AllPro: A Simple Beginner's Routine part VI

[nightanole]

Duly noted. I suppose I should stick to the prescribed rest times then?

Rest times are "up to" 90 seconds. Some people feel light day is too light, and may cut it down to 30 seconds for the first few weeks.

The problem with longer than 90 second rests, is that means you are working with too heavy of a weight. This causes a few problems. If you are working too close to failure, it will cause a massive fatigue build up, and a stall. If you are working with too heavy of a weight at the start, and dont progress fast enough, then that means if you "pass" test day, then next cycle will also require the longer rest time.

[GenerationZero]

The problem with longer than 90 second rests, is that means you are working with too heavy of a weight. This causes a few problems. If you are working too close to failure, it will cause a massive fatigue build up, and a stall. If you are working with too heavy of a weight at the start, and dont progress fast enough, then that means if you "pass" test day, then next cycle will also require the longer rest time.

My question is similar to the above.

So 12 rep test today and i passed it but very sore/fatigued. As of next week i will do 4 reps on my squat at 10 rep max (or just a little more than 10 rep max as advised few days back), however :

Rest today between the Squats was more than 90 seconds, maybe around 2-3 mins but i'm changing this to 4 reps etc.
Rest between bench press and OHP was similar (though my form has much improved on both).

Note: I have changed my diet slightly, in that i dropped it by 50 cals per day, introduced a 20 min walk on rest days and knocked my protein to 1gm per KG, added more carbs with the cals saved here from protein.

Does this all sound on track for increasing weight next week by 10 percent (for bench/OHP)? Or do i need to redo bench/OHP until i can complete within the 90 seconds rest period? Cheers

[nightanole]

My question is similar to the above.

So 12 rep test today and i passed it but very sore/fatigued. As of next week i will do 4 reps on my squat at 10 rep max (or just a little more than 10 rep max as advised few days back), however :

Rest today between the Squats was more than 90 seconds, maybe around 2-3 mins but i'm changing this to 4 reps etc.
Rest between bench press and OHP was similar (though my form has much improved on both).

Note: I have changed my diet slightly, in that i dropped it by 50 cals per day, introduced a 20 min walk on rest days and knocked my protein to 1gm per KG, added more carbs with the cals saved here from protein.

Does this all sound on track for increasing weight next week by 10 percent (for bench/OHP)? Or do i need to redo bench/OHP until i can complete within the 90 seconds rest period? Cheers

You exceed 90 seconds, you fail.


I told you to bump 10% of squats, because you are switching to 4-8 reps, that still stands. lets hope you pass squats next cycle.

[GenerationZero]

You exceed 90 seconds, you fail.


I told you to bump 10% of squats, because you are switching to 4-8 reps, that still stands. lets hope you pass squats next cycle.

Gulp!! ok so in terms of bench/OHP, i need to redo at same weight as i went over 90 seconds, if anything i went over maybe by 10-15 seconds?

[nightanole]

Gulp!! ok so in terms of bench/OHP, i need to redo at same weight as i went over 90 seconds, if anything i went over maybe by 10-15 seconds?

The final deal, is on light day of test week, you can go for 1 set of 10 using the new weight, if you think the test was shaky or if you are trying for a massive bump.

Or since you screwed up, you can bump both 10%, and go for 1 set of 10 on heavy day of 8 rep week.

Other than that, yea you didnt get 10% stronger, you only got 7.5% ish stronger.

[GenerationZero]

The final deal, is on light day of test week, you can go for 1 set of 10 using the new weight, if you think the test was shaky or if you are trying for a massive bump.

Or since you screwed up, you can bump both 10%, and go for 1 set of 10 on heavy day of 8 rep week.

Other than that, yea you didnt get 10% stronger, you only got 7.5% ish stronger.

Ok let me see if I understood this correctly, so this Friday which is light day of test week..... I increase the weights by 10% (today is the heaviest day) using today's weight?

If yes do 2 warmups and 1 set with the new weight. If all goes well I continue with this weight on Monday at 2x8 reps?

