Suggest some new exercises?

[Pete]

I'm getting a little bored with my current exercises, can anyone suggest some different exercises to swap in? Preferably nothing too obscure.

All exercises apart from abs are 6-10 reps.

Monday - Chest, back, abs

Bench 4 sets

Wide-grip pull-downs 4 sets

Swiss ball side crunches 4 sets, 20-25 reps

Incline db press, 4 sets

Seated cable rows, 4 sets

Captains chair leg lifts, 4 sets, 12-20 reps

Peck deck, 3 sets

Back extensions, 3 sets

Wednesday - Shoulders, Legs

DB shoulder press, 4 sets

Deadlifts, 4 sets

Barbell front lifts, 4 sets (was seated bent-over lateral raise)

Squats, 4 sets

Calves, 4 sets

Lateral raises, 3 sets

Lying leg curl, 3 sets

Leg extensions, 3 sets

Friday - Arms, Abs

Cable push downs, 4 sets (was dips, can't do dips anymore)

Curvy bar curls, 4 sets

Situps, 4 sets 12-20 reps

Cable rope pull-downs, 3 sets

Incline bicep curls, 3 sets

Seated cable crunches, 4 sets 20-25 reps

Overhead cable tricep extensions, 3 sets (was skull-crushers, just swapped)

Reverse cable bicep curls, 3 sets (was normal cable curls)

[Pseudonym]

Gidday Pete, welcome to the forums.

Rather than just changing the exercises, I think you should switch the routine up a little. IMO, there are a few weird combinations in what you've got there now. Would you be okay with a 4-day split, or do we need to stick to 3 days?

[fitkate]

Good advice Pseud. I'm not an expert (yet) but I'd look to a four or five day split if that suits. Maybe the following:

Chest and Hamstrings

Back and Abs

Quads and calves

Shoulders

Arms (and go on....hit those abs again)

Maybe add some flyes or cable crosses for chest? Reverse pec-deck for shoulders? I really like concentration curls for bis and french press for tris. I sometimes checkout bodybuilding.com for different exercises too.

Hope this helps a bit!

PS. Love supersets and dropsets but they may not be in-line with your goals.

[frogie2001]

might i suggest working opposite muscle groups. also one large group followed by a small.

I.e

chest (which uses tricep on concentric motion) followed by bicep

back (which uses bicep on concentric) followed by tricep.

legs

shoulders and calves.

four day split. each large group hit it 3 times. set are 4x10 with a good warm up before the working sets.

[Johnboy007]

Here is a 5 day split that works well for me:

Day1 = Chest, Abs

Day2 = Biceps, Hamstrings, Calves

Day3 = Shoulders, Traps

Day4 = Triceps, Quads, Calves

Day5 = Back, Abs

As mentioned by the others this allows suitable time between the primary muscle groups and those that are indirectly affected eg. Chest and Triceps. I personally try my best to ensure that every muscle group gets the same level of energy and intensity, how you split it depends on a number of factors.

When time permits I split my Day2 and Day4 into 2 workouts, legs in the morning and arms in the evening. I also alternate my weeks between light and heavy weeks with slight variations in the types of movements and rep ranges, but what works for me doesnt necessarily mean it will work for you and you need to continue to adapt and respond.

Just my 2 cents.......

[SamWelly]

Here is a 5 day split that works well for me:

Day1 = Chest, Abs

Day2 = Biceps, Hamstrings, Calves

Day3 = Shoulders, Traps

Day4 = Triceps, Quads, Calves

Day5 = Back, Abs

Thats not a bad split. Would never do back and abs in the same workout tho. Back should be too sore to get thru the whole forward motion IMO.

I leave my compounds away from each other as much as possible... Back and Legs should have there own days as they are such a massive muscle group and you should be too taxed to complete much afterwards. Chest can be grouped with pretty much anything, same with the rest of the muscle groups above.

Working out 5 days and hitting the same muscle group just once per week (aside from abs) should look like this IMO.

Day1 = Chest, Biceps (Heavy)

Day2 = Abs, Hamstrings, Calves (Low intensity day)

Day3 = Quads - Legs (Heavy)

Day4 = REST DAY

Day5 = Shoulders, Abs

Day6 = Back, Traps (Heavy)

Day7 = REST DAY

Start hitting things twice a week which are lagging when you have the basics down.

[Pete]

Thanks for the suggestions.

It has to be a 3 day split, unfortunately. I just don't have time for extra sessions (I've tried it and had to stop).

It does make the sessions too long (~90mins) and the combinations less than perfect, but it's the best I can fit in at the moment.

I think I will try to incorporate several of fitkate's suggestions: flyes, cable cross-overs, concentration curls and reverse peck deck.

[2guns]

3 days?

y dnt u do:

legs

chest and shoulders

back and arms

sorted!

[Gym rat]

I am on a five day split

Day one back/triceps

Day 2 legs

Day 3 Shoulders Biceps

Day 4 Chest and calfs

Day five Back and shoulders

It works well for me.

[Pseudonym]

Hey Pete. If you're restricted to a 3-day split, I'd suggest one like 2guns posted up there ^

That creates a better spread workload and hits more the muscles that need more, than what you're currently doing. eg: back and chest are both quite large workouts, but you've got them on the same day. Better to separate them. At the other end of the scale, arms and abs don't really need their own day because they're small and can be thrown in with something else if you're short of workout time...