Maybe I should’ve said “widow maker squats” in particular then. You’re always making me think haha
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WMs are dandy…but they only last for like 3-5 minutes. Although you CAN make some nasty WODs with a squat.
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You sound like my old coach. The first thing he got me to do was get in better shape. I thought he was mad.
But you are right.
What I think it is - people don’t realise that even though 2 people could be doing 5x5 at 85% of their one rep max, a stronger person is still working harder. So to complete their exercise within the same time frame they need to in better condition.
That means, even though you might be giving 100% of your effort right now - to grow next month you’ll need to increase the effort. And I’m not talking about strength. But being able to manage your recovery between sets, not resting at the top of each rep to catch your breath and being able to get X amount of work done. Either just done or done in a time frame.
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Gonna try as hard as I can to get the most bang for your buck out of just five. Though, it depends what the goal is. For someone like me who wants to emulate an athlete like Brian Alsruhe/Alpha:
- Widowmaker Squat (done in a way to get an equal mix of quads and hams/glutes)
- Weighted Chin Ups
- BB Row
- Power Clean and Overhead Press
- Dips
All done in giant set format haha. Biceps would probably lag. Triceps wouldn’t have the “hang” of a bodybuilder. Legs would lag based on bodybuilding standards. Upper chest would lag. Lateral delts would probably lag. Still, these 5 lifts would create a dangerous human being.
For “aesthestics” aka a hot beach body, I’d probably pick:
- Incline DB Press
- Lateral Raise
- Dumbbell Curl
- Dips
- Lat Pulldown
Lateral Delts + Pulldown give the V-taper. Curls and Dips give the arms. Incline DB Press and Dips give the chest. And no legs because they don’t contribute much to the goal haha.
I considered the road and the floor to be freebies
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- Deadlift
- Bench press
- Squat
- Pull-ups
- whatever
Simplicity itself, but these lifts are what gave me the most bang for my buck. Even in the 1-5 range.
My max paused bench as of now is 275, but I have already taken the 100s for a spin several time, and without an helper.
On the other hand I know for instance a guy who destroys on incline the 110s with good form, but his bench isn’t great because he rarely benches and has poor technique
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Natural stones too then? Haha
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I’ll push my car while I’m at and save gas money!
I guess my point was, and the same with the lifts really, I think the tool is a preference but we can all get stronger and in better shape with whatever.
Your point that we around here intend to focus on only one aspect of fitness is also well taken.
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I’ve told you this hidden camera stuff has to stop
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Now I’m thinking about this a little from your angle: if I could only do 3 (I went 3 instead of 5 to force actual choices) things, what would they be?
Dips, chins, sprints. I think you could get pretty awesome, and you can take this with you anywhere.
With just a bar: full clean, floor press, row
With a gym: incline, rack pull, prowler
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It’s a fun mental exercise. Something about the movements I picked is that the majority of them are without an eccentric load, which means you can train them a TON and not get too beat up. Also no need for a spotter on any of them, which is a good reflection of how much I train alone, haha.
Limitations can be freeing sometimes.
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Couldn’t supersetted compound lifts with lower weights and short rests address any conditioning need? Bench press and pullups for 10 x 5 with minimal rest between sets gets my cardio system running.
After last night’s OHP workout, I have a more (re)informed opinion. My current five would be:
- Clean and press. Heavy barbell for strength and power, high reps supersetted with chin-ups for upper body mass and conditioning, dumbbells for great training stimulus with less weight. I believe Arthur Saxon, early 20th Century strongman, believed the clean and press to be the single most effective exercise and chose it as his “if I could only do one lift” lift. This topic has evidently existed for a century and counting.
- Trap bar deadlifts. Very versatile, just like clean and press. Low handle, heavy weight for strength, high handle heavy weight for even more strength, high reps for lots of mass and conditioning. Better overall thigh builder than barbell deadlifts.
- Pull-ups/ chin-ups. Weighted, unweighted, straight sets, supersetted, all possible grips. These first three exercises will develop the posterior chain darn well.
- Bench press. These days, I get a solid pec pump and can train for size, conditioning and strength on the flat bench.
- Sled/ prowler pushing. The concentric-only movement is a wonderful finisher after deadlifts, can be done frequently, and will develop both strength and conditioning. It feels like my thighs and calves get a decent pump from the sled, so I’m hoping it eventually translates to chonky thighs, too.
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Would walking backwards with it be considered a separate exercise?
Nope. Walking backwards, pushing forwards, pulling forwards with a rope and belt around the waist, bear-crawl pulling - it’s all using one’s body to move the sled across the ground, therefore the same exercise.
I did notice this. But didn’t want to mention. As I thought it might come over a bit “critical”. It’s not. I genuinely think your list is pretty dam cool. It just sits opposite to most perceived knowledge. Big muscle need and eccentric phase and a large ROM. Except the sand bang and stone lift will get your back huge with no eccentric phase and 0 ROM. It’s that the isometric tension is extreme. I mean there is no way someone goes from shouldering a 300lb stone once to shouldering it 10 times and doesn’t get bigger.
