Beginner Recomp Routine

Training
1

Hi Guys!

I know there are a lot of similar threads, but still I’d like some opinions.

Me (currently):
27y
6’4
205lbs
20-22% BF (guess)

Press - 125
Bench - 145
Squat - 200
Deadlift - 265

History:
2-16 Soccer, Tennis, Swimming, Track & Field, Basketball (in clubs)
16-22 nothing
22-24 Crossfit
24-now inconsistent training (e.g. 4weeks gym then 3months nothing, sometimes gym, sometimes KBs and sometimes bodyweight stuff)

Goal:
205lbs @ 10-12% BF
So I’m looking at a body recomposition. That means lose 15lbs of fat and replace it with 15lbs of muscle.

I want to stick to a routine for the next 6 months and would like your opinion on what routine to choose.
It’s important though that it’s not more often than 4x/week and that a single session doesn’t take longer than 60min.

I’m open for other suggestions, but right now I can’t decide between Greyskull LP (Plugins: DB Row, Pullups, EZ-Curls, Tricep Rope Extensions) or 531 BBB (with added Curls + Tricep Extensions like in the 3month challenge).
Light Facepulls and ShoulderR�¶k swings will be added to every session for shoulderhealth.

I’m tempted to do GSLP, but still have doubts whether it’s enough volume.
EDIT: I need to further explain this I think. I know the volume is enough to gain strength, but is it also enough to produce a good amount of hypertrophy (given sufficient rest+nutrition of course). I read GLSP (2nd) and 531 (2nd)+ Beyond 531 and Jim most of the time prescribes 5sets of 10-15 reps for assistance. Johnny on the other hand says that amount of volume is just volume for the sake of volume and you’re better of doing just 2sets of 6-10reps in which you really give it your all.

Thanks for your suggestions!
Ce

PS: Before someone starts with nutrition. Maintenance calories, +500 on training days, -400/500 (depending on 3x/4x session per week) on rest days. Most of the time clean stuff (meat, potatos, rice, veggies, nuts etc.) Start at 3000cal/day and adjust from there (FYI mostly sedentary during the day).

2

Recomp is mostly diet related as far as I’m aware.

For your weight - no nice way to say this - you’re weak as all hell (unless you put your lifts in kg and your bodyweight in lbs).

I get that you may not be built to press or bench, or even squat, but that doesn’t mean you can’t get much stronger if you make the effort. I’d focus on that. Get stronger and you’ll be doing more work. Do more work and you’ll build muscle and most likely lose fat.

Either program is fine I think.

3

You got that right, the lifts are in lbs. If I’d have a strict press of 120Kg I wouldn’t be posting questions in the beginner section :smiley:
I’m definitely not build for benching or squatting, but my numbers are still crap.

I definitely want to get stronger, no question about that. But I want to do it while looking good.
There’s so many guys out there that got stronger with SS, but even though they put 100+lbs on their squat and DL they were still the same skinny-fat guy.
I want to avoid that.

I know that recomping is mostly about diet, but you still need the right amount of stimulus for the needed hypertrophy. That’s basically the question here:
Do I need all that volume of 531 BBB or is GLSP providing enough stimulus for my goals?
Of course people and their needs are different, that’s why I’m asking for opinions.

4

Why are you inconsistent?

5

I guess it was a mix of different things
-having no real routine
-moving cities 3x in 3 years
-fitting the workouts into the schedule
-no good gym (I’m from Germany and unless you live in a really big city you really need to search for a gym that actually has some kind of power rack and olympic bars. My current gym only has 1 rack and from ~4pm to 10pm it is so crowded that you sometimes have to wait 30mins to use it and when you finally make it, people come up to you asking how long you’re going while you’re in a set… Gladly I can work out in the morning)

6

[quote]magick wrote:
Why are you inconsistent?[/quote]
I also forgot one big thing. There was no goal that I wanted to reach.
When I did all those sports as a kid I always wanted to be the best. The same with crossfit years later. There was always that one guy you wanted to beat in a workout.
After that it was just me and some weights, but no real purpose

7

May I humbly suggest you forget calorie counting?

Eat good quality food which consists of one from each of:

  • Vegetables (fruit may be optionally added)
  • Meat, fish or eggs
  • Oats, rice/quinoa or potato/sweet potato
  • butter, avocado, oil, nuts

Eat until you are satisfied 4x per day. If you are too soft, eat slower.

Then pick any program you like which is built on sound principles, at your level, unless the program is targeted at fucking you up, it will work.

8

[quote]Ce-Ce wrote:
You got that right, the lifts are in lbs. If I’d have a strict press of 120Kg I wouldn’t be posting questions in the beginner section :smiley:
I’m definitely not build for benching or squatting, but my numbers are still crap.

