scramble the exercise order extemporaneously, if the next "scheduled' body part doesn't seem ready. But for some reason, I always do those two pulldowns back to back. I should space them out.
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Looks good though. What are you trying to get? overall health? Ripped? Huge? Cardio King? Don't lose focus on your goals and start throwing the iron around just because.
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I'd been working out for 20 years, but I was starting to feel my age -- back kicking up, knees and elbows shaky, things like that. I had been doing a routine consisting largely of machine exercises and isolation exercises, and I read that compound exercises with free weights would do more to increase my core strength. So I tried it, and everything shaped up: back quieted down, major joints basically stopped complaining (that surprised me), and I got a lot stronger while dropping a tiny bit of weight. I think I swapped 9-10 pounds of fat for 6-7 pounds of muscle.
So I basically want a strong and capable middle age (and old age). I wouldn't mind continuing to swap muscle for fat. I don't need to be heavier, but more solid would be nice.