Also if my understanding is correct are we just adjusting the weight to compensate for the extra 10-15 seconds of rest? If so how come i'm only doing one set?Thanks again for your advice.

[xDanger]

Hello everyone,

So I just started my first cycle of this program and I'm in week 2 currently, I have one small question, I've read a lot about Creatine powder and it's effects to grow muscles, I know it's not necessarily to start taking it, but do you guys recommend it for a beginner like me?

[nightanole]

Ok let me see if I understood this correctly, so this Friday which is light day of test week..... I increase the weights by 10% (today is the heaviest day) using today's weight?

If yes do 2 warmups and 1 set with the new weight. If all goes well I continue with this weight on Monday at 2x8 reps?

Also if my understanding is correct are we just adjusting the weight to compensate for the extra 10-15 seconds of rest? If so how come i'm only doing one set?Thanks again for your advice.

1)yup
2) we are not compensating for anything. I am hoping it was just a "bad day". In terms of math, 2 sets of 12 with 90 seconds of rest, 2 sets of 9 with 90 seconds of rest @110%, and 1 set of 10 @110%, are all the "same".

[nightanole]

Hello everyone,

So I just started my first cycle of this program and I'm in week 2 currently, I have one small question, I've read a lot about Creatine powder and it's effects to grow muscles, I know it's not necessarily to start taking it, but do you guys recommend it for a beginner like me?

Creatine works for the first few months after you get off the couch. Once your glycogen stores are well trained(can recover quickly), it wont do a darn thing.

If creatine even added 1% to your long term performance, it would either be banned or mandatory in college sports.

[GenerationZero]

1)yup
2) we are not compensating for anything. I am hoping it was just a "bad day". In terms of math, 2 sets of 12 with 90 seconds of rest, 2 sets of 9 with 90 seconds of rest @110%, and 1 set of 10 @110%, are all the "same".

Sorry one more clarification, so if i fail doing 10 clean reps then i need to do that cycle again?

Creatine works for the first few months after you get off the couch. Once your glycogen stores are well trained(can recover quickly), it wont do a darn thing.

If creatine even added 1% to your long term performance, it would either be banned or mandatory in college sports.

May as well jump in on this too lol.... I've been on creatine for 2 years, so its ok to stop now or take it just on training days? What if i took a 2 week break and then return to training, would i need to reintroduce it again?

[nightanole]

Sorry one more clarification, so if i fail doing 10 clean reps then i need to do that cycle again?



May as well jump in on this too lol.... I've been on creatine for 2 years, so its ok to stop now or take it just on training days? What if i took a 2 week break and then return to training, would i need to reintroduce it again?

Fail to get in 10 reps, repeat next cycle using test days weight.


As for creatine. If you are on it, it needs to be constant. You "load" and then "cruise". But again, once your muscles are well trained, which only takes about 6 weeks of progressive overload, 2 cycles of allpro tops, its not going to do anything. Your glycogen stores will be full, and creatine wont make them any more fuller.

[Odifududix]

Rest times are "up to" 90 seconds. Some people feel light day is too light, and may cut it down to 30 seconds for the first few weeks.

The problem with longer than 90 second rests, is that means you are working with too heavy of a weight. This causes a few problems. If you are working too close to failure, it will cause a massive fatigue build up, and a stall. If you are working with too heavy of a weight at the start, and dont progress fast enough, then that means if you "pass" test day, then next cycle will also require the longer rest time.

This program looks interesting and I am considering doing a couple cycles. I thought it was best to rest a minimum of 2-3 minutes for heavy compounds? Can you clarify why the short rest times are a major component to the program? If anything, it sounds more like a conditioning factor. The rest times can definitely make the heavy days challenging.

[nightanole]

This program looks interesting and I am considering doing a couple cycles. I thought it was best to rest a minimum of 2-3 minutes for heavy compounds? Can you clarify why the short rest times are a major component to the program? If anything, it sounds more like a conditioning factor. The rest times can definitely make the heavy days challenging.

Every program has its own "balance". For example, on 3x5 or 5x5 training, if you are going to miss a rep, it better be on the first set, else you "rushed" the sets and didnt rest long enough.

