My Current Workout Routine

This is Part 2. See my previous post before you read this one.

Before you do any workout you need to assess your goals. Figure out what you want to achieve. The following workout has been chosen for MY needs: Overall Strength and Mass.

This workout is based on the Compound Workout found at the Muscle and Strength website.

I have changed the workout slightly to fit my needs. Your needs will vary. My specific changes occur when I experience shoulder pain or 'popping'. Some people's knees pop when they do squats or lunges. For me it's my shoulders. So I don't do Chin ups (but I do Pull Ups) and all barbell excercises are with a wide grip.

I added calf excercises (seated and standing). High weight/low rep for Standing, low weight/high rep for seated. I added a second Barbell Bench Press to help build my chest quicker. I use Olympic Rings for Dips and Inverted Rows. Sometimes I do pushups with them. Olympic Rings are an excellent compound workout tool.

I vary the reps and weight. Sometimes lower reps / higher weight just to mix it up. I do the excercises in a different order each time. The weight stays the same during all four sets to keep it simple. If I'm too burnt out to do a single rep, then I drop the weight a bit. I only increase the weight if I'm able to do more than 12 reps. I like to keep the reps below 12, closer to 8, for the first set.

This workout takes me about an hour. If you're new to it, I'd only do 2 sets to start, which will only take a 1/2 hour. You don't ever have to do 4 sets depending on your goals.

I don't do any real cardio. If I have time to workout then I'm going to spend it lifting heavy things. If I don't get DOMS then I'm not working out hard enough. I always warm up with jumping jacks w/ dumbells and sometimes a full set w/ light weight. Stretch only after warmed up.

Videos of all these excercises can be found HERE.

Monday: Chest and Triceps
Barbell Bench Press
Incline Bench Press
Smith Machine Bench
Flys
Dips w/ Olympic Rings - Max reps
French Press

Tuesday: Legs and Abs
Squats
Deadlift
Lunge
Standing Calf Raise
Seated Calf Raise
Leg Raise w/ Crunch w/ 25lbs plate

Wednesday: Rest day

Thursday: Back and Biceps
Wide Grip Pullups - Max reps
Bent Over Barbell Rows
Cable Row
Inverted Row w/ Olympic Rings
Preacher Curl
Barbell Bench Press - Max reps - same weight from Monday

Friday: Shoulders
Military Press
Alternate Arm Seated Dumbell Press
Shrugs
Upright Rows w/ Smith Machine
Leg Raise

Saturday & Sunday: Rest Day