Need help mixing up my lifting routine...

[4_Legs_Good]

First of all, I'm a pathetic 173ish lbs and 6'2" tall. I'm a VERY hard gainer (been working at this for 2 years and have gained maybe 18 lbs).

The last several weeks - couple months (with 2 weeks or so off due to illness - lost 3-4 lbs in that period), I've been doing a...

M: chest/triceps/shoulders
T: back/biceps
W: legs (the most commonly skipped, of course!)
Th: chest/triceps/shoulders
F: back/biceps

I'm definitely in need of a change of pace, though I do like the routine I do, which consists of attempting to alternate exercises in different areas. For example

Monday:
50 dips (usually in 5 sets)
Rear delts on the reverse fly machine
French Press with a dumbell
Incline press
Upright rows
tricep pulldowns

(I hope I sound like I know what I'm talking about, because I'm bluffing)

I usually do a warm-up set of 12 with just bar or very low weight. Then 2 sets of 8-12 reps, add 5-10 lbs for 2 sets of 6-8, add 5 lbs 2 sets of 4-6, then usually a cooler down with 8 reps of (set#1 - 5lbs). One minute between each real set.

On back/biceps day I rotate between a back and then a biceps exercise.

Anyway, my new plan I expect to be more localized:

M: Chest
Tu: Back
W: Legs
Th: Shoulders
Fr: Arms

But my main question is (and I've done this routine once before and it seemed to work out okay): is this enough repetition to make any gains, since I'll only be targeting each area once a week. Granted there's lots of of overlap, but I just don't want to embark on a routine that's going to not tax things properly.

My goal is to gain 2 more solid pounds in the next 6 weeks (which is when Jr. #2 is born). Most of this is still regaining from the lost weight when I skipped out on the gym for 2ish weeks last month. Then I'm going to have to go into a holding pattern for a couple months while we adjust to the new kid - which means zero sleep and a distinct desire to take naps on my lunch breaks instead of going to the gym.

Sorry to go on, but any advice would be appreciated.

Oh, I have about an hour every weekday at the gym.

david

[wildeyed]

1. It took me a full year to get back into a routine after the birth of our

second. He really didn't start sleeping regularly until then.

I have no advice about lifting since I mostly climb and do yoga. But good luck with the new baby!

[4_Legs_Good]

2. Yikes! Is #2 much worse than #1?

I expect it will be as bad (#1 is now 2.5) because you have #1 to worry about too and #2 will affect #1 and vice versa. But I'm also going to be less paranoid, I think, about #2 than I was about #1.

*sigh* I gotta get ready for this.

david

[wildeyed]

3. You can't be ready. It is like a force of nature.

Gawd, newborns are sooooo much work. Just get as much sleep as possible, eat right and spend so one-on-one time with your SO before the birth.

#2 was more than twice as hard as #1 for us. Partly, #2 is just a higher maintenance kind of guy. But also, there are no breaks anymore with two. With one, they always went to sleep at some point, but with two, someone is always up and active. And usually cranky, too.

Don't mind me, I am sure it will go easier for you than it did for us. Good luck!

[4_Legs_Good]

4. Yikes!!!!! How old was your #1 when you had #2?

I'm nervous that things will be exactly as you describe. Our #1 is high maintenance, and the first 3 months of his life were the hardest of mine. If #2 is as difficult. Ugh!!!

oh well, as you say, it's a force of nature.

Thanks for the warning!

david

[wildeyed]

5. Mine were two years apart.

If I were doing it over, I might have waited three.

On the plus side, you had a difficult baby, so you are due for an easy one. Also, you have experience this time, so much that confounded you last time will be second nature. You will worry less because you know that babies are actually tougher than they look.

One thing I had to learn, each baby has its own personality. When my son would fuss, I would do exactly what I did to soothe my daughter. But he was his own self and needed something different. It took me awhile to figure that.

Now it is great. My son is 2 and my daughter is 4. They talk and play together and seem to have genuine affection for each other. Next year my son starts preschool and I will have two, count 'em, two entire mornings off per week :bounce: It is getting better and better. Cannot wait to be done with the diapers. That's next :)

[ZenLefty]

6. Your first training split is a pretty good one.

That's called the push-pull-legs split. Push exercises are tricep, chest and shoulders. Pull is back and bicep. Legs, well, they're legs. I mix my routine around a lot, but I almost always go back to the push-pull-legs routine.

You can get very good results with the second split (especially if you've hit a brick wall with the first method). You get to focus on one body part the whole day, and really work it as hard as you can. One thing I'd do is switch it to:

M: Chest
T: Shoulders
W: Back
Th: Arms
F: Legs

Your chest, back and legs are your real powerhouse groups. Work them to death, and let them rest for a day before working another powerhouse. You get a lot of crossover with those, as your arms get worked four days a week, you get some rear deltoid work done with back exercises and you get some shoulder work done when you do chest. Legs are the only thing that don't cross over, except maybe on Back day, depending on what you do.

Another more leg intensive split would be:

M: Chest & Shoulders
T: Legs, light weight
W: Back
Th: Arms
F: Legs, heavy

Light legs are things like machine work, lunges, and cable flies (mix in calves and hamstrings too). Heavy can be squat, hack squat and leg press.

[4_Legs_Good]

7. Cool! Thanks a lot for the tips

I'm always nervous about mixing stuff up too much, but I know it's required.

Thanks again!

david

[midnight armadillo]

8. Do some squats on 'leg' day

If you're a hardgainer type, everything I've read says big compound moves are best for you. I'm more of an easygainer - muscle, fat, easy on, hard off...

So yeah, I'd suggest squats on your leg day. Find someone to teach you the standard Olympic style - nearly vertical back, narrowish stance, squat all the way down ("make a stain on the floor" as they say), bar high on the shoulders. Mix that up with some good mornings and you'll be in good shape. There are many squat variations too, of course - front squats, overhead squats, powerlifting style, etc.

You might want to consider adding some weight to your dips if you can do 5 sets of 10 reps and you're trying to add some muscle.

[4_Legs_Good]

9. Thanks!

I'd love (well, not really LOVE) to get back into squats and deadlifts, but my back is still hurting from an injury a few weeks ago. I am kinda waiting for it to go away before I put too much stress on the ol' spine again.

Anyway, thanks for the tips. I can probably get back into squats next week (I'm a total wus, though, WRT weight and squats, and I'm sore for days afterwards).

You're right about adding weight to the dips too. I gotta figure out how to do that and where they keep the belts and chains and stuff in my gym.

I've never done Good Mornings, but somehow the name seems sooooo sinister!

Thanks again!

david

[midnight armadillo]

10. Good mornings...

http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/GluteusMaximus/BBBentKneeGoodMorning.html

This describes the Good Morning in a nutshell. Don't do 'em if your back hurts :-)

[IronLionZion]

11. You might be overtraining

Try working out 3 days a week for like a month to see how that works out. Your push pull leg rotation is good, but try mixing up the actual excercises. Like tricep extensions instead of bench press. You should mix it up every month or every 4 weeks.

I've heard free weights will work better than machines. I've also heard you should try in your last set to bring it down really slow. Like 3 seconds up and 7 seconds down. That is supposed to get deep inside your muscle fibers and you'll really feel it burn.

And diet is really important but I have terrible diet so I can't help you there.

Check out this website: http://www.fastmusclegain.com/ the basic advice is free but you can pay for extra stuff if you want.

hope this helps
:hi: