AllPro: A Simple Beginner's Routine part VI

[nightanole]

Auto regulated is all heavy amrap until 2x12 is achieved, then bump 10%, right? Basically do whenever with 72hrs pause?

Got my cycle1 test on monday, can finish the week normally. I'll stick to normal version for as long as I can, not sure when to properly schedule deloads.. to be honest day after heavy day is rough, medium day is really tough even with 10% less weight, and the recovery from day after medium to after light day comes in like a blessing. Last year I was pushing myself to the max every lifting session and it burned me out after two months.. don't wanna repeat it again.

Yes auto regulated is rep goal 24 reps from 2 sets with up to 90 seconds of rest. Then bump 10%. You can run this every 48-72 hours.

And i see you found out the secret of allpro, medium day is harder than heavy day

This is a fatigue based program, you are not allowed to recover. This is good for growth, and connecting/joint tissue, but bad on recovery. If you dont have sleep and diet on point its going to be rough.

Anyway, auto regulated needs to be ran at least once a week just to maintain. And the rest pause variant might only take 10 minutes to complete with a good setup.

You can not run regular allpro with just one heavy a week and no volume work, the progression will be too fast.

[HuwB]

Honestly the only stretching that i have found to increase range of motion beyond a few minutes after the stretch, is traction with bands. I have personally seen 10-15 degrees of increased mobility, in lifts, in the shoulders and ankles with a few people.

This sounds really helpful - could you elaborate on traction band stretches or signpost me somewhere? Thanks.

[nightanole]

This sounds really helpful - could you elaborate on traction band stretches or signpost me somewhere? Thanks.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZzdgPq0FYc&gl=CA

This should get you started. Its basically a form of dislocation. You are pulling on one end, and the band is pulling on the other. The key is, after you do the bands, you immediately do the lift. When you do this you will be using the muscle under load at the increased range of motion sections. This is completely different vs a static stretch where you are extending a muscle beyond its normal range of motion, in a relaxed state. The lifting after banding teaches the CNS that is ok to extend the muscle that far without pulling it.

[Cytix]

Hey Night!
so, i haven't started yet - still losing weight towards my starting goal, i know that the slimmer i'll start, the faster i will see results and the more motivation ill have - HOWEVER, your support and awesome plan is keeping me pumped! already purchased everything i need (new gloves, some supps, etc)

and - for the purpose of this post, it also motivated me to create this quick this:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets...#gid=728174092

It's very simple but can be very helpful.
All anyone has to do is change the values in Green, and all the values will change accordingly!
1. the WU (warm up) sets 1 and 2 change to 1/4 and 1/2
2. day 1 2 and 3 change accordingly to heavy/medium/light days
3. there are links to the Exrx description of each exercise (for newbies that sometimes forget)
4. the "next cycle" panel is there for when you finish week 5 and finish all 12 reps, you simple copy the "work set" value (10% above last cycle) of each exercise you finished successfully.

feel free to use/modify/copy/add to OP - should help save time with calculation and let us focus more on the work itself.

[HuwB]

This should get you started. Its basically a form of dislocation. You are pulling on one end, and the band is pulling on the other. The key is, after you do the bands, you immediately do the lift. When you do this you will be using the muscle under load at the increased range of motion sections. This is completely different vs a static stretch where you are extending a muscle beyond its normal range of motion, in a relaxed state. The lifting after banding teaches the CNS that is ok to extend the muscle that far without pulling it.

Thanks - never tried this but I feel like my shoulders need it. I'll get myself some bands.

