Brand New Member- Please Critique Routine

[LMU Pride]

I'm about 5'8, 160lbs, and have been lifting fairly consistently since I started college. As a freshman in college I weighed 135lbs, and now I'm finishing up my 3rd year. My goal is to get to 175lbs, but I want to do it slowly and maintain my lean body to a degree ( have a 6 pack, and I play basketball 4 times a week) I've always been kinda top heavy, but recently started doing my legs (About 3 months ago) Here is my current split:

Monday--Back

Weighted Pull-Ups---10 reps X4
Cable Rows---10 reps X3
T-Bar Rows---10,8,6
Lat Pull Downs---10 reps X 3
Deadlifts---10,8,6
*Cardio at night, approx. 5 hours after I've lifted*

Tuesday-- Off Day

Wednesday-- Chest/Tri's

Flat Bench BB----10,8,6
Incline Bench BB----10,8,6
Weighted Dips----10,8,6
Flys (Cables)-----10 reps X3
Skullcrushers---10,8,6
Rope Pulldowns, 10 X3
*Cardio at night, approx. 5 hours after I've lifted*

Thursday--Off Day

Friday---Bi's/Shoulders
Curls DB---10 reps X3
Millitary Press- 10 reps X3
Butterflies---10 reps X3
Curls BB---10 reps X3
Shrugs---10 reps X 3
Arm Raises---10,8,6
21's (Cables) X2
*Cardio at night, approx. 5 hours after I've lifted*

Saturday---Legs
Squats (Smith Rack)--10,8,6
Leg Press----10 reps X3
Calf Raises (Smith Rack)---10 reps X4
SLDL---10 reps X3

Sunday---Cardio
Basketball

[KingJustin]

I'm not at all a fan of the once-a-day rape your muscle "bodybuilder" style. I think it's one of the least effective of the sane ways to train (sane is defined as not being ******ed and overtraining and such). However, diet is still the most important part of building muscle and losing fat/staying lean. Here is what I would switch for your routine...
-On back day there is no sense in doing both lat pulldowns and weighted pull-ups. I would stick with weighted pull-ups and drop lat pull downs.
-Drop cable flyes, and switch from Incline BB bench to incline DB bench.
-Drop either skullcrushers of pushdowns
-Replace Miltary Press with upright rows
-Drop either DB or BB curls
-Drop 21's
*-Don't do cardio on your lifting days. Do it on your off days. Also, I recommend a mix of intense interval training (ie run hard/walk ... don't quite sprint though) and long distance (30-60 minute) cardio.

Also, if you drop all those exercises, you'll have more time to focus on the exercises that you are doing. Mix things up -- raise your volume, increase rest breaks, increase weight, increase intensity, cycle stuff, etc, etc. T-mag.com will give you a good idea on how to do stuff like this. Also, limit your workouts to 1 hour maximum. Good luck.

[Built]

Great post Bizatch, and thanks for the reminder about upright rows. Don't know how I forgot about those.

LMU, I sometimes (not often) do about 5-8 minutes of fast incline walking after I lift to mobilize FFAs. This is about as much "cardio" as I'd ever want to do on a lifting day, other than perhaps 20 minutes of brisk walking empty a few mornings a week (I lift in the evening) and ONLY when I'm cutting.

Your diet will do far more for your body composition than the cardio will.

[LadyLifter]

save cardio for off days...you'll get a lot more out of them...and for your legs I would add leg curls (prone or seated) and leg extensions. Try doing the squats without the Smith rack and see if there is a calf raise machine that might help you focus your calves more (doing more reps for calves is helpful too...currently I'm finding 10 reps isn't enough). What's your diet like? If you're trying to add mass you may need to be eating more. good luck

[Built]

Seated calves often need longer sets because the soleus is recruited when the knee is bent, and the soleus is a slow twitch muscle. Slow twitch muscles take longer to "burn", so you'll probably find it will respond best to lighter weights and higher reps.

Straight leg/standing calves recruit gastrocnemius - donkey calf raises, standing calf raises, leg press machine. This is a fast-twitch muscle, so you may find it responds better to heavier weights with shorter sets. I often do these one at a time so I don't have to put so much load on my shoulders.

[LMU Pride]

Well the cardio on those days is because I'm a sucker for basketball, and my days off from work are on Monday and Wednesday (I just have class in the morning) so I have a lot of time to workout. I do lift in the morning (about 10:45am) and often don't start playing basketball till about 5:00, so hopefully I'm resting my body somewhat? I take a nap, have a good after-workout shake, and relax/attend class until that time. If I gave up on basketball, or only played once a week, my skills would decline considerably, so I'm trying to figure out a way to put on some muscle while playing basketball (I figure there are a lot of pro atheletes, especially football players who have muscular frames but incorporate sports) My diet is fairly good, sometimes I have issues if I'm at work eating regularly, if it gets busy I won't have the chance to snack, but for the most part I eat chicken breasts 2-3 times a day, protein shakes, bars if I need a snack, and a lot of natural peanut butter on whole grain bread. I generally eat cereal and a myoplex shake in the morning. I'm actually leaving for spring break tomorrow (Rosarito,) so that will no doubt impact my training, but when I get back I plan to start a creatine cycle. As of now, the only supplements I take is Isopure Whey Protein, and a multivitamin.

[Built]

Creatine doesn't need to be cycled - it's not a steroid.

Do you know what your macronutrients look like now? www.fitday.com would be a good place to start here.

[LMU Pride]

Creatine doesn't need to be cycled - it's not a steroid.

Do you know what your macronutrients look like now? www.fitday.com would be a good place to start here.

I was always under the impression that it was recommended to be taken in 2 month intervals, and phased off for a month?

[Built]

I take it daily. I haven't yet seen a rationale I believe for cycling it. I'll be happy to change my mind if I can see something reasonable for it.

I don't load either - it builds up on its own if you supplement with it. I put it in my shake with dextrose, and take half before I train, half after.

[LMU Pride]

interesting...any comments on my split, and my cardio dilemma?

[KingJustin]

Just play basketball as your cardio. Play really hard and it should be a good enough workout. Don't waste your time running the same day as you lift weights, especially if you're bulking.

[Built]

:withstupi

[LMU Pride]

actually that's what I mean by cardio...I play basketball 3-4 times a week...I don't ever do a treadmill or ellipitical, I don't have the patience, especially when I can play competitive basketball as an alternative