Cephalic Carnage: How Do You Train?

[joebassin]

So this is my final version. I will see how it goes and adjust accordingly.

2 way over 4 days using
day 1) chest, back, delts, day 2) tris, bis, legs

Day 1
-Bench press (8-10 reps + 2 heavier sets)
-BB row (8-10 reps + 2 heavier sets)

• HS decline bench press (ramping to a top set of 8-10 reps with 3 sets )
  -Pull Up (2x 8-12 reps)
  -Seated DB press (ramping to a top set of 8-10 reps with 3-4 sets)
• Abs

Day 2

• DB curl ( 8-10 reps + 2 heavier sets)
• CG bench press (8-10 reps + 2 heavier sets)
  -Back Squats (ramp to 8-10 reps).
  -Deadlifts (work up to 6-8 going heavier for 2 additional sets)
• Leg curl ( 3x6-8 reps)
• Calf

Day 3
Off

Day 4

• Incline DB press (4 sets ramping to 8-10 or 8-10 reps + 2 heavier sets; will try both)
• Pull up (8-10 reps + 2 heavier sets)
• Seated Military press (8-10 reps + 2 heavier sets)
  -One arm DB row (4 sets ramping to 8-10 reps)
  -Abs

Day 5

• Hammer curl (8-10 reps + 2 heavier sets )
• Over head DB extention (8-10 reps + 2 heavier sets)
• Squats (10-12 reps heavier for 2 sets
• RDL ( 4 set ramp to 8-12 reps)
  -Calf
• some grip work

Day 6 and 7
Off

I guess when ramping you can either do a top set a of say 6-8 or 8-10 reps or wathever and change your range from time to time or you can also ramp to say 6-12 reps; you start with a weigth you can do 6 reps with and you work it up to 12 reps from work out to work out wich give somewhat of a “natural” reps range variation. Which way you go would be a question of preference.

[yvanehtnioj]

[quote]Cephalic_Carnage wrote:
yvanehtnioj wrote:
Cephalic_Carnage wrote:
yvanehtnioj wrote:
Hey CC

I’m showing my friend how to squat and when he goes ATG, his lower back rounds a lot. Is this due to poor flexibility and mobility in the hips? Weak glutes? Any ideas?

Thanks for your time.

Can be multiple things. Need a video.

In any event, do you guys have a medicine or bosu ball available?

Yes, both are available. What will a bosu ball show though?

Simple.

The way you move when you try to pick up a big medicine ball between your legs (while keeping your low back somewhat arched), that’s how you squat…

You’ll need a somewhat wider stance (ball has to go in there, after all) and you “sit between your legs” sort of, rather than doing just a knee bend.
Also brace your abs.

Try it out… Might help.

And no, you don’t really have to go ATG if you just can’t manage without rounding.
I suggest that you pm bushidobadboy or sentoguy or so, they may be able to assist you better than I can by telling you which muscles to stretch or emphasize or whatever so that you can increase your mobility/flexibility (or that of your friend, actually).

[/quote]

Danke fuer deine Hilfe! Ich schaetze deine Antwort

[Cephalic_Carnage]

[quote]Undertow wrote:
Cephalic_Carnage wrote:
Undertow wrote:

Anything from body weight circuits to sled dragging to complexes Sled dragging. farmers walk, kb work etc should be ok, but I dunno about those complexes. Depends on what exactly you’re doing there.
We can set up your routine so that it’s a 4-way split similar with enough energy left in the tank to do GPP on saturday or so. Will perhaps not be the fastest way to 300, but that hardly matters… A 2-way may be a tad much, on the other hand.

I can stay away from the complexes. I stay away from heavy loads.
. KB here and there as well.
Do you have certain weak areas you want to bring up?
Nothing in particular, if I can get some pics I’m sure someone will find some weak areas haha. Ok, standard approach then.
If you’re not used to splits, you could also try, for example, the 2-way split over 4 days which I posted above…

And if 2 leg “days” are too much for you, we can make that one actual leg day and 4 upper body days split between chest/delts/tris and back/bis or so, many options.

