AllPro: A Simple Beginner's Routine part IIII

[Vaylor]

since may.

3000 calories every day since starting the program may 20, 2013.





i'm not.. here are pics from then till now.

What are your Macros?

[FitnessFan76]

16 pounds - small size increase?! LOL, are you trolling??

Ha, yeah - I've been bulking since the end of March and I've only put on around 8lbs. I'm not seeing much more fat so I guess most of it went to muscle. Clearly a lot went to my legs, as they're easily showing the most progress.

My upper body before/after pictures do look like a game of 'spot the difference', but I can see gains for myself (there's more mass on my arms and chest) and my measurements/lifts have been steadily increasing although I am slightly disappointed with my results so far given the time scale I've been going for. Having said that, I think that a) I started All Pro's far too light; b) because I was eating so little before I started this, maybe it's taken time for things to get going and c) I had periods of two or three weeks here and there where my weight didn't increase - when that happened I added some more calories.

This week's gain was a pound; I know that's a bit outside the limit as far as keeping fat gains down is concerned, but I'd rather the weight is increasing all the time and maybe put on a bit of fat than trying to shoot for 0.5lbs per week and getting long periods of time where my weight remains the same or worse, goes down. Next week is measurements week (I do it every two cycles at the gym) so let's see what's happened.

I'm in this for the long haul, and now that my lifts are becoming very challenging, I'm expecting the next three to six months to be very exciting times.

I'm hoping to cut before too long; probably when I get to around 140lbs; maybe without the layer of fat in the way I'll be able to notice future gains more easily?

[HM37]

one question: would it hurt replacing rows with chin ups in this program? i don't want to hear reasons like you shouldn't mess with the program, i actually want a solid reason as to why chin ups aren't included. its an exercise i want to improve at

[FitnessFan76]

Just because being more parallel to the ground is tougher doesn't mean it is harder on the lats. Dorian Yate believes the lats are hit harder at a less than parallel angle.

just youtube search: dorian yates bent rows

Oh, I'm definitely not parallel to the ground - just more bent over than before; probably something like 45 degrees now. I don't know if it's tougher on the lats or not, but it sure as hell feels tougher and I can definitely feel it more in my lats.

[FitnessFan76]

since may.

3000 calories every day since starting the program may 20, 2013.





i'm not.. here are pics from then till now.

What about your measurements and lifts? Are they increasing? Sometimes pictures can be deceptive, especially from a front on angle. What about your legs - any noticeable gains there? Does your body look different at all to you - or family members - without the photos? I can't see a load of change in my upper body shots either, but I can see changes when I look at my own body. After all you don't seem to have put any significant amount of fat on and that 16lbs has to have gone somewhere!!

[GKC45]

one question: would it hurt replacing rows with chin ups in this program? i don't want to hear reasons like you shouldn't mess with the program, i actually want a solid reason as to why chin ups aren't included. its an exercise i want to improve at

Biceps and shoulders are hit elsewhere in the program. That's why.

[HM37]

Biceps and shoulders are hit elsewhere in the program. That's why.

rows hit biceps and shoulders as much as chin ups/pull ups do.

[AlexYBB]

one question: would it hurt replacing rows with chin ups in this program? i don't want to hear reasons like you shouldn't mess with the program, i actually want a solid reason as to why chin ups aren't included. its an exercise i want to improve at

Do the program for 3 cycles, if you feel like you could do another exercise add pull ups / chin ups. Until you reach 3 cycles dont change the routine around

[bertishere]

How active are you during the week? How many days do you lift? How many days cardio? what do you do the other others of your days?

Even if you are moderately active - lift 3 times a week and shoot some ball a couple of times, and I'm gauging you at like a 15% BF (though I don't know how accurate that is), at your current weight, you need about 2900 calories just to maintain your current weight buddy. You're a big tall guy, If you are eating 3000, and it's not exact (as calorie counting often isn't), you are almost at maintenance. Try eating 3400 with at least .45 of ur bodyweight in fat and at least .8 of your bodyweight in protein (grams of course on both of these), continue your allpros program, and don't go crazy on the cardio - you should grow and see gains.

Also, do you eat a lot of salt/carbs? Looking at your pics, the bloating of your upper-belly seems like you are holding water (might be just an off-guess though)

i eat a lot of carbs because that's what i read i'm supposed to do to. how much carbs do you think i should eat per day?

ok starting next week i'll try for 3400. i'll add one more small meal somewhere there. what i currently do is eat 3 big meals a day + make a shake that has 1000 calories in it. (banana, oats, milk, blueberries, peanut butter and 2 scoops of chocolate protein). i usually get around 3000-3100 calories by the end of the day, give or take.

as i mentioned in the past on here (not that anyone would remember), but i had surgery on my ACL so i wasn't able to do squats/deadlifts for the first 2 cycles. on my off days, i am doing moderate leg work just to regain strength in my bad leg as per my physio program.

