Intermediate/Advanced Routine - Revision 1

[Qxx]

Kelei, any chance you might share a bit of your philosophy behind this workout. Is the rest-pause more about getting full recruitment in more of the reps you do? Be interested to hear your take, thanks!

Yup, use the search function, put "money reps" in as keywords and "Kelei" as username.

[64509chvl]

Yeah, he's laid out tons of info on this...along with everything else for that matter! You should read through his original thread aswell...very educational.

[reicherts78]

Kelei,

When I was going through my Personal Training education, we were basically told that most people have overactive calves, creating a lot of postural distortions, so I stopped training them and my squat form dramatically improved.

However all bodybuilding programs train them. I have been training since 2005 and have never gotten much growth when I did train them, and I also end up with outpointing toes, a hard time getting low in squat, and painful calf cramps at night. I just trained them yesterday and had horrible calf cramps last night, which will probably hurt for a few days now.

I know what you are going to say; "dont do them then", but I'm curious on your position on this or if you have heard of this before, not training calves to correct postural distortions. NASM indicates almost everything is caused by tight calves.

One other question, and sorry for the length of this post, but if I were to try your original routine for Feb (been doing revised all this month), would it be OK to do add in regular deadlifts on either upper back or low back/leg day? Deads suck but they work my abs and back greatly.

Thanks in advance for your response and thank you for all of the knowledge your share feely with others.

[ctprelude]

For you guys that have been having issues with triceps, the last couple days I've switched from using the V-bar attachment and went back to the rope. I checked the ego and dropped the weight by about half, and did slow concentration reps, really making sure that I completely tightened at the bottom of the press, and held for just a second, also concentrating on allowing my triceps to be doing the extension by trying not to tighten any of my chest or shoulders. They felt the best they've felt in a long time and I'm going to stick with it. I like the V-bar, but it was starting to hurt my elbow and I was getting close to maxing out the stack.

[CollegiateTRACK]

I've been doing straight bar pushdowns for tri's for a while and even though they give me a crazy burn in the tri's, I feel it a lot in my chest too. Anyone else experience this?

[Don71]

Yup, use the search function, put "money reps" in as keywords and "Kelei" as username.

Awesome. Thanks!

[MortalEngine]

I'm about 3 weeks off creatine now and my tendonitis in all areas has improved. Gone in my foot and knee, and almost gone in my elbows. (Chinups/pullups still bother it though).

I was wondering if it would be an idea to train for 20rep max rather than 10rep max for a while, to give my tendons a bit of a break. Has anybody done this (I think Lurker raised it in the previous thread), and how would it be incorporated with the rest/pause technique? Still aim for 3 reps consecutively or a higher number?

Cheers.

[ThatOneLurker]

I'm about 3 weeks off creatine now and my tendonitis in all areas has improved. Gone in my foot and knee, and almost gone in my elbows. (Chinups/pullups still bother it though).

I was wondering if it would be an idea to train for 20rep max rather than 10rep max for a while, to give my tendons a bit of a break. Has anybody done this (I think Lurker raised it in the previous thread), and how would it be incorporated with the rest/pause technique? Still aim for 3 reps consecutively or a higher number?

Cheers.

If you're using a 20RM you're rest pausing sets of 12.


Tfw coming off creatine and gf says you look smaller

feelsbatman.jpg

[MortalEngine]

If you're using a 20RM you're rest pausing sets of 12.


Tfw coming off creatine and gf says you look smaller

feelsbatman.jpg

12? So it would be first set 20 (or thereabouts), 12, 12 until what number of total reps (if I'm doing 30 with 10 rep max)?

I didn't notice hardly any drop in weight after coming off creatine. I lost a rep or two on bench press and that was all.

[Qxx]

Kelei,

When I was going through my Personal Training education, we were basically told that most people have overactive calves, creating a lot of postural distortions, so I stopped training them and my squat form dramatically improved.

However all bodybuilding programs train them. I have been training since 2005 and have never gotten much growth when I did train them, and I also end up with outpointing toes, a hard time getting low in squat, and painful calf cramps at night. I just trained them yesterday and had horrible calf cramps last night, which will probably hurt for a few days now.