My standard 4-way with 1/week/bodypart frequency is still:

1. Chest+Back (unless you’re terribly strong)
2. off
3. Legs
4. Delts+Traps
5. Arms (including heavy pressing for the tris… Works fine after delts unless you go crazy high with your volume)
6. off
7. off

I’ve currently been doing a 2 way split with 2 leg days and 2 upperbody days for the last maybe, 8 weeks or so. The 2 day of legs has been fine so far.

How come you want to change it ?

I’m thinking of going to a 5 day program or adding frequency by making the 4 week split I showed you rotate so instead of 3 days off, its 2 and the day I start lifting would change.
Also the exercises have been the same on those two days. I think I might benefit from more exercises.

Its been
squat
deadlift
goodmorning or leg curls and static lunges or lunges

incline
pullups
dips and chest supported 1 armed rows

If that routine has worked well for you, just add another layer of exercises…

1A
Squat
Deadlift

2A
Incline
Pullups
Dips
Chest-supported 1-arm rows

1B
Leg Press (or front-squat)
Good morning

2B
CGP,PL setup, elbows tucked at the bottom (grip as wide as necessary)
Rack Chins
Low-Incline DB Presses
Kroc Rows or Yates Rows

You know, something like that… though I don’t think I could survive such a routine for long…

Yea that looks somewhat brutal but I’d go down in a ring of fire.

Today I worked up to a 410 set of 5 Deadlift with straps
Standing barbell shoulder press 155-5 then 185-2
Bent over barbbell rows 185-5 205-3, that exercise felt kinda awkward for me, but i dont have dumbells or anything else to do rows real heavy like that (least not till school starts next week) [/quote] One-arm t-bar rows… Just wedge the barbell into a corner (if you’re allowed) or so?
Depending on arm length vs. torso length, bb bent-over rows can be a great or a shitty exercise… Besides, doing them after deadlifts isn’t the smartest idea in general [quote]
and curl 115-4 strict
135-2 strict none of that huge back lean

I’m about 190-195 by the way.
[/quote]
Solid numbers. No need to go that low in reps on curls though, that can end up in trouble.
Same for rows, and on rows it’s practically impossible to do scapular retraction etc when going so heavy that you only manage 2 reps.

Rows are more of a mid to high rep exercise.

[Undertow]

[quote]Cephalic_Carnage wrote:
Undertow wrote:
Cephalic_Carnage wrote:
Undertow wrote:

Anything from body weight circuits to sled dragging to complexes Sled dragging. farmers walk, kb work etc should be ok, but I dunno about those complexes. Depends on what exactly you’re doing there.
We can set up your routine so that it’s a 4-way split similar with enough energy left in the tank to do GPP on saturday or so. Will perhaps not be the fastest way to 300, but that hardly matters… A 2-way may be a tad much, on the other hand.

I can stay away from the complexes. I stay away from heavy loads.
. KB here and there as well.
Do you have certain weak areas you want to bring up?
Nothing in particular, if I can get some pics I’m sure someone will find some weak areas haha. Ok, standard approach then.
If you’re not used to splits, you could also try, for example, the 2-way split over 4 days which I posted above…

And if 2 leg “days” are too much for you, we can make that one actual leg day and 4 upper body days split between chest/delts/tris and back/bis or so, many options.

My standard 4-way with 1/week/bodypart frequency is still:

1. Chest+Back (unless you’re terribly strong)
2. off
3. Legs
4. Delts+Traps
5. Arms (including heavy pressing for the tris… Works fine after delts unless you go crazy high with your volume)
6. off
7. off

I’ve currently been doing a 2 way split with 2 leg days and 2 upperbody days for the last maybe, 8 weeks or so. The 2 day of legs has been fine so far.

How come you want to change it ?

