AllPro: A Simple Beginner's Routine part III

[FitBeyondForty]

Yep.

Do each excersice using a weight you can lift no fewer than 8 times and no more than 12 or so.

Do the routine in the proper order and write down how many reps you got. Enter those numbers into the calculator in the link I gave and that will give you your 10 rep max. weight. Use that weight as your starting weights for the routine.

[Eric90XJ]

Yep.

Do each excersice using a weight you can lift no fewer than 8 times and no more than 12 or so.

Do the routine in the proper order and write down how many reps you got. Enter those numbers into the calculator in the link I gave and that will give you your 10 rep max. weight. Use that weight as your starting weights for the routine.

Do you do warm up and acclimation sets?

[danhaney]

Link is broken under Q2

[johnlou1983]

I am on the road a lot, so I've had to do more than my fair share of two heavy days. Not a fan -- it leaves you pretty exhausted, especially if you are pushing yourself already.

Sandy screwed me up too, and I tried to rush it on Wednesday for squat and hurt my back a bit. There is still a bit of a tweak while bending over completely, but I had planned to do 2 heavy day on Friday and get back to 3 day routine on Monday. However, I am wondering if my plan for 2 heavy day is a bad idea, I have a feeling I'll be back at 85-90% by Friday.

Speaking of which is the recommendation for this high or low bar squats?

[MVPBrah]

so 2 days ago was week 3 heavy day. I did warm ups good for squats, and managed to get 1st work set done, but second work set only managed to get 6 reps. For bench, could only manage to get it 9 reps and then 8 reps. And overhead press.... did it only 6 times when I was suppose to do 10 times. However on my medium day today, I managed to do all reps while struggling a bit.

I did test my 10 rep max before I even attempted this routine, yet in the middle of week 2 I started to notice that it was really becoming harder for me to finish my squatting/benching/over head press routines. Should I decrease weight in middle of cycle or continue going?

[frenchy72]

Thanks man...appreciate it. My motivation has dipped in the past couple weeks...actually since starting IF. Haven't noticed much difference on the scale and can't really see any change on the tape measure either. My calories are between 2000-2300 with probably a 45/35/20 split of Carbs/Pro/Fat with a 16 hour fast between 8pm & 12:00 noon the next day. I'll run it for another month into C3 and see what happens & how I feel. March is my target date to hit 210 lbs so I have to stay focused.

Been doing the IF thing for pushing a month. I've come to understand that it isn't some great fat loss secret. I'm losing at the same rate as before. My biggest plus with it is being able to actually eat (rather than nibble) when the window opens. I work out fasted in the morning but supplement with BCAA's. What's your schedule like?

I've only had one truly rough day...not just tough but a couple of failures....this past heavy Monday. I wanted to blame the IF but in hindsight I think I can point to the first alcohol I'd ingested in 10 weeks, on both Friday and Saturday nights. Lesson learned.

And is it just me or is the over 30 set really representing for the past 10 pages?

[Tupperwolf]

Under 30 set, checking in.

I made the decision to push my C2W5 light day back a day because going forward it will make my workouts jive with my work schedule much better.

[frenchy72]

Under 30 set, checking in.

I made the decision to push my C2W5 light day back a day because going forward it will make my workouts jive with my work schedule much better.

Kids....

So you do M-W-Sat?

[Tupperwolf]

I was doing Sat-Mon-Wed heavy-medium-light and am shifting it to Sun - Tues - Thurs. I work 7AM-5PM Friday through Monday and have Tues/Wed/Thurs off. Doing two workouts during my work week hasn't been optimal as I have to train at lunch; Have to keep an eye on the clock during my training and then bolt down some food before going back to work. I've tried training at 5 AM and I just feel weak as heck at that hour. I'd rather be doing other things after work while there's still some light (golf, surf) rather than be in the gym. This way I'll only have one workout during my work week (Sunday) and be able to go to the gym at my leisure during my off days.

