AllPro: A Simple Beginner's Routine part VII

[nightanole]

https://ibb.co/8sJxdMG

Here’s what I did today. Not going to lie it beat me up which is embarrassing to say

I hit everything except the shoulder press but nothing was easy

I wanted to ask..are warmups even necessary? They seem to take up time/energy for the working set..maybe because it’s not heavy because of the higher reps I don’t find too much use in it

I could see it for beginners as they don’t have the skill of the lift but for me as an experienced lifter coming back? I still have the skill of all of these lifts

Time between exercises? Any recommendations? Remember I’m doing 30-45 seconds in between working sets

Minimum time between workouts? I’m only doing two days a week but if I had to squeeze one in what’s the minimum amount of time I could do the next workout?

Im not going to tell someone not to do warmups, but yea kinda smelled what i stepped in...

I would still do 1 set, even if its just unloaded or just the bar. This is just insurance incase something might be stiff or pulled and you dont even know it.

Time between exercises is zero to infinity. The exercise order is chosen so you can do all exercises back to back with no rest. But if you have to work in or take a breather, its not going to affect the outcome.

for you there is not a minimum time, but there is a maximum time when you start your heavy medium. You want to keep the sessions within 2 days of each other. If you go 3-4 days you will end up fully recovered, and medium wont promote as much growth.

[STT816]

Im not going to tell someone not to do warmups, but yea kinda smelled what i stepped in...

I would still do 1 set, even if its just unloaded or just the bar. This is just insurance incase something might be stiff or pulled and you dont even know it.

Time between exercises is zero to infinity. The exercise order is chosen so you can do all exercises back to back with no rest. But if you have to work in or take a breather, its not going to affect the outcome.

for you there is not a minimum time, but there is a maximum time when you start your heavy medium. You want to keep the sessions within 2 days of each other. If you go 3-4 days you will end up fully recovered, and medium wont promote as much growth.

Yeah maybe as it gets heavier I could see the two warmups but you’d say the warmups don’t affect the muscle hypertrophy? Getting in those additional sets? If I’m short changing myself I’ll do them but as far as me feeling I need them, I’d say no

So you’re saying I could do back to back days on the current program?

[jinxarelush]

First thank you for commiting your time to helping us

1. When would be the best time to eat to have optimal training fuel? (Im one of those that do training early in the morn before work fasted but i know it isnt a good idea.)

2. On cardio... Im not jogging but doing 35mins of spinbike at 135-145bpm on my rest days 4xweek to get to your 2.5 hr cardio total. How much more cycling would I have to do to reach the equivalent effort of jogging? (I ask because I read a post of yours saying one cant game the cardio by biking rather than jogging because its half the effort.)

[nightanole]

Yeah maybe as it gets heavier I could see the two warmups but you’d say the warmups don’t affect the muscle hypertrophy? Getting in those additional sets? If I’m short changing myself I’ll do them but as far as me feeling I need them, I’d say no

So you’re saying I could do back to back days on the current program?

The warmups are well below your 50% of 1rm, and not even close to 5 reps to failure. So the warmups are not contributing to hypertrophy at all.

If you have REALLY good recovery, yes you could do medium and heavy back to back, at least for the 8-9 rep weeks. But you are short changing yourself if a back to back causes missed reps or "zero reps in the tank" for medium day.

[nightanole]

First thank you for commiting your time to helping us

1. When would be the best time to eat to have optimal training fuel? (Im one of those that do training early in the morn before work fasted but i know it isnt a good idea.)

2. On cardio... Im not jogging but doing 35mins of spinbike at 135-145bpm on my rest days 4xweek to get to your 2.5 hr cardio total. How much more cycling would I have to do to reach the equivalent effort of jogging? (I ask because I read a post of yours saying one cant game the cardio by biking rather than jogging because its half the effort.)

You are running off of what you ate 8-12 hours before the workout. You are not running off of breakfast if you workout at lunch. Anything you ate a few hours before the workout is just boosting blood glucose for cardio, not muscle glycogen stores for anaerobic exercise.

The faq says "something" for about 2.5 hours a week. That "something" needs to at a pace you can sustain for at least 45min without taking a rest. I dont care if you jog, row, bike, walk uphill with a backpack, catch pokemon while doing the under the desk pedal bike. I only gave distance for jogging, because we had people doing 18min 5k "runs" several times a week, and having recovery problems.

[jinxarelush]

Just one more question on recovery/cardio/doing too much...

