AllPro: A Simple Beginner's Routine part III

[dcbawden]

you failed 1,2,4 :-D by the book you have to repeat those (if its too heavy maybe you should remove 5-10lbs)

you need to get 10rm by doing it one time only (not 2 warmup 2 heavy), page 1 tells you how to get it.

Page 1 has a link that dosn't work for 10rep max.

At this point wouldn't you believe i have enough information to start fresh week1 (8rep) just using 160, 115(maybe 120) and 115(maybe 120)? Even if those maybe a bit light and stick to the correct numbers this time around?

[redcaesar]

That being said if you're looking at increasing size mainly should you be running program with 4-8 range?

You could start with any rep range and finish with any rep range you wanted. The reason for the 8-12 is to split the gains between size/strength. 4-8 or 5-9 will be fine.

[HY314]

Just realized I've done 2 days of SLDL wrong. Gotta work on my form tomorrow.

[xperty]

Felt a strange pain in my back this morning at the gym after only doing squats which is my first exercise..

I felt fine during the squats and my back literally only went after when I bent down to tie my shoe laces!!

I wouldn't say its a unbearable pain it just feels a bit stiff but I have took a Ibuprofen and had a bath so the pain seems to be easing a bit!

Think I should wait a few days before I head to the doctor to see if it eases up.

Thanks for any advice!

[DeltaCharlie75]

Felt a strange pain in my back this morning at the gym after only doing squats which is my first exercise..

I felt fine during the squats and my back literally only went after when I bent down to tie my shoe laces!!

I wouldn't say its a unbearable pain it just feels a bit stiff but I have took a Ibuprofen and had a bath so the pain seems to be easing a bit!

Think I should wait a few days before I head to the doctor to see if it eases up.

Thanks for any advice!

Sounds like you have definately pulled a muscle. Put ice on the area 5+ times per day for 20 mins for the first two days and rest it. Also have a read at this about rehabbing a pulled muscle.
http://www.daddystrength.com/2010/03...ehab-protocol/
http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...hp?t=150679973

[makeitright]

Just realized I've done 2 days of SLDL wrong. Gotta work on my form tomorrow.

My weakest lift for sure. I'm not sure who it was in here, but they recommended me adding a warm up to SLDL using the weight for OHP. I've done it a few times, but it's easy to forget when you're used to only warming up the first three. But I believe I'm going to make a more conscious effort this cycle. Something you could possibly try as well?

[MrSlippery]

Just realized I've done 2 days of SLDL wrong. Gotta work on my form tomorrow.

No question there is a dramatic difference in doing SLDL right and wrong. You should really feel it in your hamstrings, typically I try to exaggerate sticking my ass out first to ensure my form is proper.

[WFKA]

I thought I would come back to say that compared to last week, I did a lot better! Last week on my heavy day I failed my overhead barbell press and my curls for 11 reps. On the Monday of this week, I managed to pass ALL of my exercises apart from my overhead press (I only managed to do 12 and then 8). This is still a big improvement from last week because I believe that I only managed 11 and 6 on my overhead press, and 11 and 4 on my curls. I guess I just pushed myself that little bit further.

Also, my gym only has two barbell racks. I was waiting for the people on one of them to leave so I could get on it. Once it became free and I had started, some guy came over and asked me if I was done with it, and I said no. The other rack then became free, so he went on it, and I went to do my bench presses with 25kg and the guy came over and said, "You'd be better doing that weight with dumbbells than a barbell." I found this funny because dumbbells are harder to lift than barbells and dumbells require more stabilization. I just nodded my head and carried on! I thought I would share this with you guys. Pretty hilarious :P.

[Vaylor]

Just realized I've done 2 days of SLDL wrong. Gotta work on my form tomorrow.

Make sure you are shoving your hips back as far as you can go when lowering the bar and then driving through your heels and pushing your hips forward when raising the bar. Really changed the workout for me.

[HY314]

Is two days of rest between weeks really the optimal thing to do? I just finished my first light day and am wondering why 2 days of rest before the next heavy day is the right thing to do. I don't mean to sound argumentative, I'm just a noob looking for a better understanding.

My weakest lift for sure. I'm not sure who it was in here, but they recommended me adding a warm up to SLDL using the weight for OHP. I've done it a few times, but it's easy to forget when you're used to only warming up the first three. But I believe I'm going to make a more conscious effort this cycle. Something you could possibly try as well?

Interesting. I added a workout set today and I think it helped a lot. Before today I was trying to do a regular squat while keeping my legs straight (I didn't know that the bar doesn't touch the ground in-between reps on SLDL). When doing SLDL today though, I was unable to bend my hips enough to make my torso parallel to the ground. Gotta work on my flexibility I guess.

