I'm starting one of these to document my progress of my strength gains as well as get critiqued along the way. This is my first time strength training with a serious effort.
Stats:
Age: 16
Height: 5'8"
Weight: 166lbs
(the rest will be updated in bodyspace log)
Goals:
Overall strength and fitness to improve me as a better baseball player and a better healthy lifestyle.
Short term goal:
500lb club on combined bench, dead lift, and squat 1rep. I plan to max out in the first week of march.
Long term goal:
1000lb club combined bench, dead lift, and squat 1rep. I have no set date for this goal whenever it happens, it happens.
all comments, suggestions and/or advice is welcome and appreciated!
Nutrition:
My nutrition is decent for now mainly consisting of oatmeal, eggs, and chicken throughout the day.
Current Supplements are Animal Pak (multi), Nitrean (protein blend), Purple-K (creatine), and No-Xplode. I take one 'pak' in the morning daily. On lifting days (MWF) I take No-X + P-K pre w/o and P-K + Protein Shake post w/o.
Currently working in the 4x10 pattern w/ >60seconds rest between sets.
What does your routine look like? From those first two days it does not look to good, especially when you say strength training.
the big 3 on separate days/sessions + other compound exercises super setted from pull to push, quads to hips, etc. I say strenth training since I'm not exactly trying lose weight or anything like that. I'm just trying to be stronger and this current system is giving me good results.
I'm new to this so don't take that as an insult. So far this has given me good results. If you can explain a better routine with a reason why (again, not an insult) I'd appreciate it.
It's just too much at once man. The volume is high and unnecessary. It doesn't look like you can put the intensity you should be doing into compounds. I would try Ironaddict's A Simple Power Routine for you. Trust me, volume does not equal gains. At your point you want a good strength base. After all, your short-term goal is to get stronger. Some unnecessary exercises will interfere with your recovery time and strength gains on an exercise.
For instance, what is the reasoning behind the order of your exercises? Why Barbell Rear Delt Row (no clue what this is...upright row?) before Bench, then pulldown, then standing military?
Look up ironaddicts A Simple Power Routine. Stay on it consistently for a long time until your gains truly stall. Don't switch routines every month or whatever, it was a mistake I made all the time.
As others said, you need a better routine. This routine that you are doing is a strict bodybuilding routine for size, not strength and will only work well with someone who has been lifting for years or is taking some kind of performance enhancer.
Here is a workout program from Iron addicts which wintermule suggested you use. You can change a couple of exercises, but for the most part do what is suggested on this workout. Your strength gains will be threw the roof if you stick to this and eat good food.
1st workout
Monday
Squat or box squat 2-3 x 5
Glute/Ham Raises or pullthroughs 3 x 10
Bent Row or Chest Supported row 4 x 6
Barbell or Dumbbell Curl 3 x 8
Calf Raises 3 x 15
2nd workout 1 day later
Wednesday
Bench Press or low board press 3 x 5, or 3 x 3
Incline Dumbbell Bench Press 4 x 8
Military or Dumbbell Shoulder Press 3 x 8
Skull Crushers 3 x 10
Ab work 3 x 10
3rd workout 1 day later
Friday
Deadlift or rack deadlift 2-3 x 5
Leg press 2 x 10
Chin or lat pull-down 4 x 6
Barbell or Dumbbell Curl 3 x 8
Calf Raises 3 x 15
4th workout After TWO DAYS OFF
Monday
Incline bench press or Incline Dumbbell Press 3 x 5, or 3 x 3
Dumbbell Bench Press 4 x 8
Military or Dumbbell Shoulder Press 3 x 8
Tricep pushdowns 3 x 10
Ab work 3 x 10 Monday
next workout sequence repeat 1st through 4th workouts
It's just too much at once man. The volume is high and unnecessary. It doesn't look like you can put the intensity you should be doing into compounds. I would try Ironaddict's A Simple Power Routine for you. Trust me, volume does not equal gains. At your point you want a good strength base. After all, your short-term goal is to get stronger. Some unnecessary exercises will interfere with your recovery time and strength gains on an exercise.
For instance, what is the reasoning behind the order of your exercises? Why Barbell Rear Delt Row (no clue what this is...upright row?) before Bench, then pulldown, then standing military?
Look up ironaddicts A Simple Power Routine. Stay on it consistently for a long time until your gains truly stall. Don't switch routines every month or whatever, it was a mistake I made all the time.
everything is just super setted from push to pull, quads to hips, horizontal to vertical, etc.
I've been digging through the IA website and not sure exactly which is the one you're talking about.
As others said, you need a better routine. This routine that you are doing is a strict bodybuilding routine for size, not strength and will only work well with someone who has been lifting for years or is taking some kind of performance enhancer.
