Beginner Program for College Student

Training
1

Hello. I am a 19 year old male and I will be going to college for my freshman year next Saturday. After mulling over potential training programs for awhile, I decided that I need some advice from people more experienced than myself. First, my background:

5’ 10"
168 lbs
15.7" calves
22.4" thighs
47" shoulders (roughly)
38" chest (roughly)
29.5" waist
36.6" hips
12.6" upper arms

I have been training for several year, but only seriously in the last year. I have been following a bodyweight program from the book, Convict Conditioning. I alternate between two workouts. I do strength three times per week and I jog three times (low intensity, 45 min, 3-5 miles). Here are my last two strength workouts:

A.
10 min Warmup: jump rope, dynamic stretching, warmup sets
3x6 Lever Pushups
2x30 Hanging Straight Leg Raises
3x8 Half Bridges
10 min Static Stretching

B.
10 min Warmup: jump rope, dynamic stretching, warmup sets
2x9 One-leg Squats holding 35 lb kettlebell
4x5 Pullups/Chinups with 35 lb kettlebell + 1x7 Uneven Pullups
1:04 Handstand
10 min Static Stretching

All sets are performed circuit style.

Now onto my inquiry. At college I will have access to a real gym with real equipment. I would like to take advantage of that. This is what I originally planned:

Reg Park’s 5x5 Beginner Routine
3x per week

A.
5x5 Back Squat
5x5 Chinups/Pullups
5x5 Bench Press
2x10 Barbell Curls
2x10 Wrist/Grip Work
2x15-20 Calf Work

B.
5x5 Front Squat
5x5 Row
5x5 Standing Press
3x5 Deadlift
2x10 Wrist/Grip Work
2x15-20 Calf Work

I would follow each wkt with a HIIT session and perform low-intensity fasted cardio in the morning.

Here’s the problem: I don’t want to lose all my hard work with the bodyweight exercises. I know I won’t lose strength, but the exercises are as much about technique as strength. I thought I could incorporate the bodyweight throughout the day, but I’m worried about overtraining.

Here are some alternatives I’ve thought of:

A Training Program for Hormone Optimization by Dan Trink (bodyweight as the assistance)
http://www.T-Nation.com/free_online_article/most_recent/a_training_program_for_hormone_optimization

The High Performance Training Matrix by Dan Trink (along similar lines)
http://www.T-Nation.com/free_online_article/most_recent/the_high_performance_training_matrix

5/3/1 by Jim Wendler

Crossfit Football (might not have the right equipment at college)

My Goals:

  1. I want to become powerful and look powerful.
  2. I want to enhance my cognitive function with fitness, not be drained by it.
  3. All around fitness (strength, conditioning, mobility)
  4. Avoid injury.
  5. Keep the bodyweight skills in my program (unless strongly recommended against).

I am willing to invest a significant chunk of time, but I don’t want to be working for nothing.

Also, how much volume is too much? Can I wkt 3 times per week on a full body routine and intersperse sets of hard bodyweight work throughout the day without overtraining?

I would appreciate any advice you can give me. I’m sorry for the long post.

2

I really like your idea to stick to a plan and do the reg park.
What’s your reason for doing the low intensity cardio?

3

I planned the low-intensity cardio to clear my head in the morning and to stay active on my rest days.

4

One thing to consider is the progression in the reg parks program. Are you doing 5 sets across with the same weight and increasing the weight in small increments every workout (like Starting Strength)? Just from my experience running a strength routine doing 5 sets across and increasing the weight every workout, it’s going to get really difficult to keep that up, and the reg parks program has a lot more going on than the stronglifts program.

I’ll parrot some generic advice. If you do end up running the reg parks and sprinkle in light cardio and bodyweight assistance exercises throughout the week, your nutrition and sleeping habits better be opposite the typical 19 year old college kids. Seriously, and hopefully you’re not living in a dorm.

Sidenote: I’m a college kid and 1/4 of my battle is trying to sleep Thursday-Saturday because all the kids around here are loud as hell and party all night. Depending on where you live you might have to get creative in this aspect as well.

5

My Goals:

  1. I want to become powerful and look powerful.
  2. I want to enhance my cognitive function with fitness, not be drained by it.
  3. All around fitness (strength, conditioning, mobility)
  4. Avoid injury.
  5. Keep the bodyweight skills in my program (unless strongly recommended against).

This to me sounds like you want to be more of an athlete as opposed to a bodybuilder.

Therefore look into WS4SB (Westside Barbell for Skinny Bastards). Have a look at the below link, if that’s how you want to be then WS4SB is for you.

DeFrancosGym.com - DeFranco's Training montage! - YouTube (this isn’t the one I wanted to show, but it’ll do for now.)

6

Ben Bruno wrote a good article about training at college:

7

Thanks for the advice radagasdcar. While I do have good habits, my freshman dorm has two fraternities housed in it. I expect the conditions to be less than ideal for sleep.

Consul, I read that article and have considered it.

