It was O/H day, but as ive just started the pre russian squat routine (7 weeks then start RSR proper) i also did the squat work sets, 5x5 @ 70% (115kg) before my shoulder work. the routine has 3 squat sessions per week so i will be doing them on bench day, before my bench sets and assisstance, on overheads day, and on deadlift day 10 mins skipping to warm up Bear complex, from 25kg to 55kg Back squat- 5x5 @ 115kg. Military press- 5x5 from 25kg-65kg Push press- 10 x 3 @75kg Seated Arnold press- 3x8 with 20kg DBs Upright rows/DB shrugs superset- 4x8-bar 45kg/DBs-20kg Light bench press- 8x8 @60kg weighted Parallel bar dips- 5x5/20kg plate Bear complex, in reverse order from start of work out. 10 mins skipping/10 mins stretching.
200 reps worth of pressing and no pulling that I can see. If your Bear is the same as my Bear then that's even more pressing to start and finish the workout. Hello impingement!
It was a press day..shoulders...i just added squats as i was doing 3 squat sessions per week at the time, and added the bear to warm up/down legs and shoulders. and anyway, i do romanian deads in my bear so there is SOME pulling haha
Ive kind of slipped into it since i stopped using 5/3/1, which ive decided to go back to as soon as the stitches are out and i can train again. either the bodybuilding template or boring but big again. why, what would you suggest? Ive done mostly strength training for the last year or so and now want to get bigger but stay toned too so have been using powerbuilding protocol, i;e, power sets/muscle sets/burn sets and it seems to be working for me. BUT, i'm always looking for advice/constructive criticism etc so any advice/tips mate fire away. I want to compete eventually too, whether its weight-lifting comps or strongman comps or both i don't really care. once i hit 180kg squat/130 bench/200kg+ deads and 100kg overhead i'll go for it. been training seriously with weights for about a year or so since i retired from boxing, and its all starting to come together for me now. diet, training (kind of) supplements etc and i'm making great progress, my strength lifts-wise were a joke at the begginning haha but i'm getting there. i boxed at super-middle and have added about a stone of muscle since i started lifting seriously, but i knew next to nothing at the start. arnold's book helped me a lot cos that's what i started with. (arnold's routine was perfect for me, as in the first part he wants you doing loads of body-weight strength training, pull/chin ups, press ups, etc before you start the begginner routine and as an ex boxer/ex soldier i was more than used to this kind of training) then i tried wendlers 5/3/1 and it worked great for me, especially for learning to use correct form. but i can get boring quick, so found adding barbell/dumbell complexes on squat day (alternated with front squats) and deads day (alternated with zercher's) Anyway, any advice would be appreciated. Cheers
Considering that you're wanting to increase size while burning enough calories to stay lean, you are interested in possibly competing one day, and you haven't built up a sizeable base of strength yet, full body workouts are the way to go. As a martial artist, just think of this - when in a fight will you use one muscle or muscle group to do ANYTHING? Throwing a hard kick with all your bodyweight behind it, laying into someone with a hard cross, torquing your hips explosively to land a hard hook, or tackling someone to the ground and trying to tie them up in a submission: these all take the contribution of nearly every single muscle in your body working in a coordinated fashion. So I recommend you train by using nearly every single muscle in your body in coordinated lifts. Squats, dumbbell overhead presses, seated rows, and medicine ball slams: that would be a great full body workout that hit all your major muscle groups with a heavy load, and it would have tremendous carryover to the kind of events you're interested in competing in as well as to your martial art or sport of choice. And unless you're a competitive bodybuilder using steroids, what Arnold does should have nothing to do with how you train if you ask me. Body part splits work great when you've built a huge base of strength and want to start working on symmetry for a show. They work even better when you are using anabolic steroids to alter your work capacity. Outside of that however, you're just splitting your workouts based on geography, not based on anatomy of physiology. It would make no less sense to train the left side of your body one day, and the right side another. It may work, but it's far from ideal and it doesn't take into account the way our body actually moves and works dynamically.