Allpro is a "fatigue" based training style. It relies on you not being able to recover. The running joke is that if you can do 3 heavies a week, you are not going heavy enough. This is completely opposite of 3x5 / 5x5 were the working weight is light enough and the rest times long enough, that you can increase the weight each session.

the 90 second rest time regulates you so that you are not building up too much fatigue by working too close to failure on the first set. And keeps you from picking too heavy of a weight that you will never add 4 reps to in 4-5 weeks.


If you want to dive deeper:

********************/@SandCResearch/wh...e-286b8da6f427


This will explain how 2 sets of 10 with 90 seconds of rest provides just as much growth stimulus as spending 20-30min benching on a 3x5 / 5x5 program with 3-5min rests.

[Odifududix]

This program looks like a nice contrast from the typical 5x5. I have a couple questions left though:

1) Suppose on week 3 heavy day I missed my 10th rep for a working set (due to sickness/bad sleep/whatever) even though I got in 9 reps easily the previous week. Should I automatically drop the weight like you told JuniorSaint to do? Or can I just keep the weight for week 4 and 5?

2) Would adding in extra warm up sets be against the program? I can do 200 lbs for 10 reps but there is no way I am prepared for this after squating 50 lbs and 100 lbs as my warm ups (I have to use 135 lbs and 155 lbs first to be truly ready).

[nightanole]

This program looks like a nice contrast from the typical 5x5. I have a couple questions left though:

1) Suppose on week 3 heavy day I missed my 10th rep for a working set (due to sickness/bad sleep/whatever) even though I got in 9 reps easily the previous week. Should I automatically drop the weight like you told JuniorSaint to do? Or can I just keep the weight for week 4 and 5?

2) Would adding in extra warm up sets be against the program? I can do 200 lbs for 10 reps but there is no way I am prepared for this after squating 50 lbs and 100 lbs as my warm ups (I have to use 135 lbs and 155 lbs first to be truly ready).

1) feel free to stop a set short any session but "test day". I would rather you stop a set short vs going for RPE 11 and failing a rep. But yes you should always be gunning for that sessions rep requirement, so if you only get in 9 reps on 10 rep week, you should still be going for 11 reps on 11 rep week.

2) The warmup protocol is to have n00bs not go nutts with warmups to the point where you cant tell where the warmups stop and the work sets begin. Feel free to use any warmup routine you want. While i dont believe in stretching, you could even do limber 11 or whatever if you have unlimited time in the gym. A "normal" warmup protocol for the rest of your career would be the bar for 10 reps, and then a warmup set with reduced reps for every 40-60lbs you add to the bar, till you get to 75-85% of your working weight.

So if "I" was was going to warmup for 200lbs:

45lb bar for 10
95lbs for 10
135 for 5
185 for 2 (slap on some 25's)

If i was feeling a bit frisky i might even do 225 for 2, just because i know im going to need to do it next cycle, and there is some evidence that if you do a rep or 2 above your working weight, it makes the work sets "feel" lighter.

[GenerationZero]

So I'm going through the stack I hold and have reduced protein significantly and can manage meeting it via food.... Which is great.

I have BCAA, citrulline malate, beta allinine and couple of weeks ago purchased heavily reduced pre workout (to try out and move of plain BCAA, beta alanine etc)

So after recently learning I may not need all of them what would you reckon I would benefit in keeping or a faster recovery?

[nightanole]

If you want some homework, read up on what coaches feed soccer/football college athletes. You will be surprised. Its not chicken,rice,salad,olive oil, coconut oil, and some peanut butter.

So I'm going through the stack I hold and have reduced protein significantly and can manage meeting it via food.... Which is great.

I have BCAA, citrulline malate, beta allinine and couple of weeks ago purchased heavily reduced pre workout (to try out and move of plain BCAA, beta alanine etc)

So after recently learning I may not need all of them what would you reckon I would benefit in keeping or a faster recovery?

No supplement will help. You can finish off the bottles you have, it wont be a detriment, and then just dont buy them again.