[Cytix]

Really worried about the SLDL - as i understand it, this is what i should do: Start by standing up streight with BB in my hands, everything should be tight and diagonal, excluding the knees which are never locked. then i should let the weight take me down while my butt goes backwards, and my back staying 100% straight (never arching) and i keep my knees bent "stiffly" - ie, at the EXACT same position as it was when i started. stop when my hamstring is 100% streched, then pull up and push hips forwards.

however
1. it seems impossible to keep my knees bent at the exact same angle the entire excresize.
2. it seems that since my legs are bent, and will put a lot of pressure on my lower back when i finish the movement
3. oh god why is there no alternative to this ex

[nightanole]

Really worried about the SLDL - as i understand it, this is what i should do: Start by standing up streight with BB in my hands, everything should be tight and diagonal, excluding the knees which are never locked. then i should let the weight take me down while my butt goes backwards, and my back staying 100% straight (never arching) and i keep my knees bent "stiffly" - ie, at the EXACT same position as it was when i started. stop when my hamstring is 100% streched, then pull up and push hips forwards.

however
1. it seems impossible to keep my knees bent at the exact same angle the entire excresize.
2. it seems that since my legs are bent, and will put a lot of pressure on my lower back when i finish the movement
3. oh god why is there no alternative to this ex

WUt? The SLDL is the easiest deadlift to learn. Some programs use the Romanian, but that is the hardest to self teach.

You are describing the exercise correctly more or less, and your observations are alone correct, but your conclusions are incorrect.

Take a normal deadlift lockout position.
Bend/flex the knees as much as you like as long as it doesnt cause hip drop. Legs need to be straight at lockout, but can be bent 5-10 degrees at the bottom of the movement.
Lower the weight while maintaining a tight core and building tension in the hamstrings.
Once the hamstrings go tight, pull back hard and lock out the weight.
The weight does not hit the floor between reps.

So...

1) legs are only straight at lockout. Depending on morphology it would be impossible for some people to do the entire movement with straight legs, or the same bend angle for the entire movement, or they would fall over.

2) You are correct, that is the point. In a normal deadlift or a Romanian, the legs can over power the back and cause rounding. The SLDL moves the weak point to the lower back, if your back cant handle the weight, the weight does not move. The only way to harm your back in the SLDL is if you relax your back and cause it to round, or some odd goal like get the weight as low as possible. No flexation under load should be happening at any point in the back for any allpro lifts, its all static holds.

3) The alt is the "good morning". Its the exact same movement, only the bar is on your back.

[PhantomEater]

Seeing as SLDL is the topic of conversation I feel stress in the back of my knees occasionally and it feels like that's tighter than my hammies, what could I do to stop this and put more emthasis on my hammies

[nightanole]

Seeing as SLDL is the topic of conversation I feel stress in the back of my knees occasionally and it feels like that's tighter than my hammies, what could I do to stop this and put more emthasis on my hammies

You are hyper-extending your knees at lockout in ether the squat,OHP,or SLDL. I call this chicken legging, since you are locking your knees and making them bend past straight several degrees, with a weight on your back. This agitates the tendons at the back of the knee.

Always straight leg, never locked knees, in any allpro movement.

[PhantomEater]

Iit's coming from the SLDL I know I'm doing it but I'm finding it near on impossible to stop it

[Tpx1]

Completed cycle 1 test day, success! Now one last question for a while The bump of 10% doesn't feel right for some of the exercises, since I intentionally kept the start point low to not injure myself, and correct me if I'm wrong here, but I should bump up more if today didn't kick my ass proper. Going to write the weight and how did the sets feel in the order I did them, and what weight I plan to bump up to. I am at 171cm, 94kg (lost 2 kilos and 4 cm off the belly in the month, so diet seems on point).

1. Bench press - 40 kg, last rep was cornering on failure, I could squeeze out maybe one more, definitely not two. Planned bump to 44 kg.
2. Squat - 45 kg, last three reps were torture, could maybe get two more, had maybe 5% more in the tank compared to BP. Planned bump to 50 kg. (convenience with plate switching, that half a kg shouldn't kill me right).
3. Row - 30 kg. Definitely way too light. I felt a good burn in the last couple reps, but nothing compared to the difficulty of bench and squat. Planned bump to 40 kg.
4. SLDL - 40 kg, piece of cake. Bumping up to 50 kg at least.
5. OHP - 20 kg, did show its teeth in the last 5 reps, but nothing close to failure. Planned bump to 24 kg, since OHP may be tricky.
6. ez bar Curls - 12.5 kg (i know you don't condone ez bar, but my wrist cry in agony doing it with a straight bar, and the bends aren't extreme), absolutely too light, could pump out 30 more reps, gonna bump to 20 kg.