I’m thinking of going to a 5 day program or adding frequency by making the 4 week split I showed you rotate so instead of 3 days off, its 2 and the day I start lifting would change.
Also the exercises have been the same on those two days. I think I might benefit from more exercises.

Its been
squat
deadlift
goodmorning or leg curls and static lunges or lunges

incline
pullups
dips and chest supported 1 armed rows

If that routine has worked well for you, just add another layer of exercises…

1A
Squat
Deadlift

2A
Incline
Pullups
Dips
Chest-supported 1-arm rows

1B
Leg Press (or front-squat)
Good morning

2B
CGP,PL setup, elbows tucked at the bottom (grip as wide as necessary)
Rack Chins
Low-Incline DB Presses
Kroc Rows or Yates Rows

You know, something like that… though I don’t think I could survive such a routine for long…

Yea that looks somewhat brutal but I’d go down in a ring of fire.

Today I worked up to a 410 set of 5 Deadlift with straps
Standing barbell shoulder press 155-5 then 185-2
Bent over barbbell rows 185-5 205-3, that exercise felt kinda awkward for me, but i dont have dumbells or anything else to do rows real heavy like that (least not till school starts next week) One-arm t-bar rows… Just wedge the barbell into a corner (if you’re allowed) or so?
Depending on arm length vs. torso length, bb bent-over rows can be a great or a shitty exercise… Besides, doing them after deadlifts isn’t the smartest idea in general
and curl 115-4 strict
135-2 strict none of that huge back lean

I’m about 190-195 by the way.

Solid numbers. No need to go that low in reps on curls though, that can end up in trouble.
Same for rows, and on rows it’s practically impossible to do scapular retraction etc when going so heavy that you only manage 2 reps.

Rows are more of a mid to high rep exercise.

[/quote]

Yea I figured those rows out after trying the 185 haha. Felt it a lot less.

Thanks for the compliment.

[Undertow]

[quote]Undertow wrote:
Cephalic_Carnage wrote:
Undertow wrote:
Cephalic_Carnage wrote:
Undertow wrote:

Anything from body weight circuits to sled dragging to complexes Sled dragging. farmers walk, kb work etc should be ok, but I dunno about those complexes. Depends on what exactly you’re doing there.
We can set up your routine so that it’s a 4-way split similar with enough energy left in the tank to do GPP on saturday or so. Will perhaps not be the fastest way to 300, but that hardly matters… A 2-way may be a tad much, on the other hand.

I can stay away from the complexes. I stay away from heavy loads.
. KB here and there as well.
Do you have certain weak areas you want to bring up?
Nothing in particular, if I can get some pics I’m sure someone will find some weak areas haha. Ok, standard approach then.
If you’re not used to splits, you could also try, for example, the 2-way split over 4 days which I posted above…

And if 2 leg “days” are too much for you, we can make that one actual leg day and 4 upper body days split between chest/delts/tris and back/bis or so, many options.

My standard 4-way with 1/week/bodypart frequency is still:

1. Chest+Back (unless you’re terribly strong)
2. off
3. Legs
4. Delts+Traps
5. Arms (including heavy pressing for the tris… Works fine after delts unless you go crazy high with your volume)
6. off
7. off

I’ve currently been doing a 2 way split with 2 leg days and 2 upperbody days for the last maybe, 8 weeks or so. The 2 day of legs has been fine so far.

How come you want to change it ?

I’m thinking of going to a 5 day program or adding frequency by making the 4 week split I showed you rotate so instead of 3 days off, its 2 and the day I start lifting would change.
Also the exercises have been the same on those two days. I think I might benefit from more exercises.

