Im trying to get a new, full body routine going, but am struggling to fit everything in!

Ive order new rules of lifting but have to wait a few days to get it, so until then.........

how many exercises should be included in a full body routine?

Splitting movements across 3 days i have

1
Wide Pull Up
Squat
Bent Leg Deads
Bent Over Row
Incline Press
Pull Over to Fly
Shrug
Barbell Curl
Tri Pushdowns


2
Narrow Grip Pull Up
Lunge
Straight Leg Deads
Wide Grip Pull Downs
Face Down Fly (!)
Flat Press
Dips
21's

3
Wide Pull Up
Good Mornings
Front Squat
Seated Row
Front Raise
Decline Press
Push Ups
Dumbell Curl
Tri Extensions

Now this is without any ab work, and also ignores the olympic lifts i want to include. also, i need to do less leg work as i dont want any more bulk below, so probably do less and with less reps. would the oli lifts be the bulk of my leg work, maybe just have one day on conventional leg work (deads, squats) and do an oli on each of the other days? i play football and hiit twice a week so dont want overtrained (and more noticeably, knackered) legs.

I know im trying to fit too much in, but without doubling up on muscles (ie both flat press and flys) i dont seem to get a good range of motion and really feel like ive done what i should.

goddamn cheap amazon delivery but for the extra 6 quid ill wait!

thanks to all

ben

Its a good program.

With the leg work, just stay below 5reps and dont go to failure. Just cos you dont want bulk, dont mean they should be weak as well.

If your doing oly lifting, just replace (let just say) all shoulder, trap, bicep and tricep work for one day with deadlift clean and press.
Maybe do 2 differnt oly lifts,
goodmornings and and deads,
followed by bench press and chin ups.

4 massive compounds like that is plenty for a workout.

Again, if you dont want to grow massive legs you can do things like deadlift, clean, clean, press, press.

One of my absolute favs for an interesting oly workout is
Deadlift, clean, clean, clean, press, press.

Lisitn exercises doesn't mean much without listing your intended rep ranges. The big exercises you have chosen will be very demanding on your nervous system to say the least. Hopefully you also have recovery time mapped out. I don't mean days off I mean how many hours of sleep? how much food? how long do you work? etc.

benelson101,

I am a full-body type since I currently favor HIT.

Keys for FB (HIT or not) are:
1) work out every muscle group every workout. DO NOT DO ONLY BEACH-BOY ARM/CHEST STUFF. CHICKEN LEGS ARE A BIG NO-NO.
2) select reps which match your goal (strength hyterprophy, tone/endurance).
3) adequate recovery between workouts, since FB done properly will beat the bejeebers out of everything.
4) If you are not DESTROYED by the workout, you have been lazy.

cant wait for the bloody book to arrive!

i put together the above workout myself using the advice of a few articles etc. i've tried to incorporate every muscle group into everyday, and have tried to avoid overlapping as much as possible.

now i did wo 1 on monday and it felt pretty complete. but then i did throw in some clean and presses (how good are they after so long 'static' lifting?)

i already have quilt bulky legs, disproportionately so, and although i know i store fat 'down there' i dont want them much bigger, so im sticking to 5x5 and 4x6 on legs and doing more hypertrophic friendly sets/reps on upper body.

also, last night was meant to be a cardio night, but i threw in several ab/oblique exercises and then did 18 mins hiit on the bike. firstly it really feels like ive worked the abs today. i have quite a strong mid section (although it may not look like it) and ive always done a fair amount of ab weighted ab work so just throwing in the odd movement at the end of a full body has very little effect. im considering just keeping up different plank variations as part of the full body and then maybe doing a 20 min ab workout once a week. i want to keep slim and dont want a bulky mid section.

my legs are killing me this morning though. tonights full body may be less-leg orientated!! i may just do some plyo leg work or maybe just a set of oly lifts, bearing in mind i have a 2 hour football (soccer) session tomorrow night! but then no pain no gain right?!

ericp
4) If you are not DESTROYED by the workout, you have been lazy.

why
once you lift 80% of your 1rm all fibre types are engaged thats good enough for strength and hypertrophy.
why would you want to push any further you wont get anymore gains all you will do is push your CNS to the limit and end up training less frequently than is optimum.

http://www.baye.com/video/outright_hard_work.wmv
ericp listen to the crap this guy talks then check out his wimpy training
btw he has been training that way for a few years him and his mate are still fat,and most guys on a decent program would have more muscle than him after 6 months.
if it doesnt work most guys would change.

could you please edit it that so the link is first!? it sounds as though its me your talking about and im certainly not lazy.

good man!!!

