Gym/workouts

I was talking about possibly switching to BB. In the past I have done the every major body part gets a day(chest, back,tri,bi,shoulder,legs) the chest/tri,back/bi, shoulder/leg split with cardio in between each lifting day and a circuit on sunday, the 2 days on 1 day off, I have done the 5x5 lifting protocol, the 10-12, 4x6-8, and even some 15,10,5 and all kinds of variants.

I was just asking what kind of split and rep scheme people are using now....as I have been out of that game for a while.

 

Hmm......why not knock out those walls unless it’s load bearing?
A relatively easy project and would allow you more room

 

I'd say it all depends on how many days a week you can train.

One day: Full body
Two days: Upper/Lower or two full body
Three days: Push/Pull/Leg
Four days: week 1: Push/Pull/Leg/Push week 2: Pull/Leg/Push/Pull week 3: Leg/Push/Pull/Leg etc
Five days: Same as above, rolling through them (or for me, I do five days push/pull/legs/push/pull and try to hit some hills on saturday)
Six days: push/pull/leg/push/pull/leg
Seven days: Probably a horrible idea.

Rep schemes...... hot topic and quite debated. Plenty of research now saying that rep ranges are not as imporant as once thought and that people can gain muscle in a variety of ranges (as long as sets are taken to near failure). Personally I select weights (based on my journal) that I will fail at no more than 12 reps and no fewer than 8.
The "Bro Split" seems to have fallen about out of favour for many.

 

I have the ability(full home gym) to train everyday and 2x's a day 4 days a week. With that said I have come up with this as the possible scenario for the foreseeable future based off my experiences of the last year while trying to figure out a good combo of powerlifting and crossfit. Time to change that combo. I joined Street Parking almost a year ago(crossfit online programming/community) and it was awesome and had a powerlifting coach writing my barbell movements only for the last 6 months or so. Before that it was 100% PL for the year before that.

While doing a SP Power workout(shoulder press) i realized how horrible my form and posture was. No idea why I didnt notice it earlier. Anyway they have the Starting Strength program from Mark Rippetoe as an extra program. I decided to start doing that as I was trying to fix some APT and form problems with the main lifts. Well I have been doing it for 6 weeks now and actually starting to like the power clean and today was the best my press has ever looked. Still not 100% but way better looking.

About 2 weeks ago I ordered the Starting Strength version 3 book and his practical programming book also. Talk about some knowledge! Like 68 pages on mechanics of the squat. So now I am planning on finishing both books while running the basic program and then go from there.

So now I will be doing Starting Strength 3 days a week, some form of cardio/endurance with the air bike or rower 1 or 2x's, and 1-4 SP Shift workouts at work while trying to get a couple guys started. These will be much lighter then normal SP workouts as squatting 3x's a week starts to add up when your over 80 something percent of your 1rm. Also if you think deadlifting can get taxing at the beginning of your workout try doing it at the end.

Have some pretty big goals for this program over the next 6-9 months or longer.

 

Just picked this up off craigslist for $450 to include a chair and lat bar

 

Steal.

 

Pretty sure your biceps are the size of my thighs...

 

I by no means consider myself great at rowing but I have been using it 3 x’s a week for the last two weeks. Just trying to maintain some level of endurance and work on maybe loosing some body fat while continuing to try and get strong af. I will get that 15k under an hour soon!
Goals still to finish both Rippetoe books by Christmas and while doing so figure out what kind of nutrition plan will be sustainable for me. In the mean time just started tracking intake today. Damn you graveyard schedule for complicating even further!

 

You have 1/4 horsepower!

 

hmmm......not sure thats a good thing or a bad thing.

 

Lots of form concerns in this thread.

It has been my experience one of the most important things is to structure reps and sets carefully based on the goals of the workout. Moderate weights, no max, more reps and sets for muscular endurance.

If you’re maxing out, cut reps and sets. Get your adequate warmup in using cardio, dynamic stretches, 1-2 light sets. Then a few moderate sets, then do doubles and singles working to Max. Once the blood is pumping make everything 5 or fewer reps.

Many people think their form is bad because they’re making mistakes when it’s actually that they know exactly how to do a proper rep. But they’re putting too many reps and sets in a workout where they’re working up to really heavy weights. It’ll kill you every time on squats and deadlifts.

You’ve done your warmup set, then your 5 of 10, your 4 of 8, your 3 of 5, or whatever. Now you’re trying to do doubles and singles and getting sloppy because the muscles involved in keeping you stable for good form have nothing left by the time you approach your max.

