Intermediate/Advanced Routine

[Derterdert]

Hey maybe i dont understand The english Word for all of The exersises . But where is The shoulder training here?

[Effrum]

Hey maybe i dont understand The english Word for all of The exersises . But where is The shoulder training here?

Sorry for the slow response, a lot of the regulars in this thread are watching the revision 1 thread that Kelei linked on the previous page.

Your front delts (front of your shoulders) are trained from all the pressing movements (bench, flyes, etc) so there's no need for something like Overhead Press unless you're very advanced and looking to compete/need the variety.

Your side delts (the side of your shoulder) get worked with the laterals and wide-grip upright rows that Kelei suggests.

Your rear delts (the back of your shoulder) get worked with rear delt flyes, face pulls, and the rowing exercises Kelei recommends where your elbows are flared out wide (keeping your elbows tucked in to your body works your lats more than your upper back).

It's important to maintain balance in your shoulder development, most people tend to over-develop their front delts and this can cause rotator cuff issues or other potential injuries (not to mention posture issues).

[gingersgym]

Still on this routine but have upped the total reps a bit on most lifts...

shoulders are lacking though currently doing 40 side raises and 40 upright rows twice a week...

anything else i could add to bring the side delta up to par with chest etc?

be on this routine since the start btw

[Kelei]

Still on this routine but have upped the total reps a bit on most lifts...

shoulders are lacking though currently doing 40 side raises and 40 upright rows twice a week...

anything else i could add to bring the side delta up to par with chest etc?

be on this routine since the start btw

I replied in the other thread.

[LustForFame]

Hey so 3 weeks ago I just started this workout for my cut, I have more time now so I wanted to try something new. Any ways I'm doing the basic one of the very first page, is their any thing I cn add to it. I usually end up doing some db flyes on day1 and shoulder press and forearms on d2.

[aegluc]

hey guys. I was just wondering..is there any way to do this in 3 days / week ? Should i look more at the updated version of th workout ? with workouts A and B alternating ?

thanks

[standalj]

Hello all my name is Justin and I am new to this forum. It looks like this thread has gone quiet, and that may be because Kelei has created a new program that you all are following. Anyways, I've been weightlifting for about a year now following the Body for Life program. Unfortunately I haven't been fully dedicated to working out, and have mostly been concentrating on upper body workouts. Physically I would rate myself as an upper-level beginner for upper body and low-level beginner for lower body. Nevertheless, I am going to throw myself at this workout at the intermediate level and see what happens. Last Friday I did a "trial" of D1 and didn't have any problems doing the 50 reps. Needless to say my upper body has been pretty sore these past 2 days. Tomorrow I am going to start the full program; I am primarily concerned with D3 because my lower body workouts have been rare. The chin-ups/pull-ups for D2 will surely be challenging as I can't remember the last time I did these, and although I've been doing a fair amount of back workouts I am not sure it will translate strength wise. My intention is to create a blog once I've hit the required 50 posts. Until then I've taken pictures of myself now, will track each of my workouts and add it all to my blog.

Happy lifting!

[standalj]

Today I did D1 for the second time. I was still feeling a bit sore since doing this routine last Friday and was hoping that wasn't going to be an issue. I made it through all exercises at 50 reps each, left the gym feeling pumped, and oddly enough ready for more! I am not sure if: (1) my upper body conditioning is simply pretty good, (2) I need to increase my 10RM on some exercises (there was a few that I probably could have done 11-12 reps, but being sore I guess I puss'd out) or (3) I don't need as much rest (4 minutes) during each exercise. It took me 1.5 hours today. D2 tomorrow will be interesting...

[standalj]

Second week into program and love it!

[shinyelement]

Can i do this program after doing ICF? I like it but im stalling so much in the bench press and the OHP, and i've been doing it for a couple of months. Look to gain some size (and i track my macros anc calories, etc)

[Idealius]

Still doing this program. Still LOVING it.

Vanity gains through the ROOF.




(Humility gains are at a temporary low )

[goshobul]

OP, can I do triceps dips instead of rope pushdowns? I don't see any traps exercises. Can I add 3x10 shrugs and a set of 10-12 wide grip upright rows? At the moment I am at a gym that doesn't have a seated calf machine. Should I increase the reps of standing calf raises or should I do this (bodybuilding dot com/exercises/detail/view/name/barbell-seated-calf-raise). Can I do standard curls instead of preacher curls? Can I add some forearm work?

