[quote]Brett620 wrote:
There is some very good information in this thread.
– How old are you?
– I know you said you do 5/3/1 BBB… what was your template/split specifically?
– Have you had blood work/T-levels checked?
– How much conditioning do you do on top of this (if any)?
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If this is directed at me:
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28
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Split currently is 531 BBB with a large bit of Jokers and FSLs.
M - Flat Bench, with Inc or Dec Bench BBB. Chest/Tri assistance from 1-arm DB bench, CGBP, Pec Deck/Flyes, and some weighted chins and DB rows for antagonist work
T - Back Squat, wtih Front Squat BBB. Leg ext, leg curl, leg press, and calf assistance, with weighted hyperextensions and ab work.
W - Off
Th - Standing Mil press, with seated press BBB. Front, seated side, and incline side raises, rear delt work, shrugs, and some weighted chins.
F - Deadlift, with SLDL BBB. Leg curl and ext, and lots of row assistance, plus posterior chain and ab work.
Sa/Su - usually off, but sometimes will do an arms/forearms/calf circuit depending on feel.
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Not had any bloodwork done, as I’ve never had any real issues to warrant it and figured I was likely “normal” enough.
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When I first got back into the gym after a long break, I had some weight to drop. I tacked on some cycling after weights, and sprints on off days, but I have no trouble shedding weight, so that only lasted for ~6 weeks. As it is now, I do no cardio/conditioning, outside of playing sports on the weekends.
[quote]Brett620 wrote:
My situation is kind of similar, but I’m 5’10-11 started at a lean 155/160 with long limbs. My squat was embarrassing, and it still lags to this day. [/quote]
I’ve been told by many other long-limbed lifters that back squats are just not favorable for us, due to leverage issues. I don’t like to make excuses, but it seems that there is definitely a correlation. I’ve started doing more front squatting, and really feel that far more in the proper muscle groups, and with much better form.
[quote]Brett620 wrote:
With me personally, I made my best gains on a 3 day fullbody or a 4 day upper/lower split. Once I paid as much attention to my diet as my workouts, I made progress. I know that for me, FREQUENCY was the key. Low volume, but frequent workouts. I made zero progress on the 5 day split hitting each body-part 1 day a week.
I progressed a lot in the deadlift, but never saw much gains in size. The 3 exercises that really helped me put on weight were:
- weighted pull-ups (my favorite. both for back and arms. put 1" on my arms)
- Front Squat (finally saw improvements with the tape measure)
- Frequent overhead pressing (standing barbell, seated DB, Smith-Machine high incline)
Every week I would do 1 heavy session (like CT’s ramp style w/ clusters), and another higher day training at 60%-70% keeping short of failure.
I’m now 185. I’m not as lean, but at least my friends and co-workers now approach me for “workout advice”. To me, that’s when I finally occurred to me that I made progress, since I still am critical of myself.[/quote]
Yep, I love all 3 of those as well. And same thing with the deadlift; I can pull a decent amount of weight, but it doesn’t net me much of anything in size gains. Likely just a body-type thing.
After reading all of the replies, it sounds like a Push/Pull/Legs split works better for us than the more traditional “one part per week” targetting. I really was intrigued by the Dan John style of one lift per day, and could probably draw up something like:
M - Cleans
T - Bench
W - Squats
Th - Rows
F - OHP
Sat - Deadlift
Sun - OFF
And basically, use that template with the Layers/HDL type programming (with carries!) that has been tossed around and laid out by some other posters. This would be high frequency, but lower duration than I’m doing now, as well as focus on intensity and simplicity, rather than trying to hit 15 exercises per workout. I just worry that I’m not nearly as smart/experienced as the coaches that made the programs, and don’t want to assume I know better.