AllPro: A Simple Beginner's Routine part VII

[nightanole]

So now done with first cycle 5th week heavy day. Shaking on the last reps and a bit slow to push but it went fine.

I did an inBody scanner and I keep track everytime I do it, I know its not that accurate but at least I can gauge things if I am gaining or losing. I gained 1.1 kg from 2 weeks ago (79.3 to 80.4) and .5kg gained is lean mass, 22.8% to 23% bf. I am eating at 2400-2500 cal. Should I adjust my food? Currently on gaining

Go up or down at least 1kg per cycle. Try to do this for at least 3 cycles in a row.

As long as you are at the same hydration and sodium level at each scan, it should produce trackable data. however if week 1 you did a bunch of yard work the day before the scan, and week two was taco night the day before, you will get massive shifts in both fat and lean mass..

[Shadybaby316]

Hi,
After calculating my 10 rep max, my barbell curls are very weak.

My heavy day is
8kg rod+2.5kg weight total 10.5kg

Medium day is
8kg rod + 1.25kg weight total 9.25

Light day is
8kg rod + ???
There is no weight lower than my medium day (1.25kg) so that's going to be either no weight plate or use the same plate as medium day (1.25)

My question is, do I lift my light day without any weight, just the empty rod or can I use my medium weight same on the light day also? Because there is no weight less that that

Thanks nighanole!!

[nightanole]

Hi,
After calculating my 10 rep max, my barbell curls are very weak.

My heavy day is
8kg rod+2.5kg weight total 10.5kg

Medium day is
8kg rod + 1.25kg weight total 9.25

Light day is
8kg rod + ???
There is no weight lower than my medium day (1.25kg) so that's going to be either no weight plate or use the same plate as medium day (1.25)

My question is, do I lift my light day without any weight, just the empty rod or can I use my medium weight same on the light day also? Because there is no weight less that that

Thanks nighanole!!

"mess around and find out" The curl is the wild card on the program. As long as you dont stall your row, you can do what you want. Some can get away with 1-2 sets of chinups to failure each workout.

[jaddon33]

So I just did my first full bulk week eating around 2700 cals with 142ish body weight early morning 5’9, i did this program during my 5-6 month cut but i was around 156 skinny fat, would i have lost newbie gains since i didnt bulk in the beginning and cut first, i also did 2 sets of 8 on bench at 105lb squat 155lbs barbell row underhand 105lbs i switched to rdls as i liked the movement better is that okay? I did 50s in each hand, Straight bar curls 50s 8 reps was not pushing me to failure so i did 10 reps on those, then at end i did a little pull ups and dips to see how i liked it, i didnt stick to the medium light days i just feel like i wasn’t pushing myself enough is that okay or should i be doing those days? I havnt had problems with being to sore but On heavy days i was close to failure on last rep on each set? Would it be okay to stick to this and just increase reps until 12 then increase weight after? Im trying to lean bulk to around 170lbs in a little over a year then cut down, pretty lean in a way all my fat just centralizes in my stomach so thinking lean bulk for a while then a strong cut? Any suggestions or tips? Thank you man! Appreciate it, new to lifting other than my cut which i lost fat and gained little muscle just wasn’t eating enough and i wanted to maximize my teen year gains.

[nightanole]

So I just did my first full bulk week eating around 2700 cals with 142ish body weight early morning 5’9, i did this program during my 5-6 month cut but i was around 156 skinny fat, would i have lost newbie gains since i didnt bulk in the beginning and cut first, i also did 2 sets of 8 on bench at 105lb squat 155lbs barbell row underhand 105lbs i switched to rdls as i liked the movement better is that okay? I did 50s in each hand, Straight bar curls 50s 8 reps was not pushing me to failure so i did 10 reps on those, then at end i did a little pull ups and dips to see how i liked it, i didnt stick to the medium light days i just feel like i wasn’t pushing myself enough is that okay or should i be doing those days? I havnt had problems with being to sore but On heavy days i was close to failure on last rep on each set? Would it be okay to stick to this and just increase reps until 12 then increase weight after? Im trying to lean bulk to around 170lbs in a little over a year then cut down, pretty lean in a way all my fat just centralizes in my stomach so thinking lean bulk for a while then a strong cut? Any suggestions or tips? Thank you man! Appreciate it, new to lifting other than my cut which i lost fat and gained little muscle just wasn’t eating enough and i wanted to maximize my teen year gains.