[davo26]

OP, can I do triceps dips instead of rope pushdowns? I don't see any traps exercises. Can I add 3x10 shrugs and a set of 10-12 wide grip upright rows? At the moment I am at a gym that doesn't have a seated calf machine. Should I increase the reps of standing calf raises or should I do this (bodybuilding dot com/exercises/detail/view/name/barbell-seated-calf-raise). Can I do standard curls instead of preacher curls? Can I add some forearm work?

triceps dips instead of pushdowns, yes. so long as you stay upright rather than leaning forwards.

traps? if you feel you need more trap work then yes, add shrugs. i do.

if you can comfortably do a seated calf exercise then go for it, if not just standing calf only will be fine. i only do standing and do around 50 reps rather than 30 for the others.

do any curls youre comfortable with and can keep good form, i prefer incline db or preacher db, but standard is fine too.

no specialist forearm work needed at all, the other exercises will sort those bad boys out :-)

hope that helps

[goshobul]

Did D1 with some problems. I started my bench with 80kg for 9 (I was gonna be able to do 10 if the bar wasn't slipping so much) (I can bench 3x5 85kg with good form and 1x90). I tried to do another set with 80 but my left shoulder stopped me (injured it a little trying to do 3x5 90kg with forced reps...) so I started over with 70kg. Did 9, 4, 5, 3, 3.. and I completed 50 reps. I think that next time I can start with 75 but it depends on my shoulder (probably I will). Did my incline with 60kg (3x5 71~72kg) for 9, 4, 5, 3, 3.. btw I know that I have to do 10, 5, 3 but I had some problems with my shoulder as I said. So I completed 50 reps. Next time I will hit 65kg. Don't look at my 9 starting reps. I will blame those two 80kg sets. Did dips and they felt good. Triceps were pumped. I look forward to my next push day since I know how much weight I can use and I surely hope that my delt will be 100% ready.

I do fear D2. I will do the chin ups but If my delt starts hurting again while I do the pullups what should I do?

[goshobul]

Can I add OHP after the incline (lagging shoulders and I like the movement)? With what can I switch the triceps exercises? Regular overhand pushdowns and skullcrushers (never liked rope pushdowns and my shoulder bothers me when I do overhead extensions)? Before the push workout can I warm up my joints with crossovers and a few exercises for my RC? Can I even do a few dumbell bench press warmups? My Supraspinatus bothers my. Pore posture and form caused that but I feel as If I warm it up good it will let me bench.

[cinemod]

got thru the first 10 pages. your work out is inline with how i want to train, i will start this program soon. 2 questions first.

how come you have iso for quad,ham,calves but not glutes. granted it gets worked out already in the squat/deads but so do quads and hams. given that its a huge muscle, can i do an iso for glutes. i want that bootah.

also, how any reps should you aim for after the first set. i know around 30 second rest but how does that equate to reps, so i can adjust my rest times accordingly. thanks

[davo26]

got thru the first 10 pages. your work out is inline with how i want to train, i will start this program soon. 2 questions first.

how come you have iso for quad,ham,calves but not glutes. granted it gets worked out already in the squat/deads but so do quads and hams. given that its a huge muscle, can i do an iso for glutes. i want that bootah.

also, how any reps should you aim for after the first set. i know around 30 second rest but how does that equate to reps, so i can adjust my rest times accordingly. thanks

yep, if you got time add an isolation if you wish.

3-5 reps each subsequent set

[noxx04]

Thanks for sharing, great thread and helpful. I recently tore my ACL 6 months ago playing soccer and I came back stronger than I was. I'm fit and playing now. I did rehab that got me back to playing but the post rehab essentials made me stronger than ever and still cooperate them 2-3 times a week to prevent any other injuries. Check it out if you want your hamstrings, spine, quads, knees, gluteals to be stronger than before. Good luck!! You will love this. You can also do this even if you weren't injured just for injury prevention!

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[zeeshanbasit]

Hello Kelei,

I started the routine but unfortunately I had an injury of Tennis elbow and bicep brachii. I am recovering now. have started this routine again, there are certain exercises i can't do, like chin ups, pull ups and reverse grip pull downs. On the other hand I am able to do pull downs and v-grip pull downs. Can I do wide grip pull downs as an alternative for pulls ups. If yes than any exercise you can suggest for an alternative of chin ups.

