'Beginner' Seeking Help

Training Beginners
1

aim: strength and size
weight: 73.3kg in morning (161 lbs)
age: 23
history: lifting on and off, looking to get serious, ive wasted enough time. have basic knowledge.

side note:
-im not worried about little things like my rear delt not being big enough, or minor stuff like that. im aware that i weigh <165lbs, so if possible, please dont add comments like “you need some isolation work for watever muscle”
-tues, thurs, sat=grip work. i dont need any help or suggestions for this
-no bench pressing, due to an older shoulder injury. cgbp and overheads are fine, i prefer db’s anyway.

-calves are performed on tues and sat before my grip training. 1 set of 15 reps with a slow negative and a long pause at the bottom (like the DC training method for calves). i also perform 2 sets of controlled reps (2 secs up, 2 sec pause, 2 secs going down, 2 sec pause) of as many reps with a given weight. if i top 30 reps in either set, i increase weight for next week.

MON
squat 4x6-8 (to parallel, hip joint goes just below knee joint)
wide grip bb rows 3x8-10
ghetto GHR 4x8 (pushing up from the floor, doing -ves)
chinups 4x6-8
band crunches 4x8-12

WED
cgbp 4x8-10
chinups 3x10-12
inc db press 4x10-12
bb rows 3x8-10
band oblique twists 3x6-10 (imagine a baseball player swinging a bat, but with a band as resistance, done slowly in control, no explosive)

FRI
romanian deadlift 4x8-10
reverse lunges 4x8
chinups 3x8-10
bb rows 4x5
side bends 3x8-10

SUN
bb military press 4x6-8
dips 4x8-10
inc db press 4x10-12
lever work with sledgehammer, overhead, front, back, side.

DIET:
i get around 3200-3500 calories a day, with 35-40g protein in each meal, healthy fats in the last 2-3 meals and carbs in the 1st 3-4 meals. carbs include potatoes, oats, brown rice. fats include olive oil, almonds, walnuts, peanut butter (natural). proteins include soya, milk (semi skim), whey protein, cottage cheese, tofu.
i dont eat any eggs, meat or fish.

REST:
i get enough sleep each night, 8-9 hours.

ADDED NOTE: id like to also do some cardio, but tend to steer away from low intensity long duration type cardio. a cycle machine at low intensity is probably the only thing i would do if i were suggested to perform low intensity. i dont mind sprints, but would prefer to follow some form of gpp cardio, sandbag carries for 20 mins or so. would this be okay or would i end up tiring myself and overtraining? i was thinking of doing this on tues, thurs, sat (2 days for sandbag, 1 for long duration cycling or for sprints?)

thank you in advance to your posts

2

I don’t understand the reasoning behind your split.
For example; you are performing barbell rows 3 times a week on a 4 part split. If your intensity on the exercise was high enough there would be no reason for the high frequency.

3

[quote]MC sp3 wrote:
I don’t understand the reasoning behind your split.
For example; you are performing barbell rows 3 times a week on a 4 part split. If your intensity on the exercise was high enough there would be no reason for the high frequency. [/quote]

i assumed the push and pull exercises needed to be level in terms of sets? so i gto around 20 sets of each, hence the added backwork on a 3rd day.

should i keep it to 2 days?
do i still need to keeep tht balance between sets? (was there ever a need?)

thanks for a reply

4

Have you been using this program for while?
You have exercises that stress the lower back in every workout. BB military press places minor to moderate strain on the lower back, so, the way I read it, your back is either supporting or moving a heavy load four days/week.

5

[quote]eggywontgrow wrote:

i dont eat any eggs, meat or fish.

[/quote]

There’s your problem right there.

There’s other options for back instead of BB rows. Hit some DBs or cable rows.

Other than that, a basic strength routine like starting strength would be better than this. But it’s really up to you.

I don’t understand how you can’t bench, but can do BB military and dips.

6

http://www.T-Nation.com/readArticle.do?id=548070

On cardio.

Man, I’m posting that link a lot lately.

Basically: you can use cardio/energy systems work to facilitate recovery for lifting more heavy shit. Sounds like a good idea to me.

7

cheers for the help. yeah, i saw the starting strength thread after i posed this, but ive posted in there also and have decided to go with that. in fact, you helped me there also, cheers!

no need to reply in this thread anymore guys, cheers for the info :slight_smile: