Gym Program Advice

Hi Guys,

I have been in the gym for 3-4 years now. 2 cycles down and starting next one in a few weeks.

I need some advice on the following gym program. It is focused on shedding fat and i want to make sure I am targeting all muscle groups from all angles (correct angles)

Day 1
Chest:

Cable Cross 3x30 (Pre-exhaust)

Incline BB PRess 3x15

Flat Bench DB Press 3x15
superset Incline Flye 3x15

Decline Bench 3x15

Pec Deck / Dumbell Squeeze press 3x15

Calves:
Seated Calf raise 3x20
Standing Calf Raise 3x15

Day 1

Chest:
Cable Cross 3x30 (Pre-exhaust)
Incline BB PRess 3x15
Flat Bench DB Press 3x15
superset Incline Flye 3x15
Decline Bench 3x15
Pec Deck / Dumbell Squeeze press 3x15

Calves:
Seated Calf raise 3x20
Standing Calf Raise 3x15


Day 2:

Legs:
Pre-exhaust
Leg extension super set lying leg curl 3x30
Squat 3x15
Leg press 3x15
Walking Lunges 3x15
Stiff leg deadlifts / romanian deadlift 3x15
Seated hamsting curl 3x15

Abs:
Hanging leg raise 3x20
Machine Crunches 3x15


Day 3:

Shoulders:
Pre- exhaust
DB Shoulder press 3x30
Machine Shoulder press 3x15
Side raises 3x15
DB Seated Bend over rear delt raise 3x15
superset Machine reverse flyes 3x15
DB Front raise alternating 3x15


Day 4:

Back:
Cable Row 3x30 (Pre-exhaust)
Wide grip lat pulldown 3x15
superset close grip front lat pulldown 3x15
T-bar row 3x15
Rope front lat pulldown 3x15
DB one arm row 3x15
Deadlift 3x15

Calves:
Leg press calf press 3x20
Donkey Calf raise 3x15


Day 5:

Bicep:
Cable close grip curl 3x30 (pre-exhaust)
DB Alternate Incline Curl 3x15
superset EZ bar curl 3x15
BD Concentration Curls 3x15

Tricep:
Cable tricep pushdown 3x30 (pre-exhaust)
Skullcrushers 3x15
superset kickbacks 3x15
Seated Overhead tricep extentsion 3x15

Abs:
Decline crunch with weight 3x21
Machine Crunches 3x15

I mainly need advice regarding my upper chest. It is not where I would like it to be.

Also legs, I enjoy a 6 day gym routine. Would anyone advise on splitting legs over2 days one focusing and hammies and other day on quads etc.

Also shoulders, rear delts seem to lack just a bit. And overall shoulder advice.

Thanks

2 cycles in down, anything you do in gym when you're juiced gives good results, but why 15 reps per set? Legs are more forgiving but it's not optimal for hypertrophy.

It's easy to recommend exercises for lagging body parts, but it's kind of pointless if you've been training a while.

As you get bigger the list of shit you need to refine to chisel your stubborn muscles groups gets more complex. Focus on which 'lifting principles' need attention for your lagging parts, like the right range of motion, time under tension, progressive overload, exercise variation, etc.

Without seeing how you look, and knowing your training history and what has worked for you it'll be throwing random flip a coin type advice to tell you what exercises and how many sets of each to try.

YouTube - best free source of lifting advice straight from IFBB pros. Here's one. See all his videos linked :

You can also follow John Meadows he knows his stuff try some of his methods and routines.

Like MA said 15 reps every set on everything is not optimal.

Do 5 sets 15 12 10 8 6
Or 4 sets 15 12 10 8

I go for 15 12 10 8 8

Sorry just to add Hypertrophy rep range is 8 to 12 reps

Thanks for the input,

The reason for 15 reps is to burn more and tone.

I don't always train for 15 reps, mostly 4 x 8-8-10-12 or 4x 12 or 4x8 and 4x 12-10-8-8 and 4x15-12-10-8

From all those rep ranges I tried before I enjoy 4x12 or 4x8 more and not so much the 4x 15-10-8-8 or 12-10-8-8. Its a mind shift thing, because I know I am doing 15 reps or 12 reps so the weight I choose to lift is lower that what I would be able to do i.e shoulder press, I know I can do 32kg in a hand for 12 reps if I do 4x12, but because I do 12-10-8-8 I go lower to 28 i.e. It is just a mind set thing that I constantly battle and try to push myself.

My main goal at the moment is to shed fat while focusing on the lacking areas.

esgaroth wrote: I mainly need advice regarding my upper chest. It is not where I would like it to be.

Also legs, I enjoy a 6 day gym routine. Would anyone advise on splitting legs over2 days one focusing and hammies and other day on quads etc.

Also shoulders, rear delts seem to lack just a bit. And overall shoulder advice.

Thanks

For your rear delts and delts in general I would avoid preexhausting them, they are a small muscle they don't really need it. Warm up through full range of motion in rounding movements etc get them nice and loose and then start with your weak area- rear delts. Kill it through varying reps and sets, 8-15 reps per set, maybe 5 sets - change the angles until you find exactly what hits them in the first sets with higher reps and then lower them if you want to. I like to use cables, you can really focus on them and get a good burn. Then move through the other raises. You can finish with shoulder press if you want but I find arnold presses to be more effective.

With legs I like to preexhaust curls and extensions before moving through all of the more "feeling it" exercises like lunges, straight leg DL, leg press and then maybe doing squats at the end or near it.

Try slow repetitions with guillotine presses on the smith machine for your upper chest, push the elbows backward as you bring the bar down, fiddle with the movement a bit to feel when it hits your upper chest and then just repeat that movement.I also like doing one arm cable cross overs and just fiddling around until I can feel it burning in my upper chest then increasing the weight.

solid advice hormonas. I find myself doing that on all exercises. If i don't feel it burning where i want then i don't think i did a solid exercise/set.

We need to realise that even with exercises our bodies still react/feel differently to other hence the need to fiddle/angle until we get the right spot and feel the muscle working the way we want and where we want.

Well said hormonas.

There's a man that knows what he's doing in the gym...training on feel!

+1

Thanks Hormonas,

Solid advice +1

Do you have any tips for back? Mainly lats and arms as well while we are at it

esgaroth wrote: Thanks Hormonas,

Solid advice +1

Do you have any tips for back? Mainly lats and arms as well while we are at it

Glad you found it helpful! I hope this doesn't seem like I am overcomplicating things, just little tips I have picked up along the way which take a while to explain haha.

I like to use single arm cable movements for back so that I can really stretch when moving eccentrically and then pull and twist slightly to get the full contraction. For lat pulldowns I try to move my elbow "around" and then almost try to touch them against the back/side of my hips to pinch the lats at the bottom of the movement. For lower lats I like to stand back on the cable crossover machine, bend my upper body forward in line with the cable's angle and then try to pinch my elbows together behind my lower back when I contract with various hand positions.

With triceps I like to start with overhead tricep extensions and finish with bodyweight extensions seen in this video I highly recommend doing these as a finisher and you can do them with your legs far back and as you start to fail you can walk your legs closer to the bar to make it easier and then you can also do negative reps without needing a spotter with this movement by "standing up" while in the concentric phase and lowering yourself down slowly until you can't anymore. A good way to make sure you have reached failure.
With normal tricep extensions, put your elbows slightly infront of your body rather than right next to it, allow the weight to pull your elbows up slightly when in the stretch position but don't use momentum from that, straighten your arms while keeping your elbows in place and finally with your arms straight bring your hands from infront of your body to just behind your bum. Triceps are used to extend the shoulder (bring the arms backward) as well as the elbow joint so try to do both in one movement.

For biceps in your last sets of curls you can include raising the elbows up after curling the weight. The biceps help with flexion at the shoulder joint (bringing the arms forward) so I find it a great finisher incorporating this little extra movement. I usually start with incline curls for the full range of motion, either incline curls or standing infront of the cable crossovers, lifting my chest to the sky, pushing my elbows back and curling up to my shoulders.