Another question is, there isn't t-bar machine available in the gym, should i do seated rows with wide grip or should i do Chest-supported dumbbell rows.

I would really appreciate if you could assist me with this.

[MI40xProgram]

Check out my signature for great results

[DamonX]

Subbed for reference

[Miller308]

What if I do:

D1: Chest, shoulders, tris
D2: Back, Bis
D3: Legs
D4: Rest
D5: Chest, shoulders, tris
D6: Back, Bis
D7: Legs
D8: Rest

And repeat.

As opposed to doing six days straight and then rest, repeat.

[davo26]

What if I do:

D1: Chest, shoulders, tris
D2: Back, Bis
D3: Legs
D4: Rest
D5: Chest, shoulders, tris
D6: Back, Bis
D7: Legs
D8: Rest

And repeat.

As opposed to doing six days straight and then rest, repeat.

will work just fine.

[Miller308]

I'm on my second week of this program and I've noticed that the amount of "sets" it takes for me to reach 50 reps for each exercise is actually increasing. For example, I'll use chin-ups to illustrate:

Last week, doing chin-ups with 25lbs: 25x10 6 6 5 2 2 2 3 3 2 3 3 3

This week with the same weight: 25x10 7 5 3 3 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 1

My diet is in check; i calculated my macros with the stickies. Could this be because I went for the 7th rep to failure in my second "set"? Thanks in advance

[lajoo]

I'm on my second week of this program and I've noticed that the amount of "sets" it takes for me to reach 50 reps for each exercise is actually increasing. For example, I'll use chin-ups to illustrate:

Last week, doing chin-ups with 25lbs: 25x10 6 6 5 2 2 2 3 3 2 3 3 3

This week with the same weight: 25x10 7 5 3 3 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 1

My diet is in check; i calculated my macros with the stickies. Could this be because I went for the 7th rep to failure in my second "set"? Thanks in advance

I wouldn't worry about it so much, your body is still adapting to the new style of training. Just to be safe, Up your carbohydrate intake a little bit. and rest as much as you think you need to do 3-5 reps in each set, if you need 60 seconds then take it, you could be lacking a bit in the endurance section. In my experience, my rest times decreased the longer i ran the routine(I rest 15-20s in most exercises now)

[LazyBastard]

I'm on my second week of this program and I've noticed that the amount of "sets" it takes for me to reach 50 reps for each exercise is actually increasing. For example, I'll use chin-ups to illustrate:

Last week, doing chin-ups with 25lbs: 25x10 6 6 5 2 2 2 3 3 2 3 3 3

This week with the same weight: 25x10 7 5 3 3 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 1

My diet is in check; i calculated my macros with the stickies. Could this be because I went for the 7th rep to failure in my second "set"? Thanks in advance

For what it's worth- when I was running this I counted it a success if I made an increase somewhere in the first 1,2,or 3 sets of reps and then the rest was pretty much filler to get the volume in. And yeah, that extra effort for that one extra early rep would sometimes kill my reps down the line. Don't look at it week to week but rather over a longer period of time.

[smeyichou]

Hi everyone,

I just started today Kelei's original routine, push pull legs style.

I have one question :

- during my 2nd exercise (incline bench press), i couldn't go to 50 reps. After about 15-20 reps, i had to wait a lot of time between rest pause sets. For example, I rested about 1mn30, and could barely do 2 reps. I was aiming for 3-4 reps per rest pause, but it was impossible to reach those reps without taking at least 2mn-2mn30 between each rest pause. I thought that was way too much, so i stopped at 30 reps and moved on on the next exercices.

Is it normal that I have to wait that long? I think my pec muscle was just "dead", so what should i do next time? Rest as long as needed to perform 3-4 reps, even if it's 3minutes or more?

Thanks guys !

[DutchTeamUltra]

Still on this routine but have upped the total reps a bit on most lifts...

shoulders are lacking though currently doing 40 side raises and 40 upright rows twice a week...

anything else i could add to bring the side delta up to par with chest etc?

be on this routine since the start btw

Depends!