Thats a mess of a formated post...

From the look if things, you want to do RDLS instead of SLDL. Go for it as long as you are not getting lower back fatigue. Though you will lose the "extending range of motion" benefit of the SLDL.
You dont want to do medium and light because it is easy, and you dont want to do 8 rep week, and may even want to just skip to 10 rep week and skip the deload altogether. That is not "doing the program"

If you want a variant that really pushes you in a bulk, try either the autoregulated, or the 10 sets of 3 that are posted in the faq. Both of those are only limited by your recovery, which should be boosted by the bulk.

[FitBeyondForty]

Hi guys,

So, on my bench press I can feel it a lot more in my right tricep to that I can in my left. Hands are equal distance from each other and equal distance from centre of the bar. And from what I can see my form is symmetrical. I am right hand dominant.

ideas?

[nightanole]

Hi guys,

So, on my bench press I can feel it a lot more in my right tricep to that I can in my left. Hands are equal distance from each other and equal distance from centre of the bar. And from what I can see my form is symmetrical. I am right hand dominant.

ideas?

You are shifting the bar to the left or right
You are locking out on one side before the other or not going as deep on one side or the other

But whats happening is one of two things, you right side side is just weaker and has to work harder (closer to failure) than the left. Or your are favoring the left side and making the right side work harder.

But as long as the bar is symmetrical, i would not worry about it, infact its always going to happen. Whatever side you use the most outside of lifting, will "feel it" the least during the workout.

I have a bad outer quad on my right side, so i have to make dam sure im not shifting the weight onto my left knee when i get tired and the right start thumping.

[TryingBB]

You are shifting the bar to the left or right
You are locking out on one side before the other or not going as deep on one side or the other

But whats happening is one of two things, you right side side is just weaker and has to work harder (closer to failure) than the left. Or your are favoring the left side and making the right side work harder.

But as long as the bar is symmetrical, i would not worry about it, infact its always going to happen. Whatever side you use the most outside of lifting, will "feel it" the least during the workout.

I have a bad outer quad on my right side, so i have to make dam sure im not shifting the weight onto my left knee when i get tired and the right start thumping.

Night is right on - like always.

I used to think I had great form - LMFAO - till I videoed myself.

Get a cheap $15 tripod from Amazon and video your form. See if your bar is parallel to the ground going up or down. You’re in for a surprise buddy!! (I know I was!! )

[FitBeyondForty]

You are shifting the bar to the left or right
You are locking out on one side before the other or not going as deep on one side or the other

But whats happening is one of two things, you right side side is just weaker and has to work harder (closer to failure) than the left. Or your are favoring the left side and making the right side work harder.

But as long as the bar is symmetrical, i would not worry about it, infact its always going to happen. Whatever side you use the most outside of lifting, will "feel it" the least during the workout.

I have a bad outer quad on my right side, so i have to make dam sure im not shifting the weight onto my left knee when i get tired and the right start thumping.

Thank you for the info. I'll have to take a closer look at my form. Going to take the advice below as well.

[FitBeyondForty]

Night is right on - like always.

I used to think I had great form - LMFAO - till I videoed myself.

Get a cheap $15 tripod from Amazon and video your form. See if your bar is parallel to the ground going up or down. You’re in for a surprise buddy!! (I know I was!! )

Video is a great idea. Can't really watch yourself in the mirror while doing bench. Thank you!

[jaddon33]

I noticed my Left bicep is definitely smaller than my right, over time with correct form will this even out? Or would there be different steps to take to make them a bit more symmetrical? Thanks!

