James' Journal *New pic page 7*

Hey well done on all the increases mate. Looks like you're really putting in the effort, and it's obviously paying off for ya too.
 
Calf raises are a def a good addition,  it is squats and deads that will build them up no doubt, but adding these in will certainly help to bring them out too.

How do you find training shoulders after chest?

Cheers buddy, feels great to post a really good session

To be honest I find shoulders after chest bloody hard work and as you can see from my journal my shoulder press is suffering. I was only thinking today my delts don't seem to be improving and this is probably why.

What do you think?

Yeah, I had the same problem when I tried training them both together some time ago. I find that bench pressing really hit the front delts hard, and the only way that I managed to increase on DB shouler presses, was to give shoulders their own session.

You can group them together with tri's/bi's as well, just depends on how you want your routine to be and more importantly, if you can fit an extra session into your life or not. 

If you do give them their own night though, make sure they are at the opposite end to your chest session.

Fitting in another session will be no problem as I workout at home, I'll review my routine and post it up in here, would you mind looking over it to see if there are any mistakes?

How does this look, feel free to rip it apart as I really want to get it right. Not sure if I'm missing something or the orders not correct.

Monday
Bench press
Incline bench
Fly's
BB curls

Tuesday
Squat
SLDL
Calf raises

Thursday
Shoulder press
Skulls
Bench dips
Shrugs

Friday
BB Row's
Deadlift
Pull up's

Are you training at home or in a gym J?

At home mate

Routine looks pretty solid mate. I would just make the following changes.

Monday  - Could add some lower chest work i.e Decline press, or wide grip dips. Also I would add some dumbbell curls as well as BB. Just 2 sets of each would do.
Bench press
Incline bench
Fly's
BB curls -

Tuesday - You've got the main ones here with sqaut and SLDL. You cant do leg press as your at home, so I would add some dumbell lunges in either after squats or SLDL.
Squat
SLDL
Calf raises

Thursday - I would add some side delt exercises in i.e. db side latteral raises, and rear delt raises. I also do front raises too. Add them all AFTER the DB presses.
Shoulder press
Skulls
Bench dips
Shrugs

Friday - These are the 3 best builders for back IMO. All I would do here is do your deadlifts FIRST, pull ups 2ND, and BB Rows 3RD. Could do with another back exercise in here as you are not grouping it with any other muscle. I would some type of low row. I'm not what this is callled, but as you train at home you can slightly incline your bench, sit FACING the bench (so you are effectively laid with your chest against the bench) and 'row' with 2 DB's (you wont need them heavy). I used to this, it's a good exercise.
BB Row's
Deadlift
Pull up's

This is just what I would tweak, hope it helps.
How many sets/reps are you doing on majority of exercises mate?
 

Thanks mate I'll make the changes, I'll be doing 3x8 unless you think I should change this?

No 3 x 8 will fine I reckon mate. It's always good to change things around slightl every couple of months though... wether that be rep range, volume/intensity, or just changing up your routine up a little.

Just find what works best for you. Personally, I find that using a low volume and high intensity training works best for me.

James M

Added calf raises to this session, weight was easy enough but balance was difficult.

I do them on a Smith machine mate, it balances the bar for you and takes away any risk, which means you can just focus on the movement and absolutely obliterate your calves. Try it out!

Sounds like a much better way of doing them but I workout at home.

Good to see you going with this. Just remember to keep everything simple. As long as you are getting some compund stuff in and keep increasing the weight then you will see great improvements!  Good luck. :)

Thanks mate, can't wait to get cracking tomorrow!

I'm f**ked lol

Can barely lift my arms to type.

Got a couple of questions, when quoting lifts with db's do you use the combined weight or per db?

When doing flyes I got a massive forearm pump to the point it was almost painful, form looked and felt good as far as I could tell. is this normal?
 
I was trying my sample of NOX Pump tonight which did seem very effective so maybe it was just that?

Bench press 55kg x8 (+3)
Bench press 55kg x5 (-3)
Bench press 55kg x5

DB Incline press 16kg x8
DB Incline press 16kg x8
DB Incline press 16kg x8

Flye 11kg x8
Flye 11kg x8
Flye 11kg x7

BB Curl 25kg x8 (+2.5kg)
BB Curl 25kg x8
BB Curl 25kg x4 (-4)

DB Curl 16kg x8
DB Curl 16kg x4
DB Curl 16kg x6

James M


when quoting lifts with db's do you use the combined weight or per db?

I just do it per DB mate, I think it seems to be the norm!

When doing flyes I got a massive forearm pump to the point it was almost painful, form looked and felt good as far as I could tell. is this normal?

I sometimes feel a bit of a burn in the joint between bicep and forearm, but it shouldn't be that noticeable let alone painful. The exercise is supposed to isolate the pecs after all. Maybe your arms aren't bent enough? I know you're not meant to have much of an angle, but I think you should have a slight bend at your elbow and this takes the emphasis off your forearms/biceps. Also you could try doing them with an Incline on the bench as I find this takes some of the emphasis off my arms (I don't really understand why, but it does!)

Thats cool I quoted per DB

I did have a slight bend but not too much, will see how the next session goes and incline the bench as suggested.

Nice little journal. Like your rountine and the changes skullcrusher suggested.

Thanks buddy, this is the 3rd routine in 4 or 5 weeks but I really like how this one looks.

I think you should stick to this for a while and see how you do.