Rodney

Before I get started, I have to say that the following routine is actually working for me. I was fairly strong to start with, but I've lost some fat and gained a significant amount of muscle.

That said, I'm having trouble getting it all done within 45 minutes/an hour, and my performance really drops off toward the last. So I'm looking for people to point out areas of overkill; if you think I'm doing more exercises than I need to in a particular area, let me know and make suggestions. It'd be great if I could do fewer exercises with more intensity and still make progress.

The routine consists of two different full-body workouts performed at 3-to-4 day intervals (depending on how ready I feel). All reps are done with a six-second negative, with a maximum of six reps per set.

Workout A:

5-7 minutes of stretches
Back extension (3 sets)
Bench Press (1 set)
Decline Press (1 set)
Weighted Narrow-Stance Pushups (1 set)
Shoulder Press (bar) (1 set)
Upright Rows (1 set)
Back Pulldown, narrow grip (1 set)
Back Pulldown, wide grip (1 set)
Dumbell Push Press (1 set)
Dumbbell Squat (1 set)
Machine Calf Raise (1 set)
Weighted crunches (10-15)


Workout B

5-7 minutes of stretches
Incline Bench Press (1 set)
Incline Bench Press to neck (1 set)
Weighted dips on machine (1 set)
Shoulder press (1 set)
V-Bar Back Pulldown (1 set)
Dumbbell Clean and Jerk (1 set)
Dumbbell Deadlift (1 set)
Weighted Crunches (10-15)
Seated Shoulder Row (arms high) (1 set)
Standing Circle (type of Dumbbell Press) (1 set)
Back extension (1 set)
Obliques machine (2 sets)

Your comments are welcome. Know also that as an older guy (closing in on 50) I protect my joints by not doing a complete negative movement on all the presses and squats. On some upper body presses, for example, I stop the negative movement when my upper arms are parallel to the ground.

BigBen

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.

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'.

Know what I mean?

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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pje120

You're doing a lot of shoulder work.

If you list what muscles each use in each exercise it will help you choose what to cut down:

5-7 minutes of stretches
Back extension (3 sets) - lower back
Bench Press (1 set) - triceps, shoulders, chest
Decline Press (1 set) - triceps, shoulders, lower chest
Weighted Narrow-Stance Pushups (1 set) - triceps especially, shoulders, chest
Shoulder Press (bar) (1 set) - shoulders, triceps
Upright Rows (1 set) - lats, rear shoulders
Back Pulldown, narrow grip (1 set) - (lower?) lats, rear shoulders
Back Pulldown, wide grip (1 set) - (upper?) lats, rear shoulders
Dumbell Push Press (1 set) - shoulders
Dumbbell Squat (1 set) - legs, abs...
Machine Calf Raise (1 set) - calfs
Weighted crunches (10-15) - abs


Workout B

5-7 minutes of stretches
Incline Bench Press (1 set) - triceps, shoulders, upper chest
Incline Bench Press to neck (1 set) - triceps, shoulders, upper chest
Weighted dips on machine (1 set) - triceps, chest
Shoulder press (1 set) - shoulders
V-Bar Back Pulldown (1 set) - lats, rear shoulders
Dumbbell Clean and Jerk (1 set) - full body?
Dumbbell Deadlift (1 set) - lower back, legs, traps...
Weighted Crunches (10-15) - abs
Seated Shoulder Row (arms high) (1 set) - shoulders
Standing Circle (type of Dumbbell Press) (1 set)- shoulders?
Back extension (1 set) - lower back
Obliques machine (2 sets) - obliques

If you consider the bench presses shoulder work (as you should, a study has proven that you actually use triceps & shoulders more than chest in bench press) you can see that you can easily cut down on some of the shoulder work. Keep the bench presses, but I would get rid of some of the (other) shoulder presses. Back exercises works shoulders, but that's the rear shoulders, while most shoulder exercises work the front/side shoulders, so I wouldn't worry about that.

Also, unless you are doing the back exercises palms in you aren't really doing any bicep work, so I'd recommend doing them that way to add bicep work (as you seem to perfer composite exercises).

It really depends on what you want. I'm assuming you don't want relatively massive shoulders and you didn't realise you were doing so much shoulder work. I guess you could also cut the obliques machine as your obliques will get worked with deadlifts and squats (especially with dumbells).

Rodney

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.

