Intermediate/Advanced Routine - Revision 1

[Jherewhoisdere]

So yeah I was supposed to have deload week now but as I just changed to this new version, I went with 30 reps and added 2 exercises to A.
Gotta say it was quite rough as I was doing 30 reps on original program because I'm cutting and also pretty much skipped the deload :P
Gonna go with B tomorrow 30 reps too, I shall see if this skipped deload will take it's price..
I was wondering should I take the deload now earlier on this program for the first time as I didn't deload this week?

[eriquee]

All my lifts are going up, maybe a little bit faster than before, glad to finally have made 12 reps on FS.... been stuck at 225lbs for a while.

[Ardashir]

Anyone of you guys have a power rack/cage at home?

I plan to buy one. My former gym (well equipped) moved away and I'm searching new ones, but I live in a small city and all of them are small, old or bad equipped (inserted in fitness/cardio centrums, martial arts gyms... no bodybuilding gym). I'll join one, but I want to have minimum decent equipment at home as well in order to do the routine properly; I have benches, barbells and dumbbells, chin-up bar, little leg press/curl but can't do squats safely or dips.

Any recommendations? (I live in Europe)

[64509chvl]

Anyone of you guys have a power rack/cage at home?

I plan to buy one. My former gym (well equipped) moved away and I'm searching new ones, but I live in a small city and all of them are small, old or bad equipped (inserted in fitness/cardio centrums, martial arts gyms... no bodybuilding gym). I'll join one, but I want to have minimum decent equipment at home as well in order to do the routine properly; I have benches, barbells and dumbbells, chin-up bar, little leg press/curl but can't do squats safely or dips.

Any recommendations? (I live in Europe)

I have one at home, but I built it myself to save money...it's nothing too trick but works very well!

[robosphere]

So yeah I was supposed to have deload week now but as I just changed to this new version, I went with 30 reps and added 2 exercises to A.
Gotta say it was quite rough as I was doing 30 reps on original program because I'm cutting and also pretty much skipped the deload :P
Gonna go with B tomorrow 30 reps too, I shall see if this skipped deload will take it's price..
I was wondering should I take the deload now earlier on this program for the first time as I didn't deload this week?

If you're feeling beat up, and felt you needed the deload in the first place, then you should do it. Were you too psyched for the new routine, so you skipped the deload?

[VLokkY]

Anyone of you guys have a power rack/cage at home?

I plan to buy one. My former gym (well equipped) moved away and I'm searching new ones, but I live in a small city and all of them are small, old or bad equipped (inserted in fitness/cardio centrums, martial arts gyms... no bodybuilding gym). I'll join one, but I want to have minimum decent equipment at home as well in order to do the routine properly; I have benches, barbells and dumbbells, chin-up bar, little leg press/curl but can't do squats safely or dips.

Any recommendations? (I live in Europe)

I have one, kind of expensive though!

I've got this one:
http://www.fitness-seller.nl/barbari...ge-lat-pulley/
Been using if for nearly a year and a half now.. I can safely say it has saved me ****loads of times by now (safetybars).

Last week I broke my RDL PR by doing 9 reps with 110 kg (or 243 lbs), pretty drained afterwards.

Today I easily hit 12 reps, hardly any fatigue, even after completing all rest-pause reps.

I was like, ... k lol?

I'm glad I'm not the only one..
Lifts where I struggle to do 10 reps, 2 days later suddenly 12 reps.. 2 days after 11 reps with added weight?!

[davo26]

im getting improved performance too on this routine. i just tell myself i havent magically got a lot stronger over a few days, its probably just the order of the exercises giving more of a rest before hitting the same body part..... feels good tho :-)

[Kelei]

Where in Aus you from buddy?

Near Brisbane.

Kelei,

I'm still doing the D1, D2, D3, repeat routine (6x week). Since my shoulder is mostly aggrivated by d1 (dips, incline bench, etc), do I still have the go ahead to do d2/d3 if they don't cause me pain? Or should I completed take off everything in order for it to heal the fastest? I was thinking of doing d2/d3 repeat but just wanted to see your take on it

Avoid any exercises which bother your shoulder, keep performing everything else.

