Last summer I did this workout and gained about 10 lbs of muscle in a 3 month time period. I really haven't lifted much in the past 9 months or so, but I'm looking to get back into it. Based on the gains that I got before, I am tempted to go back to this workout that I made and used before. I have done it a few times in the past few weeks and see much more progress in some exercises than others. Is this because it is focusing on some muscle groups more than others? I'll show you which exercises I am improving on more than others below.
The workout is really simple. It is an upper body/lower body split. When I did it last summer, I ended up spending 2-3, maybe 4 hours in the gym on Upper body day and 1-2 hours on leg day. This was mainly just because I would take waaaaaay too long between sets. Now, I don't have enough time to do that, so I try to finish the workout in 1-2 hours (usually aiming for 1.5 hours including the warmup/stretch). My legs grew a lot more from this workout than my Upper body did.
Each exercise consists of 3 sets and the last set I go to failure, having a lifting partner help me with the last 1-3 reps.
Upper Body Day:
Warm Up (1/2 mile on treadmill @ 10mph)
Stretch
Pullups
Bench Press
Cable Row
Dips
High Pulls (Vertical barbell row)
Overhead Press
Bicep Curls
Dumbbell Incline Bench
Crunches
Side Crunches
Leg Day:
Warm Up (1/2 mile on treadmill @ 10mph)
Squat
Deadlift
Powercleans
Leg Press
Leg Extension
Hamstring Curls
Standing Calf Raises
Sitting Calf Raises
Rest Day
Repeat
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Basically, what I have noticed from starting this workout up again is that for some of the exercises I am making very little to no gains, some I am making decent gains, and some I am making extraordinary gains. I make sure my form is still really good, so I don't think that is the reason why.
Going through them:
Pullups - decent improvements
Bench press - almost no improvements at all
Cable row - good improvements
dips - amazing improvements
High Pulls (Vertical bb row) - AMAZING IMPROVEMENTS.
Overhead Press - Amazing improvements, but not as good as high pulls
Bicep Curls - hardly any improvements
Incline db bench press - just recently added this workout. I figured it would be good since my flat bench isn't improving much.
Forearm curls - hardly any improvements
Abs - great improvements
Squat - AMAZING IMPROVEMENTS. Definitely better improvements on this exercise than anything else.
deadlift - alright improvements
powercleans - hardly any improvements
leg press - amazing improvements
leg extension, hamstring curls and calf raises - haven't done them enough to know.
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The idea behind this workout was to get in shape. It was to help me get in shape for wrestling season. In the process though, it helped me put on a ton of muscle. Now, I am not doing wrestling anymore, so I would still like to get in shape, but would probably rather focus more on the building muscle part.
Any suggestions???
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10-22-2012, 10:54 PM #1
Why am I making more gains in some exercises compared to others?
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10-23-2012, 06:40 AM #2
- Join Date: Nov 2008
- Location: A house on a hill, Australia
- Posts: 6,931
- Rep Power: 18228
1) Each exercise uses your skeletal leverages in different ways. Some are more efficient than others, making the lift generically stronger than other exercises and making progression easier.
2) Each exercise uses different muscles in different ways. Refer to above for the implications of this.
3) The amount of muscle mass used in a lift matters. Deadlifts use more than half the muscle mass of your body. Wrist curls do not. Adding 20kg to your deadlift as a novice is no big deal. Adding 20kg to your wrist curl is.
4) The range of motion used in a lift matters. That's why it's normally easier to add weight to quarter squats than to ATG squats.
5) Your technique matters. If you do cheat curls (which is normally considered bad technique, although there are exceptions to this rule), it'll be a lot easier to add weight to the bar than if you do strict curls. Meanwhile, on exercises like the clean, I don't think you really can cheat to get more weight up, so bad technique will hold back performance.
6) The amount of technical skill required to perform the lift matters. Squats require a relatively low amount of skill, when compared to the snatch. Both work a lot of the same musculature, but the snatch requires for more precision to enable progression.SQ 172.5kg. BP 105kg. DL 200kg. OHP 62.5kg @ 67.3kg
Greg Everett says: "You take someone who's totally sedentary and you can get 'em stronger by making them pick their nose vigorously for an hour a day."
Sometimes I write things about training: modernstrengthtraining.wordpress.com
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10-23-2012, 02:50 PM #3
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10-23-2012, 02:55 PM #4
At this point of you're training you have a good indication of how your body is responding to weight training. Work harder on your lagging parts and prioritize them in your training and just maintain on the strong parts.Most people do it the other way around so the strong areas get better and the weak areas get weaker
If you don't get what you want you didn't want it bad enough
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10-23-2012, 02:55 PM #5
- Join Date: May 2012
- Location: Northridge, California, United States
- Age: 32
- Posts: 937
- Rep Power: 280
SQ: 225x5 (High-bar ATG)
DL: 295x5/315x1
"Many basic or compound exercises (e.g. squat, bench press, etc.) have a bell shaped resistance curves or shift the resistance through multiple muscle groups throughout the exercise's range of motion allowing the muscles to momentarily relax between repetitions. This period of momentary relaxation between repetitions allows greater opportunity for momentary blood flow permitting the clearing of acid accumulation."
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10-24-2012, 05:13 AM #6
- Join Date: Nov 2008
- Location: A house on a hill, Australia
- Posts: 6,931
- Rep Power: 18228
Compared to everything else, I don't think there's too much of an emphasis for shoulders here, although I've been too lazy to tally up the ratio of pushing vs pulling, which is relevant for shoulder health. Then again, all you've given is a list of exercises. If you're pushing hard on your shoulder exercises and half-assing your squats, for example, then that's something that needs fixing.
SQ 172.5kg. BP 105kg. DL 200kg. OHP 62.5kg @ 67.3kg
Greg Everett says: "You take someone who's totally sedentary and you can get 'em stronger by making them pick their nose vigorously for an hour a day."
Sometimes I write things about training: modernstrengthtraining.wordpress.com
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11-09-2012, 09:37 PM #7
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11-09-2012, 09:38 PM #8
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11-09-2012, 09:46 PM #9
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11-09-2012, 09:50 PM #10
I personally would never go on an Upper/Lower Split for the simple reason that I find it tough to club Bench with OHP, Tricep, arm and shoulder work. My triceps get hammered from heavy benching and there's no way I can efficiently do any overhead pressing after that.
On the other hand I've never had an issue deadlifting and squatting heavy and going for PR's in the same workout.
I am in no way qualified to comment on whether the Upper/Lower split is a good way of training but I know for sure that it isn't the stuff for me. Do evaluate whether you are like me and prefer to spread your heavy compound lifts over workouts than club them in the same workout. That might help you go past current PR's on some of the heavier lifts
You are likely spending 1.5+ hrs in the gym for the simple reason that the pressing on Upper day might be too much for you as an individual to take. Shortening time between sets will only reduce your performance but will not address the basic issue
If I were you I'd look at a routine that suits my individual profile like say something that hits every muscle group 2X a week while working out for 4 days a week. That way you can spread out Squats, Bench, OHP, Deadlifts, Cleans & Rows over sessions to ensure you can hit these heavy compounds first up every workout day while not compromising on frequency or poundage* Skinny to non skinny transformation crew * - I am gonna effin nail this
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