I don't do calf raises, they get quite the burn on my cardio days and I don't deem them so important, from what I've read in the thread, neither do many others.

Are the planned bumps somewhat correct in what the relative percentage of the exercises compared to each other weight should be?

[Sh724]

Completed cycle 1 test day, success! Now one last question for a while The bump of 10% doesn't feel right for some of the exercises, since I intentionally kept the start point low to not injure myself, and correct me if I'm wrong here, but I should bump up more if today didn't kick my ass proper. Going to write the weight and how did the sets feel in the order I did them, and what weight I plan to bump up to. I am at 171cm, 94kg (lost 2 kilos and 4 cm off the belly in the month, so diet seems on point).

1. Bench press - 40 kg, last rep was cornering on failure, I could squeeze out maybe one more, definitely not two. Planned bump to 44 kg.
2. Squat - 45 kg, last three reps were torture, could maybe get two more, had maybe 5% more in the tank compared to BP. Planned bump to 50 kg. (convenience with plate switching, that half a kg shouldn't kill me right).
3. Row - 30 kg. Definitely way too light. I felt a good burn in the last couple reps, but nothing compared to the difficulty of bench and squat. Planned bump to 40 kg.
4. SLDL - 40 kg, piece of cake. Bumping up to 50 kg at least.
5. OHP - 20 kg, did show its teeth in the last 5 reps, but nothing close to failure. Planned bump to 24 kg, since OHP may be tricky.
6. ez bar Curls - 12.5 kg (i know you don't condone ez bar, but my wrist cry in agony doing it with a straight bar, and the bends aren't extreme), absolutely too light, could pump out 30 more reps, gonna bump to 20 kg.

I don't do calf raises, they get quite the burn on my cardio days and I don't deem them so important, from what I've read in the thread, neither do many others.

Are the planned bumps somewhat correct in what the relative percentage of the exercises compared to each other weight should be?

10% is a minimum you can always add more than 10%.

Issue with the EZ curl bar is it doesnt work the bicep as much as a straight bar or even dumb bells. But those are just thrown in to all pro bc people always want to work their biceps and really arent an important part of the routine, they are basically an accessory.

[nightanole]

Completed cycle 1 test day, success! Now one last question for a while The bump of 10% doesn't feel right for some of the exercises, since I intentionally kept the start point low to not injure myself, and correct me if I'm wrong here, but I should bump up more if today didn't kick my ass proper. Going to write the weight and how did the sets feel in the order I did them, and what weight I plan to bump up to. I am at 171cm, 94kg (lost 2 kilos and 4 cm off the belly in the month, so diet seems on point).

1. Bench press - 40 kg, last rep was cornering on failure, I could squeeze out maybe one more, definitely not two. Planned bump to 44 kg.
2. Squat - 45 kg, last three reps were torture, could maybe get two more, had maybe 5% more in the tank compared to BP. Planned bump to 50 kg. (convenience with plate switching, that half a kg shouldn't kill me right).
3. Row - 30 kg. Definitely way too light. I felt a good burn in the last couple reps, but nothing compared to the difficulty of bench and squat. Planned bump to 40 kg.
4. SLDL - 40 kg, piece of cake. Bumping up to 50 kg at least.
5. OHP - 20 kg, did show its teeth in the last 5 reps, but nothing close to failure. Planned bump to 24 kg, since OHP may be tricky.
6. ez bar Curls - 12.5 kg (i know you don't condone ez bar, but my wrist cry in agony doing it with a straight bar, and the bends aren't extreme), absolutely too light, could pump out 30 more reps, gonna bump to 20 kg.

