The Main Programs Floating Around Basically Sketched Out

[homer1]

Well I’ll attempt to sketch out the main programs out there. I know latrell has a similar thread, but there are mainly links given there. It can be very confusing an frustrating for those of you who are snooping around trying to find a routine for your situation, and are given 1,000 links, all of which are trying to convince you that their routine is the best with a countless amount of literature. So here is basically the big routines briefly sketched out. If you have any specific questions about a particular program, you can post it in one of the threads tailored for that program, or start a thread if there is not one...

I’ll add more later…

Starting Strength Program by Mark Rippetoe

This is a very basic program. It’s great for building a solid foundation of strength. You will increase on every lift every session.

Set it up where you’re doing three workouts on nonconsecutive days. For example, Monday - A, Wednesday - B, Friday - A, next Monday - B, and so on.

Workout A:

Squat - 3x5
Bench Press - 3x5
Deadlift - 1x5

Workout B:

Squat - 3x5
Power Clean - 3x5 (you may substitute with rows if you wish)
Overhead Press - 3x5

Kethnaab is going to create a full write-up for this program, and I’ll provide a link here whenever he posts it.

Bill Starr’s Beginner’s 5x5

A very bland program. But it definitely works.

Monday - Heavy

Squat - 5x5 (35%, 70%, 80%, 90%, 100% of target 5RM)
Bench - 5x5 (35%, 70%, 80%, 90%, 100% of target 5RM)
Power Clean - (35%, 70%, 80%, 90%, 100% of target 5RM)

Wednesday - Light

Squat - 5x5 (35%, 50%, 60%, 70%, 80% of Monday’s 5RM)
Bench - 5x5 (35%, 50%, 60%, 70%, 80% of Monday’s 5RM)
Power Clean - (35%, 50%, 60%, 70%, 80% of Monday’s 5RM)

Friday - Medium

Squat - 5x5 (35%, 60%, 70%, 80%, 90% of Monday’s 5RM)
Bench Press - 5x5 (35%, 60%, 70%, 80%, 90% of Monday’s 5RM)
Power Clean - (35%, 60%, 70%, 80%, 90% of Monday’s 5RM

Also do some ab work, as well as 2 sets of 20 leg curls and leg extensions for knee health.

Westside for Skinny Bastards (bodybuilder’s version)

This program was written by Joe Defranco (defrancostraining.com) for athletes. So I made some minor adjustments to suit beginners.

Monday - Upper

Work up to max set of 3-5 - Bench Press
DB Press - 3-4x6-10
Chin-ups - 3-4x max
Bicep Curls - 3x6-10
Abs

Tuesday - Lower

Work up to max set of 3-5 - Squat
Lunges or Step-ups - 3x8-12
Reverse Hypers - 3x8-12
Neck Extensions - 3-4x10-15
Shrugs - 3-4x8-12

Thursday - Upper

Do 3 max set of reps on Bench Press or variation of Bench Press (can be with whatever weight you choose, but generally 95lb, 135lb, 185lb, or 225lb)
Rows - 3-4x6-10
Military Press - 3-4x8-12
Bicep Curls - 2-3x8-12
Skull Crushers or Pushdowns - 2-3x8-12
Abs

Friday - Lower

Work up to max set of 3-5 - Deadlift
Leg Extensions - 3x8-12
Reverse Hypers - 3x8-12
Neck Extensions - 3-4x10-15
Shrugs - 3-4x8-12

Fortified Iron’s Hypertrophy-Strength Program

Well I couldn’t explain it better than him, so I just copied and pasted his explanation. I think this program is more for intermediates or advanced lifters than anyone. You, at least, need to have some base of strength…


I figured it was time for another routine of mine. Just about all the routines I've published so far I've gotten nothing but great feedback on and people have been doing nothing but make very positive gains out of it. Like all my programs its basic progression with loading and maintaining the total work being done. You will need a fairly good work capacity, meaning you'll need some training time under your belt.

Upper Day 1:
Bench Press**
Pendlay Row**
Military Press
Cable or Band pull downs
Decline sit-ups

Lower Day 1:
Conventional Deadlifts**
Leg Press
Goodmornings
Barbell shrugs

Upper Day 2:
DB Bench**
T-bar Rows
Plate Raise (or Face pulls w/ bands)
Weighted Pull ups

Lower Day 2:
Squat**
Stiff Leg Deadlifts**
Reverse Hypers
Dumbell Shrugs

* I will leave the arm work up to you. However dont spend all that much energy on them, just 3-4 sets a week is all you need. They get plenty of work with the rowing and other movements.