My squats and deadlifts both improved in weight and form when I did less work in my heavy workouts. All the stabilizer muscles you need for good form still have juice left on your last sets, so you get more from each rep. If I want to do a larger quantity of work, I don't approach my max.

 

Form Concern?
I pretty much agree with what you are saying. With form or posture it will also vary a lot from person to person due to body anthropology as well. Not everybody will have the same back angle in a squat. Some peoples knees will track further forward of their toes. Then there is high bar vs low bar vs front squat. All of these are factors. This is why a vertical bar path in the squat and deadlift should be the goal. There is way to much stuff to look at if someone is to judge form of themselves or someone else to try and type in a small comment. These were just a couple examples.

Along with form one needs to work heavily on bracing by creating inter abdominal pressure. This will help support the spine in heavy sets incase there is a slight slip in form. Form also has a small range. Meaning that there is a bit of tolerance in where you are at compared to say the ideal position. Say warmup set 1 compared to a 1RM attempt.

I agree that you should never try a max if you are already doing multiple working sets before hand. It wouldn't be a max anyway. Maybe a rep PR or a training max but not a true max. You need to take a few days off before attempting a true max. Then any accessories should be cut drastically for that day.

I guess this could also depend on what style of training you are doing too. I don't do much oly so I can't speak to that. This is how I handle PR attempts for powerlifting. BB guys probably just do arms and chest anyway so they are confused by squats and deadlifts . I am just joking guys... I don't need all those yoked dudes above trying to hunt me down.

Lastly if you are looking to learn how to do the "big 3"(bench, squat,deadlift) there are a few people that put out a lot of great information on youtube...or books. For example Mark Rippetoe, Mark Bell, Chris Duffin, Stefi Cohen, Louie Simmons, and Alan Thrall. These people may not always agree but they are a huge wealth of knowledge.

 

Anyone got their eye on gym equipment for Black Friday? I’m always checking Rogue’s website. Last year they had the Ohio Power Bar for $50. Of course, I missed out since it sold out in less than 3 minutes and nearly crashed their site...

I’d like to get some dumbbells, just not sure where I’d store them right now. But if a good price comes up, buy now and figure it out later, right?!

 

Go check Coop's page. Garagegymreviews.com He has a list of everything. I bought kettlebells last year and he had a code for an extra 10% off from Kettlebell Kings. Saved a bunch of money. I am currently trying to sell my air bike, Rogue GHD, and some wall balls/slam balls to make room for the Rogue Donkey. But I doubt that will happen. Plus that beast is pretty damn expensive.

Edit: I have the Rogue DB-15's. They are the loadable dumbbells. Works great for most everything. Way easier to store if room is a issue.

 

For sure. I follow his IG and the FB group. Nearly pulled the trigger on that Rep Fitness bench for $119 that was price mistake yesterday. But I don’t really *need* a new bench...

 

which Rep? Flat or no gap?

I added the comp bench a couple months ago and like it more then my 900+ rogue adjustable. Now that rogue has other purposes but I didn’t want to spend all that money for the Thompson one.

 

It was the FB-5000 flat comp bench. Price was $120 for a half hour, then their site crashed and it went up to $142. Still not a bad price.

 

yeah. That thing is nice! Definitely can’t beat the price.
If you bench heavy or have shoulder issues the wider bench seems to help like it’s supposed to.

 

Well, back in the gym again after a couple weeks off thanks to working too much and being a lazy slob. Haven't lost much on my numbers which is nice. I hate squats though. I'd rather do virtually any exercise other than squats. It's not my legs that have an issue. It's my shoulders. Getting a comfortable grip is tough and the bar digs in badly across my shoulders. Lucky I'm not a bruiser or else my back would be black and blue...

 

Have you tried a safety squat bar? TONS of people with shoulder issues swear by it. It changes the mechanics of the squat slightly (by design), but still a squat.

 

Next time I'm in our local fitness store, I'll see what they have. I've never used one.

I've been thinking about putting some sort of foam padding on the bar for now.

 

given all the craziness in my life, it's nice to see that power curve going up. had hoped to break 1000w this year but looks like that'll be next year's goal along with getting into the 260s on the FTP.


was at the doc's last week getting a cough checked out (bec was convinced i had throat cancer but, just some post nasal drip), resting HR in the office was low 50s and bp was 109/77. not bad for 46 with a crazy high stress life at the moment. i'll take it.

 

My BPM is about the same as yours, but BP is high 120s/high 70s.

 

BPM or BP? LOL