[terty1234]

With the medium and light days, it says in the op that I should reduce the weight by 10% and 20% respectively. At the current weight which I am lifting at it is going to be quite hard to actually achieve those numbers. Can another alternative be to reduce reps instead of weight. Say heavy day is 8 reps, medium 7, light 6?

is that ok to do

[frenchy72]

I was doing Sat-Mon-Wed heavy-medium-light and am shifting it to Sun - Tues - Thurs. I work 7AM-5PM Friday through Monday and have Tues/Wed/Thurs off. Doing two workouts during my work week hasn't been optimal as I have to train at lunch; Have to keep an eye on the clock during my training and then bolt down some food before going back to work. I've tried training at 5 AM and I just feel weak as heck at that hour. I'd rather be doing other things after work while there's still some light (golf, surf) rather than be in the gym. This way I'll only have one workout during my work week (Sunday) and be able to go to the gym at my leisure during my off days.

Perfect.

[frenchy72]

With the medium and light days, it says in the op that I should reduce the weight by 10% and 20% respectively. At the current weight which I am lifting at it is going to be quite hard to actually achieve those numbers. Can another alternative be to reduce reps instead of weight. Say heavy day is 8 reps, medium 7, light 6?

is that ok to do

Is bar weight the issue?

[Dank16]

how are you guys working your calves? the standing exercise and the seated one work different parts of the calf so do you do both or alternate or what?

[Dank16]

Whats the general rule for rounding when it comes to warm up sets and medium and light days? Should I round up, down or just closest? Lets say my weight for an exercise is 135...what would the 1/4 and 1/2 warm ups be and the medium and light days be?

[Zanderino]

Quick question: Can I do this routine with kettlebells (my only weights)? I know the weight isn't as adjustable as it is with dumbbells (usually comes in 5 lbs increments, like 10 lbs, 15 lbs, 20 lbs.) What can I do to adjust in order to compensate for the lack of variability?

[DeltaCharlie75]

With the medium and light days, it says in the op that I should reduce the weight by 10% and 20% respectively. At the current weight which I am lifting at it is going to be quite hard to actually achieve those numbers. Can another alternative be to reduce reps instead of weight. Say heavy day is 8 reps, medium 7, light 6?

is that ok to do

If its because it's taking you below the bar weight and you have no other option, then doing 7 and 6 reps with a 45lb bar would produce the same workload as reducing the weight.

[DeltaCharlie75]

Quick question: Can I do this routine with kettlebells (my only weights)? I know the weight isn't as adjustable as it is with dumbbells (usually comes in 5 lbs increments, like 10 lbs, 15 lbs, 20 lbs.) What can I do to adjust in order to compensate for the lack of variability?

It's best done with a barbell, but if all you have is KBs then doing something will always be better than doing nothing. I have no experience with KBs but after a quick look through the KB exercises you can do most of them in KB form. As to the weight, round it down or up as you feel appropriate ( always lean towards rounding it down unless you are particularly close to the higher weight). Good luck

Link to KB exercises http://www.bodybuilding.com/exercise...nt/kettlebells

[DeltaCharlie75]

Whats the general rule for rounding when it comes to warm up sets and medium and light days? Should I round up, down or just closest? Lets say my weight for an exercise is 135...what would the 1/4 and 1/2 warm ups be and the medium and light days be?

The general rule is to round down. Though personally I will round up if it is ridiculously close to the higher weight. You use the heavy day warmup up weights for all days. So you don't need to calculate med and light warm up weights.

[DeltaCharlie75]

Do you do warm up and acclimation sets?

Do light warmup sets to get the blood through the muscles. IMO you should never lift cold.

[DeltaCharlie75]

so 2 days ago was week 3 heavy day. I did warm ups good for squats, and managed to get 1st work set done, but second work set only managed to get 6 reps. For bench, could only manage to get it 9 reps and then 8 reps. And overhead press.... did it only 6 times when I was suppose to do 10 times. However on my medium day today, I managed to do all reps while struggling a bit.