Its been
squat
deadlift
goodmorning or leg curls and static lunges or lunges

incline
pullups
dips and chest supported 1 armed rows

If that routine has worked well for you, just add another layer of exercises…

1A
Squat
Deadlift

2A
Incline
Pullups
Dips
Chest-supported 1-arm rows

1B
Leg Press (or front-squat)
Good morning

2B
CGP,PL setup, elbows tucked at the bottom (grip as wide as necessary)
Rack Chins
Low-Incline DB Presses
Kroc Rows or Yates Rows

You know, something like that… though I don’t think I could survive such a routine for long…

Yea that looks somewhat brutal but I’d go down in a ring of fire.

Today I worked up to a 410 set of 5 Deadlift with straps
Standing barbell shoulder press 155-5 then 185-2
Bent over barbbell rows 185-5 205-3, that exercise felt kinda awkward for me, but i dont have dumbells or anything else to do rows real heavy like that (least not till school starts next week) One-arm t-bar rows… Just wedge the barbell into a corner (if you’re allowed) or so?
Depending on arm length vs. torso length, bb bent-over rows can be a great or a shitty exercise… Besides, doing them after deadlifts isn’t the smartest idea in general
and curl 115-4 strict
135-2 strict none of that huge back lean

I’m about 190-195 by the way.

Solid numbers. No need to go that low in reps on curls though, that can end up in trouble.
Same for rows, and on rows it’s practically impossible to do scapular retraction etc when going so heavy that you only manage 2 reps.

Rows are more of a mid to high rep exercise.

Yea I figured those rows out after trying the 185 haha. Felt it a lot less.

Thanks for the compliment.

[/quote]

1A
Squat
Deadlift

2A
Incline
Pullups
Dips
Chest-supported 1-arm rows

1B
Leg Press (or front-squat)
Good morning

2B
CGP,PL setup, elbows tucked at the bottom (grip as wide as necessary)
Rack Chins
Low-Incline DB Presses
Kroc Rows or Yates Rows

Could I get some direct arm work in there also? Maybe on a seperate day or add it in with the upper body days? something like that you think?

[Cephalic_Carnage]

[quote]Undertow wrote:
Undertow wrote:
Cephalic_Carnage wrote:
Undertow wrote:
Cephalic_Carnage wrote:
Undertow wrote:

Anything from body weight circuits to sled dragging to complexes Sled dragging. farmers walk, kb work etc should be ok, but I dunno about those complexes. Depends on what exactly you’re doing there.
We can set up your routine so that it’s a 4-way split similar with enough energy left in the tank to do GPP on saturday or so. Will perhaps not be the fastest way to 300, but that hardly matters… A 2-way may be a tad much, on the other hand.

I can stay away from the complexes. I stay away from heavy loads.
. KB here and there as well.
Do you have certain weak areas you want to bring up?
Nothing in particular, if I can get some pics I’m sure someone will find some weak areas haha. Ok, standard approach then.
If you’re not used to splits, you could also try, for example, the 2-way split over 4 days which I posted above…

And if 2 leg “days” are too much for you, we can make that one actual leg day and 4 upper body days split between chest/delts/tris and back/bis or so, many options.

My standard 4-way with 1/week/bodypart frequency is still:

1. Chest+Back (unless you’re terribly strong)
2. off
3. Legs
4. Delts+Traps
5. Arms (including heavy pressing for the tris… Works fine after delts unless you go crazy high with your volume)
6. off
7. off

I’ve currently been doing a 2 way split with 2 leg days and 2 upperbody days for the last maybe, 8 weeks or so. The 2 day of legs has been fine so far.

How come you want to change it ?

I’m thinking of going to a 5 day program or adding frequency by making the 4 week split I showed you rotate so instead of 3 days off, its 2 and the day I start lifting would change.
Also the exercises have been the same on those two days. I think I might benefit from more exercises.

Its been
squat
deadlift
goodmorning or leg curls and static lunges or lunges

incline
pullups
dips and chest supported 1 armed rows

If that routine has worked well for you, just add another layer of exercises…

1A
Squat
Deadlift

2A
Incline
Pullups
Dips
Chest-supported 1-arm rows

1B
Leg Press (or front-squat)
Good morning

2B
CGP,PL setup, elbows tucked at the bottom (grip as wide as necessary)
Rack Chins
Low-Incline DB Presses
Kroc Rows or Yates Rows

You know, something like that… though I don’t think I could survive such a routine for long…

Yea that looks somewhat brutal but I’d go down in a ring of fire.