** Primary movers, your major lifts that need to be payed attention too.

Now the training sets/reps/load are gunna be a bit different with this. Its not going to be your basic 5x5 or 3x5.. In-fact it wont even be in the ball park like that... PAY ATTENTION!

Primary Movers:
1.) 5x3
2.) 5x3
3.) 5x3
4.) 4x6
5.) 4x6
6.) 5x5
7.) 5x5
8.) 5x5
9.) 0ff

Get a projected 3RM of all your Primary Movers (*). Once you get your projected maxes at the END of th week calculate 78.5%.

- Example: 3 RM on Squat is 315. Take 315 x .758 = 238.77 (240)

Now after the first week you will start working your Primary Movers at 78.5% @ 3RM. Once you complete the first week continue adding 2.5-5% to the 78.5%.

- Example:
Week 1 I did 240 (78.5%) on the squat.
Week 2 I will do 80-82.5% of my best 3RM.
Week 3 I will do 82.5-85% of my best 3RM.

Weeks 4 and 5 are what I call high rep weeks. Yup I said it.. HIGH REPS. You will do 4 sets of 6 with the same weight on all 4 sets. Use your judgment on the weights, but keep them fairly challenging.

You will do the SAME thing for week 6-8 as you did with week 1-3. However during this week you will be working with a 5RM and NOT a 3RM.

The other lifts that arnt Primary Movers are done like this:

1.) 3x12
2.) 3x12
3.) 3x8
4.) 3x8
5.) 3x6
6.) 3x6
7.) 4x6
8.) 4x6
9.) 0ff

The thing with these lifts are going to be rest periods. Keep the rest around 60-120 seconds between each set. Now between each movement thats your choice however dont go talk to all the girls for 20 minutes and then come back and pick it back up. If you hit failure on a set you simply just hit failure and its not a big deal.

Madcow2’s Intermediate 5x5 Program

Well as the title suggests, it’s for intermediate lifts with some base of strength. I basically copied this word-for-word from his site.

Monday:

Squat - 5x5 (35%, 70%, 80%, 90%, 100% of target 5RM)
Bench Press - 5x5 (35%, 70%, 80%, 90%, 100% of target 5RM)
Barbell Row - 5x5 (35%, 70%, 80%, 90%, 100% of target 5RM)

Wednesday:

Squat - 4x5 (first 3 sets same as Monday’s first three sets, 4th set same as third)
Overhead Press or Inclined Bench - 5x5 (35%, 70%, 80%, 90%, 100% of target 5RM)
Deadlift - 5x5 (35%, 70%, 80%, 90%, 100% of target 5RM)

Friday:

Squat - 4x5, 1x3, 1x8 First 4 sets are the same as Monday's, the triple is 2.5% above your Monday top set of 5, use the weight from the 3rd set for a final set of 8
Bench Press - 4x5, 1x3, 1x8 First 4 sets are the same as Monday's, the triple is 2.5% above your Monday top set of 5, use the weight from the 3rd set for a final set of 8
Barbell Row - 4x5, 1x3, 1x8 First 4 sets are the same as Monday's, the triple is 2.5% above your Monday top set of 5, use the weight from the 3rd set for a final set of 8
Bicep Curls and Tricep Extensions - 3x8

Do ab work every day…

[homer1]

2 more..

Hypertrophy-Specific Training

Ok, this is a kind of complicated program. You can read more on hypertrophy-specific.com. analysis

This is an 8 week program. Before you start, you will need to find out your 5RM, 10RM, and 15RM.

Weeks 1-2 are 15RM, weeks 3-4 are 10RM, weeks 5-6 are 5RM, and the last two weeks are strategic deconditioning, so you’ll do nothing. In the original program, they incorporate negatives, etc. But we can keep it simple here. If you want to find out more about that, go to the site and read up on it.

Anyways, you will be doing 3 fullbody routines a week. And you will be working up every two weeks to your maximum weight in that rep range.

For example, let’s say my 15RM for squat is 200lb. I will subtract 6 increments from this (since I’ll be doing 6 workouts in the two weeks), which is 170. So the first Monday, I will do 170x15 for however many sets; then Wednesday, 175; Friday, 180, and so on. Until I get back up to 200lb the next Friday. Then the next Monday after that, I will do 10RM. And do the same thing; work up to your 10RM over the 2 week period.