I did test my 10 rep max before I even attempted this routine, yet in the middle of week 2 I started to notice that it was really becoming harder for me to finish my squatting/benching/over head press routines. Should I decrease weight in middle of cycle or continue going?

If it was just an off day I would personally continue on the cycle. I think the advice given previously was only to change the weight at the start of the cycle but in your case it sounds like you would really struggle to continue into week 4 and if your struggling with weight there is a good chance it will lead to injury. My thoughts are that you should reduce the weight and either re-start the cycle completely or at least drop back to week two. This is just my opinion, you know your body and limits, do what you think best. Good luck
Ps is your diet in order and you getting enough sleep?

[scubahsteve]

Been doing the IF thing for pushing a month. I've come to understand that it isn't some great fat loss secret. I'm losing at the same rate as before. My biggest plus with it is being able to actually eat (rather than nibble) when the window opens. I work out fasted in the morning but supplement with BCAA's. What's your schedule like?

I've only had one truly rough day...not just tough but a couple of failures....this past heavy Monday. I wanted to blame the IF but in hindsight I think I can point to the first alcohol I'd ingested in 10 weeks, on both Friday and Saturday nights. Lesson learned.

And is it just me or is the over 30 set really representing for the past 10 pages?

I think this is the end of the 3rd full week of IF. I actually like the concept and not having to think about what the hell I'm going to eat in the next 3 hours is nice. Once the window opens shove calories down your pie hole until the window closes. I think my biggest issue after starting was that I'm not getting enough calories which may have contributed to the stall in pounds down. TDEE is around 2800, cut 20% and I'm around 2300 calories for weight loss. I track everything in My Fitness Pal and have noticed that my intake during IF has been an average of 1900 calories which coincides with the weight not coming off at the steady of a rate as it had been before IF. So, I'm going to get my calories up to 2300-2400 for the next 3-4 weeks and see what happens.

Workout days, I head to the gym at 5:00 am after drinking a PWO with some creatine & BCAA. Get the routine done and off to work. About 12:00 I start eating and finish up by 8:00 that night....rinse, repeat.

[Zanderino]

It's best done with a barbell, but if all you have is KBs then doing something will always be better than doing nothing. I have no experience with KBs but after a quick look through the KB exercises you can do most of them in KB form. As to the weight, round it down or up as you feel appropriate ( always lean towards rounding it down unless you are particularly close to the higher weight). Good luck

Hey, thanks again. I know that OP recommends that one does ab exercises on the 4 off-days; I was thinking that crunches, reverse crunches, and twist crunches (with weight) would be good. Would that work my abs and obliques evenly?

[DeltaCharlie75]

Hey, thanks again. I know that OP recommends that one does ab exercises on the 4 off-days; I was thinking that crunches, reverse crunches, and twist crunches (with weight) would be good. Would that work my abs and obliques evenly?

Although that is in the FAQ, All Pro also said something along the lines of if you have the energy after the workouts you should do them on the same day, as your Abs will be getting used and worked throughout the compound lifts and will need a rest day also.

[frenchy72]

I think this is the end of the 3rd full week of IF. I actually like the concept and not having to think about what the hell I'm going to eat in the next 3 hours is nice. Once the window opens shove calories down your pie hole until the window closes. I think my biggest issue after starting was that I'm not getting enough calories which may have contributed to the stall in pounds down. TDEE is around 2800, cut 20% and I'm around 2300 calories for weight loss. I track everything in My Fitness Pal and have noticed that my intake during IF has been an average of 1900 calories which coincides with the weight not coming off at the steady of a rate as it had been before IF. So, I'm going to get my calories up to 2300-2400 for the next 3-4 weeks and see what happens.

Workout days, I head to the gym at 5:00 am after drinking a PWO with some creatine & BCAA. Get the routine done and off to work. About 12:00 I start eating and finish up by 8:00 that night....rinse, repeat.

I've considered bumping up calories. 1900 and not eating back workout puts me low....like 1.5-2lbs per week low....which I'm not seeing. The big question is the ever-looming "lightly active or moderately active" blank. What would you all consider this program with respect to TDEE? I do light cardio Tue-Thu-Sat.