Today was my light day and I found that I've been cheating on bent-over rows. I really focused on pulling with my back instead of lifting with my arm (I do db bent-over row on a bench) and really struggled even with 20% less weight.

No question there is a dramatic difference in doing SLDL right and wrong. You should really feel it in your hamstrings, typically I try to exaggerate sticking my ass out first to ensure my form is proper.

I really only feel it in my lower back. My low back is really weak though, so that probably contributes to not feeling it in my hamstrings. My hamstrings always hurt more than everything else on rest days though, but that could just be the squats right?

[HY314]

Make sure you are shoving your hips back as far as you can go when lowering the bar and then driving through your heels and pushing your hips forward when raising the bar. Really changed the workout for me.

Thanks for the tip. When I raise the bar all the way up, I always end up tapping myself right in my groin. Is there a way to avoid this? It doesn't hurt, but it's irritating and I think weeks of doing it might eventually lead to some problems.

[davesafc]

Is it normal to not feel sore?.

I re-started this again at the start of the month after around 6 months off (new years res.) and the first one, maybe two workouts made me know like I had worked out, but since then I'm not feeling like I've worked at all. I feel a little weak im the muscles for a few hours after but nothing at all the next day. I don't think its because I'm not lifting heavy enough as I'm barely able to do the last rep on most days and I feel any more weight added too soon would result in failure.

[gdp1989]

Hey all. Just completed Cycle 2 Test day.
Feeling awesome, I passed everything except OHP again. I'm really loving this program.
If anyone's interested I'm keeping a workout log, see the link in my Sig.

[sj3000]

Test day Cycle 4 for me today... I passed everything except OHP, which surprised me - if I had to have picked anything I would fail at, it probably wouldn't have been that.

Any advice for improving grip/forearm strength? It really let me down on SLDL, so much so that I had to rest the bar on my tenth rep. I know in a way this could be seen as a "fail" but I'm thinking I will increase weight next week and try get my grip up to speed alongside the new cycle. Is it okay to use mixed grip with these? I've been using overhand all along...

[JMS72]

Test day Cycle 4 for me today... I passed everything except OHP, which surprised me - if I had to have picked anything I would fail at, it probably wouldn't have been that.

Any advice for improving grip/forearm strength? It really let me down on SLDL, so much so that I had to rest the bar on my tenth rep. I know in a way this could be seen as a "fail" but I'm thinking I will increase weight next week and try get my grip up to speed alongside the new cycle. Is it okay to use mixed grip with these? I've been using overhand all along...

If you haven't already used it, chalk will make a big difference to your grip

[brake]

I thought I would come back to say that compared to last week, I did a lot better! Last week on my heavy day I failed my overhead barbell press and my curls for 11 reps. On the Monday of this week, I managed to pass ALL of my exercises apart from my overhead press (I only managed to do 12 and then 8). This is still a big improvement from last week because I believe that I only managed 11 and 6 on my overhead press, and 11 and 4 on my curls. I guess I just pushed myself that little bit further.

Also, my gym only has two barbell racks. I was waiting for the people on one of them to leave so I could get on it. Once it became free and I had started, some guy came over and asked me if I was done with it, and I said no. The other rack then became free, so he went on it, and I went to do my bench presses with 25kg and the guy came over and said, "You'd be better doing that weight with dumbbells than a barbell." I found this funny because dumbbells are harder to lift than barbells and dumbells require more stabilization. I just nodded my head and carried on! I thought I would share this with you guys. Pretty hilarious :P.

I always thought that DB's were harder for flat bench press than barbells too, but I did my first ever barbell bench press a few weeks ago and found it much harder and I couldn't lift as much on it, had to drop 15lbs off and I still haven't worked up to the same weight I was doing on DB's yet.

Thanks for the tip. When I raise the bar all the way up, I always end up tapping myself right in my groin. Is there a way to avoid this? It doesn't hurt, but it's irritating and I think weeks of doing it might eventually lead to some problems.

Lol, sorry but Lol'd a little.

I dunno but maybe you're coming up to quickly? Could you go slower? I stop the lift just before vertical so the bar stops a few cm's away from my wang. Granted I use a really light weight (105 lbs) due to back issues and am building up slowly.

[krispradez]

Page 1 has a link that dosn't work for 10rep max.

At this point wouldn't you believe i have enough information to start fresh week1 (8rep) just using 160, 115(maybe 120) and 115(maybe 120)? Even if those maybe a bit light and stick to the correct numbers this time around?

oks will just type it here.

