AllPro: A Simple Beginner's Routine part VI

[5penn]

finished Cycle 4 test day las Saturday:

Sq - 160 lbs (PASS)
Bench - 100 lbs (???, took me 10 seconds to do last rep...novice sets, by the way)
BOR - 105 lbs (PASS)
SLDL - 115 lbs (PASS)
OHP - 65 lbs (PASS...barely also)

tough day, still concerned/frustrated with my bench. as in test days "scare" me. week 4 was fine and felt very good. what a difference a week makes. i did eat more after week 4

also, dropped from 155 to 150 since I started All Pro. full disclosure, home scale and gym scale are off by 3 lbs (gym being higher), but same weight loss

[Sh724]

finished Cycle 4 test day las Saturday:

Sq - 160 lbs (PASS)
Bench - 100 lbs (???, took me 10 seconds to do last rep...novice sets, by the way)
BOR - 105 lbs (PASS)
SLDL - 115 lbs (PASS)
OHP - 65 lbs (PASS...barely also)

tough day, still concerned/frustrated with my bench. as in test days "scare" me. week 4 was fine and felt very good. what a difference a week makes. i did eat more after week 4

also, dropped from 155 to 150 since I started All Pro. full disclosure, home scale and gym scale are off by 3 lbs (gym being higher), but same weight loss

As someone who sucks at bench, i know the feeling. Have you added any addtional exercises to help with your bench? Where do you think your weakness is on bench? Back, triceps, shoulders, chest?

[5penn]

As someone who sucks at bench, i know the feeling. Have you added any addtional exercises to help with your bench? Where do you think your weakness is on bench? Back, triceps, shoulders, chest?

no idea, really. probably all of them ;-). per nightaole's suggestion a couple of cycles ago, I added pin presses at the end (1 set - with my OHP weight)

thought I would be killing it via novice routine. joke was on me

weird thing is, my chest shape has improved slightly, but an improvement nonetheless

[EddieStobes]

Long time lurker here and most importantly want to thank nightanole for his brilliant contributions to this thread, many of which have helped me in my experiences so far on this programme.

I'm on Week 5 of Cycle 3 and I've absolutely f*cked it up on my heavy day today. Couldn't even complete first set on bench press (10+8) and OP (9+8), failed second set of the deadlift and it took everything I had to complete the others.

Feeling pretty down about it. I had completed Week 4 (10 reps) pretty smoothly so I have no idea if it's physical or mental. I lifted less today than last week. Not sure whether to even bother trying test week next week or to really focus on my diet/sleep and repeat Week 5 again next week.

Looking back, I averaged only 90g/day protein for the last week, didn't get much sleep over the weekend (big night out on Sat) and felt tired all day today despite carbing up on oats this morning. Hoping I can just refocus on diet and sleep and it will sort itself out.

Anyway just needed to vent! I've got plenty of beer belly left to build off (5'9, 83kg) so struggling to explain my performance.

At the moment I'm on:

squat : 75kg
bench press : 56g
bent over row : 45kg
stiff legged deadlift : 45kg
shoulder press : 30kg
curl : 22.5kg

Good luck to everyone on here - keep pushing!

[nightanole]

Long time lurker here and most importantly want to thank nightanole for his brilliant contributions to this thread, many of which have helped me in my experiences so far on this programme.

I'm on Week 5 of Cycle 3 and I've absolutely f*cked it up on my heavy day today. Couldn't even complete first set on bench press (10+8) and OP (9+8), failed second set of the deadlift and it took everything I had to complete the others.

Feeling pretty down about it. I had completed Week 4 (10 reps) pretty smoothly so I have no idea if it's physical or mental. I lifted less today than last week. Not sure whether to even bother trying test week next week or to really focus on my diet/sleep and repeat Week 5 again next week.

Looking back, I averaged only 90g/day protein for the last week, didn't get much sleep over the weekend (big night out on Sat) and felt tired all day today despite carbing up on oats this morning. Hoping I can just refocus on diet and sleep and it will sort itself out.

Anyway just needed to vent! I've got plenty of beer belly left to build off (5'9, 83kg) so struggling to explain my performance.

At the moment I'm on:

squat : 75kg
bench press : 56g
bent over row : 45kg
stiff legged deadlift : 45kg
shoulder press : 30kg
curl : 22.5kg

Good luck to everyone on here - keep pushing!