I don't do calf raises, they get quite the burn on my cardio days and I don't deem them so important, from what I've read in the thread, neither do many others.

Are the planned bumps somewhat correct in what the relative percentage of the exercises compared to each other weight should be?

2 reps left in the tank on the 2nd set of test day is good for about a 15% increase, 4 reps is a 20% increase.

On light day of test week you can do one set of 10 for 1-2 exercises to try out the new weights when you are not sure about the bumps.

[Cytix]

WUt? The SLDL is the easiest deadlift to learn. Some programs use the Romanian, but that is the hardest to self teach.

You are describing the exercise correctly more or less, and your observations are alone correct, but your conclusions are incorrect.

Take a normal deadlift lockout position.
Bend/flex the knees as much as you like as long as it doesnt cause hip drop. Legs need to be straight at lockout, but can be bent 5-10 degrees at the bottom of the movement.
Lower the weight while maintaining a tight core and building tension in the hamstrings.
Once the hamstrings go tight, pull back hard and lock out the weight.
The weight does not hit the floor between reps.

So...

1) legs are only straight at lockout. Depending on morphology it would be impossible for some people to do the entire movement with straight legs, or the same bend angle for the entire movement, or they would fall over.

2) You are correct, that is the point. In a normal deadlift or a Romanian, the legs can over power the back and cause rounding. The SLDL moves the weak point to the lower back, if your back cant handle the weight, the weight does not move. The only way to harm your back in the SLDL is if you relax your back and cause it to round, or some odd goal like get the weight as low as possible. No flexation under load should be happening at any point in the back for any allpro lifts, its all static holds.

3) The alt is the "good morning". Its the exact same movement, only the bar is on your back.

Amazing explanation!
i think i get it now - really is simple.
now that i understand that i lock knees on top, my hit automatically does the work, and even without a weight i feel the hams working.

You are the best sir!

[PhantomEater]

As I've read before allpro is about getting the volume in, today I couldn't get on the squat rack at all it was a 4 man que, so I picked up 2 x 30kg dumbbells, I'm at w2 c3 heavy

I was meant to do 2 sets of 40kg 2 x 80kg for 9 reps, but as I couldn't I done 4 sets of 30kg dumbells

Which 18x40+18x80 = 60×36
Is this fine as long as I don't do it too much? I'd much rather barbell squats but needs must

[nightanole]

As I've read before allpro is about getting the volume in, today I couldn't get on the squat rack at all it was a 4 man que, so I picked up 2 x 30kg dumbbells, I'm at w2 c3 heavy

I was meant to do 2 sets of 40kg 2 x 80kg for 9 reps, but as I couldn't I done 4 sets of 30kg dumbells

Which 18x40+18x80 = 60×36
Is this fine as long as I don't do it too much? I'd much rather barbell squats but needs must

2 sets with 2-3 reps in the tank at the end of each set. If using a lighter weight your rep speed should increase.

You can also goblet or zercher squat with a good amount of weight vs 2 dumb bells.

I would advise to get in 1 heavy a week, so on medium or light day get in your heavy session for squats.

A better substitution method would be to calculate the 1 rep max of the days exercise, and replace that with something similar using the lighter weight.

Here's another formula for calculating one rep max. Take the number of reps * .033. Then add 1 to that number. Take that number and multiply the weight you used for the number of reps. Your one rep max should be within 5 pounds on either side. For example, if you do 155 for 8 reps, 8 * .033 = .264, 1 + .264 = 1.264, 1.264 * 155 = 195.92. So your one rep max in this example should be 195. It could be anywhere from 190 to 200.

So it looks like you should have done 80kg for 9, which is 1rm of 104.
So to get to a 1rm of 104kg using your 60kg (2 30kg db), you would need 22 rep sets.

[PhantomEater]

2 sets with 2-3 reps in the tank at the end of each set. If using a lighter weight your rep speed should increase.

