Why nobody is critiquing your workout (READ THIS before making a beginner program)

[Cantstop367]

Great insight. I remember first starting out and I had it all wrong. Over the past year I've learned a lot and have seen tons of progress. I've even passed on my knowledge to friends who were making the same mistakes as me when I was a beginner.

[scottwrites214]

Can I just say that, as a beginner, there is a lot of conflicting information out there. Everybody has an opinion and sometimes it's hard to sift through the bull****.

Let me also just say that, following this basic guideline of keeping it simple, compound exercises, and lots of food, I've packed on almost 10 lbs in a little over 3 weeks, and I've never weighed over 130 in my life.

[TonyBski]

This is a great post for a beginner such as myself. I am in between terms for school and plan on reading as much information as possible.

This is a post that can stand the test of time. Considering it is years old, it still holds true today.

Thank you for your insight

[johnpauljones]

IF OP is till around to edit the sticky, the link to Madcow 5x5 is now defunct, but a backup of the site can be found here:
stronglifts.com/madcow/index.htm

[SoccerMuscle5]

Def sticky worthy

[loganhart]

Can I just say that, as a beginner, there is a lot of conflicting information out there. Everybody has an opinion and sometimes it's hard to sift through the bull****.

Let me also just say that, following this basic guideline of keeping it simple, compound exercises, and lots of food, I've packed on almost 10 lbs in a little over 3 weeks, and I've never weighed over 130 in my life.

Great work on the weight gain! I know where you are coming from with conflicting information thing. I think this is usually due to the fact that what works for some fails for others. It seems everyones body is different and progresses at different rates with different results. Sifty through the bull can be challenging. But this thread is a keeper! Cheers!

[BRTN]

I've been training for about 3 months or so, started out with a simple FBW for about a month, then moved onto different muscle group training. Probably not the best idea come to think of it - not seen much improvement at all. Which workout would you suggest for someone in my position?

Edit: if you're interested, this is my current workout.

www[dot]forum.bodybuilding[dot]com/showthread.php?t=145596311&p=897664261#post8976642 61

[loganhart]

I've been training for about 3 months or so, started out with a simple FBW for about a month, then moved onto different muscle group training. Probably not the best idea come to think of it - not seen much improvement at all. Which workout would you suggest for someone in my position?

Edit: if you're interested, this is my current workout.

www[dot]forum.bodybuilding[dot]com/showthread.php?t=145596311&p=897664261#post8976642 61

Why not a good idea? Did you not think you were "ready" for isolation or something?

[pietrofp]

Hi, do anyone have something about Gironda's 8x8?

[00daveyjones00]

im a beginner who saw this sticky and read it before making my own workout..
thank you, haha
makes a lot of sense and is smartest way to go.
great thread.

[MMABOSS1]

Why not a good idea? Did you not think you were "ready" for isolation or something?

I am agree with this post

[beautifulfire]

As a beginner even choosing a template to follow is not as easy as it may seem. A solid routine must meet an individual's needs based on many factors such as; the equipment available, time, fitness goals, current physical condition, etc. I was getting discouraged while trying to find a basic plan for myself and I didn't understand how I could tweak it to make it work for me. After a lot of reading I was able to piece it together and I'm MORE motivated because I helped create it.

It would be great to have ......
1) a place where people cold post and critique routines, and 2) a beginner's routine in a format that allows for some customization

[BMCB4E]

I would say we should make this a sticky, but people never read those anyway.

Nice job, JUSA

exactly

[rayray2316]

Hey bro thanks, I am just getting back into lifting again after about 10 yrs. off. I am guilty of all the things you posted, this time researching this site for the the type of workout for my needs. Watch, listen and learn this time.

[fitter2]

thanks dude

[xezile]

Great read

[mauro2]

great info here

[atwses]

Nice thread. Thanks for the help.

[vincef]

I agree with you. As a beginner I've taken this advice to heart and plan to follow, without any alterations, the beginner program stickied here on the forum because I've seen enough anecdotal evidence to be convinced.

I will air a grievance of mine, though, that perhaps a lot of other beginners share.

I'm a pretty rational-minded-person. I enjoy solid quantifiable facts backed up by solid data.

I purchased the book, "Starting Strength" and the first sentence I read was something like,

"PHYSICAL STRENGTH IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IN LIFE. THIS IS TRUE WHETHER WE WANT IT TO BE TRUE OR NOT. AS HUMANITY HAS DEVELOPED THROUGHOUT HISTORY"

Skipped ahead to the next chapter and read the first sentence:

"TRAINING FOR SGRENTH IS AS OLD AS CIVILIZATION ITSELF... THE GREEK TALE OF MILO..."

Found this really grating. Couldn't take it. Very low signal to noise ratio.

I've found that there's lot of this useless philosophical fitness rambling in a lot of "fitness blogs".

I think a lot of beginners like myself might get frustrated by this and attempt to just make their own routines. Because in any other scenario, saying the kind of stuff I posted above is an instant "bull****" flag in my brain.

That's why I enjoyed the stickied beginner routine here. Straight to the facts.

[lseamans726]

i like it but how come bodybuilders don't go by this stuff. i was watching a documentary about kai greene and in one session he was training shoulders and back and he was in the gym for hours doing many sets for each muscle group.

[NickMogan]

looks great. ill have to try them out

[jlagrassa333]

good stuff

[mikepro33126]

great post

[RomanTiq]

Thanks for not only posting this but providing links to where I can find some ready-made workouts. Much help appreciated.

[sdistasio2]

Im not sure if anyone still updates this thread but obviously some of the links to the first page are dead. I have found a new link for the Bill Starr/Madcow 5x5 routine taken exactly from the original site before it went down. Unfortunatly i dont have the 50 post count to post links.

stronglifts .com /madcow /index.html

[swarrick]

Noted, guess i fu%^ed that away....

[aliceliner]

This post is brilliant!It makes a lot of sense,and can give everyone very different things.
Thanks a lot!

[Ricao]

I started lifting with K gethin 12 weeks hardcore..dropped from 23% bf to 13% since i wasnt liking the shape i was getting i left at 10 week, directly to Stoppani's Shortcut to size got some muscle bf is now 14% and i feel good with it, question is..since i feel like im still a begginer, should i go back to Fullbody routine or just keep going into BB programs to see what's best for me?

Sorry if this is already on some page or post

[Mishilish]

Amazing post! Very well written! So true and straight up!

I'm a begiiner and this was really helpful!!

<3
I support a stickey!

[messangerlol]

thank 4 thread, helpful