AllPro: A Simple Beginner's Routine part III

[TeenBuilder996]

lol.... i do keep forgetting your age...........
i would add work sets for abs were you feel you could handle them. "weighted roman twist" and weighted declined crunches" are all i do for abb work. over the last few months... there is a noticeable difference..... good luck young bro.
keep killing it

Yeaaa. Gotta hit em hard. thanks man. You too, stay strong.

[lrd3]

Yeaaa. Gotta hit em hard. thanks man. You too, stay strong.

+reps

[Champions1966]

you must be doing cycle 1, am I right?

Your right

But still, surely there is no harm in me doing an extra set?!

[TeenBuilder996]

+reps

Already did. Kinda new to this forum. But why doesnt your rep power increase? Hmmm

[frenchy72]

Your right

But still, surely there is no harm in me doing an extra set?!

Stick








To










The










Program.

[lrd3]

Already did. Kinda new to this forum. But why doesnt your rep power increase? Hmmm

yours went up when i reped you....... i think its becuse mine are high allready.. or some thing like that... still dont know how it works.
so i just rep folks with positive attitudes and who post good solid intelligent advice....

[FitBeyondForty]

Already did. Kinda new to this forum. But why doesnt your rep power increase? Hmmm

If you repped him , yours don't count yet. You can see your rep power is zero. You need to have more posts and a higher rep yourself etc for yours to count

[FitBeyondForty]

Which exercise will be using my abs? Please point it out so i can correct my form. Thanks.

You should be tightening your core for most of the lifts. This will help with development. I find Squats, BORs, SLDL and OHP really hit mine.

Again, you need to be flexing / stiffening your core while doing these..........

[EddieFromEurope]

Your right

But still, surely there is no harm in me doing an extra set?!

Well, I don't recommend extra sets. C1W5 heavy day exhausted me, I can only imagine what's about to happen in cycle 2 when the weights go up...
Just follow the program.

Question! Program doesn't say which squats should I do - can I choose between back squats and front squats?

[MrSlippery]

Question! Program doesn't say which squats should I do - can I choose between back squats and front squats?

Do back squats, much better overall workout. Unless there is a reason you want to do front of course?

[MrSlippery]

Your right

But still, surely there is no harm in me doing an extra set?!

As others have said it's not advised, you may think it's easy now but trust me it will get harder. What week are you on??

[Tupperwolf]

Search the old threads for info about front squats. All pro has stated that if you simply don't have the equipment (power cage) you can do front squats. You just have to understand that the focus of the front squat is different, and you won't be able to use as much weight. If you have the equipment, do back squats. More muscle recruitment, more strain to the CNS, which is what you want for a beginner routine.

[whiskeysticks]

Your right

But still, surely there is no harm in me doing an extra set?!

Take advantage of these easy cycles. This is when you should be zoning in on your form. It's going to be a lot harder to correct your mistakes of poor positioning as the weights get heavier and you've developed bad habits.

[TeenBuilder996]

You should be tightening your core for most of the lifts. This will help with development. I find Squats, BORs, SLDL and OHP really hit mine.

Again, you need to be flexing / stiffening your core while doing these..........

Like flexing my back muscle and all? I dont understand.

[1fatoldman]

Good news everyone!

Cycle 4 test day yesterday and passed everything

Moving up to the following numbers:
Squats - 187 pounds
Bench - 121 pounds
BOR - 110 pounds
OHP - 77 pounds
SLDL - 137 pounds
Upright Rows - 77 pounds
Calf Raise - 187 pounds

Since starting the program ive lost 17 pounds, which isnt much i guess over the period, but im fairly happy, and all my lifts have gone up a lot.

Plus Grailer is apparently leaving the thread, although for some reason he is still in here trolling.

Good day all round :P

Congratulations! Very impressive to be able to pass everything
Yesterday was C4 Week 4 Heavy day and today I'm dragging my a**, next Monday will be tough.

[TeenBuilder996]

yours went up when i reped you....... i think its becuse mine are high allready.. or some thing like that... still dont know how it works.
so i just rep folks with positive attitudes and who post good solid intelligent advice....

thanks mate

If you repped him , yours don't count yet. You can see your rep power is zero. You need to have more posts and a higher rep yourself etc for yours to count

Ohhh. Got it. Thanks mate.

[Tupperwolf]

Take advantage of these easy cycles. This is when you should be zoning in on your form. It's going to be a lot harder to correct your mistakes of poor positioning as the weights get heavier and you've developed bad habits.

Check this video out. You need to take advantage of the time that you are using light weight to build good form.

[1fatoldman]

First post on here, after working out semi seriously for a couple of years sometimes with months out due to injury I've decided to do it properly. I did my first day yesterday...