What about your measurements and lifts? Are they increasing? Sometimes pictures can be deceptive, especially from a front on angle. What about your legs - any noticeable gains there? Does your body look different at all to you - or family members - without the photos? I can't see a load of change in my upper body shots either, but I can see changes when I look at my own body. After all you don't seem to have put any significant amount of fat on and that 16lbs has to have gone somewhere!!

i haven't measured too be honest. my body does look a bit different to me, but not much.

my lifts have gone up though.

squat - 55lbs (acl surgery, pretty much on my own program for that)
sldl - 65 lbs (again surgery prevented me from doing this)
bp - 135 -> 145
ohp - 75 -> 95
curls - 65 -> 70
calf raises - doing on my own with my program

What are your Macros?

~3000 calories
~ 140g of protein
~ 300g of carbs
~ 80g of fat

[Electrolytes]

one question: would it hurt replacing rows with chin ups in this program? i don't want to hear reasons like you shouldn't mess with the program, i actually want a solid reason as to why chin ups aren't included. its an exercise i want to improve at

In terms of chin ups and pull ups, your biceps are worked a lot in chin ups, but there are already barbell curls in the program. If you really want to replace rows, do it with pull ups because pull ups focus on your lats more.

[Olegru]

i eat a lot of carbs because that's what i read i'm supposed to do to. how much carbs do you think i should eat per day?

ok starting next week i'll try for 3400. i'll add one more small meal somewhere there. what i currently do is eat 3 big meals a day + make a shake that has 1000 calories in it. (banana, oats, milk, blueberries, peanut butter and 2 scoops of chocolate protein). i usually get around 3000-3100 calories by the end of the day, give or take.

as i mentioned in the past on here (not that anyone would remember), but i had surgery on my ACL so i wasn't able to do squats/deadlifts for the first 2 cycles. on my off days, i am doing moderate leg work just to regain strength in my bad leg as per my physio program.



i haven't measured too be honest. my body does look a bit different to me, but not much.

my lifts have gone up though.

squat - 55lbs (acl surgery, pretty much on my own program for that)
sldl - 65 lbs (again surgery prevented me from doing this)
bp - 135 -> 145
ohp - 75 -> 95
curls - 65 -> 70
calf raises - doing on my own with my program




~3000 calories
~ 140g of protein
~ 300g of carbs
~ 80g of fat

Sorry to hear about the leg thing bro. Hope you're healing quick, but just remember it's happened to many athletes and they can still reach their goals. That deff sucks to have to avoid squats and deadlifts, but it's good that you can at least do them light - just take it easy and make sure you recover well, be careful.
That being said, focus on the program as a whole.

About your macros, you should be eating

AT LEAST:
About 150g of protein a day
90-95g of fat

3400 calories (use a tracker like livestrong.com/myplate)

How you fill up the rest of you calories doesn't matter. Keep eating the carbs if your cool with it though.

You never answered this question:

"How active are you during the week? How many days do you lift? How many days cardio? what do you do the other others of your days?"

[Teggygah]

Hi, I did my first day of the All-Pro workout today having switched from a circuit routine I've been doing for a few months.

I have a couple of questions about the bent-over rows and the stiff-legged dead lifts.

For bent-over rows I was feeling a lot of stress on my lower back and was probably not at a 45 degree angle. Should I drop the weight down significantly?

For stiff-legged dead lifts, I seem to be feeling most of the stretch in my calves and behind the knees instead of my hamstrings, and it's tough to get as low as the examples in the videos while keeping my back arched. How do I address this?

[TungstenCarbide]

Hi, I did my first day of the All-Pro workout today having switched from a circuit routine I've been doing for a few months.

I have a couple of questions about the bent-over rows and the stiff-legged dead lifts.

For bent-over rows I was feeling a lot of stress on my lower back and was probably not at a 45 degree angle. Should I drop the weight down significantly?

For stiff-legged dead lifts, I seem to be feeling most of the stretch in my calves and behind the knees instead of my hamstrings, and it's tough to get as low as the examples in the videos while keeping my back arched. How do I address this?

Rows - keep your ass pushed out, and look at something high. It's normal to feel soreness in your lower back at first. It should go away soon. Take a video and look at your form compared to vids on Youtube. You'd be surprised what feels right is so, so wrong.

SLDL - Don't lock out your knees. Regardless of the name of the exercise, you need a slight bend in your knees. You don't need to go as low as the videos. Slight bend in knees. Push ass out hard. Look up high on wall. Bend over until you feel it in your hammies, and then stand up straight. You'll gradually be able to get lower and lower until your form is right. Think of it like stretching with weights. SLDL form was a pain in the ass for me to get, and I still have to think about it every rep, or I lose that "feeling" in my hammies. When I don't feel it there, I know I wasn't paying attention to my form good enough.