Ok mate, thanks for the advice. Could i not just stick to wendler's for my compound lifts though? I still use 5/3/1 for my compounds but started using power, muscle, burn sets from a powerbuilding routine for my assistance work, as i figured it would be a good mix, strength/muscle building and fat burning. I'm not mad keen on full body routine's... what's wrong with 5/3/1? what about westide barbell routine? that's one ive considered trying for a while but have stuck with 5/3/1 for the past year as that's what jim wendler reccommends to get the full benefit strength-wise, and ive had some good gains. or so i thought, what would you consider a decent strength base? as you said i havent developed one yet. i took my bench from 60kg to 120 in just under 12 months, my squat and deadlift went from 70kg and 90kg to 160kg (squat) and 195kg (deadlift) and o/h press from around 40kg to 85kg. i thought that for a 35 year old (who can still run 3 miles in 18 mins, and do 110 press ups/28 w/g pull ups/37 chin ups in 1 min each) first year lifter i was doing ok... So would i be better off using stronglifts 5 x 5 or something like that? cheers
Today's training: Squats: 20 Reps with bar (25kg) 10 @ 45kg 5 @ 65kg 5 @ 85kg 5 @ 105kg 5 x 5 @ 125kg 5 @ 145kg 3 @ 165kg 2 @ 170kg and 3 singles @ 175kg Bench: 20 Reps with bar. 10 @ 60kg 5 @ 70kg 5 @ 80kg 5 @ 90kg 5 x 5 @ 105kg 3 @ 110kg 2 @ 115kg and 3 singles @ 120kg Failed lift @ 125kg. BB rows: 5 x 5 @ 80kg Military Press: 20 Reps with bar 10 @ 45kg 5 @ 50kg 5 @ 60kg 5 @ 70kg 5 x 5 @ 80kg 3 @ 85kg 1 @ 90kg Bar Dips: 5 x 5 with 25kg plate in a backpack. (the chain on my dips belt has snapped!!) Abs: Weighted sit ups- 5 x 10 (25kg)/ hanging leg raises/ double crunches- 2 x 50 each I also did a 25 mile 'walk' over rough ground carrying a 55lb backpack yesterday in 3 hours. Rest day tomorrow!!
Yesterday: 6 x 3 Skipping Front squats: 5 x 5 from 50 to 100kg Deadlift: 10 reps @ 40kg 5 reps @ 80kg 5 reps @ 120kg 3 @ 140kg 3 @ 160kg 6 singles @ 180kg Seated BB press: 5 x 5 @ 75kg DB press: 4 x 8 with 20kg DB's BB curls/Hammer curls: 4 x 8 each. 30kg BB/ 15kg DB's Weighted chin ups: 5 x 5 with 25kg plate 3 X 3 Pads / 3 x 3 Heavy bag / 3 x 3 Skipping. I also sparred 4 fast rounds with a friend as he's been bugging me to spar for a while now.
Today: Decided to do some strongman event type training. Sand bag loading. (onto wheelie bin) 6 sandbags weighing from 60kg to 120kg. I put the bin at the top of my backyard (its about 30ft long by 20ft wide) and the bags at the bottom, then would take one up, load onto the bin then run back for the next. did this 3 times, to warm up etc. Farmers walk with 55kg DB's: up/down my backyard 10 times. Overhead carry: 60kg BB up/down the yard 5 times. Bar carry: In squat position. 80kg, 5 times up/down yard. Deadlift carry: 120kg. 5 times up/down yard then held bar for 30 seconds til my grip failed. Sandbag bunny hops: Managed 3 an a half times up/down yard before legs failed and was ready to puke. Tried 10 chins afterwards but failed at 4 or 5! Excellent workout, will definately be doing this again. May have to miss my 25 mile hill walk tomorrow tho, depending how my legs feel.
Full body routines simply burn more calories than split body routines, and its hard to get the required frequency on a split body routine unless your on steroids (you burn up too quickly and normally need to hit strength work twice a week to get gains) Add to this that its normally best to train different motor qualities (strength, speed , muscular endurance) on different days then a full body split makes sense for some people What some research has shown is that for most lifters looking to gain strength two sessions a week on the heavy lifts is the best for progress, first day hard, the second about 70% of that either reduce the number of top end sets by a third or reduce the weight by a bit, 3 or 4 lifts each day, bench, squat, row etc From personal experience when I switched to a 2 day full body workout from a Westside template my bench went from 120 to 140kg, my box squat from 160 to 180kg, and my trap bar dead lift from 180 to 205 (this was in an 8 week block), not great numbers I know but a real increase from where I had been and I thought quite good considering I was doing MMA three days a week as well and several days of conditioning What I would say is that if the 5,3,1 system is working for you then stick with it because if a programmes working there’s no point in changing it Westside is great if you are taking certain drugs and going to lift wearing gear, otherwise I’d go for 5,3,1 over it,
Cheers for the advice mate, ive just switched to Madcow( in my second week now) which i'm going to try for a month or 2 and see how what i think, if i don't like it i'll go back to 5 3 1.
Oh and i'm drug free by the way, forgot to mention in my reply. To be honest i'm sick of getting told i need to use steroids from some of the guys i talk to at the gym. Ive been told on numerous occaisions that the only way to get big/strong as i'm wanting to (without having superman like genetics) is to use steroids. Bulls**t, i'm not having that. It might take me years yet but i'll get there!
