Critique my weight routine (and answer question on sets)

[Jeeebus]

By no means am I Hercules. I'm a mid-30s dad who is fatter than he should be but in relatively ok shape. I'm 6' and currently around 217lbs. In a perfect world, I'd be around 195 and a lot leaner than I am. The below is the routine that I've stuck with (ok... on and off) over the course of the last 6 months or so. I basically do weights M W F and something else T TH (might be burpees, bike, or swimming). Calories are issue #1, but focusing on the weight routine - is this a good idea? Am I doing too many different exercises? Too little? Wrong exercises? I work out at home using Bowflex Selecttech dumbbells (the ones that go up to 90 lbs or so) and a bench.

As to the sets question - am I better off doing 3x of set 1, then moving onto 3x of set 2, etc.

- or -

Am I better off doing 1x of set 1, 1x of set 2, 1x of set 3, etc. and then starting over at set 1? So still doing 3x sets of each total, but jumping from one exercise to the next.

 

[SP33Demon]

You are missing the most important part of the body, the lower back (since we sit so much during the day). I'd recommend a hip hinge movement like deadlifts plus lower back hyperextensions or back extensions on the GHD machine.

 

[Kini1000]

Since you're limited to dumbbells (although a pretty decent amount of weight) and weight loss seems to be the immediate goal, I would cut down on the number of exercises that target single muscles like curls and extensions. I think your spending way too much time on the workout.

Do the compound muscle group exercises and super set them with little to no rest, chest-back, legs-shoulders etc... Keep the intensity high, (think crossfit games type stuff) finish the workout in 20-30 minutes and then spend some time doing cardio or whatever else you can do with the time you've saved.

I have a C2 erg (rower) and a few of my faves are ten sets of 10 thrusters and 300 meter rows for time. Or ten sets of ten burpees and 300 meter row.

21-18-15-12-9-3 each of thrusters and burpees for time. Workouts like these are very time efficient, burn a lot of calories and hits your aerobic system hard.

 

[Sid59]

Not enough legs, but that's preference.

if you're limited to dumbells, do these 3 variations.

• regular dumbbell squats (holding the dumb bell at your sides)
• goblet squats (holding heavier, single dumb bell at your chest)
• bulgarian split squats
• Variations of regular and goblet can include lunges.

 

[Jeeebus]

Not enough legs, but that's preference.

Ya, legs should get more attention but I do try to mix in biking and an aerobic workout in at night, so trying to keep the legs from being jello before those.

Anyone have an opinion on the 3x of one set before moving onto the next vs. 1x, 1x, 1x, etc.?

 

[Sid59]

Ya, legs should get more attention but I do try to mix in biking and an aerobic workout in at night, so trying to keep the legs from being jello before those.

Anyone have an opinion on the 3x of one set before moving onto the next vs. 1x, 1x, 1x, etc.?

Sorry dude, I don't know much about hyper trophy routines. All the dumb bell work I do is mostly accessory work for barbell lifts (press, deadlift, back squats, front squats, cleans, snatches)

But doing all works sets before moving on vs super setting is usually done on movements/muscles that don't take away from your main lifts. I dont see any reason, one way or another to superset them. Try it both ways!

Last I read, there was two schools of thought about getting big muscles: time under tension, basically slow controlled lifting vs burning out your muscles.

 

[SP33Demon]

Sorry dude, I don't know much about hyper trophy routines. All the dumb bell work I do is mostly accessory work for barbell lifts (press, deadlift, back squats, front squats, cleans, snatches)

But doing all works sets before moving on vs super setting is usually done on movements/muscles that don't take away from your main lifts. I dont see any reason, one way or another to superset them. Try it both ways!

Last I read, there was two schools of thought about getting big muscles: time under tension, basically slow controlled lifting vs burning out your muscles.

I think most bodybuilders would say that burning out the muscles using TUT is going to get you the best results. Superslow lifting is easier on the joints but not sure if you're going to build as much muscle as full burnout, hence why old men are always doing it.

Ya, legs should get more attention but I do try to mix in biking and an aerobic workout in at night, so trying to keep the legs from being jello before those.

Anyone have an opinion on the 3x of one set before moving onto the next vs. 1x, 1x, 1x, etc.?

It depends on what your goals are. If your looking to build strength, then doing a circuit like style of 1 set of everything, including accessories, is a horrible approach because it will kill your main lifts like bench press. If you don't care about strength and more calorie burning and never lift heavier than 75% of your 1RPM, then it won't matter. I think a bodybuilding approach would be better for burning calories (e.g. more muscle burns more calories even out of the gym) and in that case, the 1x 1x 1x method would be fine. Just don't expect to ever go heavy. It should be noted that high volume at high weight on compound exercises will burn the most calories in any given workout, unless you are putting in 3 hour workouts on iso movements. Hence why crossfitters are always jacked, they are doing high reps at high weight on compounds so IMO that is the best bang for your buck in calorie burn per workout. However, bodybuilders with low body fat are also burning calories outside of the gym at a ridiculous rate.

I like to be strong and look good - look good meaning if I can control my diet which is always the hardest part of my day. So I stick to compound movements supersetted with a mobility/activation accessory. Then superset 2 accessory movements for 3 blocks (4 superset blocks total). So my program is compound movement + mobility/breathing superset, then major accessory (say anything from a rack/block/pin pull/squat) supersetted with mobility/breathing superset, then middle accessory (e.g. bulgarian split squats) supersetted with another accessory (e.g. cable resistance exercise) followed by a different and final minor accessory (e.g. another cable/TRX suspension stuff) + accessory (e.g. situps). So 8 exercises total per workout. That is mainly a strength routine where it's imperative to focus on mobility/breathing because our technique has to be flawless. Bodybuilders at lower weights don't have to worry about that much.