Your own Routine

Unless you are a very advanced bodybuilder, you won’t be able to gain by using a scheduled developed by Arnold Schwarzenegger for example. You will have to tailor ideas and exercises to your own physical condition. Instead of five or six exercises per body part, do two or three. You can add exercises as your body gains in strength and condition. The important thing to remember about a routine is that it must be balanced. You just cannot grow if you are not working all the muscles.
Many beginners avoid heavy leg work like the plague. Even if your legs are naturally well developed, you should still work them regularly. The same holds true for all basic body parts. They should be worked on a regular basis. Of course, your weakest areas should be worked the hardest.
Another thing to keep in mind is that a schedule is not some magic collection of secret movements. It is simply a collection of workable exercises for increasing the size of your muscles. You have to schedule exercises for each area and perform enough sets and reps to stimulate growth without inducing an overtrained condition. Far better to adopt a short routine and add to it as you progress in fitness and strength than tackle an overlong routine, which will server to dig you into a sticking point you’ll never forget. Start with a limited program, and add, add, add as you grow, grow, grow.
It wouldn’t be right to have a discourse on routines without mentioning the views of veteran bodybuilder Vince Gironda. It almost seems that Vince, the Iron Guru, was the originator of the modern routine as we know it today. His ideas were always revolutionary, and even fifty or so years later, he is a man ahead of his time.
Gironda cautions that beginners should start off with only 3 sets or 8 reps (most authorities’ feel that one or two sets are enough for beginners.) After the first month, the beginner should use 5 sets of 5 reps, the third month 6 sets of 6 reps and, ultimately, after the sixth month, the trainer should be trying the advanced 8 sets of 8 reps routine.
This number is a result of experimentation, with numerous possibly thousands of routines and their myriad variations. It has been concluded that the seasoned bodybuilder can always get an honest workout by performing a routine (every other day) consisting of working one exercise per body part for 8 sets of 8 reps (except calves which are a high rep muscle and 20 reps minimum should be empowered)
A typical Gironda workout schedule, which has proved itself successful time and time again at his North Hollywood gym, is as follows:
Dumbbell Lateral Raises (Lateral Deltoid Head) 8 x 8
Wide Grip Parallel Bar Dips (Upper and Outer Pectoral Area) 8 x 8
Seated Lat pulley Machine Rowing (Mid and Lower Lat Area 8 x 8
Kneeling Face Down Cradle Bench Triceps Pulley Extension (Low, Middle and Outside Heads) 8 x 8
Body Drag Barbell Curls (Upper, Mid and Lower Biceps) 8 x 8
Front heels and Block Squat (Mid and Lower Thigh) 8 x 8
Calf Raise (Gastrocnemius) 8 x 20
Crunches with Weight (Upper and lower Abdominals) 8 x 8
The question of tailoring your routine for your physical type has been mentioned earlier. Genetics determine whether you are a hard gainer or not. It won’t take you long to discover that you will make exceptionally fast gains or only mediocre or even slow progress, you will know your own body.