[nightanole]

I noticed my Left bicep is definitely smaller than my right, over time with correct form will this even out? Or would there be different steps to take to make them a bit more symmetrical? Thanks!

easiest way is chinups to even them out.
Second best is bar bell bicep curls, since the only cheat is shifting the weight from the weak side

Once you get into dumb bell variants, well its real easy to favor the weak side.

But if you can get an even load, the weak one will work harder and grow faster, and the strong one will be limited to the best the weak can do.

[jaddon33]

easiest way is chinups to even them out.
Second best is bar bell bicep curls, since the only cheat is shifting the weight from the weak side

Once you get into dumb bell variants, well its real easy to favor the weak side.

But if you can get an even load, the weak one will work harder and grow faster, and the strong one will be limited to the best the weak can do.

Alright ill just stick with barbell curls then and focus on my left side to not cheat it out then at end of my session hit some chin-ups? Thanks

[JustinP72]

Can't really watch yourself in the mirror while doing bench. Thank you!

No ceiling mirror? #RonJeremy

[nightanole]

Alright ill just stick with barbell curls then and focus on my left side to not cheat it out then at end of my session hit some chin-ups? Thanks

That works, or just do all chinups.

I got one guy who can only do 6-7 chinups fresh, so for his "curls" i just have him do 4-5 chinups, then do 10 "rest pause" reps by waiting 2-7 seconds and doing single reps.
Someone else is doing band assisted for 2 sets of 10, no heavy/medium/light. This makes them easier at the bottom but hard at lock out.
Someone else has one of those pulley home gyms, and figured out how to do the opposite. So at the bottom there is zero assist, and then the assist comes to help him at lock out.

[Jimbob81]

I've been running this now for a couple of cycles and I'm thinking of dropping the lower body exercises as my main sport is mountain biking and my legs just can't take the beating the squats are dishing out.

My question is should I drop the squats all together with the calf raises and potentially the SLDL? Or maybe keep them in once a week?

During the winter I will return to the program proper when I'm off the bike for an extended period of time.

Thanks in advance for any advice on the subject.

[nightanole]

I've been running this now for a couple of cycles and I'm thinking of dropping the lower body exercises as my main sport is mountain biking and my legs just can't take the beating the squats are dishing out.

My question is should I drop the squats all together with the calf raises and potentially the SLDL? Or maybe keep them in once a week?

During the winter I will return to the program proper when I'm off the bike for an extended period of time.

Thanks in advance for any advice on the subject.

"biking" is a very quad dominant sport, and very low usage of the lower back.

So i would drop all legs but the SLDL. For that i would just do the alt pattern 10 sets of 3 described in the faq, on light day.

And honestly i do think you need a bit more core work. If you are doing bar bell upright row and OHP, great, that helps with the girdle or Adonis belt because they practice "resisting the rib cage traveling towards the pelvis". But you may want to add some core work that "resists the rib cage traveling away from the pelvis" such as hanging leg raises (or chinups with quads parallel to the floor) or something else with an "active" load. Planks do not have an active load, now if someone was bouncing a medicine ball off your back, it would be an active load, and a slow trip to snap city

[Jimbob81]

"biking" is a very quad dominant sport, and very low usage of the lower back.

So i would drop all legs but the SLDL. For that i would just do the alt pattern 10 sets of 3 described in the faq, on light day.

And honestly i do think you need a bit more core work. If you are doing bar bell upright row and OHP, great, that helps with the girdle or Adonis belt because they practice "resisting the rib cage traveling towards the pelvis". But you may want to add some core work that "resists the rib cage traveling away from the pelvis" such as hanging leg raises (or chinups with quads parallel to the floor) or something else with an "active" load. Planks do not have an active load, now if someone was bouncing a medicine ball off your back, it would be an active load, and a slow trip to snap city

Thanks nightanole, a true legend on this thread!