I know what you are going to say; "dont do them then", but I'm curious on your position on this or if you have heard of this before, not training calves to correct postural distortions. NASM indicates almost everything is caused by tight calves.

One other question, and sorry for the length of this post, but if I were to try your original routine for Feb (been doing revised all this month), would it be OK to do add in regular deadlifts on either upper back or low back/leg day? Deads suck but they work my abs and back greatly.

Thanks in advance for your response and thank you for all of the knowledge your share feely with others.

Well, we are in for calf development, so you need to train them. I think foam rolling and stretching are key in this department.

[mattj15]

Got 355x9 on the RDL yesterday, felt like I did better keeping the lower back straight than last time. Gonna try them in socks tomorrow.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYvU2JcCPn0

[mrjiggyfly21]

I want you to try something for me and report your progress here as you go along.

Every time you're in the gym I want you to perform 5-10 sets (whatever you have the time/energy for) of back squats, as soon as you can complete 6 reps in your first set you need to add more weight. Rest 3 minutes between each set and perform as many reps as you can in each set.

If you have any doubts just take some advice from Nike.

Since so many on here seem to be cutting at the moment, I'll do this. I'm balls deep in a bulk right now and, wouldn't you know it, have a dookie squat.

Kelei, just to clarify, this is every time I'm in the gym, correct? Not just the days I would normally squat/front squat on this routine? And should the just be added on to the session, or would it be advisable to modify volume? 'Cause I'll just do it, man. I'll just do it.

[1SickKunt]

Kelei,

Is there a substitute instead of front squats? As hard as I try to do them, it hurts like furak, I even dropped the bar down the front of my arm, scratched the chit out of it, so can i substitute it for back squats or would u suggest to suck it up and keep practicing?

[Qxx]

Since so many on here seem to be cutting at the moment, I'll do this. I'm balls deep in a bulk right now and, wouldn't you know it, have a dookie squat.

Kelei, just to clarify, this is every time I'm in the gym, correct? Not just the days I would normally squat/front squat on this routine? And should the just be added on to the session, or would it be advisable to modify volume? 'Cause I'll just do it, man. I'll just do it.

Every time. Including the days you do your rest-pause squats.

[Qxx]

Kelei,

Is there a substitute instead of front squats? As hard as I try to do them, it hurts like furak, I even dropped the bar down the front of my arm, scratched the chit out of it, so can i substitute it for back squats or would u suggest to suck it up and keep practicing?

High bar back squats.

[Kelei]

Kelei,

When I was going through my Personal Training education, we were basically told that most people have overactive calves, creating a lot of postural distortions, so I stopped training them and my squat form dramatically improved.

However all bodybuilding programs train them. I have been training since 2005 and have never gotten much growth when I did train them, and I also end up with outpointing toes, a hard time getting low in squat, and painful calf cramps at night. I just trained them yesterday and had horrible calf cramps last night, which will probably hurt for a few days now.

I know what you are going to say; "dont do them then", but I'm curious on your position on this or if you have heard of this before, not training calves to correct postural distortions. NASM indicates almost everything is caused by tight calves.

One other question, and sorry for the length of this post, but if I were to try your original routine for Feb (been doing revised all this month), would it be OK to do add in regular deadlifts on either upper back or low back/leg day? Deads suck but they work my abs and back greatly.

Thanks in advance for your response and thank you for all of the knowledge your share feely with others.

Tight calves make it hard to squat deep, you don't need to stop training your calves, you simply need to stretch them. Everyone should be performing my stretching routine, it will help maintain proper posture and reduce injury risk.

I'm about 3 weeks off creatine now and my tendonitis in all areas has improved. Gone in my foot and knee, and almost gone in my elbows. (Chinups/pullups still bother it though).

I was wondering if it would be an idea to train for 20rep max rather than 10rep max for a while, to give my tendons a bit of a break. Has anybody done this (I think Lurker raised it in the previous thread), and how would it be incorporated with the rest/pause technique? Still aim for 3 reps consecutively or a higher number?

Cheers.

If you're going to be lifting a 20RM I recommend using 6 rep rest-pause sets, this will keep the ratios the same, for the same reason I recommend 60 total reps instead of 30.

