# Randy Herring's Circuit Training Routine



## viet_jon (Aug 16, 2006)

*HOW'S THIS ROUTINE?*

It's been 4 months since I started, so my newb gains have slowed down dramatically, *I NEED A NEW ROUTINE*. prrs stopped working for me.






*SUNDAY* - Abs, Calves, Hams, Quads, Cardio

*Mini Circuit 1* (1 tri-set, 1 set each, 3 sets total) - Abs: Tri-set (one set each to fatigue for any many reps you can do) - Floor, Sit-Up or Roman Chair Crunches

Lying Leg Raises, Reverse Crunches or Hanging Leg Raises
Floor Oblique Crunches, Roman Chair Oblique Crunches, Oblique-Leg Raise Crunches or Hanging Oblique Leg Raises.
Time: 5 minutes
*
Mini Circuit 2* (3 tri-sets, 4 sets each, 12 sets total) - Calves: Seated or Standing Calf Raises

Hams: Lying or Seated Leg Curls
Quads: Squats, Hack Squats or Leg Extensions. Repeat this sequence three more times.
Time: 20 minutes

Cardio - Sustain 60% to 85% intensity of your maximum heart rate.
Time: 30 minutes

*MONDAY *- Abs, Chest, Back, Shoulders, Traps, Biceps, Triceps, Forearms

*Mini Circuit 1* (1 tri-set, 1 set each, 3 sets total) - Abs: Tri-set (one set each to fatigue for any many reps you can do) - Floor, Sit-Up or Roman Chair Crunches

Lying Leg Raises, Reverse Crunches or Hanging Leg Raises
Floor Oblique Crunches, Roman Chair Oblique Crunches, Oblique-Leg Raise Crunches or Hanging Oblique Leg Raises.
Time: 5 minutes

*Mini Circuit 2 *(2 giant-sets consisting of 4 exercises, 2 sets each, 8 sets total)

Chest: Bench Press or Incline Press
Back: Bent-Over Barbell Rows, Good Mornings, Dumbbell or Barbell Deadlifts
Chest: Dumbbell Flyes or Bar Dips
Back: Lat Pull-downs, T-Bar Rows or Cable Rows

Repeat this sequence once more.
Time: 10 minutes

*Mini Circuit 3* (2 giant-sets consisting of 6 exercises, 2 sets each, 12 sets total)

Front Delts: Standing Military (in front or behind neck) Press
Front Traps: Barbell Shrugs
Side Delts: Dumbbell Lateral Raises
Rear Traps: Smith Machine Shrugs Behind the Neck
Rear Delts: Bent-Over Lateral Raises
Delt-Trap Tie-in: Upright Rows
Repeat this sequence once more.
Time: 20 minutes

*Mini Circuit 4* (3 tri-sets for biceps & triceps and 2 tri-sets for forearms, consisting of 5 exercises, 2-3 sets each, 12 sets total)

Biceps: Standing Barbell or Dumbbell Curls
Triceps: Bar Dips, Standing Kampered Bar French Press or Pushdowns
Forearms: Reverse Curls
Wrist Curls
Extensor Curls
Repeat biceps & triceps a second time
Repeat forearms once more
Repeat biceps & triceps once more.
Time: 20 - 25 minutes


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## viet_jon (Aug 16, 2006)

*Tuesday* - Same as Sunday: Abs, Calves, Hams, Quads, Cardio

*Wednesday *- Same as Monday: Abs, Chest, Back, Shoulders, Traps, Biceps, Triceps and Forearms, but performing three powerlifting exercises for the necessity of increasing or maintaining strength by performing one set each for a 2-4 rep max (RM) in the bench press, squat and deadlift. These powerlifting exercises should be done after the completion of Circuit 1 (serving as a warm-up to strengthen the core [ab] muscles) and before the execution of Circuit 2.

