WEEK FORTY-EIGHT :: What Is The Best Barbell Workout?

[webmaster]

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* Note: How can I win? Answer all questions in the order that they are asked.

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TOPIC: What Is The Best Barbell Workout?

For the week of: 08/28 - 09/03
Sunday @ Midnight Is The Final Cut (Mountain Time, US & Canada).

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A single barbell, a stack of rusty weights, and a bench are beginnings to a grueling workout.

What is the best all barbell workout? Be specific.

What is your favorite barbell exercise? Why?

What are some of the benefits of using an all barbell workout?

What are some negative aspects of using an all barbell workout?

Who would benefit from a barbell workout?

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Don't discuss any other topic in this section. ONLY discuss the question above.

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NEW PRIZE MONEY!!!!!
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The best response will get $75 in credit, and second place will get $50 in credit to use in our online store and will have their workout posted on our main site for the world to see!

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NEW RULE!!!!!
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* New Rule: Any exercise not listed on our exercise listing (http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/exercises.htm) must be accompanied by a full and complete description and pictures (or a link to the exercise(s) where pictures and description are given).

Thanks,
Bodybuilding.com

[best regards]

Woo hoo. Something to write about. I have a chance

[Blink41]

Originally Posted by best regards

Woo hoo. Something to write about. I have a chance

You always have a chance best regards lol

[joakman]

What is the best all barbell workout? Be specific.

My Barbell Arm Workout
Barbell Curls (Biceps): 5 Sets - 15-12-10-8-5
Barbell Preacher Curls (Biceps): 4 sets - 15-12-12-10
Reverse Barbell Curls (Forearms): 4 Sets - 20-15-15-10
Barbell Wrist Curls (Forearms): 4 Sets - 20-15-15-failure
Barbell French Curl/Skullcrusher (Triceps): 4 Sets - 15-12-12-10
Close Grip Bench Press (Triceps): 5 Sets - 15-12-12-10-8

What is your favorite barbell exercise? Why?

The Reverse Barbell Curls are my favorite workout for me, I love feeling the burn after busting out sets with them. Working my forearms is big for me while I have to train hard as a baseball player and this really gets the job done.


What are some of the benefits of using an all barbell workout?

I believe that with an all barbell workout it makes it very quick to change exercises while you don't have to constantly change weights and bars and it is right in front of you and definitely is convenient.


What are some negative aspects of using an all barbell workout?

While using only barbell exercises you may miss exercises that may isolate your muscles that could promote better development in them.

Who would benefit from a barbell workout?

Someone like myself who can't always find time to go to the gym every day to work out. I have a barbell in my home and an array of weights which allows me to do basically everything I would be able to do in a gym. It is cheap to get started and definitely gets the job done.

Thanks for reading!

[lionelxxl]

Hey guys, have an awesome week ahead!

[joakman]

Only 3 exercises a day and 12 in a week?

[joakman]

Its a baseball training workout, whats wrong with that? Nevermind your a 14 year old kid or 15, whatever you are that is bragging about deadlifting 250 lbs in a thread. In my city kids are benchpressing 300 lbs going into high school at 14 on no supplements at all.

[best regards]

Originally Posted by joakman

Its a baseball training workout, whats wrong with that?

ummmm it sucks. I mean I'm just being honest here I'll post my article later and you'll see what I'm saying. That looks like a routine out of muscle & fitness. Or actually it's worse.

[joakman]

I don't care about your article when you start deadlifting more than double than you do now then I will give a look. Until then have a clue. Using this routein I am looking to get a MLB deal and I am in college now playing.

[best regards]

Originally Posted by joakman

I don't care about your article when you start deadlifting more than double than you do now then I will give a look. Until then have a clue. Using this routein I am looking to get a MLB deal and I am in college now playing.