Alright, I know that may be a bit complicated but reread it a few times if you don’t understand. And you may also go to the HST site.

Then, for the last two weeks, you will take off completely. This allows for a chance for everything to completely recoup.

Here is an example of your basic HST routine.

3 Days a week:

Squat - 1x5
Stiff-Legged Deadlift - 2x5
Inclined Bench - 2x5
Dips - 1x5
Chin-ups - 2x5
Rows - 2x5
Shrugs - 1x5
Military Press - 1x5
Lateral Raises - 1x5
Rear Delt Raises - 1x5
Bicep Curls - 2x5
Calf Raises - 2x5
Abs - 2x5

Again, you will do this 6 times over a 2 week period, increasing the weight each session, so at the end of the 2 weeks, you should be back to your original 5RM. And again, you will switch off among 15RM, 10RM, and 5RM each 2 week period. So you will do all those exercises only with 15 or 10 reps on the other weeks.

And remember to find out what you’re 15, 10, and 5 rep maxes are before you start.

You can also switch out exercises above… as long as you don’t go crazy with anything. Just pick the exercises you want and stick with them the whole time.

And do not make the mistake of thinking that because this program is fairly low intensity that it will not produce results, it will. It would be best to have some base of strength when going into this for optimal results. But read the website I provided to learn more..


FortifiedIron’s Hypertrophy 2.0

Well another great program by FI, so I decided to just copy and paste it. There’s no point in retyping it when it’ll look exactly the same:


Week 1: 3x12
Week 2: 3x10
Week 3: 3x8
Week 4: 4x6
Week 5: 5x5
Week 6: 8x3
(You will do this on ALL lifts)

Lower
Upper
off
Lower
Upper
off
off


Upper Day 1:
- Bench Press
- Close Grip Bench
- Military Press (standing)
- Pendlay Row

Lower Day 1:
- Conventional Deadlift
- Narrow Stance Squat
- Goodmornings
- Barbell Shrugs

Upper Day 2:
- DB Bench
- Narrow Grip Incline
- Plate Raise
- Pull-Up w/ weight

Lower Day 2:
- Narrow Stance Squat
- SLDLs
- Reverse Hyper
- Dumbell Shrugs

** This is the program, DO NOT SUBTRACT any of the exercises! If you dont know how to do them, learn how to do them! The only reason you should ever pull out any of these during the whole 5 week cycle is if you feel pain doing them. If you dont know the lift I'd suggest doing an alternate pattern with the movement. Basicly rather than progressing with the given rep/set pattern I've showed continue to do:

3x12
3x10
3x8
3x8
3x8

Once you start the cycle over again after the 5th week, you can then continue the same rep/set pattern as the first outline (with the regular lifts) and progress in the lower reps. This will 1. Keep you from getting hurt, 2. Teach your form, and 3. Break the learning chain/curve. Its key that if you dont know anything about the movements that you spend as much time working with them and do as many reps as possible with the given movement. This is where motor skills develop and intra-inter neuromuscular coordination develop w/ the movement.

** Biceps/Abs, Upper day's throw in a bicep exercise if you want. On lower days throw in some Ab work. This is an accesory work, so its not that important. Keep the reps around 3x8-4x6 if you want.

** Keep a journal that I'll have access too. I'll look at how your progressing. If you have any before pictures send them to me or save them. Once your done with the first meso cycle compare your progress from before you started till then w/ pics and lift achivments. Do the same when you repeat the cycle. This is key in mental motivation, and that is where to many people fail.

** Once you get a whole meso cycle Wave (12 total weeks) you'll take some low volume work to help recovery. Its key that you dont take ANY time away from the gym. To many people just walk away for a week or two weeks, this makes coming back a sore painful mess for atleast 2 weeks. Now you've spent 4 weeks without making any progress. This is a typical deloading pattern. By trianing under your adaptive threshold (ie low volume) then you will not adapt, therefor you will recover. This is the fundomental bases of periodization!!

** During the first few 4 weeks you can add in failure work. Dont do it on all lifts and dont do it on squats, squat variations or deadlifts. Rows, Shrugs, db benching are all ok. Another thing to keep note on is during the WHOLE cycle you want SHORT rest periods. Im talking 30-60 seconds between sets, this comes key when you get to the intensity portion (8x3). Fatigue has a positive effect on IGF-I and other singaling for hypertrophy. On weeks 4-6 this is a big factor in the program. This will help with conditioning the muscle and overal work capacity.