Just to give some feedback,

I made small adjustments to my program with the advice from the guys and applied the advice from Hormonas (the tricep finisher is a mother)

So training changed as follows:

Day 1
Chest:

Machine Flye 3x30 (Pre-exhaust)

Smith Machine Guillotine press 4x 15-12-10-8

Flat Bench DB Press 4x15-12-10-8
superset Incline Flye 4x15-12-10-8

Decline Bench 4x15-12-10-8

Cable Cross 4x15-12-10-8

Day 2
Leg day 1 (Quads)
Still working this out,

Calves

Day 3
Shoulders

Standing Around the world 3 sets for warm up (not exhaust)

Face pull 4x 15-12-10-8
super-set Reverse flyes 4x 15-12-10-8

Side raises 4x15-12-10-8

Alternating front raise 4x15-12-10-8

Arnold press 4x15-12-10-8

Abs:
2 ab exercises

Day 4: Rest

Day 5
Leg day 2 (Hammies and Glutes)
Still working on this

Calves:
2 calf exercises


Day 6
Back

Cable Row 3x30

Wide grip lat pull down 4x15-12-10-8
super-set Bent over lat pulldown 4x15-12-10-8

T-bar row 4x15-12-10-8

DB one arm row 4x15-12-10-8

Deadlift 4x10

Day 7
Arms:
Bicep:
Cable close grip curl 3x30 (pre-exhaust)

DB Alternate Incline Curl 4x15-12-10-8
superset EZ bar curl 4x15-12-10-8

BD Concentration Curls 4x15-12-10-8

Tricep:
Cable tricep pushdown 3x30 (pre-exhaust)

Skullcrushers 4x15-12-10-8
superset kickbacks 4x15-12-10-8

Seated Overhead tricep extension 4x15-12-10-8

Abs:
Decline crunch with weight 3x21
Machine Crunches 3x15

Day 8 Rest

Any notes or input regarding this would be greatly appreciated. I would like to have 2x leg days as well as a rest day after every 3days training esp with legs twice a week.

Bud I believe legs are a unit and should be trained as such. Do 3 qaud excercises you can go up to 5 sets on quads and up the reps. 2 ham excersises are plenty if you work the muscle and do not let the weight work you so slow controlled reps. Calves go 3 types like seat calf raise. Donkey Calf raise and standing calf raise. If your legs are not like jelly after you half assed somewhere.

This is more a post about general advice on my training.  Some background and apologies for the long post:
Been training since 1990, I am now almost 52.  Started off with powerlifting moves and competed at varsity but moved away from it in my early 30's.  
Used EQ and Test E since then on and off and since I turned 45 been on TRT somewhere between 300mg and some weeks 500mg per week of Test E.  Bloodwork remains good.
Dropped a lot of fat since Covid from 136kgs down to 117kgs now with BF around 15% to 17%.
My training style is mainly similar to HIT of Dorian Yates and I can do lots of damage in 30 mins with good form and weight.
Monday lats and rear delts, Tuesdays chest, Wednesdays rowing, Thursday bi and tri's, Friday shoulder rehad work and Saturday legs.
From a size perspective pretty decent size although I don't measure - size 38 trousers and 54 jacket - anything upper body is XXXL.
I am no bodybuilder and have never competed and also do not plan to.
Some minor left rotator cuff challenges which I manage.  Piriformis which I manage and had a 2019 left pattelar tendon fixed after a squatting incident went south after antibiotics.
I sense my body is getting to a point where, some days, I am at gym but while the focus and will is there, the aches here and there are challenging.  I would like to get my bodyweight down some more without looking like a vegan, I guess I am still somewhat hooked on the WTF look.
So the question is this. .
Higher reps and lighten the load on the weight what else?  Diet is quite rigid - intermitted fasting and 70% cals from fat - averaging 100g protein per day.