Id reset to 8 rep week and focus on reducing rest time on medium/light days, keep heavy at a full 90 seconds, and make sure bar speed does not drop. Sounds like you are working way to close to failure, which creates alot more fatigue than normal, combine that with kinda crap eating and sleep, and you got buried.

[GymGiraffe]

I think I'll reattempt SLDL with the new directions in mind, focus on developing form with lower weights for BOR and continue squats with dumbbells since I'm using lower weights. When I squat more I'll consider switching to the smith machine, hopefully I can develop some oblique strength with pilates for stability of lower back before then.

Update:
I finished my trial week and then my first "official: week both focusing on form and doing warm up sets for all the exercises - making sure I keep a steady motion.
Feeling a lot more confident with BOR and SLDL, still requires a lot of mental effort on heavy days. I found that really sticking my butt out while bending at the hips ensures I keep my lower back straight.

I will have to start the cycle again since I took a week off to visit my girlfriend, but I'm fine with that since I wanted to try shortening my warm ups and rests. The whole routine was taking a little over an hour.

Also got my friend into this routine!

Dumb question, what does your Osteopathist recommend for back rehab? It seems all they are doing is omitting back strengthening exercises.

To be clear, I have been developing a lordosis and kyphosis in my spine over the years so my posture and form can be terrible even without weights - even more so when I'm tired. The osteopathist was not omitting strengthening exercises per se, but encouraging me to opt for safe strengthening exercises with less demand on correct form. He said he gets heaps of patients with problems due to poor form due to deadlifts and BOR.

That being said, I've been doing his exercises in conjunction with careful lifting and my back hasn't felt as straight in long time

[Sh724]

Finished cycle 1 today, wooo.

Today I sat down in a barber's chair and glanced in the mirror, and thought "hey, it's actually starting to look like I lift." Different arms and chest than my brain immediately expects to see when looking in the mirror. Still a long way to go to reach my goals, but the progress feels good.

Give it a cycle or two and you wont be able to fit in your pants anymore

[JeanRoqua]

If the stalled weight is causing the sessions to be extremely tough, or you are not progressing, yea up the calories 250 cals every 2 weeks till the scale starts moving again. If the routine is going just fine, i wouldnt up the calories, you might be recomping or dropping water weight at the same pace as you are gaining muscle mass.



HIIT is not recommended on fatigue based routines. You want LISS (Low Intensity Steady State) on allpro which improves recovery and reduces the chance of a missed rep on the 2nd set. HIIT unfortunately robs recovery, its meant for routines that use 3-5min rests and are low rep.

You may be able to get away with some GPP work, but its got to be something you can sustain for 45min without resting.

Thanks man!

[Nelg1993]

I've finished the first cycle (great results so far) and on Monday when I was supposed to start the 2nd cycle I started squatting with the 10% more weight, and it felt really easy.. not just easy, but like I could do 15 reps with that weight (went from 50kgs to 55kgs). So I added another 5kgs and I got 10 reps with proper form, my 11th rep wouldn't have been so clean so that's where I stopped.

This gave me an idea.. Wouldn't it be better (since it's a beginner program) to re-evaluate your 10RM at the end of every cycle and start again with 8 reps from there? I gained more strength on my first cycle than foreseen and I know this will eventually catch up with me to the point I won't be able to add 10%.. But this way I think you could run the program a little longer and get stronger faster if you've not yet exhausted the 'noobie gains' and your diet is in check (I've been eating in a surplus the entire time and gained 6lbs).

Also, if you do not reach 12 reps for a certain exercise (and for example only missed 1 rep) after 5 weeks, you could add 5% (or 7% or whatever, as this is your new tested 10RM) instead of starting over with the same weight. This way there's more progressive overload, otherwise after 5 weeks you've only added 1 rep. You start off with 8 reps with your 10RM again anyways, so it would still be considered a 'deload' for the first 2 weeks, right?

Just my 2 cents. I don't know if the purpose of the program is to be able to add 10% or when you aren't able to do so switch to another program. I also don't know what the possible drawbacks of this could be, so I'm curious to know. The '10% or start over'-rule seems a bit arbitrary instead of going of off testing your true 10rm and seems a limiting factor in this program compared to SS or other programs like that (strength-wise that is). People tend to forget you're working in the 8-12 rep range and not with 5 reps where it's easier to add weight to the bar every session/week, 'though. Like the original program said, 1 rep = 2.5% strength increase.