Im 260lb and I work at a place for the last couple of years that has me lightly walking an average of ~6miles a day/5xweek on top of the light 1mile bike ride to and from. Weight has remained stable for all of this time. My stepcounter says I burn ~1000+ cals a day doing this. Knees, feet, ankles, and even achilles aching are common occurence though it goes away quickly when Im not on my feet. Some months I can clear upwards of 180+ miles just walking if its busy.

Should I be taking this into account towards weight training recovery or cardio? Anything I should worry about? Should I eat more protein/carbs to counter how catabolic/glycogen wasting I think all this walking could possibly be or is it all about the weight on the scale?

[nightanole]

Just one more question on recovery/cardio/doing too much...

Im 260lb and I work at a place for the last couple of years that has me lightly walking an average of ~6miles a day/5xweek on top of the light 1mile bike ride to and from. Weight has remained stable for all of this time. My stepcounter says I burn ~1000+ cals a day doing this. Knees, feet, ankles, and even achilles aching are common occurence though it goes away quickly when Im not on my feet. Some months I can clear upwards of 180+ miles just walking if its busy.

Should I be taking this into account towards weight training recovery or cardio? Anything I should worry about? Should I eat more protein/carbs to counter how catabolic/glycogen wasting I think all this walking could possibly be or is it all about the weight on the scale?

Any "beginners routine" can be ran during the "on season" of sports or working a 12 hour wearhouse/construction job. The only thing you have to adjust is carbs to compensate for the extra calorie usage.

Fat/protein you could think of as vitamins. You need the same fixed amount for both bulking and cutting, and just adjust carbs as needed. Its the same with you and your high "on your feet" job. We have had foot mailmen that needed 4k calories just to maintain weight, they got the same amount of fat/protein as the desk jockeys. At some point you may hit that magical 1g of protein per pound of body weight that all the body builders hit. But thats because they eat 5000-6000+ cals a day, and the talking heads just try to just cut that diet in half and feed mere mortals with it. But once you reach 5000 cals, even oat meal would give you the 1g per pound. But you dont need that, its just impossible to not hit. In reality you perform best off of fats and carbs, and protein is the hardest fuel to burn. Plus your body has no problem making all the non essential amino acids it needs from carbs.

[STT816]

The warmups are well below your 50% of 1rm, and not even close to 5 reps to failure. So the warmups are not contributing to hypertrophy at all.

If you have REALLY good recovery, yes you could do medium and heavy back to back, at least for the 8-9 rep weeks. But you are short changing yourself if a back to back causes missed reps or "zero reps in the tank" for medium day.

Thanks did my 2nd workout yesterday. It’s kicking my ass in the cardio aspect as well. Just need to make sure to focus on recovery. I wanted your take on what path I should follow rn..bulking or cutting. I think my physique is decent for not lifting for 3 years but obviously far from what I’d like it. I always have trouble getting rid of fat in the stomach area as my legs don’t have any fat at all. The stomach seems to be last to go. I’ve been cutting for 2 weeks now and it’s been successful. Down about 4lbs. My thoughts were to get leaner so that way when I bulk, the fat that comes with it won’t be as bad. I just want a lean muscular body with abs showing. One image is relaxed other is flexed and

https://ibb.co/fxkmHXj
https://ibb.co/LJLjsH3

[nightanole]

Thanks did my 2nd workout yesterday. It’s kicking my ass in the cardio aspect as well. Just need to make sure to focus on recovery. I wanted your take on what path I should follow rn..bulking or cutting. I think my physique is decent for not lifting for 3 years but obviously far from what I’d like it. I always have trouble getting rid of fat in the stomach area as my legs don’t have any fat at all. The stomach seems to be last to go. I’ve been cutting for 2 weeks now and it’s been successful. Down about 4lbs. My thoughts were to get leaner so that way when I bulk, the fat that comes with it won’t be as bad. I just want a lean muscular body with abs showing. One image is relaxed other is flexed and

https://ibb.co/fxkmHXj
https://ibb.co/LJLjsH3

Your fat level is about mid cycle. So 5 pounds more fat id says start cutting, and 5 pounds less fat id say you could start the lean bulk. So its up to you. For most its more motivating to get as lean as possible before the bulk, so you can see the muscles change. This vs a higher fat percentage bulk were your meat tubes just get bigger, but you dont really see the muscle gain, just the working weigh gains.

But most say stay a 6-8 week cut away from relaxed abs.

[STT816]

Your fat level is about mid cycle. So 5 pounds more fat id says start cutting, and 5 pounds less fat id say you could start the lean bulk. So its up to you. For most its more motivating to get as lean as possible before the bulk, so you can see the muscles change. This vs a higher fat percentage bulk were your meat tubes just get bigger, but you dont really see the muscle gain, just the working weigh gains.