My workout now looks like this:

Bench Press 2x8-12
Row 2x8-12
Military Press 2x8-12
SLDL 10x3 - 30 sec rest - Heavy everyday
Curls 2x8-12
Pull Up 2x8-12
Dip 2x8-12


Leg raises 2x8-12 Workout A (Heavy Day)
Wood Chops 2x8-12 Workout B (Medium Day)
Weighted Crunch 2x8-12 Workout C (Light Day)

Does the order and exercises look like a good blend to you?

[dcanham001]

Hi everyone,
So on the 19th July I pulled a back muscle in the gym. Had to go to the hospital and all that. Feeling better although I'm feeling it more in my leg now (possible sciatica but will have a check in with my Dr just to be safe).

I've kept myself a little active building up my walking again. I don't feel that my walking is restricted anymore so want to get back into the gym next week and do some light cardio (maybe some exercise bike for 10k each morning, maybe a light jog etc). Won't be lifting next week but perhaps the week after I can start again.

Does anyone have any tips for getting back into it? I appreciate not going heavy is common sense and perhaps trying to identify any weaknesses in form would be a good idea to prevent it happening again.

I've only just started the program (2nd cycle) so I'm not bothered about resetting things - I'm in it for the long haul anyway

[nightanole]

Thanks nightanole, a true legend on this thread!

My workout now looks like this:

Bench Press 2x8-12
Row 2x8-12
Military Press 2x8-12
SLDL 10x3 - 30 sec rest - Heavy everyday
Curls 2x8-12
Pull Up 2x8-12
Dip 2x8-12


Leg raises 2x8-12 Workout A (Heavy Day)
Wood Chops 2x8-12 Workout B (Medium Day)
Weighted Crunch 2x8-12 Workout C (Light Day)

Does the order and exercises look like a good blend to you?

looks good, and good job on picking the weighted crunch. I normally say dont do ab work that you have to hold down your feet

Also you dont have to progress on the ab work. progressing core + stalled ab work= progression of abs.

[nightanole]

Hi everyone,
So on the 19th July I pulled a back muscle in the gym. Had to go to the hospital and all that. Feeling better although I'm feeling it more in my leg now (possible sciatica but will have a check in with my Dr just to be safe).

I've kept myself a little active building up my walking again. I don't feel that my walking is restricted anymore so want to get back into the gym next week and do some light cardio (maybe some exercise bike for 10k each morning, maybe a light jog etc). Won't be lifting next week but perhaps the week after I can start again.

Does anyone have any tips for getting back into it? I appreciate not going heavy is common sense and perhaps trying to identify any weaknesses in form would be a good idea to prevent it happening again.

I've only just started the program (2nd cycle) so I'm not bothered about resetting things - I'm in it for the long haul anyway

Idf switch to the 10 sets of 3 pattern for all exercises and start with the lightest load the gym can offer (even if its an unloaded plastic pipe). Then add 5lbs every time you "pass". It shouldnt take you longer than a cycle to get back to your original working weight since you will be adding 30 pounds every 2 weeks by passing 3 times a week. Once you are back to cycle 2 working weights you can switch back to the normal pattern.

[dcanham001]

Idf switch to the 10 sets of 3 pattern for all exercises and start with the lightest load the gym can offer (even if its an unloaded plastic pipe). Then add 5lbs every time you "pass". It shouldnt take you longer than a cycle to get back to your original working weight since you will be adding 30 pounds every 2 weeks by passing 3 times a week. Once you are back to cycle 2 working weights you can switch back to the normal pattern.

Thanks for this night.
Just to clarify then I do 10 sets of 3 reps and every gym day is basically a 'test day'. If i complete my 10 sets with no (unnatural) discomfort add 5lbs on the next gym day. It won't take me too long to get back to working weight as i wasn't exactly lifting big anyway

[nightanole]

Thanks for this night.
Just to clarify then I do 10 sets of 3 reps and every gym day is basically a 'test day'. If i complete my 10 sets with no (unnatural) discomfort add 5lbs on the next gym day. It won't take me too long to get back to working weight as i wasn't exactly lifting big anyway

yup. 10 sets, 30 seconds of rest, should take about 7 minutes per exercise.