Edit: current stats: 6ft, 156lbs
Working weights:
Squat: 135lbs
Bench 120lbs
BOR: 95lbs
OHP: 65lbs
RDL: 100lbs
BB curl: 45lbs
Rack pulls: 155lbs (added these like you suggested and left out calf raises - team naturally big calves)

[nightanole]

I've finished the first cycle (great results so far) and on Monday when I was supposed to start the 2nd cycle I started squatting with the 10% more weight, and it felt really easy.. not just easy, but like I could do 15 reps with that weight (went from 50kgs to 55kgs). So I added another 5kgs and I got 10 reps with proper form, my 11th rep wouldn't have been so clean so that's where I stopped.

This gave me an idea.. Wouldn't it be better (since it's a beginner program) to re-evaluate your 10RM at the end of every cycle and start again with 8 reps from there? I gained more strength on my first cycle than foreseen and I know this will eventually catch up with me to the point I won't be able to add 10%.. But this way I think you could run the program a little longer and get stronger faster if you've not yet exhausted the 'noobie gains' and your diet is in check (I've been eating in a surplus the entire time and gained 6lbs).

Also, if you do not reach 12 reps for a certain exercise (and for example only missed 1 rep) after 5 weeks, you could add 5% (or 7% or whatever, as this is your new tested 10RM) instead of starting over with the same weight. This way there's more progressive overload, otherwise after 5 weeks you've only added 1 rep. You start off with 8 reps with your 10RM again anyways, so it would still be considered a 'deload' for the first 2 weeks, right?

Just my 2 cents. I don't know if the purpose of the program is to be able to add 10% or when you aren't able to do so switch to another program. I also don't know what the possible drawbacks of this could be, so I'm curious to know. The '10% or start over'-rule seems a bit arbitrary instead of going of off testing your true 10rm and seems a limiting factor in this program compared to SS or other programs like that (strength-wise that is). People tend to forget you're working in the 8-12 rep range and not with 5 reps where it's easier to add weight to the bar every session/week, 'though. Like the original program said, 1 rep = 2.5% strength increase.

Edit: current stats: 6ft, 156lbs
Working weights:
Squat: 135lbs
Bench 120lbs
BOR: 95lbs
OHP: 65lbs
RDL: 100lbs
BB curl: 45lbs
Rack pulls: 155lbs (added these like you suggested and left out calf raises - team naturally big calves)

I think you would really like running "The Viking's The Bare Bones Series" if you have the equipment

10% bumps is the min the program can run at. If you bump 5% you would deload 3 weeks, have 1 week at the previous cycles peak stress, and 1 over reach week. It just isnt going to work.

Many can add 25-33% more weight each cycle if they start light and have good recovery/nutrition/sleep etc. Many can double their squat working weight in 3 cycles for example.


There are a few things you are not getting though. First just adding weight to the bar isnt going to increase muscle mass. I call this dogging the weight. Lets say you can bench the bar 10 reps in 20 seconds, 75lbs in 20 seconds, 100lbs in 20 seconds, 150lbs in 30 seconds, 200lbs in 45 seconds and 225 in 60 seconds. Odds are each one of these feats also adds 10 seconds to the rest clock before you can repeat the act in the same amount of time. Now based on the time, we know you can apply full force newtons to 225lbs all the way down to 150lbs, the only difference is bar speed and stress to the connecting tissue. At 100lbs of weight you do not have enough weight on the bar to be able to apply full force. The whole point of this story is that the guy can make max gains doing using 225lbs all the way down to 150lbs if he can increase bar speed as the weight gets lighter. This is also why micro loading, getting your medium/light weights perfect, or going for 2.5-5% bumps, doesnt matter. If you did a cycle and failed a lift, you will spend the next cycle with; increased bar speed, decreased need for rest between sets, increased recovery, and decreased stress on connecting tissue.

Now if you have been trained in the lifts and you got your form down, you can run auto regulated, and it turns the program into a rep goal style:
http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...post1376160513

However do not run auto regulated on a cut, and certainly do not run auto regulated while trying to learn the lifts. You will have a bad time.

[Eppok]

Hey guys, i'm 23 yrs old and from germany.

I had an umbilical hernia surgery 2 weeks ago and want to start lifting again in a few weeks so i'm looking for a new routine and wanted to give this one a try. My previous routine was Stronglifts and these were my 5x5 weights.

Squats 275lbs
bench 200lbs
deadlift 330 lbs
ohp 110lbs

I know that right now i will most certainly lift only half of that. But since muscly memory will do it work i should increase the weight pretty fast.

Is this plan good for me or would it be better to start with an intermediate?