Don't be afraid to practice with the bar.

[bertishere]

Sorry to hear about the leg thing bro. Hope you're healing quick, but just remember it's happened to many athletes and they can still reach their goals. That deff sucks to have to avoid squats and deadlifts, but it's good that you can at least do them light - just take it easy and make sure you recover well, be careful.
That being said, focus on the program as a whole.

About your macros, you should be eating

AT LEAST:
About 150g of protein a day
90-95g of fat

3400 calories (use a tracker like livestrong.com/myplate)

How you fill up the rest of you calories doesn't matter. Keep eating the carbs if your cool with it though.

You never answered this question:

"How active are you during the week? How many days do you lift? How many days cardio? what do you do the other others of your days?"

I work security, so there's some walking involved.

I only lift 3 times a week for this program. The other days it's purely physio stuff for my knee.

Light cardio (jogging 1km a day, 3-4 times a week)

What should I do to get more fats in? Fish oil? Any thing else I should take that would help?

[GKC45]

rows hit biceps and shoulders as much as chin ups/pull ups do.

Only if you're doing them wrong.

[AlexYBB]

Only if you're doing them wrong.

Exactly. The rows in this program are not intended for under hand grip, they are meant specifically for your lats ( close, over hand grip )

[mileshdez]

I'm 14 and pretty much brand new to weightlifting. I don't think I can do more than 5 reps of the 45-pound (no weight added) bar, and week 1 requires 8 reps. What should I do?

[TungstenCarbide]

I'm 14 and pretty much brand new to weightlifting. I don't think I can do more than 5 reps of the 45-pound (no weight added) bar, and week 1 requires 8 reps. What should I do?

Don't let that discourage you. Go out and get a 1" bar setup. You can get 110lb weight set for about 80.00 at Sports Authority. The bar weighs 13lbs.

[mileshdez]

Don't let that discourage you. Go out and get a 1" bar setup. You can get 110lb weight set for about 80.00 at Sports Authority. The bar weighs 13lbs.

I would like to avoid spending money. Maybe I'll try doing the rest of the program, and just working with the 45-lb bar until I can get up to 8 reps, which hopefully won't take very long since I've never lifted before.

[TungstenCarbide]

I would like to avoid spending money. Maybe I'll try doing the rest of the program, and just working with the 45-lb bar until I can get up to 8 reps, which hopefully won't take very long since I've never lifted before.

Dude there is a TON of exercises that you can do with just body weight. Push ups, pull ups, crunches, the list goes on and on. Work on what will get you putting up that bar! And eat!

[AlexYBB]

I'm 14 and pretty much brand new to weightlifting. I don't think I can do more than 5 reps of the 45-pound (no weight added) bar, and week 1 requires 8 reps. What should I do?

Are you in a gym?

[HILMAN76]

SLDL form was a pain in the ass for me to get, and I still have to think about it every rep, or I lose that "feeling" in my hammies. When I don't feel it there, I know I wasn't paying attention to my form good enough.

Don't be afraid to practice with the bar.

Same here, SLDL is the exercise I have to concentrate the most on every rep. They are getting better for me as I get used to them, I'm going on my 2nd cycle starting Monday.

[mileshdez]

Are you in a gym?

Yep.

[Manachi]

I'm on my 4th cycle now, but my bicep curls and military presses are kind of lagging. My curls in particular have not progressed for 2 cycles now (ie I was unable to complete 2 work sets of 12 reps on week 5 with good form). Also my military press did not progress for 1 cycle (and only just scraped through the prior cycle). All the other exercises have progressed the 10% each cycle as the routine suggests. I'm just wondering are curls + overhead presses known to sometimse lag? Has anyone else experienced these stalling, while the others progress as expected? Wondering if I should be concerned. I don't really like the feel of barbell curls - the angles just feel kind of weird/wrong, even when I'm using the ez-bar. I was wondering about switching these to DB curls - is there any reason not to?

Here's what I'm lifting on heavy days at the moment (still a noob)

Squats: 60kg
DB Press: 40kg (20kg each hand). I use DB's as there are no free weight bench press barbells at my gym.
Bent Row: 50kg
Military Press: 30kg
SLDL: 45kg
Curls: 23kg
Calf Raises: 70kg

Are these numbers more or less in 'proportion' - or what you'd expect relative to each other??

[chubbybones]

Same here, SLDL is the exercise I have to concentrate the most on every rep. They are getting better for me as I get used to them, I'm going on my 2nd cycle starting Monday.