Today I worked up to a 410 set of 5 Deadlift with straps
Standing barbell shoulder press 155-5 then 185-2
Bent over barbbell rows 185-5 205-3, that exercise felt kinda awkward for me, but i dont have dumbells or anything else to do rows real heavy like that (least not till school starts next week) One-arm t-bar rows… Just wedge the barbell into a corner (if you’re allowed) or so?
Depending on arm length vs. torso length, bb bent-over rows can be a great or a shitty exercise… Besides, doing them after deadlifts isn’t the smartest idea in general
and curl 115-4 strict
135-2 strict none of that huge back lean

I’m about 190-195 by the way.

Solid numbers. No need to go that low in reps on curls though, that can end up in trouble.
Same for rows, and on rows it’s practically impossible to do scapular retraction etc when going so heavy that you only manage 2 reps.

Rows are more of a mid to high rep exercise.

Yea I figured those rows out after trying the 185 haha. Felt it a lot less.

Thanks for the compliment.

1A
[/quote] Alt. DB Curls, offset grip [quote]
Squat
Deadlift

2A
Incline
Pullups[/quote]
Dead Stop Extensions. : Jason Wojo lying tricep extensions - YouTube Well, you still have no overhead work in there etc… We can just make a different routine so that you can train all major muscle-groups if you want… [quote]
Chest-supported 1-arm rows

1B
[/quote] Pinwheel Curls with straps. [quote]
Leg Press (or front-squat)
Good morning

2B
CGP,PL setup, elbows tucked at the bottom (grip as wide as necessary)
Rack Chins
Low-Incline DB Presses
Kroc Rows or Yates Rows

Could I get some direct arm work in there also? Maybe on a seperate day or add it in with the upper body days? something like that you think?[/quote]

Oh, that routine was just a suggestion on how to modify your existing routine with a double-rotation…
You had no arm work in there, so I figured you didn’t want any (though CGP’s are an arm exercise).

[Surly_Duff]

C_C, what do you think about this split in the long term? (regarding imbalances that may develop, tendon problems, etc.)

Edit: I was thinking of a Dorian style workout, to reduce some of the volume. It looks like a lot now, but I usually do 3, sometimes 4 warm up sets before my work set. So my total amount of sets for a muscle group is 7-8, including warm ups, done once every 4-5 days.

I plan on working out 4 days a week, (M,Tu,Th,Sa) and just rotating the workouts:

Day 1
close grip bench
shoulder press machine (ramp to 8-12 rm)
cable raise side (warm up 1 x 10, work set 1 x 12-15)
push downs (ramp to 1 x 12)
db exts (1 x 12)
reverse pec dec (rear shoulders)

Day 2
squats (ramp to 5-8 RM)
leg press (1 x 10 warmup, 1 x 10 work set)
leg extensions 1 x 20 (don’t really know if these are needed; haven’t done ext’s in years)
leg curls (ramp to 10 Rm)
pull throughs (1 x 15)
reverse crunches 3 sets
ab crunch machine 1 x 15
calves

Day 3
lat pull downs (ramp to 8-12 rm)
wide grip pull ups (as many as I can do)
chins (max reps)
H.S. iso row
bb curls (ramp to 8-10 rm)
db hammer curls (warm up 1 x10, work set 1 x 10-12)
bb shrugs (ramp to work set)
f-arms

These next 3 days are done similar to the 1st 3; ramp to heavier weight, lower reps on the compound exercises, 1 warm up set + 1 work set on the secondary/isolation exercises.