1. go to your gym well rested, choose a weight that you can lift >= 5x but <= 15x.
2. if you can only do 4 or below, then it is too heavy, you need to remove some lbs.
3. if you can do over 15, load is too light, you need to add more lbs.
4. you can do light warmup before you start just to get the blood freeflowing towards the muscles you will use
5. when you get the correct weight + bar weight, input them here: http://www.ivannikolov.com/calculato...ax-calculator/
6. you need to type the max weight and how many reps did you make it to get the 10 rep max.

[jetadel13]

How much weight do i know what to start with for all the exercises? The link didnt work

[HY314]

How much weight do i know what to start with for all the exercises? The link didnt work

Read the post right above you.

[brake]

lol

[mistrvi]

C4W5 Heavy day was yesterday, failed 2nd set on few lifts, probably because cutting

Squat 175x12, 175x6 ( had exertion headache, so stopped on 6 so i don't ruin my other lifts)
BB bench 175x12, 175x11
BOR 105x12, 105x12
OHP 95x12, 95x8
SLDL 135x12, 135x12
Incline DB 45x12, 45x12
Upright Rows 70x12, 70x12
Calves 120x12, 120x12

going to increase all lifts by 10lb and keep OHP at 95 for 1 more cycle. Will be cutting for 2-3 more weeks and then slowly increase calories after that and get on clean bulk.


Started this routine on Sep 03 at 178lbs
lifting stats

Sq 115
BP 135
BOR 75
OHP 65
SLDL 95
Calves 45

been eating clean most of the time, not counting calories till october. Started eating at maintenance in Oct and cutting @ 1800 calories from Dec. Losing about 1lb/week, so i haven't lost a lot of strength.

[HY314]

If my first cycle lifts are really low (bench 65lb for example) would it be smarter/better for gains if I increased by more than 10% the next cycle? At the prescribed rate, it will take me five successful cycles just to bench 100lb. I'd like to be able to bench press 135lb+ by August.. Is that wishful thinking? I'm a complete beginner right now of that matters at all.

[mistrvi]

If my first cycle lifts are really low (bench 65lb for example) would it be smarter/better for gains if I increased by more than 10% the next cycle? At the prescribed rate, it will take me five successful cycles just to bench 100lb. I'd like to be able to bench press 135lb+ by August.. Is that wishful thinking? I'm a complete beginner right now of that matters at all.

You can recalculate your 10RPM after first cycle, so you know how much you should increase your weights.

[HY314]

You can recalculate your 10RPM after first cycle, so you know how much you should increase your weights.

Ok thanks. Is that true for every cycle or only the first?

[mistrvi]

Ok thanks. Is that true for every cycle or only the first?

it's up to you. It would be kind of hard to do it after every cycle. I don't have a spotter so i just add 10% or use a rpm calculator.

[HY314]

it's up to you. It would be kind of hard to do it after every cycle. I don't have a spotter so i just add 10% or use a rpm calculator.

Ok cool. No spotter here either and fortunately the workout room in my apt complex is almost always empty. Imagine how embarrassing it is to bench 65lbs as a 23 year old man.

[HY314]

Also are bent over bb rows better than bent over db rows? I've been doing db because I didn't know there was a bb version. I can switch to bb if it's better though.

[brake]

Ok cool. No spotter here either and fortunately the workout room in my apt complex is almost always empty. Imagine how embarrassing it is to bench 65lbs as a 23 year old man.

What's wrong with that? Everyone has to start somewhere. I started benching 65lbs too (DB's)

[HY314]

What's wrong with that? Everyone has to start somewhere. I started benching 65lbs too (DB's)

It's easy to say that when you're not the guy benching so little anymore. I guess I just need to get over it. I'm starting school in August and I really hope I can throw some 45s on the bar by then.

[brake]

It's easy to say that when you're not the guy benching so little anymore. I guess I just need to get over it. I'm starting school in August and I really hope I can throw some 45s on the bar by then.

Actually man, I had to stop lifting 7 years ago due to injury, started up again January last year and up until August last year I was lifting VERY VERY light weights (getting back into it super super slowly to avoid injury again), that was only 5 or so months ago...

Even to this day, I SLDL between 90 and 100lbs while other guys do 220 right before me in the same rack in a crowded gym, I'm 6" 191lbs (still not big though). Doing Back tonight so I might got for a 105lb....

That said, most of my other lifts are pretty crap too, eg:

bench:
140

Bottom line is, fuk them, lift what you can lift, who cares what people think? (for all they know you could be rehab from injury)