These power lifts may take up to 30 minutes (squats and deadlifts will probably take a longer warm-up than bench press) to complete due to the warm-ups prior to attempting your RM's. Take your time to warm-up to prepare your body and mind and EXPLODE YOUR ENERGY when it comes time to performing your 2-4 RM!

      Powerlifting time: 30 minutes plus
      Circuits 1 & 2 through 4: 60 minutes
      Total time for Wednesday: 90 minutes
*
Thursday *- Same as Sunday and Tuesday: Abs, Calves, Hams, Quads, Cardio

*Friday *- Same as Monday: Abs, Chest, Back, Shoulders, Traps, Biceps, Triceps, Forearms
*
Saturday *- REST

*Sunday *- Repeat


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## squanto (Aug 17, 2006)

That's way too much lifting. Lift 3-4 days a week, not 6. Focus more on diet. What were you doing before?


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## Double D (Aug 17, 2006)

I've never lifted more than 5 days a week. I used to like to do a bodypart a day, but ever since I have gotten older (keep in mind I have lifted for around 10 years) I have gotten wiser and realized theres no need for all of those days whenever all it leads to is burn out and overtraining. Yes I got good gains off of it, but I have gotten even greater gains off what I have been doing for the past 3 years now.


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## viet_jon (Aug 17, 2006)

squanto said:


> That's way too much lifting. Lift 3-4 days a week, not 6. Focus more on diet. What were you doing before?




I was doing PRRS 6 days a week, and have since transformed my body from a fat guy into a pretty cut-up physique. But everything's slowing down.

My diet's great. Honestly.

The mod's on here have said in other threads that training 6 days a week is okay, as long as you set it up right with accumulation and intensification phases. And plus, I need to work out 6 days a week for health reasons, gaining size is a bonus.


*double d:*
i've been donig it since i started, and have experieneced no overtraining whatsoever. also, i do nothing else physical outside of lifting weights. The gains i've been getting doing 6 days a week is enough to keep me happy. I'm only doing so many days because of health reasons, I don't really have a choice.


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## P-funk (Aug 17, 2006)

that workout sucks balls.  why lift like that 6 days a week?

why do you "need to workout 6 days a week".


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## viet_jon (Aug 17, 2006)

P-funk said:


> that workout sucks balls.  why lift like that 6 days a week?
> 
> why do you "need to workout 6 days a week".





yea i thought so it sucks. too much volume right?


i need to workout everyday cuz of health reasons.

My family has a history of health problems that got passed down to me. And on top of that, I've been doing mad drugs since I was young. I wouldn't have done all the drugs if I new about the genetic health problems. Now I'm left with anxiety, depression, guilt, aggitation, nervousness, OCD, and a shitload of other things I don't really wanna get into including sexual.

My doc's meds, don't really do shit neither. I find that the only thing that gets rid of the symptoms, is working out everyday. So even if I do a 6-day routine, and not gain as much muscle as a 3-4day routine, i'm 100% cool with it. 


When you mentioned in the other thread that a 6-day routine is okay if setup right, I scoured the net looking for one. This is what I came up with.

How would u setup a 6-day routine....?


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## P-funk (Aug 17, 2006)

viet_jon said:


> yea i thought so it sucks. too much volume right?
> 
> 
> i need to workout everyday cuz of health reasons.
> ...





this is what goalgetters marathon training routine looks like:

sun- off
mon- total body weights/light run
tues- tempo runs
wed- upper body lifting (strength)
thurs- lower body lifting (strength)/light run
fri- off
sat- long run (long slow distance)

that is a lot of work in 5 days.

If you were lookg at 6 days a week you would have to do something like:

mon- lower
tues- upper
wed- GPP
thurs- lower
fri- upper
sat- GPP
sun- off

But, i wouldn't recomend that for anyone save an elite athlete who might be able to handle that volume.  Even still, I probably wouldn't put anyone through that.  I mean, pre-season football players do things like practice 6 days a week, sometimes 2 a days and then they usually do some low volume lifting on top of that 2-3x's a week.  That is as much as it really gets.  You really have to build up a work capactiy for that though.


