Critique my routine

[Dover]

I started lifting about 2 1/2 months ago and its been going great. I can feel my body starting to change and I can lift quite bit more than when I started. I would, however, love some feedback on the routine itself, if there's something that I'm missing and should add or if there's something that's not as effective as another exercise or something where I should be doing fewer reps/more weight. Whatever.

I'm doing a 3 day split right now:

Day 1:
Flat Dumbbell Press, 3x8
Incline Dumbbell Press, 3x8
Dumbbell Flies, 3x10
Tricep Cable Pushdown, 3x8

Day 2:
Deadlifts, 3x8
Cable Pulldown, 3x8
Dummbbell Rows, 3x8
Bicep curls, 3x8

Day 3:
Squats, 3x8
Leg press, 3x10
Seated Calf Raises, 3x20
Standing Military Press, 3x8

Any thoughts would be much appreciated. I'm doing this routine since it was what I used to do back in college but am looking for any improvements.

Thanks

 

[marmel75]

Personally as you are just starting out, I would follow stronglifts 5x5 program as that will get your strength and size up quick and you have a gameplan each time you workout.

I am a fairly advanced lifter and I utilize 5x5's in my 20 squat routine(I do 2 sets of 5x5's directly before 1 set of 20 squats) and have gotten REALLY good results with it.

 

[cuzza]

I'd say you NEED to add in some lateral raises. Apart from that, I like it. Providing you're progressively getting stronger in the main movements, you're sorted.

 

[marmel75]

Workouts should never last more than an hour at a time as your testosterone levels plummet and your cortisol levels rise quickly after this time. You would get more gains from leaving the gym after an hour and not doing extra sets versus staying and finishing your workout...

Hormones are everything.

 

[marmel75]

I had pretty good gains...of course you're probably right but if you really can't afford to go more than 3 days you have to make the most of it. I don't think going into "overtime" is worse than not hitting an angle at all. A good middle ground might be to lower the weight and up the intensity so you can pack it all in an hour without needing significant breaks, or lowering volume.

I used to only go lift twice a week on the program I was on and it might have been the best gains of my life...

Personally I think people would be very surprised if they would start lifting heavier and more intensely while they are at the gym and giving the body more rest versus trying to lift 5 or 6 days a week...

If you lift heavy enough you cannot possibly lift 4 or 5 days a week unless you are on steroids and grow properly...the body only has so many resources available to devote to bulding muscle(remember this is one of the last things the body is actually concernd about) and continuously asking it to tap into those resources usually leaves you not growing as fast as you could be...

Just my personal opinions on things...I do have to say this 3 times a week 20 squat program I am on is one of the crazier programs I have ever tried but it is giving pretty astounding results, not just on legs but all over...just wish I could get my back right again so I can go back to deadlifts and barbell squats...I would say the V-Squat machine I am using is roughly equivalent to about 60-65% of a barbell squat...