Hey there. Before showing you the routine, let me give you some information about myself. Im 18 years old, about 5'10, weigh around 175. If you have any other questions, or things that may help you comment the routine, plz ask me.

I was thinking of doing a 3x a week upper body routine. My days split in:
Day 1: Chest, Back, Trapezoid
Day 2: Bicep, Tricep, Shoulder
Day 3: Repeat Day 1;

Basically my excersises would be:

Chest:

Dumbell Incline Bench Press
Barbell Bench Press
Dumbell Decline Bench Press

*Switch from barbell to dumbell every once in a while, and Vicaversa.

Back:

One arm dumbell rows,
upright barbell rows
machine pull down[not sure the name]

Shoulder:

Dumbell Military Press
Barbell Military Press
Dumbell Front/Side raises [not sure the name]

Bicep:

Variety of Curls [Preacher, Barbell, Dumbell, Hammer, etc.]

Tricep:

Machine Pull Down [not sure the name]
One Hand, overhead, dumbell raises[not sure the name]
dumbell kickbacks? [not sure the name either]
looking for suggestions here.

Trapezoids:

Holding Dumbells in my hands, straining the traps. [not sure the name]
Raising Barbell to chin level, then letting it down. [not sure the name]
Looking for suggestions.

If you guys have any recommendations for a different way to split the routine, all advice is welcome. However, it must strictly be an upper body routine because I just recently had knee surgery. Here are the details: http://training.fitness.com/weight-t...ine-30126.html

Thanks in advance guys! Hopefully with your help, I'll be able to start working out again.

-Oblivion

Addressing the split, it is basically redundant, and would have you working several of the same muscles every day.

You basically are working your triceps and shoulders when you work your chest muscles. Just b/c you believe you are targeting your pectoral muscles when doing a bench press, doesn't mean your body isn't using the other muscles designed to assist in that movement. Same goes with back (biceps).

What that amounts to is working those muscles on your chest/back day, then again the next day on bi/tri day.

Try looking into a push/pull type of split. This puts the muscles that "go together" in performing those movements together. Also, isolation work can be used as an accessory to your plan, but there is no use in doing 4 different kinds of bicep curls or tricep extensions.

nice! hmmmmmm. the help we get here is incredible!

Thanks FF.

Just to be clear, I edited the original post, but you quoted it while I was editing.

Where I said a push/pull "splits up" the muscles that go together - that doesn't sound right. I meant that it is a split routine, that combines muscles according to their intended function (assistance in pushing or pulling movements).

Just wanted to make that clear.

I was planning on keeping a day in between as rest. Maybe Mon/Wed/Fri. But I understand what your saying, I've just never had experience with a pull/push split, not sure how to begin.

in suppoert of the push/pull philosophy-- i had not developed my whole trap by having too mush focus on push. Hence i am now trying to correct a pinch and posture issue.

i'm guessing you came here to learn, not to only find peeps that agree with your past thoughts.

FF

My sentiments exactly. I actually prefer hearing people disagree, because you learn new things, new ways, etc. I'm not hoping for someone to come and split the routine for me, and design a perfect workout plan for me, just maybe someone who can link me to some text or something explaining the pull/push philosophy, and how I can do it with little or no strain on the legs.

-Oblivion

Do you have a separate routine for your lower body?

I wont be working out my lower body. I just recently had knee surgery. Here's more info: http://training.fitness.com/weight-t...ine-30126.html

Ah, yeah, I recall reading that. A push/pull is pretty solid. Basically it ends up being chest/tris/shoulders (pushing exercises where you're pushing the weight away from you like presses, dips and pushdowns) on one day and back/bis (pulling the weight toward you like on rows, pullups and curls) on another.

It helps organize them because if you put a bench press on one day and a shoulder or tri exercise on another, you're overlapping (since the BP uses all of these muscles). I'd do something like a 4 day M/T/TH/FR alternating push/pull. Good luck!

Sounds good. So it would be like, chest[push] on Monday, Tuesday: Back [rows/pull], Thursday: Tricep [dips/push], Friday: Bicep curls [pull].

Maybe slipping some shoulder on the push days. and some Trap on the pull days? Suggestions?

I'd make one push and one pull and do each twice a week.

Monday/Thursday - Chest, Triceps, Shoulders (bench press, dips, military press, etc.)
Tuesday/Friday - Back, Biceps (rows, pullups, lat pulldowns, curls, etc.)

The one above only works each once a week (with the exception of a few overlaps).

The above sounds pretty good bro. I think I'll stick with that, see how it goes. How many diff. excersises do I do for each muscle? 3-4 excersises? I was thinking maybe 2-3 diff excersises. 3 sets of 12 reps? or 5 sets of 7 reps? Suggestions as to set/rep ratio?

-Oblivion