And like you I love eating two 1000 cal meals versus five 400 calorie meals.
I'd hate to come this far and put weight back on for experiment's sake.

[scubahsteve]

I've considered bumping up calories. 1900 and not eating back workout puts me low....like 1.5-2lbs per week low....which I'm not seeing. The big question is the ever-looming "lightly active or moderately active" blank. What would you all consider this program with respect to TDEE? I do light cardio Tue-Thu-Sat.

And like you I love eating two 1000 cal meals versus five 400 calorie meals.
I'd hate to come this far and put weight back on for experiment's sake.

With the extra work you're doing (light cardio), I'd put you in the "moderately active" category. Myself, I only do this program so I stayed at the "lightly active". Plus I'm a desk jockey at work. I've always heard/read that people resume weight loss once they up their calories by a couple 2-300 after being in a big deficit.

[MrSlippery]

so 2 days ago was week 3 heavy day. I did warm ups good for squats, and managed to get 1st work set done, but second work set only managed to get 6 reps. For bench, could only manage to get it 9 reps and then 8 reps. And overhead press.... did it only 6 times when I was suppose to do 10 times. However on my medium day today, I managed to do all reps while struggling a bit.

I did test my 10 rep max before I even attempted this routine, yet in the middle of week 2 I started to notice that it was really becoming harder for me to finish my squatting/benching/over head press routines. Should I decrease weight in middle of cycle or continue going?

It's hard to say what happen, however as others have said it might have just been an off day for you. That said you mentioned you still felt like you struggled a bit on your medium day thought completed everything successfully. I personally would recommend you drop your weights for your week 4 heavy day down to what your medium day is and continue on like that.

It's better to drop the weight early if you feel like you will end up failing the majority of the lifts.

[terty1234]

If its because it's taking you below the bar weight and you have no other option, then doing 7 and 6 reps with a 45lb bar would produce the same workload as reducing the weight.

sorry I don't understand. My issue is that im working with quite small numbers and in kilos. I also don't factor in the bar weight (tried to research the weight of it, didn't find anything). So because i'm working at home I only have a limited number of plates, and so being able to get roughly 10% and 20% of the heavy weight can be pretty hard. So I was wondering if i could just reduce the reps, aka would reduced reps have the same effect as reduced weight

[DeltaCharlie75]

sorry I don't understand. My issue is that im working with quite small numbers and in kilos. I also don't factor in the bar weight (tried to research the weight of it, didn't find anything). So because i'm working at home I only have a limited number of plates, and so being able to get roughly 10% and 20% of the heavy weight can be pretty hard. So I was wondering if i could just reduce the reps, aka would reduced reps have the same effect as reduced weight

Is it a standard or Olympic size bar (standard bar is 1 inch in diameter, Olympic is two)?
7ft olympic bar is 20kg, 6 ft is 15kg, and I think the 5 ft is 10 kg.

If its a standard size bar put it on scales to get the weight.

[Voxmusculus]

Speaking of which is the recommendation for this high or low bar squats?

I think that's a loaded question. People have rather strong opinions on the subject.

I know Mark Rippetoe prefers LBBS, as do most power lifters, and I know several others here prefer HBBS. They both work the posterior chain differently, and I find that the High Bar works my quads more while the Low Bar works my posterior chain more. Since I already do SLDL to help with my hamstrings, I prefer the High Bar squats.

But once again, this is a much debated area, and ultimately comes down to personal preference.

[FitBeyondForty]

sorry I don't understand. My issue is that im working with quite small numbers and in kilos. I also don't factor in the bar weight (tried to research the weight of it, didn't find anything). So because i'm working at home I only have a limited number of plates, and so being able to get roughly 10% and 20% of the heavy weight can be pretty hard. So I was wondering if i could just reduce the reps, aka would reduced reps have the same effect as reduced weight

Weigh the bar. Simple.

Weigh yourself without the bar, then with the bar. The difference is the weight of the bar.