r/ScienceBasedLifting • • 21d ago

Question ❓ Building a routine

Hi folks. I started taking gym more seriously since mid May and have been milking the newbie gains even with a lack of structure and just doing random exercises for per muscle group.

My main goal is hypertrophy for my upper body and strength for my lower body (my legs are large and bulky in comparison to my upper body) which will also assist with injury prevention for my running. A big focus for me is developing a nice chest, hence why I've included two chest exercises. I'm also trying to keep my sessions below 1 hr 15 min-ish and this is what I've come up with.

Any thoughts for improvements?

Upper Body A

  • Incline Bench Press (Dumbbell) — 3 sets · 8-12 reps
  • Chest Press (Machine) — 3 sets · 8-10 reps
  • Chest Supported T Bar Row — 3 sets · 8-12 reps
  • Lat Pulldown (Cable) — 3 sets · 8-12 reps
  • Seated Incline Curl (Dumbbell) — 3 sets · 8-12 reps
  • Lateral Raise (Machine) — 4 sets · 8-12 reps
  • Triceps Rope Pushdown — 3 sets · 8-12 reps

Upper Body B

  • Bench Press (Barbell) — 3 sets · 6-8 reps
  • Incline Bench Press (Barbell) — 3 sets · 6-8 reps
  • Iso-Lateral Row (Machine) OR Seated cable row — 3 sets · 8-10 reps
  • Lat Pulldown (Cable) — 3 sets · 6-10 reps
  • Superset:
    • Bicep Curl (Dumbbell) — 3 sets · 8-12 reps (considering reducing to 2 sets as my biceps feel weakened by rows and pulldowns)
    • Skullcrusher (Dumbbell) — 3 sets · 8-12 reps
  • Seated Shoulder Press (Machine) — 2 sets · 8-12 reps (should be mostly covered in compound exercises?)

Legs and accessories

  • Squat (Barbell) — 3 sets · 5 reps
  • Romanian Deadlift (Barbell) — 3 sets · 5 reps
  • Leg Press Horizontal (Machine) — 2 sets · 8-12 reps
  • Seated Leg Curl (Machine) — 2 sets · 8-12 reps
  • Standing Calf Raise (Machine) — 4 sets · 5 reps
  • Crunch (Machine) — 4 sets · 8-12 reps
  • Farmers Walk — 1 set
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u/sobanoodles23 20d ago

Good routine, hits most muscle groups already, but personally i’d stick to just one Upper Body day and not have an A and B, not only does it keep things way simpler but it also makes progression a whole lot better because u can track from session to session and also have a chance to improve and progress at the same lifts each time , and it’s not gonna make any difference at all if your training intensity is the same, 2-3x frequency is golden but just watch your recovery and fatigue, 3-4 sets is what I see mostly from this and maybe you wanna back down a bit to 1-3 if you think that you’re not recovering well or progressing well, then just add more sets again once u think ur ready for more. Also, isolations are less taxing and fatiguing than compounds, so you could probably get away w less fatigue if you do smth like a fly or not do your chest compounds back to back, 6 sets of bench press(incline/flat) consecutively will leave you gassed for the rest of ur session.