First opinions

I have a lightly sprained wrist so worked under my max but it's crazy how 'weak' I am at these excercises compared to others despite being fairly well built and having a decent chest and arms. Hopefully my miserable lifts yesterday were more to do with form than anything else and will pick up quickly, I had real trouble with the overhead lift despite being able to lift easily when doing the dumbbell equivalent. My casual work out over the past couple of years has been made up mainly of machines, dumbbell flys, dumbbell curls, bench on a smith, little on my legs

Time for a laugh for most of you and hopefully a post for me to look back on in some time and chuckle at

Squats - working set - 135lbs
Bench - 124lbs
Bent Over Rows - 45lbs
Overhead Barbell - 75lbs lol
Stiff Legged DL - 90lbs
Barbell Curls - 65lbs

Today my lower back is not in a good way and as I've had bad lower back problems in the past I'm a little worried, hoping it's just the after work burn though.

Silly question but I assume I should have really let my wrist fully heal before starting this? and in short what supplements are recommended? I know there is a comprehensive thread but if someone can answer in a few words would be appreciated I only just get time to fit in this workout each week let a lone do too much research.

Edit:

Im 27, 185lbs, 6'1" not sure on body fat but I'm pretty average

Welcome!
Don't worry about the weights, remember the only one your competing with is yourself.
On the injury, it's never good to try and train thru an injury. It almost never works!

[DeltaCharlie75]

Which exercise will be using my abs? Please point it out so i can correct my form. Thanks.

Any exercise that requires you to brace your core works your abs. So that would prob be all of them if your using a barbell for the exercises.

[1fatoldman]

Check this video out. You need to take advantage of the time that you are using light weight to build good form.

A little long, but a lot of GREAT information.
Thanks!

[makeitright]

Use an EZ curl bar. It weighs 15 lbs so load it accordingly. Your gym doesn't have dumbbells?

See, I was thinking of using the EZ curl bar but I kept getting different answers when I asked how much they weighed so I didn't know how much weight to put on it. My gym does have dumbbells, and I realized something after I posted last night. I tried warming up for bench press with the dumbbells on 30 lbs, and instead of grabbing two 15's I grabbed two 30's making it 60 lbs and wondered why it was so heavy. So I avoided using those for the other exercises thinking it was more difficult than the bar. When I go back for medium day tomorrow, can I use dumbbells for overhead press and curls at the right weight for that day or would it screw up the program since I already started 5 lbs lighter?

Well, you seem to be just starting out. All of your lifts are on the low end. Just keep at it, you will increase quickly at first. Not sure why you would be doing 220 lb calf raises if you are only dead lifting 80. My personal opinion is that there is no reason to do an exercise with a weight greater than what you could dead lift off the floor and maneuver into that position. Also, if you are only pressing 65 then I can't see how you could possibly be standing up with straight posture while holding 220 lbs in front of you like that. Just seems bizzare to me to see that much poundage in comparison with your other lifts.

Yep, just starting out. Last week was the first week I ever lifted. I wondered and asked about the calf raises too. I'm using a machine for those and was told it was easier to lift higher weight than with the bar. Still seems oddly high to me as well though.

I am confused by your statement? Deadlifts and SLDLs are two very different lifts and this program calls for SLDLs. In SLDLs you are not picking up off of the floor necessarily and the weight will be much smaller than with regular deadlifts. And the calf raises may be done on a machine or if standing calf raises, the bar would be on his back and not being held in front of him. Why would he need to press the calf raise weight? I am not meaning to be mean but don't understand.

I was surprised by the heavy calf raises too but it is not out of the question.

Yea, I'm using the machine. And again, I'm surprised by it too. Still think I'm doing something wrong with those haha.

[makeitright]

Whoops, I forgot to ask what to do about failing my second set on bench press. Kind of embarrassing to be failing on the first day.

[ClocknessMonsta]

Welcome!
Don't worry about the weights, remember the only one your competing with is yourself.
On the injury, it's never good to try and train thru an injury. It almost never works!

thanks Sir.

I'm going to defy all sensible advice and train through the wrist. It's really not that bad a sprain, if I strap it I think it will be fine.

To give more of an idea of my normal lifting, barbbell curls 45lbs per arm 3 x 8, smith bench press 180lbs plus bar (2lbs or something?) 3 x 8, dumbbell shoulder press over 60kg per arm 3 x 6. Just reading this thread and doing the workout once has made me realize how import core strength is and also that having a big chest and biceps and not a lot else does not make you strong at all!

[ngtvenfnty]

Try to keep in mind that others goal may be different. I don't know of anyone else who would worry about being able to clean, press, and place their squat weight on their back. Try to give advice based on their goals, not yours.