4) If you are not DESTROYED by the workout, you have been lazy.

why
once you lift 80% of your 1rm all fibre types are engaged thats good enough for strength and hypertrophy.
why would you want to push any further you wont get anymore gains all you will do is push your CNS to the limit and end up training less frequently than is optimum.

Buzz, the way I understand HIT, you do everything to positive failure. Maybe you are made of sterner stuff than I, but when I do 10-15 different lifts in a full body workout to positive failure, I am shaking and feel like I've lost a fistfight. Two to four days later, I am stronger in one or more lifts.

you dont need to lift to faliure to get stronger that was my point,you are just burning out your CNS faster which means less training in the long run.
check out the guy in the link i put up he has been doing HIT for years if you want to look like him and kill yourself in the gym every time then go ahead.

http://www.guidoandluigi.com/index.php?date=2006-03-31

any high intensity workouts require longer to recover, so to work to failure on my current 3 days a week full body would be insane - id be forever crippled and never working at full strength.

however if you were on a separate body part split using each group on one day per week only you'd have a full week to recover so would be able to benefit from more intense workouts.

plus there's destroyed as in tired out and destroyed as in not be able to lift your arm coz you've rowed one more set than you can handle. personally i do my sets and may throw in a couple of more reps if i found it too easy. once every couple of weeks ive dropped the sets right down and lifted weights heavier than i normally would, but do this knowing im going to have a day or two off. plus it keeps things interesting and makes you realise what you're achieving - stronger, faster, fitter etc.

any newcomers to resistance work (and i include myself in that list and im just over 18 months in) should probably not work to the maximum and beyond simply because it takes a level of control and the ability to know exactly how far your pushing yourself and the know how on recovery that most general gym goers wont have.

as for the seasoned pros, well ill tell you in a couple of years.

even doing a split if you train to faliure every time you will burn out your CNS,
it doesnt matter if your using different musles your CNS is still getting over worked.

DIFFERENTIAL EFFECTS OF STRENGTH TRAINING LEADING TO FAILURE VERSUS NOT TO FAILURE ON HORMONAL RESPONSES, STRENGTH AND MUSCLE POWER GAINS.

J Appl Physiol. 2006 Jan 12;

Izquierdo M, Ibanez J, Gonzalez-Badillo JJ, Hakkinen K, Ratamess NA,
Kraemer WJ, French DN, Eslava J, Altadill A, Asiain X, Gorostiaga EM.

The purpose of this study was to examine the efficacy of 11 weeks of
resistance training to failure vs. non-failure, followed by an
identical 5- week peaking period of maximal strength and power
training for both groups as well as to examine the underlying
physiological changes in basal circulating anabolic/catabolic
hormones.

Forty-two physically-active men were matched and then randomly
assigned to either a training to failure (RF; n=14), non-failure
(NRF; n=15) or control groups (C;n=13). Muscular and power testing
and blood draws to determine basal hormonal concentrations were
conducted before the initiation of training (T0), after 6 wk of
training (T1), after 11 wk of training (T2), and after 16 wk of
training (T3). Both RF and NRF resulted in similar gains in 1RM bench
press (23% and 23%) and parallel squat (22% and 23%), muscle power
output of the arm (27% and 28%) and leg extensor muscles (26% and
29%) and maximal number of repetitions performed during parallel
squat (66% and 69%). RF group experienced larger gains in the maximal
number of repetitions performed during the bench press The peaking
phase (T2 to T3) followed after NRF resulted in larger gains in
muscle power output of the lower extremities, whereas after RF
resulted in larger gains in the maximal number of repetitions
performed during the bench press.

Strength training leading to RF resulted in reductions in resting
concentrations of IGF-1 and elevations in IGFBP-3, whereas NRF
resulted in reduced resting cortisol concentrations and an elevation
in resting serum total testosterone concentration. This investigation
demonstrated a potential beneficial stimulus of NRF for improving
strength and power, especially during the subsequent peaking training
period, whereas performing sets to failure resulted in greater gains
in local muscular endurance. Elevation in IGFBP-3 following
resistance training may have been compensatory to accommodate the
reduction in IGF-1 in order to preserve IGF availability.