10-3-30 and 20-6-60 are equivalent.

Got 355x9 on the RDL yesterday, felt like I did better keeping the lower back straight than last time. Gonna try them in socks tomorrow.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYvU2JcCPn0

Your form is much better, most people let their lower backs round because they don't concentrate hard enough, they get lazy.

You need to increase your BW, I can tell just by looking at you and going by your RDL numbers that you're underweight (and it's holding back the hypertrophy process) relative to your strength level, you need to gain 10 pounds and then recomp.

Kelei,

Is there a substitute instead of front squats? As hard as I try to do them, it hurts like furak, I even dropped the bar down the front of my arm, scratched the chit out of it, so can i substitute it for back squats or would u suggest to suck it up and keep practicing?

Olympic (high bar) back squats, as Qxx already mentioned.

[lethstang]

My question is on spartacus 2.0. I am currently cutting on Keleis program. I am so beast off this ****, I am wondering if I can do spartacus in addition to my deloading workout....or will this mess up my deload?

Its a 45 minute calisthenic routine doing things like jumps, down and ups, planks etc. Just body weight exercises. Sometimes they incorporate very light weights, like 20 lbs.

[Kelei]

My question is on spartacus 2.0. I am currently cutting on Keleis program. I am so beast off this ****, I am wondering if I can do spartacus in addition to my deloading workout....or will this mess up my deload?

Its a 45 minute calisthenic routine doing things like jumps, down and ups, planks etc. Just body weight exercises. Sometimes they incorporate very light weights, like 20 lbs.

Why are you doing that nonsense? It's laughable.

What exactly are you trying to accomplish right now? If you're trying to cut it's as simple as reducing your calorie intake, if you insist on adding cardio there are far more time efficient ways to burn calories, moderate intensity cycling/swimming/walking burns more calories per hour than calisthenics workouts.

I hope you don't take this the wrong way, I don't intentionally set out to be harsh but sometimes you guys just need to hear things straight.

[AndyDaw]

Hey man, just want to say I like your workout, however I was wondering if I could change a few things, for example Dips in my gym it's only got the assisted dip machine and if I use that and lean forward my head is hitting the actual machine so was wondering if i could swap that for decline bench press, wouldn't it hit the same muscles. Also incline dumbell curl can i change for wide grip barbell curl and tricep extension for skullcrusher. just 2 exercises I really enjoy. Thanks in advance!

[Kelei]

Hey man, just want to say I like your workout, however I was wondering if I could change a few things, for example Dips in my gym it's only got the assisted dip machine and if I use that and lean forward my head is hitting the actual machine so was wondering if i could swap that for decline bench press, wouldn't it hit the same muscles. Also incline dumbell curl can i change for wide grip barbell curl and tricep extension for skullcrusher. just 2 exercises I really enjoy. Thanks in advance!

Perform flat bench press instead of dips, I don't like decline bench press and will never advocate it.

Barbell curls should be performed with a shoulder width or slightly narrower grip, anything narrower or wider can cause elbow/wrist issues eventually. If you're going to perform skull crushers I recommend lowering the bar behind your head rather than to your face.

[AndyDaw]

Perform flat bench press instead of dips, I don't like decline bench press and will never advocate it.

Barbell curls should be performed with a shoulder width or slightly narrower grip, anything narrower or wider can cause elbow/wrist issues eventually. If you're going to perform skull crushers I recommend lowering the bar behind your head rather than to your face.

Ok thank you sir, yes I was camping this ha! Ok i just thought wider would hit inner more. I dont like incline dumbell curl atall. yeah was going to do that with skullcrushers.

[1SickKunt]

Kelei,

Would this be a efficient way to do calf raises? Sit on the bench, and lift the curl section of the bench with your knees, I've tried using dumbbells but they are much to heavy and unstable to put on your knees

[CollegiateTRACK]

Hurt my lower back real bad squatting tonight...did 245 x 6 then racked the bar and my back absolutely killed. I can barely bend over so I think it's more severe than just a muscle strain. Really hope it feels A LOT better tomorrow. Will continue with d1/d2 and see if i can do anything with legs. I'll probably just do leg press/lunges/leg curls and extensions/calves next d3.