How many of you use straps for the RDL's?

I found its limiting my reps massively especially since i try to do it both overhand and not mixed grips as i feel it twists your body and works sides differently...

I used mixed grips, but I alternate with them (e.g. day 1 right hand overhand, day 2 left hand overhand)

Maybe the weight just isn't heavy enough for me yet

Never use a mixed grip during RDL, always use a double overhand grip. Eventually you'll need to start using straps, your forearms can't keep up with your hamstrings forever.

[Luus]

Has anyone else been stalling a bit lately on the bench press? I get stronger at all the other exercises. It's been 11 reps at 77,5 kg for 3 weeks now

[69cam]

Anyone of you guys have a power rack/cage at home?

I plan to buy one. My former gym (well equipped) moved away and I'm searching new ones, but I live in a small city and all of them are small, old or bad equipped (inserted in fitness/cardio centrums, martial arts gyms... no bodybuilding gym). I'll join one, but I want to have minimum decent equipment at home as well in order to do the routine properly; I have benches, barbells and dumbbells, chin-up bar, little leg press/curl but can't do squats safely or dips.

Any recommendations? (I live in Europe)

I workout in my garage with a Weider C650 power rack, love it.

Here is a thread that might help you out.
http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=652376

[MichielN]

Never use a mixed grip during RDL, always use a double overhand grip. Eventually you'll need to start using straps, your forearms can't keep up with your hamstrings forever.

Straps it is then, will order tomorrow.

[gingersgym]

anyone else having a hard time to get the chest supported dumbell rows right?

im finding i can do about 10 good form reps with 22kg

but even after 10 seconds rest and can keep busting out sets of 5...

and if i up the weight the first 10 get a bit messy, seems hard to get a mind muscle connection with it?

[eriquee]

Has anyone else been stalling a bit lately on the bench press? I get stronger at all the other exercises. It's been 11 reps at 77,5 kg for 3 weeks now

My bench decreased actually same weight, 8 reps today.... Oh well probably got tired from FS and Chin ups, got extra rep on each of them.

anyone else having a hard time to get the chest supported dumbell rows right?

im finding i can do about 10 good form reps with 22kg

but even after 10 seconds rest and can keep busting out sets of 5...

and if i up the weight the first 10 get a bit messy, seems hard to get a mind muscle connection with it?

Yeah same thing. Guess I will have to rest even less lol.

[Morti]

No, I live in Australia. My mother is German and my father is Russian. Judging by our family gatherings you'd swear WW2 was still raging.

Haha I see. Just that you posted a link in Norwegian, so I just wondered :P

[Ardashir]

I have one, kind of expensive though!


Been using if for nearly a year and a half now.. I can safely say it has saved me ****loads of times by now (safetybars).

I'm glad I'm not the only one..
Lifts where I struggle to do 10 reps, 2 days later suddenly 12 reps.. 2 days after 11 reps with added weight?!

Wow, with reason it's called Barbarian power cage, it seems to be pretty good and strong. At the moment I can't afford that much, I was thinking in the 400 euros range.

Regarding the reps, it's pretty common the increase/decrease of strength in short term with this routines, I also experience them.

I workout in my garage with a Weider C650 power rack, love it.

Here is a thread that might help you out.

Thanks, there is a lot of helpful ideas!

[ThatOneLurker]

Eventually you'll need to start using straps, your forearms can't keep up with your hamstrings forever.

Do you use straps?

[mattj15]

305 for 12 today on RDL's! The quest to 315 is finally complete. Now to 405....

[jedema]

Do you use straps?

His forearms are probably the size of my thighs...

[decklan]

If I'm remembering right the old program was originally listed as 50 reps per exercise, but a standard recommendation was to change that slightly to be 5x whatever you got in the first set. Does a similar thing apply here or is the new program a flat 30 total reps regardless of the starting set?