You can also goblet or zercher squat with a good amount of weight vs 2 dumb bells.

I would advise to get in 1 heavy a week, so on medium or light day get in your heavy session for squats.

A better substitution method would be to calculate the 1 rep max of the days exercise, and replace that with something similar using the lighter weight.

Here's another formula for calculating one rep max. Take the number of reps * .033. Then add 1 to that number. Take that number and multiply the weight you used for the number of reps. Your one rep max should be within 5 pounds on either side. For example, if you do 155 for 8 reps, 8 * .033 = .264, 1 + .264 = 1.264, 1.264 * 155 = 195.92. So your one rep max in this example should be 195. It could be anywhere from 190 to 200.

So it looks like you should have done 80kg for 9, which is 1rm of 104.
So to get to a 1rm of 104kg using your 60kg (2 30kg db), you would need 22 rep sets.

Thank you once again for such a detailed explanation, I get it now, hopefully it won't happen again too often but it does happen as we've only got one squat rack I'm moving to a more weight based gym in may when my contract is up here so won't have the same problems there.

[Mithos]

So after a while I dediced to come back with a more structured meal plan, hoping to get results.
I'm still no intermediate but at least over a year I managed to get 5x5 squats with 225lbs (bar included) and 115 on bench at 6'11'' and about 158lbs.

I'm no newbie to this wkt but still i find my upper back lagging quite a bit. Even though I'm gonna start all over again, may I introduce one or two sets of medium face pulls just before calves?

In every other wkt I found 'em to be staple, so just asking before screwing around.

And another thing. I manage to push press 110lbs but with strict press I can barely do it with perfect form at 65lbs...
Is that acceptable?

I'm trying to do a body recomp, btw. Same amount of usual calories but with my macros much more specified towards protein needs

Thanks in advance

[nightanole]

So after a while I dediced to come back with a more structured meal plan, hoping to get results.
I'm still no intermediate but at least over a year I managed to get 5x5 squats with 225lbs (bar included) and 115 on bench at 6'11'' and about 158lbs.

I'm no newbie to this wkt but still i find my upper back lagging quite a bit. Even though I'm gonna start all over again, may I introduce one or two sets of medium face pulls just before calves?

In every other wkt I found 'em to be staple, so just asking before screwing around.

And another thing. I manage to push press 110lbs but with strict press I can barely do it with perfect form at 65lbs...
Is that acceptable?

I'm trying to do a body recomp, btw. Same amount of usual calories but with my macros much more specified towards protein needs

Thanks in advance

I assume you meant 5.11, 6.11 158lbs you will be ded...

Face pulls are prehab for high volume bench pressers that do not want to do rows/OHP. Yes you can do them before calves, and you dont have to do calves at all if you do not want to. A better option would be at or slightly above the knee rack pulls using 2x your squat working weight on allpro, with a 5 second pause at lockout.

We dont strict press, we use the 1960's olympic rules so some knee flexion to get the weight going is permitted. And you should be able to push press your 10 rep bench weight a few times to be considered gud.

macros on a cut should not go below; 100g fats/protein and 200g of carbs. Below that performance will suffer and it wont be sustainable long term.

[xempik]

If I can only do the program 2x a week, and doing heavy, should I increase the volume to 3 work-sets instead of 2?

Thanks.

[nightanole]

If I can only do the program 2x a week, and doing heavy, should I increase the volume to 3 work-sets instead of 2?

Thanks.

3 worksets for the the bench/row/squat, if doing heavy heavy for most or all of the cycle. Test day is still 2 sets of 12. Same rule applies, 72 hours rest or longer before a heavy.

[briancl2]

I assume you meant 5.11, 6.11 158lbs you will be ded...

Face pulls are prehab for high volume bench pressers that do not want to do rows/OHP. Yes you can do them before calves, and you dont have to do calves at all if you do not want to. A better option would be at or slightly above the knee rack pulls using 2x your squat working weight on allpro, with a 5 second pause at lockout.