Whilst on the topic guys,
I was performing my sets for SLDL today and i started to get a weird tingly feeling in my large toe on the stretch reflex(not sure if this is the correct terrm).Basically when the bar is at its lowest and the stretch in the hammies is at its greatest,i get a nerve tingle on one large toe.Its never happeend before.Let me know if i should be worried
Thanks guys.

[Vaylor]

I'm 14 and pretty much brand new to weightlifting. I don't think I can do more than 5 reps of the 45-pound (no weight added) bar, and week 1 requires 8 reps. What should I do?

You would be better off trying this for about 2-3 months in order to get your lifts up:

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=998224

And then do 10 cycles of All Pros.

[Vaylor]

~3000 calories
~ 140g of protein
~ 300g of carbs
~ 80g of fat

The reason your visual progress is slow is because you are tall. Taller people have slower changes to their body composition because they have so much room to fill compared to a smaller person. In your case, you will pretty much have to bulk for an entire year to make noticeable changes.

Also unless you have no problems gaining a large amount of fat, there is no reason to go above 0.5lb per week. You won't gain muscle faster.

[followd]

First post!!!!

Hey all!

Just finished cycle 1 and really feeling this program! Started a little light since im new to free weights and wanted to work on form. In the past mostly stuck to machines and beachbody home routines ie P90X, Revabs, P90x2...had some ok success with those but looking for something different and all pro fit!

Stats:
Age: 35
Weight: 180
Height: 5'9
Bodyfat: 20%ish
Goal: Cutting
Calories: 2030-2280/day
Protein: 150g/day
Fat: 74g/day

Anyway just needing some advice, read the first 25 pages and haven't come across my question yet...will keep reading but also hoping to get some quick guidance.

My gym only has OHP bars in 10lb increments i just finished 40lbs so i should be going up to 44lbs. The next bar weight is 50lbs...should i do the 50lb bar and just work on that till i can pass a cycle with 12 reps or switch to the 45lb olympic bar from the bench press? My GF just finished 30lbs so 33lbs is her next step...should she go to 40lb? Dumbbells are only 15 and 20lbs so 2 of those are still 30 or 40lbs

Same story with curls, just passed 40lbs on those but next EZ Curl bar is 50lbs...go to 50lbs or use the 45lb straight olympic bar?

Finally my gym only has the standing calf raise just finished 115lbs so 126.5 is next increment, but next weight available is 135...do i go up to that weight and just work on as many reps as possible till i can pass a cycle? Or is there another way to go with a lighter weight?

Thanks!

Cycle 1 Stats:
Squat 95p 105
Bench 105p 115
Row 75p 82.5
Press 40p 44
Deadlift 95p 105
Curl 40p 44
Calves 115p 126.5

[AlexYBB]

First post!!!!

Hey all!

Just finished cycle 1 and really feeling this program! Started a little light since im new to free weights and wanted to work on form. In the past mostly stuck to machines and beachbody home routines ie P90X, Revabs, P90x2...had some ok success with those but looking for something different and all pro fit!

Stats:
Age: 35
Weight: 180
Height: 5'9
Bodyfat: 20%ish
Goal: Cutting
Calories: 2030-2280/day
Protein: 150g/day
Fat: 74g/day

Anyway just needing some advice, read the first 25 pages and haven't come across my question yet...will keep reading but also hoping to get some quick guidance.

My gym only has OHP bars in 10lb increments i just finished 40lbs so i should be going up to 44lbs. The next bar weight is 50lbs...should i do the 50lb bar and just work on that till i can pass a cycle with 12 reps or switch to the 45lb olympic bar from the bench press? My GF just finished 30lbs so 33lbs is her next step...should she go to 40lb? Dumbbells are only 15 and 20lbs so 2 of those are still 30 or 40lbs

Same story with curls, just passed 40lbs on those but next EZ Curl bar is 50lbs...go to 50lbs or use the 45lb straight olympic bar?

Finally my gym only has the standing calf raise just finished 115lbs so 126.5 is next increment, but next weight available is 135...do i go up to that weight and just work on as many reps as possible till i can pass a cycle? Or is there another way to go with a lighter weight?

Thanks!

Cycle 1 Stats:
Squat 95p 105
Bench 105p 115
Row 75p 82.5
Press 40p 44
Deadlift 95p 105
Curl 40p 44
Calves 115p 126.5

Nice going man ! seems like youve really got your head around what you want to do Anyway for OHP i would say use the Olympic bar, that works perfectly fine for OHP For curls, ive never tried it but i guess the Olympic bar would work fine? give it a go ! Good luck

[ajohnson03]

Quick question on the program. What is the advantage of decreasing weight throughout the week? I've always thought that to make gains, you should lift as much as you can with good form. I realize that you increase reps every week and weight every 5, but how does decreasing weight help? I've never worked out religiously for more than about 3 months so I guess I'm kind of a beginner according to the OP.