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## viet_jon (Aug 17, 2006)

P-funk said:


> this is what goalgetters marathon training routine looks like:
> 
> sun- off
> mon- total body weights/light run
> ...



What's GPP?

and what kind of volume should I keep it at? something like 35-40 min sessions @ 90sec rest intervals. And 40-50 min sessions @ 3-4min RI?

another thing, I sit around picking my ass all day. I do nothing physical besides lifting weights. And work just 3 hours on saturday.

Ill go over your sticky again to try to balance out push n pull exercises.
But u mentioned before accumulation and intensification, how should I use that? 2 week switches?


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## P-funk (Aug 17, 2006)

General Physical Preparedness...basically, raising your general conditioning levels.

session length and rest intervals depends on your goals for the session, intensity, volume, etc..

also, how much you are eating makes a difference in a high volume program.

In general I would say....you don't need to do this much work.

Go with something like:

total body
cardio
total body
off
total body
cardio
off


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## CowPimp (Aug 17, 2006)

Currently I lift 3 days a week with weights heavy enough to support neurological and structural adaptations.  

Another 2 days I week I do very light resistance training using a combination of bodyweight exercises and submaximal resistances that don't really stress me, but allow me to do a lot of work in a short period of time.

Another day each week I will do some light active recovery which usually consists of jogging outside at a moderate pace.  It's enough to work up a sweat, but not kill me by any means.  Sometimes I also do some brisk walking on an incline on the treadmill if the weather is sucking ass outside.

However, it has taken me quite a while to get my work capacity up to this level.  I seriously doubt your average person can pull this off without feeling like shit in short order.


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## viet_jon (Aug 17, 2006)

P-funk said:


> General Physical Preparedness...basically, raising your general conditioning levels.
> 
> session length and rest intervals depends on your goals for the session, intensity, volume, etc..
> 
> ...




ill try this one then........see how it goes!!

so i figure, i should eat more for a high volume routine right?


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## P-funk (Aug 17, 2006)

i would!


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## viet_jon (Aug 17, 2006)

CowPimp said:


> Currently I lift 3 days a week with weights heavy enough to support neurological and structural adaptations.
> 
> Another 2 days I week I do very light resistance training using a combination of bodyweight exercises and submaximal resistances that don't really stress me, but allow me to do a lot of work in a short period of time.
> 
> ...



i hear you.............
i've only been working out for 4 months, i'm probably not close to your conditioning level yet. I have been doing 6 days a week workouts, but the second half of the week, I'm pretty winded, and lift like shit compared to days 1,2,3.


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## P-funk (Aug 17, 2006)

viet_jon said:


> i hear you.............
> i've only been working out for 4 months, i'm probably not close to your conditioning level yet. I have been doing 6 days a week workouts, but the *second half of the week, I'm pretty winded, and lift like shit compared to days 1,2,3*.



then clearly you have no business training 6 days a week.

What is the point of days 4,5,6 if they are like shit compared to 1,2,3?  Quality over quantity.  Stop wasting your time.  Be more efficient in the gym and reap the benefits.


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## Bakerboy (Aug 17, 2006)

I am doing a program close to what P suggests you do and it has been working for me but I have been building up to it for a while now.


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## viet_jon (Aug 17, 2006)

P-funk said:


> then clearly you have no business training 6 days a week.
> 
> What is the point of days 4,5,6 if they are like shit compared to 1,2,3?  Quality over quantity.  Stop wasting your time.  Be more efficient in the gym and reap the benefits.




dude, my main goals for working out isn't getting bigger. ITS health!!!!
getting bigger is an added bonus.

I started working out cuz of stress and everything else I've mentioned........I never really imagined myself getting cut up and looking muscular......but it's happenning and I got no complaints. 2 for the price of 1.

but I see what your saying though, everyone keeps hammerin me for that. If I had no health problems, and my main goal is to build muscle, I'd surely do a 3 day total body as you suggested.