What you posted was not a workout. It was an "arm workout" focusing pretty much entirely on isolation exercises. It's crap. I'm sorry. Now I'm not gonna sit here and argue with you when you obviously haven't a clue what you're talking about.

edit: and people should be encouraged to focus more on squats, deadlifts, and other big compound exercises, not reverse curls that give you a good "pump". So you get a clue.

[joakman]

I am not going to sit here and post a whole training regimen, that is a workout. How don't I have a clue what I am talking about your the one who is at a 250 pound deadlift and I am working on trying to calf raise 600 pounds 50 times. That is a perfect baseball workout for anyone that wants to be a better hitter. I have been looking through the boards for quite a while don't think your some smart professor because you have a ton of posts. I am learning this stuff in school so when you surpass your little 250 pound deadlift then you can rant about an arm workout that will strike results for any athlete.

[lionelxxl]

Originally Posted by joakman

Only 3 exercises a day and 12 in a week?

Why not? You'd be amazed how many people overtrain with high volume and till failure. The rer ranges in the routine i posted have been very helpful in hypertrophy

[joakman]

Maybe I will give it a shot then, haha. What I have been doing has been working unbelievable for my whole body. I have increased my strength about 70% in my whole body in about 5 weeks.

[best regards]

Originally Posted by joakman

I am not going to sit here and post a whole training regimen, that is a workout. How don't I have a clue what I am talking about your the one who is at a 250 pound deadlift and I am working on trying to calf raise 600 pounds 50 times. That is a perfect baseball workout for anyone that wants to be a better hitter. I have been looking through the boards for quite a while don't think your some smart professor because you have a ton of posts. I am learning this stuff in school so when you surpass your little 250 pound deadlift then you can rant about an arm workout that will strike results for any athlete.

[best regards]

The answer is not simple, although many may like to think it is and show you some random routine and say, “do this”. 98% of routines out there forget one big concept: the body grows as a WHOLE. As one unit. Not on an individual muscle basis. People seem to not let that through their thick skulls. Which is why a barbell workout would be great for anyone looking to put on overall mass because, unlike dumbbells, barbells are more natural to the body. The workout I’m going to show will focus entirely on compound exercises. And I actually didn’t write it. One of the greatest coaches in the world did, Mark Rippetoe. Here is how it’s set up:

Workout A:

Squat: 3x5
Bench Press: 3x5
Deadlift: 1x5

Workout B:

Squat: 3x5
Overhead Press: 3x5
Rows: 3x5

You’ll do workout A Monday, B Wednesday, A Friday, B next Monday, and so on. As madcow2 says “Don’t **** with the routine. Every bodybuilder seems to have ADD and the overwhelming desire to customize everything.” He’s right. Gains of 30-40lb in the first few months on this routine are typical. You may be wondering why there are so few exercises. Well, unfortunately, the vast majority of you all reading this have been hypnotized by the muscle magazines showing their bodypart splits, working each muscle, once a week, with 50 different exercises for each bodypart. However, the body can only get good at so many things at once. Your goal, whether you’re a bodybuilder, powerlifter, I don’t care, is to increase your weight on the big lifts as consistently as possible. It is the fastest way you will grow, as a whole, which goes back to my original statement. Your biceps will not grow on their own terms. They will grow in proportion with the other muscles they were naturally meant to work with. The same with everything else. Yeah, there’s no calf work. AHHHHH!!!! Well let me ask you this question, do you honestly think I could add 100lbs to my squat and my calves not have gotten a lot bigger? Hell no. How else would I stabilize all that weight? Your muscles don’t grow because of the “pump” you get with them. People seem to think your muscles are just breaking down then building back up. This is only partially true. Your body adds muscle as a result of it getting stronger. It’s just a reaction. If I’m getting stronger on my bench, it’s not my muscles that are actually pushing the weight. It’s my central nervous system working through my muscles. So as I’m making it stronger, it will add muscle to whatever is moving the weight; in this case, primarily the chest, triceps, and deltoids. Therefore even though you don’t “feel” it being worked in the triceps and deltoids, they’re still going to grow. This is without a doubt the best barbell program. Well I don’t know if it’s the best, but it’s the basics. It’s about as basic as it gets. Everyone should start right here in their weightlifting career, regardless of their goals. You just have to increase on the lifts I listed as often as possible.