But most say stay a 6-8 week cut away from relaxed abs.

Checking in with my autoregulated allpros

First Workout
https://ibb.co/XDYxRjV

Today
https://ibb.co/t4ZvV4y

Above is my first workout 15 days ago compared to today. Not only am I doing higher weights but also able to handle more reps now, all while losing about 5lbs in bodyweight so far. I switched to just doing 50% of my working set weight for my warmups. I always do that warmup for 10 reps.


Squat +35lbs
Bench +25lbs
Row +25lbs
OVHP +12.5lbs
SLDL +32.5lbs
Curls +24lbs

Question:
everything seems about equal except for bench press. I'm able now to get 24 reps in one set for that. Should I leave it alone and keep jumping by 10% or bump it a bit more? I'm sure it'll catch up soon with me

[nightanole]

Checking in with my autoregulated allpros

First Workout
https://ibb.co/XDYxRjV

Today
https://ibb.co/t4ZvV4y

Above is my first workout 15 days ago compared to today. Not only am I doing higher weights but also able to handle more reps now, all while losing about 5lbs in bodyweight so far. I switched to just doing 50% of my working set weight for my warmups. I always do that warmup for 10 reps.


Squat +35lbs
Bench +25lbs
Row +25lbs
OVHP +12.5lbs
SLDL +32.5lbs
Curls +24lbs

Question:
everything seems about equal except for bench press. I'm able now to get 24 reps in one set for that. Should I leave it alone and keep jumping by 10% or bump it a bit more? I'm sure it'll catch up soon with me

I would not bump more than 10% on auto regulated. hell if you wanted to you could bump 5% and just bump every session for weeks. Since you want to take it easy, if you bump way more than 10%, you will start failing reps sooner vs just bumping every session.

[jinxarelush]

Night, would a snatch grip sldl be ok for this routine? i get more ROM and a little bit more upper back doing it. Will this affect my lift progress numbers in regards to knowing if Im "in spec"?

[nightanole]

Night, would a snatch grip sldl be ok for this routine? i get more ROM and a little bit more upper back doing it. Will this affect my lift progress numbers in regards to knowing if Im "in spec"?

If you have the grip strength, go for it. But with the high reps of the SLDL, most complain about grip giving out, and you just picked a variant with an even more taxing grip requirement. But it will not affect your inspec numbers, since the only process indicator is that the squat should be higher than the SLDL. The snatch grip shouldnt be a problem unless it allows you to keep the bar much closer to the body vs the standard SLDL.

[JustinP72]

What are your thoughts on moving heavy ("100%") days for accessories to medium (90%) days for compounds? I'm running a modified All-Pros Push Pull 6 days a week, so for example

M - 100% Squat, Bench, OHP 80% Fench Press
T - 100% DL, Row, Upright Row, 80% Curl
W - 90% Squat, Bench, OHP, 100% French Press
Th - 90% DL, Row, Upright Row, 100% Curl
Fri - 80% Squat, Bench, OHP, 90% French Press
Sat - 80% DL, Row, Upright Row, 90% Curl

I failed my FP on heavy day, but repped out a new PR on medium, so thinking of moving them around as noted above. I assume as long as this isn't negatively affecting my compounds, it shouldn't be an issue, but I've learned there's plenty of valuable insight to be gained here by asking.

I'd also like to move the OHP and maybe one or both of the rows in a similar fashion, but I'm much more leery about moving the bigs. Thanks in advance!

[nightanole]

What are your thoughts on moving heavy ("100%") days for accessories to medium (90%) days for compounds? I'm running a modified All-Pros Push Pull 6 days a week, so for example

M - 100% Squat, Bench, OHP 80% Fench Press
T - 100% DL, Row, Upright Row, 80% Curl
W - 90% Squat, Bench, OHP, 100% French Press
Th - 90% DL, Row, Upright Row, 100% Curl
Fri - 80% Squat, Bench, OHP, 90% French Press
Sat - 80% DL, Row, Upright Row, 90% Curl

I failed my FP on heavy day, but repped out a new PR on medium, so thinking of moving them around as noted above. I assume as long as this isn't negatively affecting my compounds, it shouldn't be an issue, but I've learned there's plenty of valuable insight to be gained here by asking.

I'd also like to move the OHP and maybe one or both of the rows in a similar fashion, but I'm much more leery about moving the bigs. Thanks in advance!

I dont have time to really process all of that...

heavy squat needs to be done the same session as heavy SLDL

same with bench/ohp, and row/curl

If you rearrange too much, you end up with equal intensity days. And the joke is "if you can do three heavies a week, you are not goin heavy enough".