I definitely want to get stronger, no question about that. But I want to do it while looking good.
There’s so many guys out there that got stronger with SS, but even though they put 100+lbs on their squat and DL they were still the same skinny-fat guy.
I want to avoid that.

I know that recomping is mostly about diet, but you still need the right amount of stimulus for the needed hypertrophy. That’s basically the question here:
Do I need all that volume of 531 BBB or is GLSP providing enough stimulus for my goals?
Of course people and their needs are different, that’s why I’m asking for opinions. [/quote]

I’d go for BBB in your case. The volume will also let you get technically better at the lifts which will be a big help.

9

Today seems to be my Jim Wendler quoting day for some reason, so here we go:

[quote]Jim Wendler wrote:

Training Rules of Being Awesome: The Five Year Plan

Part Animal, Part Machine

I get an inordinate amount of questions on the EFS Q/A, email, and Facebook. Most of them are pretty easy to answer and just need a push in the right direction. But there are many, MANY questions from people that go into great detail about their special situation; how theyâ??d like to do â??thisâ?? but canâ??t do â??thatâ?? or are so misguided due to the massive amount of information out there. I admit it can all get a bit confusing.

But without an anchor in your training, you will do nothing but float out to sea â?? helpless and taking in water. Eventually you will submerge, tread water for a bit and either get eaten by sharks or just sink to the bottom. Iâ??ve seen it for 2 decades now. But itâ??s time to take a stand for what YOU believe in.

Besides not having the Training Anchor, people are too focused on tomorrow and NOT on today. The best example I can give is the game of football, something of which I can speak on some authority. Every team would like to win. But in order to win the game, you have to win the play. This means doing the right thing NOW. Maybe itâ??s a cut block, plugging a gap or simply making sure you have contain.

If everyone does everything right EVERY PLAY, the gameâ??s outcome is usually a win. Unfortunately, the eyes sometimes leave the grind of the ground and get too focused on the horizon. When this happens you lose sight of what is important â?? the play.

After much thought, here are the Training Rules of Being Awesome. You can make your own, using this template but make sure you have a reason and you believe in them. What I do ask for you is to stick to them for 5 years and see where you stand; if you are true to your rules, you will be part animal, part machine.

  1. Your program will be based on 4 exercises: squat, bench press, deadlift and the press.

  2. You will train in the weight room 2-4 days/week.

  3. You will do some kind of â??hardâ?? conditioning 3 days/week. This consists of pushing the Prowler, running hills, running stadium steps or pushing a car. If it looks hard and awesome, do it. If your mom can do it, put it aside until you go through menopause.

  4. You can do any kind of assistance work that you want provided that you do chin-ups/pull-ups and either barbell or dumbbell rows.

  5. If you are fat and out of shape, you must do some kind of conditioning every day. If I were fat and out of shape, Iâ??d be pushing a Prowler every day to combat the adipose.

  6. You will not program jump and hop on the latest trend â?? your program should be flexible enough to adjust/tweak to include new ideas while maintaining the core principles and integrity of the program.

  7. Diet â??If you need to lose fat: eat good food, less crap and eat â??rightâ?? 90% of the time. If you need to gain weight: eat more food. This is not a hard concept.

  8. Your body is not different than anyone else but your attitude can be.

  9. You will not be impatient; the grind is where character is made. Focus on what you have to do TODAY to make tomorrow better. This is a lifelong project.

  10. Whenever you lose focus, consult this list to clear your head and get you back on track. And when in doubt, squat and run hills.
    [/quote]

10

[quote]Ce-Ce wrote:
I know that recomping is mostly about diet, but you still need the right amount of stimulus for the needed hypertrophy. That’s basically the question here:
Do I need all that volume of 531 BBB or is GLSP providing enough stimulus for my goals?
Of course people and their needs are different, that’s why I’m asking for opinions. [/quote]
They’re really just kind of different approaches. GSLP, though it has 3 sets, is really all about the last set. The first two sets are more of a warmup, so you can go all out on the last set. The idea is that last set provides all the stimulus you need to grow. In the bodybuilding world, Dorian Yates training, and DC training use a similar idea. Either way, you can add in more work via the whole “plug-in” concept, where you feel you need it. (Also frequency method bodyweight work.)

5/3/1 addresses things differently, and one of those things is using higher volume with lighter weights. Bodybuilding has its analogue there too.

They’re just different approaches in how you balance volume, frequency and intensity. One may fit you better than the other but both work. I’d just pick the one that you feel resonates with you the best and do that.

If you do go down the Greyskull route, I’d recommend at least looking at the templates in the book to see how he put things together.

11

Texas method or madcow 5x5 + One day of HIIT on off day

12

Unless you have really stellar genetics for muscle growth, which you would know by now since you have been active in sports and have done some lifting, this is not something achievable unless you are talking about years of recomping.