The best barbell exercise is the squat. It is the most fundamental range of motion your body performs. The reason it’s stressed so much in this program is because it is how your body will adapt. At first, you will be getting really sore and by the next workout, you’ll still be sore and not fully recovered. But the thing is, if you keep doing it anyways, your body will adapt to the workload. That way you can handle all of this, without overtraining. And don’t worry about squatting 3x a week. Your body will be able to adapt to that if you make it. Most people will shun this program because of that and say “oh, that’s definitely overtraining.” Well it’s not. Not if you do it right.

The benefits of an all-barbell workout is you can focus on the basic, compound motions. This way, your nervous system can adapt as a whole and be able to handle more workload. Not to mention the fact that barbell exercises will put on mass faster. The whole dumbbell vs. barbell is pretty much down the tube. It’s almost universally agreed that barbell exercises should be the core of any workout. And despite poplar belief, barbells are not bad for your joints. It’s just one of those myths that won’t die. If you perform the exercise properly, your joints will be fine.

The main negative would be if you’re an advanced lifter, the program I showed you just won’t cut it. It’s too basic. You will need a more advanced program using more advanced techniques because your muscles won’t just grow from staring at a weight anymore. You now have to really know what you’re doing. And one of many advanced techniques is to incorporate dumbbell variations of exercises just to give your body something new to do. For example, if you were focusing on bench press for a while then stopped increasing, you might start focusing on inclined bench press, then maybe dips. But once you run out of exercises of the sort, you might try dumbbell bench presses and see how long you last on something like that. The other negative to it may be for someone who’s going through rehab or maybe an elderly folk or someone of that sort, lifting this heavy may not be a good thing to just start doing. If you’re really concerned about this, see some type of a doctor about it and ask what type of weight training would best suit you situation.

Anybody looking to put on overall mass would benefit from an all-barbell workout, with the exceptions I just listed. And I hope I’ve convinced a few of you all to get off your bodypart split you found in Muscle & Fitness and get on a routine created by a professional who truly knows what he’s doing. Not a pro bodybuilder. Best regards to you all with your training.

[joakman]

That makes no sense at all, the body does not grow as a whole by any means. That would be like saying that if you work out your legs for 3 months and nothing else that you wouldn't see them grow, that is the dumbest statement I have seen in a while. I broke my ankle and wasn't able to workout my legs for over a month and I seen massive growth in my upper body in that time frame. Your central nervous system deals with your brain and how it functions how do you justify that it aids to lifting weights, I have never heard of that. I would like to see how you could prove this.

[best regards]

Originally Posted by joakman

That makes no sense at all, the body does not grow as a whole by any means. That would be like saying that if you work out your legs for 3 months and nothing else that you wouldn't see them grow, that is the dumbest statement I have seen in a while. I broke my ankle and wasn't able to workout my legs for over a month and I seen massive growth in my upper body in that time frame. Your central nervous system deals with your brain and how it functions how do you justify that it aids to lifting weights, I have never heard of that. I would like to see how you could prove this.

No. The body's muscles can grow on an individual basis, but the results will be minimal. And when I say as a whole, I mean the muscles that naturally work together, will grow together. The legs and arms don't work together in natural motions. And if you weren't already mad at me you probably would like the article. Not to mention guys like Mark Rippetoe, Glenn Pendlay, Joe Defranco, madcow2, the makers of HST and Max-ot, Bill Starr, etc. would all agree with me. And they know a hell of a lot more than you do I can tell you that much.