My plan for now is to train a few weeks, pause for some days, do my test and than just strictly follow this plan.

[nightanole]

Hey guys, i'm 23 yrs old and from germany.

I had an umbilical hernia surgery 2 weeks ago and want to start lifting again in a few weeks so i'm looking for a new routine and wanted to give this one a try. My previous routine was Stronglifts and these were my 5x5 weights.

Squats 275lbs
bench 200lbs
deadlift 330 lbs
ohp 110lbs

I know that right now i will most certainly lift only half of that. But since muscly memory will do it work i should increase the weight pretty fast.

Is this plan good for me or would it be better to start with an intermediate?

My plan for now is to train a few weeks, pause for some days, do my test and than just strictly follow this plan.

The program has enough volume to progress to 10 reps of bw bench and 10 reps of 1.35-1.5x bw squats, while at 13% bf. If the doc gives you the ok you could run the auto regulated version i posted above that may go faster vs massive cycle bumps.

[Nelg1993]

I think you would really like running "The Viking's The Bare Bones Series" if you have the equipment

10% bumps is the min the program can run at. If you bump 5% you would deload 3 weeks, have 1 week at the previous cycles peak stress, and 1 over reach week. It just isnt going to work.

Many can add 25-33% more weight each cycle if they start light and have good recovery/nutrition/sleep etc. Many can double their squat working weight in 3 cycles for example.


There are a few things you are not getting though. First just adding weight to the bar isnt going to increase muscle mass. I call this dogging the weight. Lets say you can bench the bar 10 reps in 20 seconds, 75lbs in 20 seconds, 100lbs in 20 seconds, 150lbs in 30 seconds, 200lbs in 45 seconds and 225 in 60 seconds. Odds are each one of these feats also adds 10 seconds to the rest clock before you can repeat the act in the same amount of time. Now based on the time, we know you can apply full force newtons to 225lbs all the way down to 150lbs, the only difference is bar speed and stress to the connecting tissue. At 100lbs of weight you do not have enough weight on the bar to be able to apply full force. The whole point of this story is that the guy can make max gains doing using 225lbs all the way down to 150lbs if he can increase bar speed as the weight gets lighter. This is also why micro loading, getting your medium/light weights perfect, or going for 2.5-5% bumps, doesnt matter. If you did a cycle and failed a lift, you will spend the next cycle with; increased bar speed, decreased need for rest between sets, increased recovery, and decreased stress on connecting tissue.

Now if you have been trained in the lifts and you got your form down, you can run auto regulated, and it turns the program into a rep goal style:
http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...post1376160513

However do not run auto regulated on a cut, and certainly do not run auto regulated while trying to learn the lifts. You will have a bad time.

Interesting routine! I'm going to run All pro's for a cycle or 2-3 more as I really love just working with barbells atm, I actually don't need any machines, which are always taken at my university gym. However, when I enter the squat rack I always have to blow off the dust.

Ah I didn't take that into consideration, but that's why I'm asking you

Well, that's exactly what programs like SL and SS (even fierce 5 to an extent) make you believe. So.. working with the same weight over again can stimulate muscle growth, as long as you're getting "better" with that weight and it's within a certain range (the 225-150lbs example you gave)?

The autoregulating program looks very nice! I'm at the start of a new cycle this week so I might as well just start now.

Just one question: what if you notice in the gym that you are feeling sluggish (due to whatever reason, lack of sleep, didn't eat enough, ...). Do you just go home, use lighter weights or just grind it out with your working weights? That's a problem I've had in the past. I'm a uni student.. I tend to drink and go out sometimes but I never miss a workout.

[nightanole]

Interesting routine! I'm going to run All pro's for a cycle or 2-3 more as I really love just working with barbells atm, I actually don't need any machines, which are always taken at my university gym. However, when I enter the squat rack I always have to blow off the dust.

Ah I didn't take that into consideration, but that's why I'm asking you

Well, that's exactly what programs like SL and SS (even fierce 5 to an extent) make you believe. So.. working with the same weight over again can stimulate muscle growth, as long as you're getting "better" with that weight and it's within a certain range (the 225-150lbs example you gave)?

The autoregulating program looks very nice! I'm at the start of a new cycle this week so I might as well just start now.

Just one question: what if you notice in the gym that you are feeling sluggish (due to whatever reason, lack of sleep, didn't eat enough, ...). Do you just go home, use lighter weights or just grind it out with your working weights? That's a problem I've had in the past. I'm a uni student.. I tend to drink and go out sometimes but I never miss a workout.

