3 Day Full Body Routine - Advice Wanted

[Chalkie]

Looking for some input and advice from those knowledgeable around here in regards to putting together a 3 day full body workout. Have done madcows 5x5 in the past which I had some great gains from but I found it pretty monotonous and I just ended up with enormous thighs and not much else.

My focus is strength and conditioning to help with injury prevention during sport. I've always been light (currently 70kg) so a bit of mass is always welcome.

Monday
Squats - Legs - 4x6
Military - Shoulders - 4x6
BB Rows - Back - 4x6
Flyes - Chest - 3x8-12
Chinups + Weight - Back/Bicep 3x8-12

Wednesday
Deadlifts - Back - 4x6
Front Squat - Legs - 4x6
DB Bench - Chest - 4x6
Arnold Press - Shoulders - 3x8-12
Dip - Tricep - 3x8-12

Friday
Bench Press - Chest / Tricep - 4x6
Cleans - Back - 4x6
Bulgarian Squat - Legs 4x6
Arnold Press - Shoulders - 3x8-12
Barbell Curl - Bicep - 3x8-12

 

[ajay]

It looks like all strength, and no conditioning.... Maybe put some accessory work in there to work your smaller muscle groups - they seem to be the ones that give all the issues. It seems quite monotonous too, you could alternate your cycles in strength bias and conditioning biases?

EDIT - When you're doing cleans, you could try a complex. ie; @75% 2 clean pulls, 1 hang cleans, 1 power clean, 1 full clean, 2 jerks (split/squat). You'll get more out of the complex than just straight cleans.

 

[Mywifesirrational]

Overall, it doesn't look bad.

A few questions and comments,

What potential injuries and what sport/s? more strength / mass across a joint is general always a good thing, but there may be other things that are beneficial.

Why priorotise shoulders before chest on monday? this pre-fatigues the shoulders as anterior deltoid is highly active in any sort of fly and bench, this means your loading during chest wiill have to be lighter and gains will not be maximised.

Why put one of the toughest upper body compound exercies - dips (presuming dips - tricep is meaning this), at the end of the session on Wednesday.

Same for chins on Monday, once you have enough load off the belt it's going to be hard, I'd place it after squats as it is the second most complex and compound movement for the session.

Maybe separate deadlifts and squats on Weds with an upper body exercise, gives the legs and back time to recover a bit more making the second lower limb exercise better (more load and better form from reduced fatigue).

 

[Chalkie]

Ajay, I agree. I used conditioning as a bit of a throw away term there but I would like to do some speed/agility conditioning style stuff on one day. Just not entirely sure how to structure it....

MWI, I'm playing a lot of soccer and have been having trouble with my knees (although turns out it was largely due to a saphenous nerve entrapment) but also lower back problems due to anterior pelvic tilt which I am trying to correct (with some success). Tight hip flexors are also giving me problems as are tight quads. I'm trying to do some more stretching and yoga but I'm not as disciplined as I should be and struggle to find time to fit it in. Any input regarding that would be great too actually.

In regards to the order of exercises I put them in mental difficulty for me (hardest first, easiest last), which in hindsight is probably the worst way to go about it.

As for the program I think 2 days strength, one day circuit style high intensity.

Workout 1
Barbell Squat - Legs - Push - 4 x 6
Power Cleans - Legs - Pull - 4 x 6
Barbell Bench - Push - Push - 3 x 8-12
Barbell Row - Pull - Pull - 3 x 8-12
Abs - Core - 3 x 12

Workout 2
Lunges - Legs - Pull - 4 x 6
Deadlifts - Legs - Push - 4 x 6
Military Press - Push - Pull - 4 x 6
Weighted Chins - Pull - Push - 3 x 8-12
Abs - Core - 3 x 12

Workout 3 1 min / exercise (not really in any particular order)
Twist Ball Lunge
Hand Walkouts
Towel Pullups
Bench Dips
Planks
Turkish Getups
Pylo Pushups
Med Ball Throw
Depth Jumps
Lateral Jumps

 

[Mywifesirrational]

Massive rates of knee and ankle injuries in soccer, consider some balance and proprioceptive training, some really good evidence has come from the european leagues to show that is can this can either stop a serious knee and ankle injury or at worst minimise the extent of the injury.

I can be arsed retrieving the research at home on a friday night, but things as simple as unilateral wobble board balancing or bosu ball balancing makes a difference. In the studies they did it daily for less than 5 minutes total, get a wobble board and two-three ad breaks per day is all it takes.

Also if the gym has one, single leg jumps onto a mini tramp from the - must stick the landing without a bounce, your lateral jumps are also pretty good preventative exercise.

 

[Chalkie]

Thanks MWI, I already have a wobble board sitting next to my desk at work, but will definitely add in the tramp jumps

 

[rsquared]

Hey Chalkie,

For me, conditioning exercises are those that are designed to decrease your risk of injury (like what MWI has given you) but should also be a select few exercises targeted at correcting your weaknesses. Unless you are trying to build size in a particular muscle or are specifically weak in that muscle and it's affecting you lifting heavier in your big compound lifts, why do the exercise? People (and lots of PT's) do variety for the sake of variety a lot when nailing technique and keeping it simple is all you need most of the time. Spend the time lifting heavier or more volume on the compound lifts (eg. Weighted chin ups will give you a solid gun show. Do a couple more sets of those rather than curls!)

I'll take a guess (as that's all it is without seeing you in person or looking at your technique), given the lower back problems, tight quads/hip flexors, anterior pelvic tilt, cyclist etc, that your glutes are probably pretty inactive and you are quad dominant (thus the big thighs). Doing some simple glute activation exercises pre workout or in-between sets as conditioning exercises may help you fire and strengthen these muscles, lift heavier and assist with some of the muscle imbalance / posture / injury problems.

Your program looks pretty good though. Changing up the reps and weight every couple of weeks will keep you progressing.

 

[dampin26]

but which sport?

What sport are you playing?

It's all basic strength and functional exercises but with out the sport or position it is hard to know exactly what you're building your structure towards.