[JmDarko]

First time poster here! I have a couple questions as a complete weight lifting beginner:
1. This week I finished my test day and failed only the OHP, that means next cycle I up all my weights but the OHP's?
2. I noticed the H/M/L days thing until halfway through the cycle, I decided to keep going doing only heavy days at least until the end of this cycle and I am start to feeling it (the bad way), If I were to start doing them next cycle, It wouldn't ''Stall'' progress or anything like that,right?

[nightanole]

First time poster here! I have a couple questions as a complete weight lifting beginner:
1. This week I finished my test day and failed only the OHP, that means next cycle I up all my weights but the OHP's?
2. I noticed the H/M/L days thing until halfway through the cycle, I decided to keep going doing only heavy days at least until the end of this cycle and I am start to feeling it (the bad way), If I were to start doing them next cycle, It wouldn't ''Stall'' progress or anything like that,right?

1) yup, bump everything but OHP, you may find next cycle you fail bench and bump OHP
2) the joke is "if you can do three heavies a week, you are not going heavy enough". But yea, equal load all week using a program with no deload or reset mechanism, will lead to stalls and or over use injuries.

[Mrhairyman]

Quick question.
On what days are you doing what exercises?
Thanks for the feedback, I am looking forward to starting this program.

[nightanole]

Quick question.
On what days are you doing what exercises?
Thanks for the feedback, I am looking forward to starting this program.

Every work out is the same lifts, just different working weights. So every workout you do all seven exercises, hopefully in the same order all cycle. Should take you 45min with no resting inbetween exercises.

[Mrhairyman]

Every work out is the same lifts, just different working weights. So every workout you do all seven exercises, hopefully in the same order all cycle. Should take you 45min with no resting inbetween exercises.

Thanks for the reply bro!

[STT816]

Week 4 on the autoregulated program with 45s rest.


I've been making 10% jumps and doing fine, but today felt really tough. I still got through everything except OVHP. I only got up to 20 reps with that

three questions

1. Should I switch to 5% jumps now? Or keep at 10% until I just can't meet the 24 rep requirement? I just want to make sure I'm not going to completely burn myself out. I'm seeing results in my body already and I want to keep at this long term.

2. When I do fail to meet 24 reps like I did with the OVHP, what's the protocol? You just keep repeating it until you get it? Any certain amount of times before a so called "reset"?

3. When do you think I should take a deload week? I was thinking week 6 or so.

Thanks

[nightanole]

Week 4 on the autoregulated program with 45s rest.


I've been making 10% jumps and doing fine, but today felt really tough. I still got through everything except OVHP. I only got up to 20 reps with that

three questions

1. Should I switch to 5% jumps now? Or keep at 10% until I just can't meet the 24 rep requirement? I just want to make sure I'm not going to completely burn myself out. I'm seeing results in my body already and I want to keep at this long term.

2. When I do fail to meet 24 reps like I did with the OVHP, what's the protocol? You just keep repeating it until you get it? Any certain amount of times before a so called "reset"?

3. When do you think I should take a deload week? I was thinking week 6 or so.

Thanks

1) I would start doing 5% and stopping at 24 reps. That should affect your connective tissue the least. Then once it takes 3 sessions(a week) to pass, you can switch to 10%, which will drop your rep total dramatically, and it should then take 2-3 weeks to pass.

2) you keep repeating with the same weight till you reach the rep goal. Once you are in the groove it would be; bump 10%, and take 4-8 weeks to get 24 reps again, depending on if you are bulking or cutting. There is no "reset" since its rep goal.


3)Deload is based on connective tissue and CNS burnout, not progression. But the deload can just be a simple week of 50% working weight.

" The final problem is deloads, there isnt any. You will need to decide the deload. Once tendinitis or joint inflammation just start to show their head, deload. Spend at least 2 sessions working with 50-60% of your current working weight. This will allow the joints/connecting tissue to catch up, and just doing the movements will keep CNS in check so you dont loose strength. Once the deload session is over just pickup at the same weight where you left off. Worse case you might have lost a rep or 2."

[STT816]

1) I would start doing 5% and stopping at 24 reps. That should affect your connective tissue the least. Then once it takes 3 sessions(a week) to pass, you can switch to 10%, which will drop your rep total dramatically, and it should then take 2-3 weeks to pass.

2) you keep repeating with the same weight till you reach the rep goal. Once you are in the groove it would be; bump 10%, and take 4-8 weeks to get 24 reps again, depending on if you are bulking or cutting. There is no "reset" since its rep goal.


3)Deload is based on connective tissue and CNS burnout, not progression. But the deload can just be a simple week of 50% working weight.

" The final problem is deloads, there isnt any. You will need to decide the deload. Once tendinitis or joint inflammation just start to show their head, deload. Spend at least 2 sessions working with 50-60% of your current working weight. This will allow the joints/connecting tissue to catch up, and just doing the movements will keep CNS in check so you dont loose strength. Once the deload session is over just pickup at the same weight where you left off. Worse case you might have lost a rep or 2."

1. I’ve only been doing 2 sessions a week.

What do you mean by 3 sessions a week to pass?

[nightanole]

1. I’ve only been doing 2 sessions a week.

What do you mean by 3 sessions a week to pass?

1) A week of sessions. You are doing two sessions, some people are doing 4 sessions.

2) Once you can only bump once a week.

[STT816]

1) A week of sessions. You are doing two sessions, some people are doing 4 sessions.

2) Once you can only bump once a week.

Ok so to summarize

Do 5% jumps from now on. This should allow me to meet 24 reps every session.

When I start meeting 24 reps for only one session a week start doing the 10% jumps?

What if it’s half the exercises im meeting 24 reps and the others im not? Should you treat the exercises as their own or treat it like a group? Like all moving 10% or all moving 5%?

Or something like squat moves 10% and ovhp moves 5% based on what I’ve met?

[nightanole]

Ok so to summarize

Do 5% jumps from now on. This should allow me to meet 24 reps every session.

When I start meeting 24 reps for only one session a week start doing the 10% jumps?

What if it’s half the exercises im meeting 24 reps and the others im not? Should you treat the exercises as their own or treat it like a group? Like all moving 10% or all moving 5%?

Or something like squat moves 10% and ovhp moves 5% based on what I’ve met?

Yes,5% every session

Yes, start 10% bumps once it takes 2-3 sessions to get 24 reps. Then it will start taking 4-12 sessions to get to 24 reps.

Exercises are always "on their own". If you are still getting 24 reps every session, keep that exercise at 5%. It might be weeks/months till you fail to get 24 reps on an exercise you are good at that you are easing back into. At the same time an exercise that you can not progress very fast at, like the row or OHP, you will start to take a few sessions to hit 24 reps, and THAT EXERCISE would switch to 10%.

[STT816]

Yes,5% every session

Yes, start 10% bumps once it takes 2-3 sessions to get 24 reps. Then it will start taking 4-12 sessions to get to 24 reps.

Exercises are always "on their own". If you are still getting 24 reps every session, keep that exercise at 5%. It might be weeks/months till you fail to get 24 reps on an exercise you are good at that you are easing back into. At the same time an exercise that you can not progress very fast at, like the row or OHP, you will start to take a few sessions to hit 24 reps, and THAT EXERCISE would switch to 10%.

ok another question. I'm about to schedule a refeed for my cut. I do 2 consecutive days every 2 weeks.. 10% over maintenance. 0.8g/lb protein, under 40g fats, and fill the rest with carbs. I schedule this around one of my workout days but I can do one of the following...


Option 1
Refeed day before workout, and day of workout

or

Option 2
Refeed day of workout, and day after workout

Which do you think would be more beneficial? I could see the carbs as "fuel" for option 1..but see the carbs/higher calories as good recovery for option 2

[nightanole]

ok another question. I'm about to schedule a refeed for my cut. I do 2 consecutive days every 2 weeks.. 10% over maintenance. 0.8g/lb protein, under 40g fats, and fill the rest with carbs. I schedule this around one of my workout days but I can do one of the following...


Option 1
Refeed day before workout, and day of workout

or

Option 2
Refeed day of workout, and day after workout

Which do you think would be more beneficial? I could see the carbs as "fuel" for option 1..but see the carbs/higher calories as good recovery for option 2

It takes a "long time" to replenish glycogen muscle stores. Your anaerobic workout will be fueled by what you ate 8-12 hours before the workout. And modern medicine says "the anabolic window" is a myth, and muscles are incapable of absorbing nutrients for several hours after a good workout, they are in a state of shock.

So if you believe those two factors, you would want to start a refeed several hours after workout, and stop a refeed 8-12 hours before the workout.

[jinxarelush]

dumb question here but advice on missed cardio sessions other than having more discipline? missed half of last weeks 2.5hr goal. could possibly eating a few more carbs to fuel it and doing more than 2.5hrs this week make up for it without affecting my lifts too much?

[JmDarko]

I am supposed to raise up my squat weight from 80 to 88, I don't have any pieces lighter than 5lb, In this situation would it better to round the number down or up?