[dcanham001]

yup. 10 sets, 30 seconds of rest, should take about 7 minutes per exercise.

Thanks so much nightanole

[Jimbob81]

looks good, and good job on picking the weighted crunch. I normally say dont do ab work that you have to hold down your feet

Also you dont have to progress on the ab work. progressing core + stalled ab work= progression of abs.

Great as I've always seen results from the weighted crunches. I'll just keep it at 12 reps and move up by weight(for all core exercises).

Just out of curiosity why the 10x3 range for the SLDL? Always like to learn the reasons why 😊

Thanks again bud!

[nightanole]

Great as I've always seen results from the weighted crunches. I'll just keep it at 12 reps and move up by weight(for all core exercises).

Just out of curiosity why the 10x3 range for the SLDL? Always like to learn the reasons why 😊

Thanks again bud!

10x3 is just an auto regulated pattern. You stop once you can no longer handle the weight. Its just a variant of the AMRAP pattern, but it does allow you to use your 5-6 rep max as a workingweightt.

[FitBeyondForty]

No ceiling mirror? #RonJeremy

🤣🤣🤣

[uga40]

Okay, I am a total noob. I am 44 years old and have never lifted weights. I have always just done body resistance or cross fit with body resistance and tons of cardio. I am overweight, 5ft 8", 175 lbs. with probably around 27 - 30% body fat (just guessing, never had it measured).

I am on a 500 a day calorie deficit and tracking all of my food on an app. I am looking for a beginning routine to burn fat and build muscle. This one seems to fit the bill, but just want to make sure from people who know way more than i do. I tried all of the exercises with the following weights:

Workout Weight Heavy Medium Light
Squats 65 65 58.5 52
Bench Presses 65 65 58.5 52
Bent-Over Rows 65 65 58.5 52
Overhead Barbell
Presses 45 45 40.5 36
SLDL 65 65 58.5 52
Barbell Curls 30 30 27 24
Calf Raises 45 45 40.5 36

I assume for the weights I can only do the barbell weight I will have to use something else on the med / lite days. Or should i just use the same weight?

[Shadybaby316]

What kind of abs can I do?


For my "cant cheat" list:
Ab wheel roll outs or walkouts
Hanging leg raises
high foot farmer walks/carries
landmine 180's

Question:
What does can't chest list mean?

Should I do these exercises or should I cannot do this exercises? Please I'm confused.

Please advise what abs exercises can I do?

[nightanole]

Okay, I am a total noob. I am 44 years old and have never lifted weights. I have always just done body resistance or cross fit with body resistance and tons of cardio. I am overweight, 5ft 8", 175 lbs. with probably around 27 - 30% body fat (just guessing, never had it measured).

I am on a 500 a day calorie deficit and tracking all of my food on an app. I am looking for a beginning routine to burn fat and build muscle. This one seems to fit the bill, but just want to make sure from people who know way more than i do. I tried all of the exercises with the following weights:

Workout Weight Heavy Medium Light
Squats 65 65 58.5 52
Bench Presses 65 65 58.5 52
Bent-Over Rows 65 65 58.5 52
Overhead Barbell
Presses 45 45 40.5 36
SLDL 65 65 58.5 52
Barbell Curls 30 30 27 24
Calf Raises 45 45 40.5 36

I assume for the weights I can only do the barbell weight I will have to use something else on the med / lite days. Or should i just use the same weight?

You must use the same form for heavy medium light. So you can not bar bell heavy, and dumb bell light.

And you want to round down, so if you cant find a 58.5, your going to have to pick 57.5 or 55. If you want to get granular, you can make some fractional weights out of heavy chain, and just hoop them with zip ties. I have a collection of half pounders so can i go up and down in 1 pound increments for OHP ect.