I had not considered it means you could do more and still work out the next day with these exercises.
Side ways step:
Given that we all agree it’s possible to get big using just 5 exercises;
Are you using all 5 of your exercises regularly?
What are you doing about progressively overloading these exercises?
If you are using exercises that are not on your lift - why?
I’m using all 5 of mine (well once my my log arrives).
I’m working hard to increase the reps of each of these lifts. Not weight. I’m sticking with a TM for a few months. And working on pushing this to silly numbers. So my old 5rm becomes my 20rep max sort of thing. It’s not easy. But it’s working. Another way is reps in time. It’s a new one that kills your conditioning as well.
Lastly I use some assistance exercises to help progress the main 5. And some other fitness stuff. So curls and extensions for arm strength. Good mornings for lower back and glutes.
I’m interested in if you have a disconnect from what you know to be best and what you do.
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Overhead press
Carries
Hip hinge
Squat
Can’t decide between rows or pull ups for 5th.
Whatever variations you want.
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It’s entertaining to picture the enforcement of this criteria. I’m picturing a bunch of guards Squid Game style on standby to assassinate you once you deter slightly from your 5 exercises.
“That was leg drive! You said overhead press NOT push press!”
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It depends on whether someone is just after general strength and size or maximizing size to the utmost potential. If one wants to maximize all muscles for bodybuilding, then exercise selection matters a lot, and that’s what 24/7-angry Paul Carter rightly emphasizes.
I have naturally flat and relatively weak pecs. I’m arms and delt dominant. Dumbbell bench press, HS machines, and dips did more for my pecs in the past than any barbell bench press variation, especially for preparing for my one and only BB show.
It’s a decent article but we obviously aren’t obligated to any exercise unless we compete in lifting.
Because I now only train for general fitness, I have some guidelines for exercise selection.
-
Does this exercise make me awful? Bilateral barbell squats and deadlifts do, so I don’t do them.
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Is this exercise time consuming to set up? Hip thrusts do, so I don’t do them no matter how much they’re popular.
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Can I easily superset this with this another antagonistic or distal exercise?
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Does this exercise compress my spine? If it does, I don’t do it. Again, no b/l barbell squats or deadlift variations.
These days I’m very concerned with time, health, and body composition. So with these stipulations I’m left with dumbbell exercises, weighted calisthenics (hyperextensions, dips, pullups, GHR’s), and single leg exercises I can do in a circuit or superset fashion.
Articles are just general guidelines.
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Meaning a muscle/group that isn’t involved in the first exercise?
I understand where are you comming from, but…
Its not like i wouldnt want to maximize my muscle gain. Its not like i didnt want to be a pro bodybuilder when i was 18.
So the thing is that i have shit muscles like chest and arms. I have good ones - like i always have had capped and lean delts. And i have big legs.
Thing is i believe i havent done a side lateral or any sort of direct shoulder work for like 15 years.
And there was a time when i didnt train my legs at all besides bodyweight squats and lunges in my martial arts training classes but my legs were my biggest muscle group always.
What i did want to bring up was my arms and chest so i have done everything from Mentzers HIT to Pianas 8 hour arm workouts. Also all the exercises with all the little tricks and tips - also while blasting gear, so recovery shouldnt be an issue.
When i realized that i need strenght for my job and well being and dropped my bodybuilding dreams, i started to train legs a lot because of deadlift and squat goals but guess what - they didnt change much. Got stronger. Got bigger cuz i got bigger but they are pretty much the same if i train them or no.
My arms and chest - also… didnt change… as they were shit - they still are.
So i am questioning exercise selection for people like me - people whos genetics say that my arms wont ever be big. They are 17,5 - 18 inches and look like shit. In my total of 17 years of training i really have done it all for them because even now when i say i dont care, deep inside i would love to have like 20inch arms at least. So its not like i havent tried as much as i possibly can.
If you believe that exercise selection can produce better or worse gains would you say that you could get me an extra inch to my arms by picking out exercises? Lets say i blast gear, HGH, insulin and eat as much as needed so i would gain weight on weekly bases.
Do you think, that by correcting my exercise selection i could go from 17,5 to 20 inches in…whatever amount of time?
Because, i believe that exercise selection matters for people who have the genetic potential for extra growth but it doesnt matter for average Joe Schmoe who does 10 exercises for arms anyways and he still sits at around 15 inches for the last 7 years.
EDIT - my experience with this so far is that i gained less than a lean inch to my arms in a year and a half going from 220 to 260, then down to 245 and up to 265. I had an extra inch to my arms when i was at my fatest.
Do you believe i could have gotten 2 inches just by doing different exercises?
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