Is this too much working out?

S

strongman

0
Hi everyone, I'm Ben. I'm 21 and want to start weight lifting.
I have put together some workouts but not sure if I have too many, and was hoping if anyone could tell me.
This is my planned workout:

MONDAY

CHEST:

Pushups
Bench press
Incline bench press
Decline bench press
Dumbbell flye

SHOULDERS:

Shoulder press
Upright row
Rear lateral raise
Dumbbell lateral raise
Dumbbell front raise

TUESDAY

BACK:

Deadlift
Dumbbell row

ABS:

Crunch
Twisting crunch
Lying leg raise

THURSDAY

LEGS:

Straight leg deadlift
Calf raises
Lunges

FRIDAY

ARMS:

Barbell curl
Hammer curl
Reverse barbell curl
Close grip pushups

Apart from the Ab work, I would be doing 3-5 sets of 8-12 reps.
I picked these workouts for the secondary muscles that they work, just as much as the primary muscles.

Thanks everyone.
 
If you're only just starting, I'd say do a full-body program 3 days per week, and don't worry about splitting up the routine until you stall. You could probably go 6 months or more without needing a split.

If you were to go ahead with the program you've got, then the most blatant issue is that on Monday, you appear to do about as many exercises as you do throughout the entire remainder of the week. The chest does not need that much work, nor do the shoulders. Compared to the rest of the body, they're probably getting too much work, which can lead to all sorts of wonderful problems.

If I were going to do a push/pull/legs/arms program using the same days that you've listed, I'd probably do something more like:

Mon (Push)
- Squats
- Bench Press
- Press

Tue (Pull)
- Deadlifts
- Chin Ups/Pull Ups
- Bent Over Row

Thu (Legs)
- Squats
- Deadlifts
- Calf Raises

Fri (Arms)
- Upright Row
- Press
- Bicep Curl/Tricep Extension superset
 
I agree with Goldfish (Ryan). He's laid out a nice plan.

One thing I would add is to chance up your exercises each week to keep your muscles guess. Sticking to the same workout exercises will cause you to reach that plateau effect.

Change it up the exercises and you'll see results much quicker.
 
^ I probably wouldn't change exercises every week. Changing exercises can be a good way to give a planned deload and teach you a new movement to increase progress, but if you change exercises every week, then it's a lot harder to progressively increase the workload, because every session you have to reassess your strength without something you can directly relate it to. There is a place for changing exercises, and every now and again (say, for 3 weeks every 6-12 months) it might be a good shock to the system to abstain from repeating exercise selections. In small phases this can be a good way to stop the body from plateauing, or to break a plateau. But to do it all year round is more likely to cause a plateau, as I can tell you from experience.
 
Yeah change is good when losing incentive or plateauing but if your beginning you don't really need to worry about either for a while. I would consider a full body workout though, 3 days a week. Less can be more.
 
Thanks for the input guys. I have a couple of questions. What is the difference between a bench press and a press? Also I havn't got access to a pullup/chinup bar so are there any other excersises I can do instead of that?

Thanks.
 
I would Guess your referring to goldfish post. I think press was probly ment to read vertical press but basically a press is the opposite of pull so there are many presses one of which is bench press. U do really need some kind of pullup for a balanced workout but u can nomally find some way of doing one by using a lift hatch or a door frame - one hand either side a porch roof joist etc
 
By "press" without any prefix (eg "bench," "incline," "behind the neck" etc), I'm referring to an overhead standing press. You probably refer to this movement as a shoulder press or military press.
 
Just do 2 full body workouts a week. I've tried to do a body part a day and to be honest it's just a waste of time and leaves you no cardio days. Just do what I told you and fill in the other days with cardio.
 
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