Here is a workout program from Iron addicts which wintermule suggested you use. You can change a couple of exercises, but for the most part do what is suggested on this workout. Your strength gains will be threw the roof if you stick to this and eat good food.
1st workout
Monday
Squat or box squat 2-3 x 5
Glute/Ham Raises or pullthroughs 3 x 10
Bent Row or Chest Supported row 4 x 6
Barbell or Dumbbell Curl 3 x 8
Calf Raises 3 x 15
2nd workout 1 day later
Wednesday
Bench Press or low board press 3 x 5, or 3 x 3
Incline Dumbbell Bench Press 4 x 8
Military or Dumbbell Shoulder Press 3 x 8
Skull Crushers 3 x 10
Ab work 3 x 10
3rd workout 1 day later
Friday
Deadlift or rack deadlift 2-3 x 5
Leg press 2 x 10
Chin or lat pull-down 4 x 6
Barbell or Dumbbell Curl 3 x 8
Calf Raises 3 x 15
4th workout After TWO DAYS OFF
Monday
Incline bench press or Incline Dumbbell Press 3 x 5, or 3 x 3
Dumbbell Bench Press 4 x 8
Military or Dumbbell Shoulder Press 3 x 8
Tricep pushdowns 3 x 10
Ab work 3 x 10 Monday
next workout sequence repeat 1st through 4th workouts
That looks like a pretty solid routine. What muscles are being worked on the various sessions? and where did you find it?
As my username states I'm a baseball player so I need to have that explosive strength at it's best. I hear power cleans are a good exercise to use to help with just that. What day/session would it be best to include it in?
It's obvious with the patterns being used that I'll have to have the weights the heaviest I possibly can at all times. Do the patterns stay like this for as long as I am using this routine? I assume so at least. Do I just raise the weight on a week to week basis if my strength allows?
My nutrition is pretty spot on so that shouldn't be an issue.
Another thing too with the rest periods between sessions, it says start monday, skip 1, then wednesday, skip 1, then friday, skip 2, back to monday. So basically 4 workouts, we'll say A, B, C, D, So on the first week I'll work A on monday, skip, B on wednesday, skip, C on friday, skip, then D on the monday of the next week, then skip 1, A on wednesday of next week and so forth.. correct?
Is that enough time to give your CNS to rest between sessions? (one monday to the next aka A workout to D workout).
The workouts seem really short.
I appreciate all the information and advice.
Last edited by brbbaseballin; 01-15-2009 at 06:30 PM.
That looks like a pretty solid routine. What muscles are being worked on the various sessions? and where did you find it?
As my username states I'm a baseball player so I need to have that explosive strength at it's best. I hear power cleans are a good exercise to use to help with just that. What day/session would it be best to include it in?
It's obvious with the patterns being used that I'll have to have the weights the heaviest I possibly can at all times. Do the patterns stay like this for as long as I am using this routine? I assume so at least. Do I just raise the weight on a week to week basis if my strength allows?
My nutrition is pretty spot on so that shouldn't be an issue.
Another thing too with the rest periods between sessions, it says start monday, skip 1, then wednesday, skip 1, then friday, skip 2, back to monday. So basically 4 workouts, we'll say A, B, C, D, So on the first week I'll work A on monday, skip, B on wednesday, skip, C on friday, skip, then D on the monday of the next week, then skip 1, A on wednesday of next week and so forth.. correct?
Is that enough time to give your CNS to rest between sessions? (one monday to the next aka A workout to D workout).
The workouts seem really short.
I appreciate all the information and advice.
I know when i first started i had no clue what i was doing and just did what i thought was good, but it was really a horrible routine. You don't have a bad routine, its just bad for your goals and because you are a beginner. Everyone starts out just like you. So i will try to answer all the questions i can.
It is basically:
Day One: Legs, light Back, Biceps
Day Two: Chest, Shoulders, Triceps
Day Three: Back, light Legs, Biceps
Day Four (which will be a week from day one): Chest, Shoulders, Triceps
It is on ironaddicts.com, go to the routines sections and it is Iron addicts's simple power based routine i belief. It is a sticky on there.
Power cleans are great. I would add it onto Day one. You can just add it in there or if you are going to take it out for something, take out either calf raises or Glute Ham raises.
I am a baseball player myself, i know that to have a good bat speed, you need a strong core. So i would add in some weighted ab work. I personally like decline weighted crunches, knee lifts, hanging leg raises, and both front and side planks to strengthen my core.
I assume you mean the rep ranges as patterns, if so, yes keep them the same as they are perfect rep ranges. Strive for atleast a 5 pound increase in each lift every week. Focus mainly on compounds like Barbell Bench Press, Squats, and Deadlifts - doing them first in your workout to get the most out of them and put up the most weight.
Yes, A,B,C,D is exactly the way you want it.
It is plenty of rest. Make sure you're getting atleast 8 hours of sleep though as sleep is a major part of recovery time.
