I will be starting another job and need to adjust my gym routine, It looks like i'll have plenty of time to go to the gym on mondays, tuesdays, thursdays and fridays. I would like to do upper body on monday and thursday, then legs on tuesday and friday. Cardio on off days. Can anyone suggest some sample routines. I want to maintain muscle strength and mass while cutting fat.

thanks

There are six exercises that should be the cornerstone of every routine: Squat, Deadlift, Bench Press, Row, Military Press, Pullups. That's 4 upper body exercises, but only two lower body. Keep in mind that you can do variations of those exercises (barbell, dumbbells, Split-Squat, RDL, Incline Press, etc...) which will keep things interesting.

One recommendation I'd make is to do a push/pull instead of an upper/lower split. So, Mondays and Thursday would be Squat, Bench, Military Press, and an isolation exercise or two, and Tuesday and Friday would be Deadlift, Row, Pullup, and an isolation exercise or two.

This gives you 3 big lifts each session and balances out well.

that sounds interesting, but i dont like doing squats and deadlifts on consecutive days. Any other suggestions?

Mon Upper (heavy)
Tues Lower (Quad dominant)
Thurs Upper (light)
Fri Lower (Ham dominant)

So what routine did you decide on Leckbass?

i am still doing some reasearch, i have a few more weeks, so i want to find something i like, both suggestions are possible, but the push pull is beggining to grow on me. I dont really like the squat followed the next day by the deadlift, but i like the idea. In the next few weeks, i want to try it out and see how my body reacts.

mon- push
wed- pull
fri- push
mon- pull
wed- push
fri- pull
etc

or

mon- push
wed-pull
fri- push
sun- pull
tues- push
thurs- pull
etc

I doubt very much that you'll have a problem doing squats and deadlifts in consecutive workouts.

I talked to a bunch of people and they said i shouldent have a prob doing the squats followed by deadlifts.

this is what i am thinking:

Monday and Thursday: Squat, Bench, Military Press, and pushdowns or close grip bench

Tuesday and Friday: Deadlift, Row, Pullup and barbell curls

I was thinking about doing 5 sets of 12-8 reps an all compound movements and 4 sets of 8-12 on isolation movements.

How does that sound? Or should i throw in Bicepts on push day and tricepts or pull day, just to mix some things up...

I appreciate all suggestions

Triceps on push day and biceps on pull day.

CGBP is a better option than push downs imo.

Have you considered doing a heavy and a light workout for each???

What about adding calf raises to push day and forearms to pull day???

Those are good suggestions, i will add those exercises. As for light and heavy, i will be starting a bulk in mid March, so i will stay heavy until i feel like i need a break. This is what i have done in the past, what do you think? Will it be too much? What rep range do you suggest? On what set should i hit failure?

Have you considered something like the following :-

Week 1:

Monday - Workout A
Wednesday -Workout B
Friday - Workout A

Week 2:

Monday - Workout B
Wednesday - Workout A
Friday - Workout B

Workout A
---------
Squat 5x5
Bench Press 5x5
Barbell Row 5x5
Dips 3xF

Workout B
---------
Squat 5x5
Standing military press 5x5
Bent Rows 5x5
Pull-ups/Chin-ups 3xF

the 5x5 is good, and i have used it in the past. But first, i cant go to the gym on Wednesdays, so that kinda messes it up, second, it did help me gain strength, but i want better mass gains.

Then there was a problem in your diet, because the 5x5 is not only for strength alone.

i'm not knocking the program, i'm just saying from past experiance, the 5 by 5 has worked well for my strength, I gaine size too, but i gain better mass while doing a slightly higher rep range. That is just me.