And a related question: I also have a vague memory (and please correct me if I've got this wrong) that on particular exercises like tricep isolations it was considered okay to switch to a 15RM for 15 reps if we thought a 10RM put too much stress on a joint. It's possible I just imagined that though. So was something like that ever actually considered a legit mod, and would it still apply to the new program?

[Jonesman59]

Could someone explain "overreaching" to me and what it is for and how it would be used in this routine?
Did workout A today and it was awesome. Definitely going to stick with this.

[Kelei]

Do you use straps?

Yes.

305 for 12 today on RDL's! The quest to 315 is finally complete. Now to 405....

You're on your way.

If I'm remembering right the old program was originally listed as 50 reps per exercise, but a standard recommendation was to change that slightly to be 5x whatever you got in the first set. Does a similar thing apply here or is the new program a flat 30 total reps regardless of the starting set?

And a related question: I also have a vague memory (and please correct me if I've got this wrong) that on particular exercises like tricep isolations it was considered okay to switch to a 15RM for 15 reps if we thought a 10RM put too much stress on a joint. It's possible I just imagined that though. So was something like that ever actually considered a legit mod, and would it still apply to the new program?

30 reps maximum. I recommend sticking with an 8-12RM.

Could someone explain "overreaching" to me and what it is for and how it would be used in this routine?
Did workout A today and it was awesome. Definitely going to stick with this.

Essentially you intentionally perform too much training and then back off to allow recovery to catch up. For example you might perform A + B every day (perhaps even with more total reps than usual) for 3 weeks and then drastically reduce your training volume (revert to the standard routine and only perform your first set of each exercise) for 1 week.

Has anyone else been stalling a bit lately on the bench press? I get stronger at all the other exercises. It's been 11 reps at 77,5 kg for 3 weeks now

This happens from time to time, you'll go through periods of slow progress as well as periods of fast progress, don't be discouraged.

His forearms are probably the size of my thighs...

Forearms are 17 inches, wrists are 7 inches, I have a very slight bone structure, I'm naturally an ectomorph.

[Kelei]

For the people who can't perform overhead extensions I recommend incline kickbacks instead, they train the long head of the triceps very well if you perform them correctly.



The video will give you a rough idea of what I'm talking about but I recommend that the incline be a bit steeper (perhaps 60 degrees instead of 45 degrees) and the elbows need to be a little higher (the upper arms should be parallel to the ground). Don't allow the upper arm to move up and down otherwise you're cheating. You only need very light weights to get the job done.

I was experimenting with the exercise last night and a 60 degree incline feels best, I could really feel the long head contracting very forcefully.

[icedearth80]

Kelei, what do you think about me replacing seated leg curls with glute ham raises on the smith machine? I'd be happy with lying leg curls but nothing like that in the snap fitness. I have tried 1 leg at a time on the seated leg curl and it just bothers around my left knee for some reason. Really this snap fitness doesn't have jack for doing hamstring isolation work. Only the seated leg curl. Surely there is an alternative?

[ThatOneLurker]

Forearms are 17 inches, wrists are 7 inches, I have a very slight bone structure, I'm naturally an ectomorph.

17 inch forearms..


Strong fapping sessions






What would happen if we performed external rotations 1-2x a week with this routine?

[bubba289]

For the people who can't perform overhead extensions I recommend incline kickbacks instead, they train the long head of the triceps very well if you perform them correctly.

[video=youtube;MvRUUcZjjTU]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvRUUcZjjTU[ideo]

The video will give you a rough idea of what I'm talking about but I recommend that the incline be a bit steeper (perhaps 60 degrees instead of 45 degrees) and the elbows need to be a little higher (the upper arms should be parallel to the ground). Don't allow the upper arm to move up and down otherwise you're cheating. You only need very light weights to get the job done.

I was experimenting with the exercise last night and a 60 degree incline feels best, I could really feel the long head contracting very forcefully.

I was doing these before we switched to the revised routine and really liked them. You're not joking that you have to use light weight. Even using the 15's I noticed my elbows would get lower and lower throughout the set.