Generally if you are sluggish you should do an extended warmup. Allpro can be ran on a cut and is high rep so recovery problems are rare compared to SS/ SL. About the only thing you need to care about is getting in enough carbs 8-12 hours before hand so your glycogen stores are full. You are not running off of blood glucose (what you ate 1-2 hours before hand or your "preworkout") on allpro, so that 2nd set will be a grind without the proper amount of energy stored in the muscles before hand.

[EddieStobes]

Id reset to 8 rep week and focus on reducing rest time on medium/light days, keep heavy at a full 90 seconds, and make sure bar speed does not drop. Sounds like you are working way to close to failure, which creates alot more fatigue than normal, combine that with kinda crap eating and sleep, and you got buried.

Thanks for the advice man.

Dropped down to 8 reps today for medium day, kept rest time 60s or below and focused on form and steady speed.

All went ok so hopefully can get back into it - think you are right that the fatigue killed me.

[JeanRoqua]

If the stalled weight is causing the sessions to be extremely tough, or you are not progressing, yea up the calories 250 cals every 2 weeks till the scale starts moving again. If the routine is going just fine, i wouldnt up the calories, you might be recomping or dropping water weight at the same pace as you are gaining muscle mass.



HIIT is not recommended on fatigue based routines. You want LISS (Low Intensity Steady State) on allpro which improves recovery and reduces the chance of a missed rep on the 2nd set. HIIT unfortunately robs recovery, its meant for routines that use 3-5min rests and are low rep.

You may be able to get away with some GPP work, but its got to be something you can sustain for 45min without resting.

Could you suggest me any GPP workout routine that is easy to combine with All pro's workout? Or at least some bodyweight excercises you personally like to perform them on non-training days? Also by saying that I should do smth for 45 min without resting, you mean to complete the whole workout without resting a bit?

Thanks beforehand man!

[nightanole]

Could you suggest me any GPP workout routine that is easy to combine with All pro's workout? Or at least some bodyweight excercises you personally like to perform them on non-training days? Also by saying that I should do smth for 45 min without resting, you mean to complete the whole workout without resting a bit?

Thanks beforehand man!

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/non_athlete_gpp.htm

Rig up the super sets so that you are always doing "something", and the pace is light enough that you can do it 45min without resting. If it gets too intense it stops being medium cardio and turns into HIIT. You might even be able to rig something up like 1 chinup, one pushup, walk 30ft with a weight, repeat. greyskull LP and 5/3/1 had a lot of "challenges" posted that would also work if the pace is sustainable.

The whole goal is just to do "something" with a pace that you can sustain for at least 45min. Hell there is jump rope routines with a pace that can be sustained for that long too. The point is we want to not tax your glycogen stores, those are handled by the main workout, we want to tax the system that flushes metabolites and runs off of glucose.

[Time2Sleep00]

Slow bulking atm. At the start of the month I was at 162, the next week I increased my weight to 162.5. Going fine at that point, strength was increasing. Then I got sick the next week, cough and colds. Still eating the same calories, still at 250 cal surplus. Sudden weight drop to 161. No strength drop, only became harder to push myself on the bench press. Now, the week after, weight increase by only .75. Bodyweight decreased compared to at the start of the month. Did I just lose muscle mass? Should I increase my calories to make up for it? Thanks

[nightanole]

Slow bulking atm. At the start of the month I was at 162, the next week I increased my weight to 162.5. Going fine at that point, strength was increasing. Then I got sick the next week, cough and colds. Still eating the same calories, still at 250 cal surplus. Sudden weight drop to 161. No strength drop, only became harder to push myself on the bench press. Now, the week after, weight increase by only .75. Bodyweight decreased compared to at the start of the month. Did I just lose muscle mass? Should I increase my calories to make up for it? Thanks

Contrary to popular belief, its dam hard to loose muscle mass. In order to do that you would have to severely cut back the working weight AND keep the bar speed the same or slower. Taking a few weeks off or having a few weeks of bad diet isnt going to anything but affect strength and the amount of volume you can handle, for half the duration of your time off.

Odds are you gained and lost some water weight. Upping the carbs is going cause a several pound increase in only a few weeks, even if you didnt gain fat or muscle. The same thing happens when you drop the carbs. Its why fat people think they are losing 1-2+lbs of fat a day. You didnt create a 3500-7000 calorie deficit, is just water weight.