We dont strict press, we use the 1960's olympic rules so some knee flexion to get the weight going is permitted. And you should be able to push press your 10 rep bench weight a few times to be considered gud.

macros on a cut should not go below; 100g fats/protein and 200g of carbs. Below that performance will suffer and it wont be sustainable long term.

Do you have any good video showing full body with 1960s olympic rules press? I've seen the Mark Rippetoe video, and that is torso only on camera.

I wonder if I'm being too strict and not using knee flexion. Also, for me the first rep is always the hardest to get the weight moving up to full lock out. After that I get some decent stretch reflex on most reps until I stall out around 13-14. Second set I can hit 8 or 9, but I never clear 24. Auto-regulated.

[nightanole]

Do you have any good video showing full body with 1960s olympic rules press? I've seen the Mark Rippetoe video, and that is torso only on camera.

I wonder if I'm being too strict and not using knee flexion. Also, for me the first rep is always the hardest to get the weight moving up to full lock out. After that I get some decent stretch reflex on most reps until I stall out around 13-14. Second set I can hit 8 or 9, but I never clear 24. Auto-regulated.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nJrYPVJ88M&gl=CA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7erVblY7aiU&gl=CA

"clean and press"

good luck with the rules though, since everyone complains and they changed every time.

[Mithos]

I assume you meant 5.11, 6.11 158lbs you will be ded...

Face pulls are prehab for high volume bench pressers that do not want to do rows/OHP. Yes you can do them before calves, and you dont have to do calves at all if you do not want to. A better option would be at or slightly above the knee rack pulls using 2x your squat working weight on allpro, with a 5 second pause at lockout.

We dont strict press, we use the 1960's olympic rules so some knee flexion to get the weight going is permitted. And you should be able to push press your 10 rep bench weight a few times to be considered gud.

macros on a cut should not go below; 100g fats/protein and 200g of carbs. Below that performance will suffer and it wont be sustainable long term.

Yes, typo mistake, I meant 5'11''-
So the rack pull must be 2 working sets for double squat for one rep?
Or 2 sets of 2 reps?

Thanks

[nightanole]

Yes, typo mistake, I meant 5'11''-
So the rack pull must be 2 working sets for double squat for one rep?
Or 2 sets of 2 reps?

Thanks

Double over hand rackpulls are AMRAP at the end of each workout for 2x that days working weight, for one set. I would also include a 3-5 second pause at lockout for each rep, this will hit the shoulders/core more, and wont add additional fatigue to the muscles already hit by allpro.

Thanks to double over hand, your grip is going to give out before you start adding enough volume to affect the allpro lifts

[T4YL0R]

Hi Nightanole.

I'm currently about to finish week 4 cycle 3.
Upped my calories a bit after your previous advice and coming along nicely.

2 questions.

1. I ****ed up reading the instructions from the beginning and was doing warm up sets at 50 and 75% sorted that now to 25 and 50%. Do you think it may have hindered my working sets?

2. I am getting close to failure on bench at 55kg (I know weak!) I don't have a spotter and am worried about getting trapped under bar. Will it be ok to do supine bench on just heavy day?

[nightanole]

Hi Nightanole.

I'm currently about to finish week 4 cycle 3.
Upped my calories a bit after your previous advice and coming along nicely.

2 questions.

1. I ****ed up reading the instructions from the beginning and was doing warm up sets at 50 and 75% sorted that now to 25 and 50%. Do you think it may have hindered my working sets?

2. I am getting close to failure on bench at 55kg (I know weak!) I don't have a spotter and am worried about getting trapped under bar. Will it be ok to do supine bench on just heavy day?

1) The only way to screw up warmup sets is to have so many sets that you cant tell where the warmups stop and the worksets begin. So you are fine. Now if you did the same thing with a 3-5 rep program you might be in trouble.

