Thanks everybody for the input. I am reading this thread over and over to make sure that the concepts get memorized in my mind
I originally didn't care about muscle development but more to strength, though lately I thought that I'd be fine with a compromise between two, as probably was when I was deadlifting 160kg x6 reps and doing way more accessory exercises than now.
In reply to Jungledoc:
I may sound bragging, but pushups, even with isometrics (like 4 seconds stop at the bottom or halfway in the movement) doesn't seem to affect me like dips do. Also since I finally got a hold to this rack, I totally put them aside because I remember reading a fitting example on how you won't be tackling 400lbs bench press with a hundred pushups. So I tried sticking to exercises and weights which saturate my muscle with 8 or less repetitions, which I think is a staple of strength and hypertrophy training (correct me if I'm wrong).
Of course correct me if I'm wrong or if doing pushups immediately after heavy dips does something to improve muscles which I wasn't aware of
As of now I'm not even thinking about definition but more to bulking (hence the about 1.6g whey protein/kg bodyweight each day in my diet), or at least I've always heard/read that definition is to be sought only after a solid foundation (or kgs) of muscles being "added" to one's own frame.
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Generally speaking, I'm looking to get as large as possible (staying natural, of course) while keeping my body fat at 10% or lower (like now) and without using anything else than whey protein, creatine monohydrate and vitamins/minerals, or other common supplements though I doubt there's anything which beats protein and above said, since I researched a bit on this topic.
Luckily my legs (they'd still be ok as they are now) and back seem to respond well, though I couldn't say so of my pecs or even worse of my biceps and deltoids.
According to Exrx girth calculator I'm already proportionated based on the wrist size, though I probably am looking after that "extra" muscularity which is what's found on fitness magazines or girl-magnets wear advertisement.
In reply to Dub:
about point 1), should I make 1 or 3 series of this accessory exercise? I do 3 series of most if not all exercises because I think I've read somewhere on studies done about most effective combination for hypertrophy, and 1 or 2 series seemed inferior to 3, while between 3 or more there was no difference.
Also, since I should workout, though not specifically, trapezius upper fibers (so called "yoke") in both deadlift and military press, should I expect similar growth to doing specifically barbell shrugs as an added exercise, or not?
about point 4), I've been worried to overtrain muscles since I realized that more in not always better results. I noticed that when I trained 6 days a week, I made no hypertrophy while when I sticked to 2 trainings a week, spacing them as wide as possible, I made huge gains (at least for my standards).
I begain reading about "mesomorphs" and how they replenish glicogen slower than say ectomorphs, about how because of this they'd benefit from fewer but harder and longer training sessions instead of the latter, which would benefit from lighter, more frequent training due to their faster recovering abilities.
I embraced this way of thinking, and it seemed to work for me. When I trained chest on friday I'd be sore for the entire weeked, often even on monday, though in a manageable way, also because other muscular groups were to be worked out on that day.
So given above first-hand experience (though I realize it may be biased and I'd have been erroneously associated the soreness, which I think is delayed onset muscular soreness, to improvements in my strength and muscle size), I don't know how I'd train, say legs, every 72 hours.
Currently I train different muscular groups every 72 hours, and don't hit the exact same training until about 144 or 168 hours (considering I do workout A then rest two days, then do workout B then rest two days, and so on).
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Please don't consider above text as whining but just as mere considerations I'm thinking out of my head. I'm not scared of hard training, as long as it proves to be more productive than what I managed to build with my current experience/reading
A more general question addressed to whoever will reply:
given that I want to improve my whole body, and my program is what you described a full-body divided into two days, rather than a split routine as I thought it'd have been called, what'd be the benefits of switching to a split routine?
I looked at some of the split routine examples on this website, and they seem to be targeted to only certain muscle groups, or at least they don't cover the whole body (maybe this is their purpose?). Won't de-training happen after even just 3-4 weeks?
Or are split routines (thus not covering the entire body) meant to be switched every one or two weeks to prevent de-training of certain muscle groups? Or again are they targeted to people who don't care about the untrained muscles?
Again another 2 questions: may I expect, given that my body fat will drop under a certain percentage, that my abdominal muscles will stick out nicely, aestetically speaking?
Or should I start to target them with some weighted crunches? Again since I don't have a bench, I may be doing weighted crunches instead of barbell crunches, though I don't know if they're equally effective.
Since I've long gone past the spot reduction myth and similar stuff, I think it'd be wise to target them just like I do for deadlifts, like 3 sets and "heavy" weight, enough to allow me no more than say 8 reps, right?
--- other question:
are there any muscle groups which due to their unique nature, behave differently and hence don't respond to 3 series of 8 repetitions each (which is about the general rule I'm applying in my workout) ?
---- other questions:
would it be too crowded (or count-productive) if I change my training from this:
workout A:
Squat 3 set x 10 reps
Barbell Military Press 3x5
Barbell Upright Rows 3x8
Weighted Chest Dips 3x4-7 (using 20kg or 30kg)
[2 days rest between a workout and the next one]
workout B:
Barbell Deadlift 3x6
Barbell Bent-Over Rows 2x9
Pull Ups 3x6 or Weighted Pull Ups 2x4-6 (using a 20kg plate)
Barbell Biceps Curls 3x6-8
---------- to this :
workout A:
Squat 3 set x 10 reps
Barbell Calf raise x 15 reps, same weight, immediately after squat
Barbell Military Press 3x5
Dumbbell (actually plates) lateral raises 3x10 (also with some forced reps to try create soreness in the deltoids)
Barbell Shrugs 2x6-8
Weighted Chest Dips 3x4-7 (using 20kg or 30kg)
Dumbbell flys on floor (with bent arms) 2x8
[2 days rest between a workout and the next one]
workout B:
Barbell Deadlift 3x6
Barbell Bent-Over Rows 2x9
Pull Ups 3x6 or Weighted Pull Ups 2x4-6 (using a 20kg plate)
Barbell Biceps Curls 3x6-8
Weighted crunches 3x6
Weighted lying twist 2x7
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In this way I shouldn't be omitting any muscle group (except neck, which would need a harness though I don't have one at the moment), neither hitting them too many times (except for core, which would be hit both days but I chose workout B because sometimes I felt abs sore even without targeting them specifically after that workout, maybe due to deadlifts).
Sorry for the long reply but just as forum post count says, I'm a noob in many aspects and would surely benefit from people which have got more experience than me.
Thank you!