[Tklein3826]

Is it ok to take creatine on this workout?

[nightanole]

Is it ok to take creatine on this workout?

Yea but it will be worthless somewhere around 6 months of solid lifting experience. Once your glycogen stores are trained, they will always be a max if your diet is on point. creatine isnt going to be able to put more in. Hell think about it, if it made even a 1% performance increase, it would be mandatory for all college sports.

[zoom008]

Generally if you are sluggish you should do an extended warmup. Allpro can be ran on a cut and is high rep so recovery problems are rare compared to SS/ SL. About the only thing you need to care about is getting in enough carbs 8-12 hours before hand so your glycogen stores are full. You are not running off of blood glucose (what you ate 1-2 hours before hand or your "preworkout") on allpro, so that 2nd set will be a grind without the proper amount of energy stored in the muscles before hand.

I know the answer is different for each person but can you give an idea as to how much carbs are enough to fill the glycogen levels.

[nightanole]

I know the answer is different for each person but can you give an idea as to how much carbs are enough to fill the glycogen levels.

200-300g a day. 100g 8-12 hours before the workout. If you want to split hairs you can also try "carbing up" 1-2 hours after the workout so the stores can start refilling sooner.

For most people this isnt a problem, however if you are running a keto diet, or some other special diet that has you only eating carbs at certain time of the day, it may be a problem.

[hudsoncat]

I finished a cycle right before I went on a 4 week vacation. Now that I am back, can I start my next cycle or do I need to repeat the previous one?

[nightanole]

I finished a cycle right before I went on a 4 week vacation. Now that I am back, can I start my next cycle or do I need to repeat the previous one?

Id do a 10 rep test and start over since its only cycle 1. You may be 10% stronger just from the practice even with the 4 weeks of detraining. Unless you didnt eat for 4 weeks you didnt loose a lick of muscle, but work capacity did go down.

[hudsoncat]

Id do a 10 rep test and start over since its only cycle 1. You may be 10% stronger just from the practice even with the 4 weeks of detraining. Unless you didnt eat for 4 weeks you didnt loose a lick of muscle, but work capacity did go down.

Thanks for the reply.
It wasn't my first cycle, it was actually my 4th cycle. Sorry I wasn't clear

[nightanole]

Thanks for the reply.
It wasn't my first cycle, it was actually my 4th cycle. Sorry I wasn't clear

In that case id start off with 6 reps and make it a 7 week cycle instead of 5.

[Blueta]

Got a question if someone lifted before but had long gap like 2-3 years with no activity, should they start from beginner program again?

[Kcrack]

As a guy who hasn't lifted in over 2 years, I've started again and after a great first workout I have a serious case of DOMS, as expected. Thing is I can barely put a shirt on because I can't lift my arms, but I want to remain consistent with the gym. If I can't workout, should I wait a few days until I'm not sore and start from a heavy day again?

[gaz1980]

I am now on a 4 day split (upper A, lower A, upper B, lower B which I do Mon/Wed/Fri but may soon change to a Mon/Tue/Thur/Fri) which I took from one of the programs on this site. So apologies for posting here, as this is not related to Allpro routine, however I have received good advice here before, particularly from nightanole. And I do want to move in a similar progression (increasing reps each time, then ultimately weight)

I moved away from Allpro because I hurt my back (suspected muscle tissue damage from stretch reflex), I think hitting it 3 times a week with Rows and SLDLs was taking its toll. This new plan seems a lot better for it.

Workout A
Bench Press 3x5
Barbell Row 3x6
Closegrip Bench 2x8
Closegrip Pulldown 2x8
Dumbbell OHP 2x8

Workout B
Squat 3x6
Good Mornings 2x10
Split Squat 2x10
Calf Raise 4x10
Barbell Curl 3x8

Workout C
Barbell OHP 3x5
Pullups 3x6
Incline DB Bench 3x8
Seated Cable Row 2x8
Dips 2x10

Workout D
Deadlift 2x5
Leg Press 2x8
Leg Curl 3x8 <-- My gym doesn't have this, what can I replace with?
Calf Raise 4x10
DB Hammer Curl 3x8

I am looking to do a slow bulk without putting too much fat on and increase strength. The reps above were my starting point, main questions really are:
- What should I increase reps to, so how many times should I run the A/B/C/D before increasing weight
- After first cycle, what should I increase weight by? The 10% in AP, or something different? I want to make sure I continue to gain muscle as am eating 500kcal over maintenance

Any other comments greatly appreciated

Thanks