Keep your macros in check
keep hydrated (aka pissing clear before you work out)
Keep a note to have a good amount of carbs(1/3-1/2 the daily amount) 8-12 hours before your workout, so that your glycogen stores are full for the second set.

[GenerationZero]

If you want some homework, read up on what coaches feed soccer/football college athletes. You will be surprised. Its not chicken,rice,salad,olive oil, coconut oil, and some peanut butter.





No supplement will help. You can finish off the bottles you have, it wont be a detriment, and then just dont buy them again.

Keep your macros in check
keep hydrated (aka pissing clear before you work out)
Keep a note to have a good amount of carbs(1/3-1/2 the daily amount) 8-12 hours before your workout, so that your glycogen stores are full for the second set.

Ok i did a quick search on an athlete's diet out of curiousity (im not an athlete or competing) but most articles suggested consuming chicken/fish and others were just relating to making healthy snacks which contain the foods you listed as not being eaten? Not sure if i missed your point?

Just to finish off, today's training (medium day) was tiring/fatigueing, i was close to failure on rep 12 for OHP but pushed through. I intend to increase weight by 10% on Monday at 8 reps (with the exception of squats which i will change to 4 reps + 90 second break) unless you advise differently. If next cycle (or cycle after that) i cant increase by 10% is it a matter of repeating the cycle (I know the FAQs say yes) until i can or is it advisable going a little slow and increasing by 5%? Thanks again for your advice.

[nightanole]

Ok i did a quick search on an athlete's diet out of curiousity (im not an athlete or competing) but most articles suggested consuming chicken/fish and others were just relating to making healthy snacks which contain the foods you listed as not being eaten? Not sure if i missed your point?

Just to finish off, today's training (medium day) was tiring/fatigueing, i was close to failure on rep 12 for OHP but pushed through. I intend to increase weight by 10% on Monday at 8 reps (with the exception of squats which i will change to 4 reps + 90 second break) unless you advise differently. If next cycle (or cycle after that) i cant increase by 10% is it a matter of repeating the cycle (I know the FAQs say yes) until i can or is it advisable going a little slow and increasing by 5%? Thanks again for your advice.

It takes some digging, i havent done it in a few years, but coaches will post "diets", not just snacks or "foods", but entire diets recommended for on and off season athletes.



If you fail next test day, yes you repeat the weights the next cycle. Dont feel bad, if you pass 2 out of 3 cycles, you are still increasing working weight 6.66% a cycle. Even if you fail every other cycle, thats 5%, and that is about 2-3x faster than you will end up at once you are an intermediate.

[Hulkweiler]

Hi,

Question re: adding 10% at the end of the cycle.

Do you add 10% including barbell weight or just 10% of weight on bar?

Cheers!

[nightanole]

Hi,

Question re: adding 10% at the end of the cycle.

Do you add 10% including barbell weight or just 10% of weight on bar?

Cheers!

You add "at least" 10% of the working weight. The working weight includes the weight of the bar. The fun part is finding the weight of the bar

[GenerationZero]

You add "at least" 10% of the working weight. The working weight includes the weight of the bar. The fun part is finding the weight of the bar

Ok so today was light day.

Due to weight limitation i could only add approx 8-9% of the 10% weight required for the 10 reps and 1 set :-( and on my last rep i didnt touch my chest with the bar (was about 1-2 inches away). So for Monday does this mean i redo the current weight or ok to proceed with the new weight? I generally find Heavy day, at an acceptable heavy and light day, too light in comparison to what i feel i can handle and the rest i was ok with. Thanks

[nightanole]

Ok so today was light day.

Due to weight limitation i could only add approx 8-9% of the 10% weight required for the 10 reps and 1 set :-( and on my last rep i didnt touch my chest with the bar (was about 1-2 inches away). So for Monday does this mean i redo the current weight or ok to proceed with the new weight? I generally find Heavy day, at an acceptable heavy and light day, too light in comparison to what i feel i can handle and the rest i was ok with. Thanks

go for it. Ideally, medium should require the most effort. light day is a recovery day, it shouldnt be taxing.