[VicRattlehead]

Hurt my lower back real bad squatting tonight...did 245 x 6 then racked the bar and my back absolutely killed. I can barely bend over so I think it's more severe than just a muscle strain. Really hope it feels A LOT better tomorrow. Will continue with d1/d2 and see if i can do anything with legs. I'll probably just do leg press/lunges/leg curls and extensions/calves next d3.

Be really careful man with getting back to the gym too soon. I did the same while front squatting a 6RM and it ended up being a herniated disc. It's been 6 months and I'm still dealing with it. When I originally did the injury I felt numb through the glutes but no pain so kept going with RDL's, calves etc and finished the workout. It wasn't until after I cooled down that my low back clenched up. Probably would have saved myself a lot of pain (not to mention time off work /money) if I had ended the workout straight after the squats!

[djsimonmlb]

I'm in also, wish me luck!

[mrjiggyfly21]

Every time. Including the days you do your rest-pause squats.

Noted. Consider it done.

[CollegiateTRACK]

Be really careful man with getting back to the gym too soon. I did the same while front squatting a 6RM and it ended up being a herniated disc. It's been 6 months and I'm still dealing with it. When I originally did the injury I felt numb through the glutes but no pain so kept going with RDL's, calves etc and finished the workout. It wasn't until after I cooled down that my low back clenched up. Probably would have saved myself a lot of pain (not to mention time off work /money) if I had ended the workout straight after the squats!

Yeah..being stubborn naturally I actually did another set of squats at 225, then did lunges, leg press, calves, leg ext and leg curl....

It really hurts when I bend over forward but not backward or the sides. I think it's a herniated disc TBH.

Did you do chest / back when you had your HD? I haven't taken more than a week off from the gym in like 2 years.....months without lifting would be brutal

[64509chvl]

Yeah..being stubborn naturally I actually did another set of squats at 225, then did lunges, leg press, calves, leg ext and leg curl....

It really hurts when I bend over forward but not backward or the sides. I think it's a herniated disc TBH.

Did you do chest / back when you had your HD? I haven't taken more than a week off from the gym in like 2 years.....months without lifting would be brutal

I did the same about a year ago...I took 3 or 4 days off completely then left squats & deads out for 3 weeks. Then slowly worked up to heavy weights again with those lifts.

[1SickKunt]

Kelei,

Would this be a efficient way to do calf raises? Sit on the bench, and lift the curl section of the bench with your knees, I've tried using dumbbells but they are much to heavy and unstable to put on your knees

Bumping this..


Also I'm not sure if it will effect me tomorrow when I'm lifting, but today I was wrestling in my kitchen, long story, kind of horsing around, but I couldn't do anything to get out of this hold I was in, so I grabbed ahold of my buddy, he was behind my trying to throw me on the ground, but I grabbed him, and made my self fall in hopes of twisting and landing him into the floor, but somehow I managed smashing my tailbone right off the tile floor and i thought for sure I broke my tailbone for about 30 seconds, but it's starting to feel better a few hours later and hopefully it won't effect me tomorrow

[DoWorkSon515]

Love the routine but I'm becoming frustrated by my lack of progress in a few areas. I swapped dips for flat bench, it's actually a machine press, where I do my incline pressing as well because of shoulder problems. I was able to add weight the first few sessions but I haven't gained any strength in the past two weeks. Same goes for chinups and pullups. My rep range in the first set flutters each workout; maybe I'll gain a rep but the next session it goes back down. If it's any consolation, I've been making steady progress on the 3 rep sets; I'm able to do more volume and require less rest time in between sets. However, I think the primary goal here is to increase moderate rep strength which I'm failing to do.

I've been maintaining weight for the past 3 weeks, trying to perform a recomp. My isolation lifts are actually progressing surprisingly quick, but bench presses and chins/pullups are not budging. I should note I'm still doing my chinups unweighted because I have yet to hit a 12 rep bodyweight set. My bench is also incredibly weak in comparison to my other lifts so I should have no trouble increasing it, but I am.