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## viet_jon (Aug 17, 2006)

Bakerboy said:


> I am doing a program close to what P suggests you do and it has been working for me but I have been building up to it for a while now.



what's your routine? do you have a journal?


canadian eh?  whereabouts?


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## Bakerboy (Aug 17, 2006)

http://www.ironmagazineforums.com/showthread.php?t=68154


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## P-funk (Aug 17, 2006)

viet_jon said:


> dude, my main goals for working out isn't getting bigger. ITS health!!!!
> getting bigger is an added bonus.
> 
> I started working out cuz of stress and everything else I've mentioned........I never really imagined myself getting cut up and looking muscular......but it's happenning and I got no complaints. 2 for the price of 1.
> ...



a) regardless of your goal......efficiency is what you should strive for.  we are dealing with the human body here.  do you really need something like excessive amounts of training to add to the daily stress you already have?  Elite athletes get away with becasue that is all they do!

b) if heath is your goal you need to think about training less, training an optimal number of times per week, and recovering so that you can maintain a healthy lifestyle.


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## CowPimp (Aug 18, 2006)

If health is your primary goal, then I would be doing more conditioning work anyway.  Reap the health benefits of crosstraining.  Don't just lift weights 6 days each week; that's not the best way to go about things.


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## viet_jon (Aug 21, 2006)

you guys are right.......6 days lifting a week is starting to hammer me. By saturday, i'm so freakin sore, I can barely get up.

it's just that the days that I'm suppose to go in to do cardio, it bores me 10 minutes into it...then I just tell myself fuck this shit, I"m going to lift some weights, and off I go. 


I"m gonna start lifting 4 days, and 2 days conditioning work. See how it goes.


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## KelJu (Aug 21, 2006)

P-funk said:


> then clearly you have no business training 6 days a week.
> 
> What is the point of days 4,5,6 if they are like shit compared to 1,2,3?  Quality over quantity.  Stop wasting your time.  Be more efficient in the gym and reap the benefits.



You are right Pfunk, but you are not seeing what he is trying to say. He has physiological issues that are helped when he works out. I can't explain it, but I have the same thing. lifting stops my anxiety and depression dead in its tracks. Lifting, be it that I am making progress or not, keeps my neurotransmitters in check better than any of that shit the doctors try to pimp on me. 

Viet_jon, may I offer some advice. I have a buddy who originally told me about the power of weight training on my mind. He lifts almost everyday, but he doesn???t left at 100% effort. Maybe the answer you are looking for is lifting frequently, but less intense. Try doing a muscle group per day. I know that goes against everything they teach here at IM, but you aren???t lifting for the same reasons as everyone else. Add other activities to your weak to keep your mind busy when you aren't lifting. I play disk gold for about 3 hours every Sunday. I run on two of my off days, also. During the winter I ride the cybex stationary pick in my gym during off days.


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## Bakerboy (Aug 21, 2006)

^ I get very depressed if I am not physically active so I understand what you guys are saying but training with weights 6 days a week is still too much.
Why not do an upper/ lower program with some form of cardio/ sprints? 
I have been doing full body M/W/F with stair sprints/biking on my days off.
I also do Tai chi and yoga to help even me out. You just have to know how to balance it all together so you don't over do it.


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## P-funk (Aug 21, 2006)

there are things you can do on inbetween days that are "active rest" as baker body mentioned.  I like to go for easy bike rides, jump in the pool, stretch, etc...lots of things you can do besides beat yourself up in the gym day in and day out.