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.

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.

Rodney

I really appreciate the analysis that you did. Yes, I have been hitting the shoulders more than I realized. They have gotten noticeably more massive, and I certainly don't mind that (the wife doesn't, either). But I wouldn't mind cutting one or two of the shoulder exercises to make a shorter and more intense workout. I imagine I'd maintain the size I've gained so far, and that would be fine.

I'll try it. I do prefer compound exercises these days.

Good. I dislike that machine.

highthief

There's really no point stretching prior to working out. It does not prevent injuries and some studies suggest it lessens the explosive power of lifting. Warm up, with lighter weights, to get the blood flowing and the muscles warm but save your stretching to the end. That will cut the time down.

I am not sure what level you are at - the volume of work is seems small (just one set of each exercise but many different exercises for each bodypart) and so I would reduce the number of exercises and increase the number of sets per exercise. I personally don't believe long negatives are required if you are otherwise maximizing the weight you lift and go to failure. Studies are contradictory on the subject, but that's my feeling.

I see no hamstring exercises here. Do you run or do something else that directly stimulates them?

Consider supersetting to get through your workout faster and ramp up your metabolism (unless you are already doing a continuous circuit, in which case it's a similar result).

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Rodney

Interesting. I only started stretching beforehand because I thought I should to prevent injuries. I can't say it's actually say it's made things better. Except for the back extensions, which stretch my lower back and, to a degree, my legs. I've had back problems in the past and always like to make sure my vetebra all have room to breathe before starting a workout :-).

I work out with fairly heavy weight (bench ~240, standing dumbbell shoulder press ~135, etc.) and am interested in intensity. But I'm older, so a lot of my strategy -- slow negs, working each muscle group with a _lot_ of different exercises, and partial reps on some exercise -- are meant to mimimize sudden strain and harmful repetitive stress on joints, ligaments, tendon, etc. Explosive movement from full contraction would definitely be bad for me.

Bicycling.

Since I do single sets of a lot of exercises, the chance for doing that is limited. But I can see a couple of situations where I could, or where I could at least use the same two stations for several different exercises. I do spend a lot of time traipsing around the gym between stations, loading and unloading free weights.

highthief

With regard to the stretching - I've had a back problem in the past and certainly core strengthening along with yoga at the end of the workout has improved my back 90-95%. It's been an amazing thing.

However, with respect to stretching before, yeah - it all started with a big study in the military where they followed thousands of recruits, some of whom stretched prior to their daily exercise and some who did not. There was no difference in injury rates. Further studies showed that powerlifters who did traditional stretches prior to their lifts ended up lifting less.

http://sportsmedicine.about.com/cs/f.../aa022102a.htm

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Rodney

Yeah. I started with yoga about five years ago (separate from my weight workouts, though), and it basically had eliminated problems I had with back spasms; previously, my back would "go out" at least once a year for 5-7 days at a time. Yoga stopped nearly all of that. But I still had back issues and, as described above, started to feel creaky with age. Increasing my core strength has taken care of most of the rest of that.

For instance, coming out of a shoulder stand in yoga, one first lowers one's back to the floor, then lowers one's legs to the floor while keeping them straight. Before my current regime, I could never do that without getting a twinge in my lower back and having to bend my knees somewhat. Now I can lower my legs while keeping them absolutely straight, with no twinge at all.

What kills me is that several "experts" told me to avoid doing the very exercises that eventually helped me -- squats, deadlifts, etc. -- because they would further "injure my back." I suffered back problems for almost 20 years. If I'd know then what I know now, I could have got over them in six months.

highthief

Exactly, you have to strengthen your muscles and things like squats do that. Personally, I've found things like one legged squats, squats on a bosu board and squats while holding a lightly weighted bar overhead are very useful for strengthening (without risking damage to) the back.

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Rodney

Well, I just want to say I digested the advice everyone gave me and put my conclusions to work yesterday. I dropped a couple of superfluous exercises, added a cool-down at the end, and interspersed my three sets of (non-weighted) back extensions throughout the workout to give other muscle groups more time to recover before they were worked again.

As a result, I got the routine off to a fast start and kept my pace and intensity high throughout. I pushed the limits hard on every exercise.

When I was done, I stopped on the way home to pick up some groceries. I was so hammered that I zoned out in front of the olive oil for five minutes. Always the sign of a good workout! :-)