[eriquee]

I like doing triceps kicks backs using a low pulley set to medium height, hip height and with my arms parallel to the ground moving only the forearm. Is this also viable?

[seezam]

Was on the old routine for about 5 weeks and just did one week on the revised routine. Taking my first deload now (I know I'll have to start taking them more often) but I was just so addicted to the progress I was seeing. Posted some updated pics on my profile for anyone wondering what following all of the tips in this thread / the last thread can get you with a little over a month of hard work! Since I don't post on here too often (but have read every single page from both threads), I hope you all won't mind if I toot my horn a little bit (I'm proud of myself)

Flat BP 95 --> 110
Incline BP 55 --> 95
DB Flyes 12.5 --> 20
Wide Grip Upright Rows 55 --> 75
DB Side Laterals 15 --> 25
Rope Pressdowns 90 --> 130
O/H DB Extensions 12.5 --> 25

Chin-Ups 3.5 --> 9
Pulldowns 90 --> 110
Seated Rows 90 --> 120
External Rotations 15 --> 20
Preacher Curls 35 --> 60

RDLs 120 --> 140
Front Squats 65 --> 95
Hack Squats 50 --> 90
BB Hip Thrusts 65 --> 100

Note, I only put the exercises I kept the exact same throughout the period. There are other exercises I was doing (per the program) but may have made slight variations which wouldn't make the weight comparison from beginning to start very comparable.

Also, I realize there are a ton of noob gains in there and shouldn't expect to see the same rate of growth in the future but I'm just really happy with the way my workouts have gone and the way I feel. Thanks so much to everyone involved in these threads and of course big shout out to KELEI!

[krysix]

Was on the old routine for about 5 weeks and just did one week on the revised routine. Taking my first deload now (I know I'll have to start taking them more often) but I was just so addicted to the progress I was seeing. Posted some updated pics on my profile for anyone wondering what following all of the tips in this thread / the last thread can get you with a little over a month of hard work! Since I don't post on here too often (but have read every single page from both threads), I hope you all won't mind if I toot my horn a little bit (I'm proud of myself)

Flat BP 95 --> 110
Incline BP 55 --> 95
DB Flyes 12.5 --> 20
Wide Grip Upright Rows 55 --> 75
DB Side Laterals 15 --> 25
Rope Pressdowns 90 --> 130
O/H DB Extensions 12.5 --> 25

Chin-Ups 3.5 --> 9
Pulldowns 90 --> 110
Seated Rows 90 --> 120
External Rotations 15 --> 20
Preacher Curls 35 --> 60

RDLs 120 --> 140
Front Squats 65 --> 95
Hack Squats 50 --> 90
BB Hip Thrusts 65 --> 100

Note, I only put the exercises I kept the exact same throughout the period. There are other exercises I was doing (per the program) but may have made slight variations which wouldn't make the weight comparison from beginning to start very comparable.

Also, I realize there are a ton of noob gains in there and shouldn't expect to see the same rate of growth in the future but I'm just really happy with the way my workouts have gone and the way I feel. Thanks so much to everyone involved in these threads and of course big shout out to KELEI!

Lol, How the hell do you use more weight in rope pressdowns than in front squats, bench press...? Strong triceps.

[Vise09]

Ive been out of the gym for practically a year; im back now and on the 2nd week.
Im struggling severely with bw chin and pull-ups...
today it looked like 7-4-3-2... its seemed like my back/arms fail; I'm stumpped.

so far Im still adjusting to the routine and haven't managed to find the best weight
to train in a 10-4-3-3-etc fashion.... its been slightly misguided with the addition of more weight during the sets....
ie leg extension started at 10x60kg managing to work through 10kg increments until 100kg x8....
next time for LE ill start at 110x10?

[seezam]

Lol, How the hell do you use more weight in rope pressdowns than in front squats, bench press...? Strong triceps.

Yeah...good point. I must be doing them wrong. Definitely felt the triceps doing whatever I was doing but probably not to the full extent. took a look at some videos and think maybe if I cut the weight in half for a set I'll be able to focus on the triceps better and figure out proper form.