A very reasonable point. Perhaps I should have asked his goal, and been more sensitive to others goals. Nothing wrong with strongman goal. Just the brashness of the circle gets to me...and they hurt my feelings by negging me into the red once.

As for myself, I think of it like this. If I did not have this smith machine, or a power rack, how would I be required to do these movements? The load would start on the floor, and it would have to be worked into position from there. So in my thinking there is something slightly unnatural and unbalanced about 200 lb squats when you cannot pick up those 200 lbs and lift it over your head and place it on your back. My ankles already have a 200 lb load on them when I squat, 170 at the knee, 120 at the hips, so with even with a 100 lb weight I am placing a considerable stress on my body by squatting. Not to mention that very heavy squats pull you center of gravity up into your chest...this is very unstable and I think people are right that there is a high chance of injury from squatting heavy.

[1fatoldman]

thanks Sir.

I'm going to defy all sensible advice and train through the wrist. It's really not that bad a sprain, if I strap it I think it will be fine.

To give more of an idea of my normal lifting, barbbell curls 45lbs per arm 3 x 8, smith bench press 180lbs plus bar (2lbs or something?) 3 x 8, dumbbell shoulder press over 60kg per arm 3 x 6. Just reading this thread and doing the workout once has made me realize how import core strength is and also that having a big chest and biceps and not a lot else does not make you strong at all!

If you can, try and stay away from the smith mach. You will probably be able to lift a lot more weight with the smith mach, but you will miss out on a lot of core training. In the end, barbell free weights with all of the lifts will help you the most.

[redcaesar]

Thanks, I'm would be between cycle 2&3 but it's falling right over Christmas week and I workout at the office so would make it real easy to take a week off... Alternatively there is gym 2 mins from house was thinking I could get free trial for the week or even go into office (only 15min drive) a couple of days to workout and do 2 heavy days for the week. Then continue or restart cycle following week.

No, I took a week off between 4&5 cycles and felt great coming back after a full week off.

[ClocknessMonsta]

If you can, try and stay away from the smith mach. You will probably be able to lift a lot more weight with the smith mach, but you will miss out on a lot of core training. In the end, barbell free weights with all of the lifts will help you the most.

yep, as of yesterday I am completely machineless, at least until I move on to a different work out that requires them (never smiths again though)

about how many 5 week cycles are people doing until they move on? assuming most are relative beginners when they begin

also would it be better to do the medium and light cycles on consecutive days or miss the light one? I can only do monday - wed - thurs this week....

and would doing something like a few sets of inclined bench and some tricep pull downs on an off day have a negative effect??

[EddieFromEurope]

thanks Sir.

I'm going to defy all sensible advice and train through the wrist. It's really not that bad a sprain, if I strap it I think it will be fine.

To give more of an idea of my normal lifting, barbbell curls 45lbs per arm 3 x 8, smith bench press 180lbs plus bar (2lbs or something?) 3 x 8, dumbbell shoulder press over 60kg per arm 3 x 6. Just reading this thread and doing the workout once has made me realize how import core strength is and also that having a big chest and biceps and not a lot else does not make you strong at all!

smith machine bench press?














































Start using a barbell not smith machine.

[syncmaster913n]

about how many 5 week cycles are people doing until they move on? assuming most are relative beginners when they begin

Some do 2-3, some 5-6, and there are a few who have done 10-12. If you are cutting, I recommend doing this routine for as long as you cut. If you are bulking however, I recommend staying on this routine for no longer than 3, maybe 4 cycles, and then switching to a different routine with more volume.

also would it be better to do the medium and light cycles on consecutive days or miss the light one? I can only do monday - wed - thurs this week....

If you can only do mon-wed-thurs this week, better miss the light one. So do heavy and medium. Or you can do 2 heavy days (mon-thurs), however if you are just starting out and this is your first cycle I wouldn't recommend it.

and would doing something like a few sets of inclined bench and some tricep pull downs on an off day have a negative effect??

If you are new to lifting then yes, chances are it will hurt you big time. Stick with the exercises prescribed for at least 2 cycles before deciding to make changes.

[FalseShadow]

Is anyone else just really not liking SLDL? I'm doing the form where you do not bend your back, because I'm really just not sure bending the back like that with weights is safe. Some are calling the type I do a Romanian dead, others believe that is a still legged deadlift.

I really miss regular deadlift, and I think I might pick one a day a week to take out both SLDL and squats and do regular deadlift. I'm halfway through cycle 2 right now, and if I decide to do this I will at least wait until cycle 3 is over before making any changes. Anyone else not like SLDL and have thought about putting in regular deads?


IF YOU ARE NEW AND READING THIS: Don't change anything on this program until at least 3 cycles in. Even though I want to switch to regular deads I will wait until at least 3 cycles in as instructed in the program.