2) If you are not allowed to bench in the power cage, do not have a bench with adjustable spotter arms, i would just switch to floor press for heavy day and leave the weight as is.

[devworkout]

Hello gurus!

I'm completely sedentary, weighting 300lbs and I decided to change it... I've researched a lot here in the forum about nutrition, exercises, home gym equipments and started to transform all the planning into action.

So I began this week my diet, checked the All Pro Beginner Routine, purchased the required equipments and today was my first day just testing the exercises and sets, because I will start the correct program on monday.

Then I got some problems while exercising myself:

1) I cannot do squats with the barbell, is there any problem if I use my self heavy-weight that I got along these years? lol

2) I don't know if I'm doing the Bent-Over rows correctly. What you usually do when you are not sure of what you are doing? Maybe record a video? Schedule a session with a personal saying that I want to do exactly this program and just need to know if I'm doing ok?

3) I cannot do more than 6-8 Overhead Barbell Presses. It's too hard to me, my barbell weights 44lbs and I'm not using any plates already. Any suggestions for that?

4) Can I do Barbell Curls with the regular straight barbell?


Thank you all!

[Cytix]

nightanole and anyone who has done this for a while: Is there any muscle imbalance by lack of targeting?

for example, there is a targeted exercise for lat(upright row instead of curls) and ant shoulder, and both are synergists in at least one other ex, whilst post deltoid is only a synergists in one ex.

also, seems odd that a huge muscle group like the latisimus dorsi doesn't have a targeted, while two delts do. - seems like a Pull up is somehow missing here

compared to that, the triceps\biceps are 100% balanced.

Im not asking this because i am very smart and experienced and i say that this is an issue, im simply trying to learn and understand.

[nightanole]

Hello gurus!

I'm completely sedentary, weighting 300lbs and I decided to change it... I've researched a lot here in the forum about nutrition, exercises, home gym equipments and started to transform all the planning into action.

So I began this week my diet, checked the All Pro Beginner Routine, purchased the required equipments and today was my first day just testing the exercises and sets, because I will start the correct program on monday.

Then I got some problems while exercising myself:

1) I cannot do squats with the barbell, is there any problem if I use my self heavy-weight that I got along these years? lol

2) I don't know if I'm doing the Bent-Over rows correctly. What you usually do when you are not sure of what you are doing? Maybe record a video? Schedule a session with a personal saying that I want to do exactly this program and just need to know if I'm doing ok?

3) I cannot do more than 6-8 Overhead Barbell Presses. It's too hard to me, my barbell weights 44lbs and I'm not using any plates already. Any suggestions for that?

4) Can I do Barbell Curls with the regular straight barbell?


Thank you all!

Telling your height helps too, you could be 5.4 or 6.11...

1) I would get a broom handle or plastic pipe to replace the bar bell. You need to mimic the movement even if unweighted, and you cant do that with the standard body weight squat that has your arms out like superman. For a pro tip for the morbidly obese, i recommend ALWAYS adding any weight you lost, to the bar bell. You lost 40lbs in 2-3 months, great, that bar bell better be at least 40lbs heavier or you didnt accomplish, ahem, squat.

2) Bend over 45-60 degrees with a straight back, and just glide the weight up and down, an hover it and inch or two above your quad the entire time. This is not the completely bent over parallel with the floor kind. You are more or less trying to start a lawn mower with 2 strings at the same time.

3) Since you are already buying crap, you may want to invest in a cheap "standard" set or get one used. They come with 10-15lb bars. If you have a bit of cash you can also buy an aluminum training/technique bar that is 15lbs and takes Olympic weights. Your final option is to do the seated dumbbell arnold press till you can get in 10 reps of 55lbs so you can switch to heavy/medium/light with the light day being just the 45lb bar.

4) Yes you should, dumb bells are a last resort. The reason being is you can move more weight with a bar bell, which means more over load for the arms, and more core growth due to needing to stabilize a heavier weight far from the body.