[joakman]

I have read countless number articles on everything and I found an unbelievable routein during my season and off-season. I have upped my fastball in velocity by about 10% and my power about 8% in a few weeks for baseball alone. With that workout I don't see how your biceps grow. I myself have had personal trainers from all over the country help train me from Syracuse, WVU, UMass, Tufts, etc. and from what I have done it has been completely different than this type of workout. I would be more interested if knew a way to incorporate biceps into this.

[RC26]

Good luck!

[Blink41]

Good luck to everybody

My best one yet:

[BurningHeart]

Here's mine

[Matt824]

Originally Posted by joakman

I have read countless number articles on everything and I found an unbelievable routein during my season and off-season. I have upped my fastball in velocity by about 10% and my power about 8% in a few weeks for baseball alone. With that workout I don't see how your biceps grow. I myself have had personal trainers from all over the country help train me from Syracuse, WVU, UMass, Tufts, etc. and from what I have done it has been completely different than this type of workout. I would be more interested if knew a way to incorporate biceps into this.

Your biceps grow on the bent over rows

[best regards]

Aren't the last two too late? Because if not you only have like 3 articles to pick from.

[joakman]

Yeah, they were late, who knows

[BurningHeart]

Originally Posted by best regards

Aren't the last two too late? Because if not you only have like 3 articles to pick from.

No...

Midnight Mountain time.... I posted 30 minutes before.

[joakman]

Yeah, sorry nevermind

[bdeangelis]

There was a time when there were no fitness clubs, no hammer strength machines, no pec decks or cable fly stations. This may leave the average guy to wonder how men and women achieved impressive strength and size with this lack of equipment. These same people you will see pumping out endless sets of bicep curls in hopes to get huge. Little did they know the answer is and always has been right under their noses. A barbell and a decent amount of weight can be the best way to improve your strength as well as pack on some of that size you've been trying desperately to gain.

To recieve the most gains from using barbells I would recommend that you stick with compound movements.
A sample workout would look like this:

Day 1 - Squats 3x5
Stiff legged deadlifts 3x5

Day 2 - Rest

Day 3 - Bench press 3x5
Bent over rows 3x5

Day 4 - Rest

Day 5 - Deadlifts 3x5
Straight-arm pullovers 3x5

Day 6 - Rest

Day 7 - Clean and jerk 3x5

As you become more efficient at completing the workout you must add more intensity to keep getting results. This can be done by adding reps, sets, or weight. As you increase intensity you will have to increase rest time as well or risk overtraining. Rest time will vary person to person as there are other factors involved such as amount of sleep, diet, and the speed of your metabolism.

My personal favorite barbell workout is the deadlift. Deadlifts can be done with very heavy weight because the lift involves more muscles than any other lift you can think of. Deadlifts can be used to improve strength, size, and power, as well as give your central nervous system quite the boost. It feels great to be moving more than twice your body weight in a lift and your body will thank you much for it in the long run.

Using barbells can benefit your body greatly. Compound movements using barbells not only work your target muscles but use other muscles as stabilizers as well. Your muscles were made to work together and respond well to these type of workouts. Another benefit of using barbell is that you can increase the weight by a smaller percentage than you can by using dumbells or kettlebells. The jump from 100lb to 110lb dumbells can be massive. With barbells you can increase by as little as 5lbs which is much easier for you body to handle.

As with anything in life there are pro's and con's of using barbells. Using only barbells you won't be able to complete a full range of motion on some of your lifts. Safety can also be an issue when using barbells. It can be quite scary when your legs fail during squats with more than twice your body weight on your traps. Always having a spotter and using a power rack can help to avoid injury. Also with barbells isolating all the muscles on the body is out of the question.

Anybody who wants to get stronger, gain some mass, or add some power can benefit greatly from barbell workouts.

[joakman]

Now I think that ^ is 2 days late? lol

[bdeangelis]

yeah I don't care I just wanted to post it anyway

[Blink41]

Originally Posted by BurningHeart

No...

Midnight Mountain time.... I posted 30 minutes before.

I posted 1 hour early