From what i've always went by is, you don't need a long workout to have a good workout. These workouts should take you anywhere from 40-60 minutes, which is a perfect amount of time. On compounds (the big 3), you should have 2-3 warmup sets with light weight and then do the reccommended 2-4 sets of working sets with heavy weight.
If you have any other questions, feel free to ask.
I know when i first started i had no clue what i was doing and just did what i thought was good, but it was really a horrible routine. You don't have a bad routine, its just bad for your goals and because you are a beginner. Everyone starts out just like you. So i will try to answer all the questions i can.
It is basically:
Day One: Legs, light Back, Biceps
Day Two: Chest, Shoulders, Triceps
Day Three: Back, light Legs, Biceps
Day Four (which will be a week from day one): Chest, Shoulders, Triceps
It is on ironaddicts.com, go to the routines sections and it is Iron addicts's simple power based routine i belief. It is a sticky on there.
Power cleans are great. I would add it onto Day one. You can just add it in there or if you are going to take it out for something, take out either calf raises or Glute Ham raises.
I am a baseball player myself, i know that to have a good bat speed, you need a strong core. So i would add in some weighted ab work. I personally like decline weighted crunches, knee lifts, hanging leg raises, and both front and side planks to strengthen my core.
I assume you mean the rep ranges as patterns, if so, yes keep them the same as they are perfect rep ranges. Strive for atleast a 5 pound increase in each lift every week. Focus mainly on compounds like Barbell Bench Press, Squats, and Deadlifts - doing them first in your workout to get the most out of them and put up the most weight.
Yes, A,B,C,D is exactly the way you want it.
It is plenty of rest. Make sure you're getting atleast 8 hours of sleep though as sleep is a major part of recovery time.
From what i've always went by is, you don't need a long workout to have a good workout. These workouts should take you anywhere from 40-60 minutes, which is a perfect amount of time. On compounds (the big 3), you should have 2-3 warmup sets with light weight and then do the reccommended 2-4 sets of working sets with heavy weight.
If you have any other questions, feel free to ask.
I assume that the workouts are in order for a reason. Where do you recommend me to insert power cleans into the set (for day 1) and with what set/rep range?
I checked out ironaddict.com and read through the majority of the thread where this routine is. I'm convinced to change my entire routine to what you and wintermule said. I'll begin this routine this coming monday.
Over at ia.com they were mentioning something about every 3-5 weeks to switch exercises (not the big 3) and said something about deloading to 85%. I didn't understand much of that so if you know anything about that and can explain it that'd be awesome.
I'll mix things up with the core/ab work and leave all exercises the way they are. I'll leave both calf raises and glute ham raises (those look brutal btw) in the session for this time and depending on the energy levels I'll decide to remove one or both out or just leave them both in.
I appreciate all the help.
On to todays session.
I finished off the week with the current format and I'll switch over to the discussed 4 day split. Energy levels were high and I was quite explosive throughout the whole routine.
I assume that the workouts are in order for a reason. Where do you recommend me to insert power cleans into the set (for day 1) and with what set/rep range? I would do them as the first exercise as i have always been taught by my strength and contitioning coach to do explosive exercises first. Do some likes 5 sets of 3 reps, or a 5,4,3,2 rep range.
I checked out ironaddict.com and read through the majority of the thread where this routine is. I'm convinced to change my entire routine to what you and wintermule said. I'll begin this routine this coming monday.
Over at ia.com they were mentioning something about every 3-5 weeks to switch exercises (not the big 3) and said something about deloading to 85%. I didn't understand much of that so if you know anything about that and can explain it that'd be awesome. I've never deloaded, but i think i know a little about it, i'd ask other people though. You do 4-5 weeks of heavy work, then 1 week of deloading. What you do that week is lower the weight a significent weight, keep the sets and reps around the same. Then cut out a couple of the exericses. So if you usually do 6 exercises on DAY A then you would do around 4 exercises. It is basically to give your muscles a rest while still lifting weights.
I'll mix things up with the core/ab work and leave all exercises the way they are. I'll leave both calf raises and glute ham raises (those look brutal btw) in the session for this time and depending on the energy levels I'll decide to remove one or both out or just leave them both in.
I appreciate all the help.
Good luck. You'll definetly love doing this routine because there is no better feeling then getting PR's every workout.
I'd just get rid of glute ham, maybe add weighted lunges or sldl's to hit the hammies.
Also, up the weight when you do standing calf raises, 30 lb dumbells should be very easy for only 15 reps.