[homer1]

FortifiedIron/Homer1 Basic Sports Routine

Well basically, FI came up with the base for this routine, but I designed it and made some adjustments to it. It’s a dual factor program. So you will do this every week, and every 4 weeks, take a week off completely.

I designed I with football players mind, but it can work for really any sport that involves speed and strength… and endurance

Monday:

Bench Presses - 4x6
Squat - 4x6
Pull-ups - 3x10
Lunges - 3x10
Kettlebell Snatches - 3x8

Tuesday:

20-Yard Sprints - 6x
30-Yard Sprints - 2x
40-Yard Sprints - 2x

Wednesday:

Cleans - 5x2
Push Presses - 3x6
Snatches - 5x2

Thursday:

40-Yard Pro Shuttle Runs - 4x
100-Meter Sprints - 4x

Friday:

Deadlift - 2x3
Inclined Bench Presses - 3x6
Step Ups - 2x10

Sat-Sun: Off

The program is for mainly intermediate to advanced athletes since you are making increments once a week.

German Volume Training

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/luis13.htm
This program would be for someone already with a good base of strength. http://www.elitefitness.com/forum/sh...&postcount=386
Read this, because it explains why body part splits (splitting the parts up throughout the week, is not sufficient for muscle gains. However, GVT is good to use in small doses.

Monday -

Declined DB Press - 10x10
Chin-ups - 10x10
Inclined DB Flyes - 3x10
One-Arm DB Rows - 3x10

Wednesday -

Squats - 10x10
Leg Curls - 10x10
Seated Calf Raises - 3x10-15
Leg Extensions - 3x10

Friday -

Dips - 10x10
Curls - 10x10
DB Lateral Raises - 3x10
Military Press - 3x10

I would do it for maybe 4 weeks or so and make sure to add weight each week.

[homer1]

Waterbury Method

Chad’s a great guy. Well this is basically his Waterbury Method program simplified to suit the intermediate trainer. Follow the program basically until you stop getting stronger…

You will start all the lifts with 80% of your 1RM or 6RM…

Monday:

Squats - 10x3
Dips - 4x6
Bent Over BB Rows - 4x6
Skull Crushers - 4x6
Curls - 4x6
Leg Raises - 4x6

Wednesday:

Bench Press - 10x3
DB Deadlift - 4x6
Overhead Press - 4x6
Upright Rows - 4x6
Calf Raises - 4x6
Tricep Pushdowns - 4x6

Friday:

Chin-ups - 10x3
Declined Bench Press - 4x6
Calf Raises - 4x6
Curls - 4x6
Leg Curls - 4x6
Lunges - 4x6

And don’t make the mistake of thinking low reps won’t build muscle, it will!

A Basic Westside Powerlifting Routine

Don’t let the name throw you off. This program will make you stronger. And if you are getting stronger and have to food to back it up, you will get bigger. This dogma is recognized by all respected training programs. The reason I chose to add this one here is because it utilizes relatively higher to medium rep ranges as opposed to some WS versions that are very low reps…

Monday:

Squat - 2x5
Glute/Ham Raises or Hamstring Curls - 3x10
Bent Over Row - 4x6
DB Curls - 3x8
Calf Raises - 3x15

Wednesday:

Bench Press - 3x5
Inclined DB Press - 4x8
Overhead Press - 3x8
Skull Crushers - 3x10
Sit-ups/Abs - 3x10

Friday:

Deadlift - 2x5
Leg Press - 2x10
Chin-ups - 4x6
BB Curls - 3x8

Next Monday:

Inclined Bench Press - 3x5
DB Press - 4x8
Overhead Press - 3x8
Tricep Pushdowns - 3x10
Sit-ups/Abs - 3x10

Next Wednesday:

Squat - 2x5
Glute-Ham or Leg Curls - 3x10
Bent Over Rows - 4x6
DB Curls - 3x8
Calf Raises - 3x15

Next Friday:

Bench Press - 3x5
Inclined DB Press - 4x8
Overhead Press - 3x8
Skull Crushers - 3x10
Sit-ups/Abs - 3x10

Yeah so, this one’s pretty self-explanatory. It’s for relatively intermediate lifters, and will probably last some time… increase as often as possible and stop the program when you stop increasing…

And, remember, it’s Westside. There’s no set rules and you can make adjustments to this template.

[homer1]

If there are any other programs that should be on here, PM me (or scott) and let me know. Also, if you there is something I missed on any particular program I posted on here, let me know.