A new routine on the horizon

If you didn't already know by now, I enjoy programming. I like the idea of tweaking a routine to get that little bit more, to somehow unlock the secret to your own personal well of strength. In one of my last posts I talked about moving onto a new routine once I complete my objectives on Starting Strength. After an overall maudlin epiphany last night, I have come up with the routine I'll follow. Here's a few major hints to the thematic changes I'll be making: no more squats every workout, more aesthetic focus and more exercise selection. So without further ado, here is my routine in full - 


Day 1 - Legs & chest


Squats - 5x5 
Bench - 5x5
Incline - 2x8-10
Dips - 2x8-10


Day 2 - Back & posterior chain


Deadlifts - 4x5
Pull Ups - 2x3, 1xAMRAP (As Many Reps As Possible)
Olympic movement - 5x3 (muscle snatches, power cleans etc)
Romanian Deadlifts - 3x5


Day 3 - Legs & Shoulders


Front Squats - 5x5
Overhead Press - 2x3, 1xAMRAP
One-armed DB clean & press - 2x3 (each arm)
Seated shoulder press - 2x8-10


BREAKDOWN OF THE ROUTINE BY MUSCULAR REGION:


Leg movements - Back and front squats, deadlifts


Back movements - Deadlifts, pull ups, Olympic movement and RDLs


Posterior chain movements - Deadlifts, Olympic movement and RDLs


Chest movements - Bench, incline and dips


Shoulder movements - OHP, DB clean & press and seated shoulder press


BREAKDOWN OF THE ROUTINE BY STRENGTH/SIZE:


Upper power movements - Bench press, OHP, pull ups and DB clean & press


Upper hypertrophy movements - Incline, dips and seated shoulder press


Lower power movements - Back and front squats, deadlifts, RDLs


Lower body hypertrophy - NONE 

Olympic movements - Power cleans, clean pulls, overhead squats, muscle snatches 


BREAKDOWN OF ROUTINE BY REP SCHEMES:


5x5 or 4x5 - Front squats, back squats, deadlifts, bench


These exercises are done with ramping incremental increased sets to hit a top heavy set of 5. If I get all the reps, I move up next week (eg 60kgx5, 80kgx5, 100kgx5, 120kgx5, 140kgx5). Great way to keep both intensity and workload high to create a strength adaptation.


2x3, 1xAMRAP - Pull ups, OHP


The 2x3, 1xAMRAP is done with the same weight across all sets. The heavy triples offer a decent workload, and the AMRAP (as many reps as possible) set allows me to go out and get a PR to increase workload and decide on whether to stay on the weight or move up. If I get 3 or less for the AMRAP set, I'm not ready to move up weight. This means a successful workout would go: 2x60kgx3, 1x60kgx4 (or above hopefully). NOTE: AMRAP doesn't mean FAILURE, it means one rep shy of failure.


2x8-10 - Incline, dips, seated shoulder press


These are the exercises that will give me size returns without me needing to care about putting up huge numbers on them. Hopefully the dips and incline will give me a wider and more impressive chest. The shoulder press, with its higher focus on the lateral delts than standing barbell OHP, will give me the 'boulder shoulder' look every man and his dog so craves. 


3x5 - RDLs


I see RDLs as assistance to my deadlift as well as a reciprocal movement to the quad dominant front and high bar back squats. This gives me a chance to really strengthen my glutes, hamstrings and lower back to even out my quad dominance. 3x5 is a great platform for increasing workload without the need to put up big numbers. 


2x3 - One-armed DB clean & press


A heavy as exercise that doesn't need a whole heap of sets to create an adaptation. I took the AMRAP set out of this exercise (compared with Pull ups and OHP) because it was an injury liability. I want this movement to be heavy, short and sweet to get the best gains. 


5x3 - Olympic movements


Always a winning rep scheme with Olympic exercises. Gives substantial workload while maintaining the eye on technicality needed to advance on the O-lifts. 


NOTE: ON LEGS & CHEST DAY, I WILL BE USING DB'S FOR EITHER FLAT BENCH OR INCLINE BENCH; I WILL ALTERNATE THEM. THIS MEANS THE FIRST WEEK I WILL BARBELL BENCH AND DB INCLINE, AND THE NEXT WEEK I WILL DB BENCH AND BARBELL INCLINE. HOPEFULLY THE REASONING IS SELF-EXPLANATORY 


So there it is. I know I ramble a lot but I appreciate it when people actually read my word vomit. I truly think this is a great routine for me to achieve my goals of being strong in the exercises which matter while looking good at the same time. If you have read through it all and think it seems like a good routine, do it with me! Either way, I look forward to starting this routine as soon as I get some DBs and complete my objectives of 140kgx5 deadlift, 90kgx5 bench and maybe once I get my squat back to 110kg-120kgx5.