You are right TrapsLatsnHat, I am oriented more toward athletics than bodybuilding. I like your suggestion of WS4SB, but I thought I needed to build a foundation of strength using a basic program before moving onto something like that. Does is not really matter as long as I am consistent?

8

Also radagasdcar, in Reg Park’s routine the first two sets are warmup sets and you only increase the weight when you can complete all the reps with good form. I thought it would be a good linear progression/foundation strength program to start with for the first six to twelve months.

9

[quote]Dare wrote:

  1. I want to become powerful and look powerful.[/quote]
    This will come from building strength on the basic lifts (squat, deadlift, bench press, overhead press, row, clean) and eating enough to build muscle.

Not sure how much exercise can significantly help this, but if a walk in the morning helps you fell better, more power to ya.

Or really, I’d expect you have a decent level of mobility from some of the gymnastic movements. The conditioning should be addressed by the cardio you’re currently doing, and the strength will come from almost any lifting plan. But like Wendler talked about in that article, realize that you can’t be great at all three at the same time. Prioritize, but don’t neglect.

This is, or should be, a goal for every lifter. It’ll come primarily from training smart (a well-designed program and not being stupid about cheating reps or using inappropriately-heavy weights).

A few ways to go about this. Either reserve one day a week as a bodyweight-only day (no other lifting) or use a few movements at the start of each lifting session, using the bodyweight stuff as a kind of “active warm-up”.

If it’s just about maintaining technique, low rep/low volume stuff should get the job done without impacting the heavy lifting (which could be an issue if you try interspersing the gymnastic stuff into a weight training routine).

It’s very hard to legitimately overtrain a well-conditioned person. Lifting weights three days a week, even while doing bodyweight exercises on those days, pretty much will not overtrain you no matter what. As was mentioned earlier, though, eating well and getting good sleep on a regular basis will definitely help everything.

10

[quote]Chris Colucci wrote:
…use a few movements at the start of each lifting session, using the bodyweight stuff as a kind of “active warm-up”.
[/quote]

x2. This works well for me.

11

You won’t need to, none of the exercises are what you call “advanced”. All you need to do is adjust the weight for the correct rep and sets.

12

[quote]Consul wrote:
Ben Bruno wrote a good article about training at college:

LOVE this article

13

[quote]Dare wrote:
I planned the low-intensity cardio to clear my head in the morning and to stay active on my rest days.[/quote]
Were you thinking something like a light jog?

14

Thanks for the advice Chris. I will definitely incorporate the gymnastics into my warmup and I will keep your points in mind.

TrapsLatsnHat, I see your point about the exercises. I was just talking about the fact that full-body routines are usually recommended to beginners.

Yeah chobbs, a light jog. Also I will be moving around campus all day with a light load, so I’m hoping that will count for something.

I really appreciate all the input guys. I will have to wait until I actually see the gym before I know what am working with, but I have a good feel for what to do. Maybe I will post again at the end of the year to let you know how I’ve been doing.

15

[quote]chobbs wrote:

[quote]Consul wrote:
Ben Bruno wrote a good article about training at college:

LOVE this article[/quote]

This is what I thought of when I saw the thread title. Here’s a full body program from Bruno that looks like you could fit some of your bodyweight stuff into-

16

Please correct me if I am wrong.

But what split you follow generally, and this I mean generally depends on goals and how often you can visit the gym, not if your a beginner. Also preference is a key factor. From trial and error some claim 3x full body splits to be better and others (including myself) prefer the 5 day split.

For me volume works better, so having a whole session targeting one muscle group from many different exercises is ideal. I have seen better progress from it, perhaps because I’ve only been training hard for 1 year and am making newbie gains, perhaps there is another reason. Either way it’s working so I won’t change it.

Try a 3 day split and a 5 day split, see what works for you. Do either of them for at least 3 months. Your body and you mentally will need to adjust to the plan so following it for 2 weeks is not a fair trial.

17

I guess what I am trying to ask you guys is what you would do (or would have done) during your college years. I understand that any well-designed program will work, but there are so many options and each one proclaims itself the best for maximal results. 5/3/1, WS4SB, 5x5, Starting Strength, Ben Bruno’s College Training Template, hell, even Pavel’s Power to the People Program. I appreciate all the advice, but honestly I am more split than ever.

What about something like Christian Thibaudeau’s Look Like a Bodybuilder, Perform Like an Athlete: High-Performance Mass Program?
http://www.T-Nation.com/free_online_article/most_recent/look_like_a_bodybuilder_perform_like_an_athlete

This looks like it would allow me to keep the bodyweight skills and also modulate the number of weekly workouts depending on outside stress (i.e. finals week).

18

Do whichever one appeals to you most. Not sure if you mentioned it, but are you working as well? If all you have to worry about is school and Lifting then I’d pick an upper/lower split, do something athletic a couple other days, eat like a horse and everything will kind of fall into place.

19

Okay WhiteFlash. Will do.

20

Good luck bud, keep us posted.