Thanks. After trying the ghr's I thought about not doing them considering every rep wasn't that great. I'll do weighted lunges for a while like you mentioned. IMO SLDL's would work the back too much for this session and I'll just let it rest instead. Everything you have mentioned/advised at this moment has worked and/or helped so big thanks to you and wintermule.
on to today's session
The numbers/lbs of the first session of each of the new routine will be skewed a bit since i'm adjusting to the reps/sets. The numbers performed on weeks 2 and 3 should be more accurate to my current max potential. I will change the exercises depending on if they work for me or not. Every set completed is a new p.r. from now until death do me part.
Wednesday's workout log:
Chest, Shoulders, Triceps
lbs x reps
BB Bench Press:
45x10 - warm up
95x5
110x5
120x4 - failure
Incline Dumbbell Bench Press:
30x8x2
35x8x2
Standing Overhead Press:
50x8
55x8
65x8
Skull Crushers:
30x10
40x10
50x10
I wanted to use this bar below, but I wasn't sure how much it weighed so I used the bar(s) that look just like it with the weight permanently bolted to it (not sure on the name).
Does anyone know how much this bar weigh and the name of it?
Weighted Decline Crunches:
bw x10
10x10
25x10
Weighted stability ball twists:
10x10
10x10
25x10
I won't be doing these on the next session.
Weighted side oblique crunches on hyper extension machine with db's (long name):
5x10
10x10
25x10
I will be doing these next on the next session.
On a side note I wanted to mention that my gym partner is ragingmexican and also my brother. The only time we rest is the time it takes for us to finish our set and change the weights and maybe a little more if we need it. At times he logs in to my account to update my progress.
Why would you get rid of GHRs? They're probably the most effective hamstring exercise.
I'll answer that.
I felt that every rep wasn't/isn't pushed to it's max potential since he(brbbaseballin) and I both don't have strong enough hams at the moment. I'll give them another round (for both of us that is) next time they come into play and will add weighted lunges into the routine as well.
We were doing them exactly like this:
hold until failure on the way down, press/push back up. I just want to make sure we're both getting the most out of every exercise without wasting time or taking too much unnecessary time in the gym.
If we do decide to get rid of them we'll add them back into the routine in a month or so when our hams are a bit stronger then before.
Last edited by ragingmexican; 01-21-2009 at 10:15 PM.
The collars are what you add on to keep the weight. Like when you are curling a barbell, you would put a collar on each side to prevent the weight from sliding off. The chokers on there would be the things with the screws coming up off them. They detach from the bar, you put the weight on, then you put the collars back on and tighten them. Heavy steel ones like that are like 2.5 pounds each. The ones I have at my gym are like light-weight springs sort of, can't weigh more than half a pound.
The collars are what you add on to keep the weight. Like when you are curling a barbell, you would put a collar on each side to prevent the weight from sliding off. The chokers on there would be the things with the screws coming up off them. They detach from the bar, you put the weight on, then you put the collars back on and tighten them. Heavy steel ones like that are like 2.5 pounds each. The ones I have at my gym are like light-weight springs sort of, can't weigh more than half a pound.
so the collar is the choker?
We use clips so the weight doesn't slide off on everything. I'm not sure if the gym we go to has chokers/collars, but I haven't checked either. Those shouldn't weigh anymore then 1/2lb at most, combined. I don't add them to the total weight.
We use clips so the weight doesn't slide off on everything. I'm not sure if the gym we go to has chokers/collars, but I haven't checked either. Those shouldn't weigh anymore then 1/2lb at most, combined. I don't add them to the total weight.
These:
I have the same.
If you don't see those heavy chokers on the bar, it's 15 pounds.
45x15 - warm up
135x8 - warm up
205x5
225x5
275x2 - good reps, too much weight. i'll get there eventually
245x5
Leg press:
no weight x15
160x10
180x10
I'm not sure how much the leg press machine weighs (the weight i'm pressing that is)with no weight added so I'm just going to count the weight I add to the machine.
the machine looks similar to this by the way:
Underhand Cable Pull downs:
120x6
130x6
140x6
150x5 - failure
Barbell Curl:
55x8
60x8
65x8
Standing DB Calf Raises
30x10
40x10
(and then I realized I was doing the wrong pattern)
*small break
55x15
65x15x2
I felt good going into today's session, but for some reason I lacked the strength to move the weight around. I'm getting plenty of sleep, but my nutrition lacked today so it's possible that it could have a been a reason why. I'll go at it again the next time this session comes around.
Monday's Workout Log:
Chest, Shoulders, Triceps
4min on bicycle.
Incline bench press:
45x15 - warm up
75x8 - warm up (probably a bad idea)
100x5
105x5 - bad form
100x3 - failure
Dumbbell Bench Press:
40x8x4
Overhead Press:
45x8 - warm up (probably bad idea)
55x8x3
Tricep pushdowns:
100x10
120x10 - struggled towards end
110x10 - struggled towards end as well
Weighted Decline Crunches with a db:
25x10x3
Weighted side oblique crunches on hyper extension machine with a db:
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