What's your workout routine?

[Smiter]

A pet peeve of mine is that men put way too much emphasis on upper body exercises. Most of our muscles mass is below the waist, and it makes little sense to me to not work these out more, if looking to add or retain muscle.

Interesting hypothesis, but with a clear and so blatantly obvious response that it would be the definition of 'Duh' in the dictionary.

if looking to add or retain muscle.

That's the means, not the end.

Most muscle mass below the waist? I'm not so sure. Stronger? Mayhaps. Though, I totally agree we should train our legs. Only, I think lower body training should be done differently than upper body parts. You know, since the knee, hip, and ankles are some of the most affected by senescence.

 

[Habibibi]

Most muscle mass below the waist? I'm not so sure. Stronger? Mayhaps. Though, I totally agree we should train our legs. Only, I think lower body training should be done differently than upper body parts. You know, since the knee, hip, and ankles are some of the most affected by senescence.

I thought that was obvious: largest muscle is gluteus maximus, second largest is quadriceps, fourth largest is hamstrings.

 

[Smiter]

I thought that was obvious: largest muscle is gluteus maximus, second largest is quadriceps, fourth largest is hamstrings.

Yes, that is so. So, dont you think it makes it more important to train upper body more? Because the leg muscles are inherently stronger and also one more thing. In many upper body exercises, the legs get trained anyway, right? I always think of Roberto Carlos.

 

[modoodom]

38M, 185 lbs.

I run a Mon/Wed/Fri full-body lifting setup and do runs Tue/Thu/Sat (mostly zone 2). Usually around 20 miles running weekly plus another ~20 miles walking. Sunday is full rest or sometimes just an easy walk.

I organize lifting into blocks so the workouts flow quickly and recovery stays manageable with all the cardio:

Block 1 (4 sets) = heavy compounds

• Squat
• Bench press
• Lat pulldown

Block 2 (3 sets) = posterior chain + secondary strength

• Romanian deadlift
• Overhead press
• Single arm row

Block 3 (3 sets) = chest hypertrophy/accessories

• Incline chest press
• Lateral raises
• Chest flys

Block 4 (3 sets) = finishers/core

• Biceps curls
• Skull crushers
• Calf raises
• Hollow body rocking

Usually around ~44k lifted volume per workout (~130k+ weekly total). Full body has worked way better for me than body-part splits when combining lifting with this much running/walking. Biggest thing I’ve learned is consistency and progressive overload matter more than constantly changing exercises.

Just started taking reta too.

 

[Whiynot20026]

I hit 4 workouts a week. 2 upper and 2 lower. Upper Monday and Friday. Lower Tuesday and Saturday.

Upper

Side Lateral arm raise 3 sets
Military dumbell press slightly declined 3 sets
Preacher Curl 3 Sets
Cable tricep pull downs 3 Sets
Declined Bench Press 3 Sets
Chin-ups 3 Sets
Dips on dip bar 3 Sets

This takes me 45 to 50 minutes. 2 Minute rest between sets. Same for lower.

Lower

Leg lifts 3 sets
Hamstring curls 3 Sets
Seated Calf raise 3 Sets
Glute bridge machine 3 Sets
Lunges 3 Sets of 20

 

[Habibibi]

Yes, that is so. So, dont you think it makes it more important to train upper body more? Because the leg muscles are inherently stronger and also one more thing. In many upper body exercises, the legs get trained anyway, right? I always think of Roberto Carlos.

And vice versa. With compound movements, both eventually get trained. Core, back, and grip strength are all part of keeping great form for squats and deadlifts. So as long as my core is strong enough to support the weight on my shoulders, I see no need to dedicate separate time for core work.

From a purely efficient point of view : Muscle growth is localized, so stimulating growth in a large muscle will yield more raw muscle mass. So to me, this puts lower body ahead.

Now, if taking into account aesthetics, that will change, and also there's genetic limit to how much a muscle can grow anyway. So eventually, you'll have to look for gains in other places. But to me, it makes little sense to not to start with the place with the biggest/easiest gains first.

 

[octopusthorpe]

56 M 288bs. Started at 279 two months ago, shot up over 300 immediately despite the calorie deficit (had to be mostly water weight and a little muscle). Now the weight is starting to come back off. My muscles are totally jacked, like crazy unexpected jacked like I was 19 again.

Stack: Reta/Tesa/Ipa/Klow

I lift every morning, then run/walk/hike on my Nordictrack for 45 minutes.

Day 1) Chest/Back:
Incline bench/dumbbell rows: 3 sets of 12/10/8 each
Flat Dumbell Flys/Nordic curls: 3 sets of 12/10/8 each
Decline cables/Lat Pull downs: 3 sets of 12/10/8 each

Cardio after

5-10 mins stretching

Day 2) Shoulders/Bi's/Tri's:
Standing front press/seated hammers/dumbbell kickbacks 3 sets of 12/10/8 shoulders - 2 sets of 12/10 bis and tris
Dumbell side raises/EZ preachers/Cable pushdowns 3 sets of 12/10/8 shoulders - 2 sets of 12/10 bis and tris
Cable rear delts/seated concentration curls 3 sets of 12/10/8 shoulders - 2 sets of 12/10 bis

Cardio after

5-10 mins stretching

Day 3) Legs:
Squats/Extensions/Curls/Lunges/Calf raises 3 sets of 12/10/8

Cardio after

5-10 mins stretching

I usually do two back to back cycles for 6 straight days and rest on day 7. I also swap out various exercises every few weeks (Flat bench/incline flys, seated military for shoulders, deadlifts for back, etc.

I've been following a traditional powerlifting split (plus accessories) for almost 10 years. My current schedule is:
Monday: Barbell squats (main lift - current 1RM: 225lb), one-arm rows, sled push/pulls, KB back ext, kb decline situps
Tuesday: Cardio/mobility work
Wednesday: Bench press (main lift - current 1RM: 125lb), lat pulls, triceps, lat raises, sled push/pull, kb back ext, kb decl situps
Thursday: Home workout: curls (hammer, incline, concentration) DB OHP, upright rows, russian twists, KB calf raises
Friday: Deadlifts (main lift - current 1RM: 320lb), standing barbell OHP, sled push/pull (I really like sled obv), TRX rows, KB back ext, kb decline situps
Saturday: Hiking (usually 20-30 miles)
Sunday: Rest day

Female, 50 yo,
I'm on 1mg/week reta, and 15mg/week test-c (for perimenopause but dosing a bit extra for the lifting gains - no virilization after 2 years)

 

[JimGainz]

Shoulders get worked on push days.

True. Few people realize that shoulders and triceps get worked during Push and biceps get worked during Pull and don't need more than one (maybe two) exercises. Your shoulders work fine, until they don't ... so play it safe and focus on Side Lateral Raises.

 

[frostycobbler]

Was tired of doing bro split for over 10 years and also takes long (2-2.5 hours for me)
Now I limit my gym sessions to 60-90mins doing PPL every 6 days with Sundays set for rest day.

 

[jmon1977]

Soon to be 49 year old male here. I run a rolling split so I'm not always doing the same muscles on the same days every week. I do Upper, Lower, Push, Pull, Legs, Rest, repeat. Upper and Lower days are almost exclusively big compound moves (aside from some arm or calf work). PPL days typically start with compounds, but also include isolation/accessories. My body loves volume, so I do ~30 sets per day. Sets are taken to 1-2 RIR or sometimes failure. I like to incorporate things like drop sets, rest/pause, etc. Typically hover in the 8-15 rep range for most sets.

 

[mrmors]

Mine is back, push, arms, legs, run, repeat. No rest days.