For some people the side delts respond a lot better to higher rep ranges, same with calves & forearms, they are built to be used a lot.
You might try switching out kelei's approach on side raises for Borge ***erli's myo reps.
http://borge***erli.com/myo-reps-in-english/

Do mind your volume tho, I can't imagine recovering from the amount of "hard sets/reps" you are doing now!

[DutchTeamUltra]

Hi everyone,

I just started today Kelei's original routine, push pull legs style.

I have one question :

- during my 2nd exercise (incline bench press), i couldn't go to 50 reps. After about 15-20 reps, i had to wait a lot of time between rest pause sets. For example, I rested about 1mn30, and could barely do 2 reps. I was aiming for 3-4 reps per rest pause, but it was impossible to reach those reps without taking at least 2mn-2mn30 between each rest pause. I thought that was way too much, so i stopped at 30 reps and moved on on the next exercices.

Is it normal that I have to wait that long? I think my pec muscle was just "dead", so what should i do next time? Rest as long as needed to perform 3-4 reps, even if it's 3minutes or more?

Thanks guys !

That probably has to do with the fact that your body isn't used to this.
I'd advise you to start with less reps. For me I do incline bench for 20 reps and machine pres for 20 reps (8 to 12 on first, 3-4 after that) and i'm SPENT.

[Billz11]

Isn’t this the same routine he posted in 2014?

D1 - Chest, front/side delts, triceps
D2 - Upper back, rear delts, biceps
D3 - Legs, lower back
D4 - Repeat D1
D5 - Repeat D2
D6 - Repeat D3
D7 - Rest

D1 - Bench press, incline bench press, rope pressdowns, overhead dumbbell extensions (single arm), dumbbell side laterals
D2 - Chin-ups, pull-ups, chest-supported rows (or seated rows), rear delt flyes, preacher curls
D3 - Romanian deadlifts, front squats, leg curls, leg extensions, standing calf raises, seated calf raises

For each exercise pick a weight that you can lift for a maximum of 10 reps (15 for standing calf raises, 20 for seated calf raises). You need to complete 50 (75 for standing calf raises, 100 for seated calf raises) total reps of each exercise. You perform your first set of each exercise as normal but you only rest for 30 seconds between each set (if you can even call them proper sets). You perform as many sets as it takes until you complete your 50 total reps. Obviously you won't be able to complete 10 reps in each set but it doesn't matter, this is how it's supposed to be. Perform as many reps as you can after each 30 second rest period (try to stop 1 rep short of failure, if you'll fail to perform 6 reps you should stop after rep 5). An example below.

Set 1 = 10 reps
Rest 30 seconds
Set 2 = 5 reps
Rest 30 seconds
Set 3 = 3 reps
Rest 30 seconds
Set 4 = 3 reps
Rest 30 seconds
Set 5 = 3 reps

You've complete 24 reps so far, keep going until you've completed 50. This is just an example, the number of reps you get in reality may be different but the principle remains the same. Have a longer rest between different exercises so that you're not too fatigued from the previous exercise. Once you notice that a particular exercise is starting to feel easy (you're getting more reps in general) you need to add some more weight the next time you perform that exercise.

You're going to need to use a training journal or some other method of tracking your progress, you need to record the amount of weight you use for each exercise and as soon as you notice a particular exercise starting to get easy you need to make a note so that you remind yourself to add more weight on that exercise next workout.

You may feel absolutely terrible at first because this is likely going to be a drastic increase over your usual training volume but this will pass, you need to have some faith in the routine, in the long term it will more than compensate you for your hard work and perseverance.

I should also add that it's a good idea to increase your carbohydrate intake while performing this routine, it's quite demanding on your glycogen stores. Don't just add any carbohydrate, sugars aren't very effective at replenishing muscle glycogen because only 50% of sugar can be used to replenish muscle glycogen, the other 50% can only replenish liver glycogen (and then get converted to fat when the liver's glycogen stores are full). You need complex carbohydrates for this purpose, I suggest white rice or pasta. I would suggest adding 1 full cup (uncooked) of white rice to your diet each day and I suggest that you should eat half of it before your workout and the other half after your workout, if this isn't possible I suggest you simply eat the full amount after your workout.

If there are any questions I'll do my best to answer them. If you decide to give this routine a try feel free to report back to this thread as you go along and let me know how you're going or to ask for advice if there are any issues.