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## viet_jon (Aug 21, 2006)

KelJu said:


> You are right Pfunk, but you are not seeing what he is trying to say. He has physiological issues that are helped when he works out. I can't explain it, but I have the same thing. lifting stops my anxiety and depression dead in its tracks. Lifting, be it that I am making progress or not, keeps my neurotransmitters in check better than any of that shit the doctors try to pimp on me.
> 
> Viet_jon, may I offer some advice. I have a buddy who originally told me about the power of weight training on my mind. He lifts almost everyday, but he doesn???t left at 100% effort. Maybe the answer you are looking for is lifting frequently, but less intense. Try doing a muscle group per day. I know that goes against everything they teach here at IM, but you aren???t lifting for the same reasons as everyone else. Add other activities to your weak to keep your mind busy when you aren't lifting. I play disk gold for about 3 hours every Sunday. I run on two of my off days, also. During the winter I ride the cybex stationary pick in my gym during off days.





wow, there's someone else on IM like me.........thought I was alone on here. I try to lift just 4 days a week and run 2 days. But the days that I just run, it doesn't beat me up to a point where it kills my anxiety and depression. It does somewhat, but not as you put it, dead in its tracks. And the days that I'm completely inactive, I feel like shit and pissed off at nothing. On saturdays, I always feel like punching someone in the head for no reason, i guess it's something about what u said neurotransmitters or something.

man that's cool to know someone's in the same boat as me.!!!  


and those stupid addivtive drugs that the doc's try to put me on makes things even worse. I'm addicted to working out now, and I don't mind one bit.!!!!!!


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## viet_jon (Aug 21, 2006)

Bakerboy said:


> ^ I get very depressed if I am not physically active so I understand what you guys are saying but training with weights 6 days a week is still too much.
> Why not do an upper/ lower program with some form of cardio/ sprints?
> I have been doing full body M/W/F with stair sprints/biking on my days off.
> I also do Tai chi and yoga to help even me out. You just have to know how to balance it all together so you don't over do it.




I'd love to try Tai Chi or other things like that, but Im a broke a@@ with no job.


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## viet_jon (Aug 21, 2006)

P-funk said:


> there are things you can do on inbetween days that are "active rest" as baker body mentioned.  I like to go for easy bike rides, jump in the pool, stretch, etc...lots of things you can do besides beat yourself up in the gym day in and day out.





funk, i read in the other thread some things you mention as signs of overtraining. You listed stress, insomnia, lack of motivation, slow progress, lifts getting lighter. And you also said there's a tonne of other signs of overtraining, what should I be looking for? 

got any links of good articles i can read?


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## Bakerboy (Aug 21, 2006)

^ What city do you live in? A lot of places have free sessions. If you have a decent Chinatown community you can hook up with them. They often do tai chi outdoors. Yoga is harder to find for free decause it is so trendy, now, but you could just start with getting books out from the library or DVD's. If you still can't find anything, hell, make up your own style! Be the next Bruce Lee. 
Try 'bear walking' up and down steps that is a sure way to cool your jets.


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## P-funk (Aug 21, 2006)

viet_jon said:


> funk, i read in the other thread some things you mention as signs of overtraining. You listed stress, insomnia, lack of motivation, slow progress, lifts getting lighter. And you also said there's a tonne of other signs of overtraining, what should I be looking for?
> 
> got any links of good articles i can read?





> 1: J Endocrinol Invest. 2004 Jun;27(6):603-12. Links
> The overtraining syndrome in athletes: a stress-related disorder.
> 
> * Angeli A,
> ...






> 1: Sports Med. 1991 Jul;12(1):32-65. Links
> Overtraining in athletes. An update.
> 
> * Fry RW,
> ...





> 1: Sports Med. 2004;34(14):967-81. Links
> Does overtraining exist? An analysis of overreaching and overtraining research.
> 
> * Halson SL,
> ...





> : Immunol Cell Biol. 2000 Oct;78(5):502-9.Click here to read  Links
> Special feature for the Olympics: effects of exercise on the immune system: overtraining effects on immunity and performance in athletes.
> 
> * MacKinnon LT.
> ...





there are some things to read.

just do a search in pubmed.com and you will get tons of abstracts on this topic.


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