[Frankenweeny]

Hi! I'm quite a small female and brand new to lifting, and upper body is my weakest for sure. I'm on cycle 1 and as my OHP and curls are only at 10kg, I'm using the fixed bars that you can't add weight onto. My heaviest weight is the SLDLs at 25kg.
I'm asking about what to do on the second cycle. Anything over 20kg I can obviously add micro weights onto (that's the adjustable bar weight), but the lighter fixed bars I can't.
I'm pretty sure that if I bumped the 10kg OHP to 15kg on cycle 2 I would fail. Is there any way I can tweak the workout for cycle 2 and until I get those weights up to 20kg? Or shall I repeat cycle 2 with same weight and try to bump up to 15kg on cycle 3?

[nightanole]

Hi! I'm quite a small female and brand new to lifting, and upper body is my weakest for sure. I'm on cycle 1 and as my OHP and curls are only at 10kg, I'm using the fixed bars that you can't add weight onto. My heaviest weight is the SLDLs at 25kg.
I'm asking about what to do on the second cycle. Anything over 20kg I can obviously add micro weights onto (that's the adjustable bar weight), but the lighter fixed bars I can't.
I'm pretty sure that if I bumped the 10kg OHP to 15kg on cycle 2 I would fail. Is there any way I can tweak the workout for cycle 2 and until I get those weights up to 20kg? Or shall I repeat cycle 2 with same weight and try to bump up to 15kg on cycle 3?

http://www.diystrengthtraining.com/e...late-homemade/
https://forum.bodybuilding.com/showt...1975031&page=1

[Odifududix]

I'm doing the second week of this routine and so far I like it- planning to finish a cycle or two. Would it be a bad idea to do paused reps during the lite days? Or should I just do the normal reps as usual?

[nightanole]

I'm doing the second week of this routine and so far I like it- planning to finish a cycle or two. Would it be a bad idea to do paused reps during the lite days? Or should I just do the normal reps as usual?

Normal reps, but you can always shorten the rest time, some people only rest 30 seconds on light day.

[Kxer0]

I'm a newbie to the gym (1 month in), but aren't that happy with my current program so thought I'd swap to AllPro.

I'm overweight by a bit, from pics I'd say I'm in the high 25-30% bodyfat range, so I should start by cutting, right?

I ask because I don't feel like much has changed (even weight wise) in the past month by cutting, maybe it's just too soon to tell. Currently am at around 1800 calories a day (height: 174cm weight: 83kg).

[nightanole]

I'm a newbie to the gym (1 month in), but aren't that happy with my current program so thought I'd swap to AllPro.

I'm overweight by a bit, from pics I'd say I'm in the high 25-30% bodyfat range, so I should start by cutting, right?

I ask because I don't feel like much has changed (even weight wise) in the past month by cutting, maybe it's just too soon to tell. Currently am at around 1800 calories a day (height: 174cm weight: 83kg).

Yup you start on a cut. The starting diet is 100g of fats/protein and 200-300g of carbs, you are a bit short, so you could continue that 1800 calorie thing til you get around 16% and start getting a flat stomach.

Recommended cardio on the program is 2.5-3 hours of "something" you can sustain for at least 45min without resting.


And you will not see much change in a month, once you drop 10-15kg, then you will start notice things changing other than the scale.

[GenerationZero]

Did my heavy day today and a couple of issues i came across.

1. To make sure i've understood the rest times correctly, i usually give myself 60 seconds rest after putting the weight down. Once 60 seconds are up i am preparing to lift the weight i.e. adjust myself onto the bench, getting myself into the starting position etc. Im mentioning this as i wasnt sure if this is ok or if i should take a full 90 seconds on heavy day and then starting getting into position?

2. I also noted from your comment above, all my lifts (Except for OHP) use around a 10KG barbell which i dont include when adding/removing the 10% weight. I just use the weights on the bar to calculate 10%/20%.

3. I was ok at 8-9% increase last week (1 set though) but at full 10% i struggled with the last 2 reps on the second set. Would it be advisable to continue with 8% until next cycle?