Day 4
military bb press
db raise side
incline bb press
rope press downs
rev pec dec

Day 5
deadlifts
1 leg curl
walking lunges/leg press
leg exts
abs
calves

Day 6
db curls
rev bb curls
lats pull downs
db rows
shrugs
f-arms

I guess the tricep/elbow problems look problematic on day 4, but I can’t think of much of a solution. I’ve tried doing the split with just 1 chest compound exercise, 1 shoulder compound, 1 tricep isolation, and reverse pec dec, but I found it wasn’t enough volume to last until the next workout. I find triceps and biceps to recover pretty quickly, and they really seem to need a second exercise.

The main compound exercises are usually done to 5-8 rep max (unless I get more, then I’ll just pound away), and the isolation exercises are done higher reps (10-15) to get the volume in.

What do you think?

[Undertow]

[quote]Cephalic_Carnage wrote:
Undertow wrote:
Undertow wrote:
Cephalic_Carnage wrote:
Undertow wrote:
Cephalic_Carnage wrote:
Undertow wrote:

Anything from body weight circuits to sled dragging to complexes Sled dragging. farmers walk, kb work etc should be ok, but I dunno about those complexes. Depends on what exactly you’re doing there.
We can set up your routine so that it’s a 4-way split similar with enough energy left in the tank to do GPP on saturday or so. Will perhaps not be the fastest way to 300, but that hardly matters… A 2-way may be a tad much, on the other hand.

I can stay away from the complexes. I stay away from heavy loads.
. KB here and there as well.
Do you have certain weak areas you want to bring up?
Nothing in particular, if I can get some pics I’m sure someone will find some weak areas haha. Ok, standard approach then.
If you’re not used to splits, you could also try, for example, the 2-way split over 4 days which I posted above…

And if 2 leg “days” are too much for you, we can make that one actual leg day and 4 upper body days split between chest/delts/tris and back/bis or so, many options.

My standard 4-way with 1/week/bodypart frequency is still:

1. Chest+Back (unless you’re terribly strong)
2. off
3. Legs
4. Delts+Traps
5. Arms (including heavy pressing for the tris… Works fine after delts unless you go crazy high with your volume)
6. off
7. off

I’ve currently been doing a 2 way split with 2 leg days and 2 upperbody days for the last maybe, 8 weeks or so. The 2 day of legs has been fine so far.

How come you want to change it ?

I’m thinking of going to a 5 day program or adding frequency by making the 4 week split I showed you rotate so instead of 3 days off, its 2 and the day I start lifting would change.
Also the exercises have been the same on those two days. I think I might benefit from more exercises.

Its been
squat
deadlift
goodmorning or leg curls and static lunges or lunges

incline
pullups
dips and chest supported 1 armed rows

If that routine has worked well for you, just add another layer of exercises…

1A
Squat
Deadlift

2A
Incline
Pullups
Dips
Chest-supported 1-arm rows

1B
Leg Press (or front-squat)
Good morning

2B
CGP,PL setup, elbows tucked at the bottom (grip as wide as necessary)
Rack Chins
Low-Incline DB Presses
Kroc Rows or Yates Rows

You know, something like that… though I don’t think I could survive such a routine for long…

Yea that looks somewhat brutal but I’d go down in a ring of fire.

Today I worked up to a 410 set of 5 Deadlift with straps
Standing barbell shoulder press 155-5 then 185-2
Bent over barbbell rows 185-5 205-3, that exercise felt kinda awkward for me, but i dont have dumbells or anything else to do rows real heavy like that (least not till school starts next week) One-arm t-bar rows… Just wedge the barbell into a corner (if you’re allowed) or so?
Depending on arm length vs. torso length, bb bent-over rows can be a great or a shitty exercise… Besides, doing them after deadlifts isn’t the smartest idea in general
and curl 115-4 strict
135-2 strict none of that huge back lean

I’m about 190-195 by the way.

Solid numbers. No need to go that low in reps on curls though, that can end up in trouble.
Same for rows, and on rows it’s practically impossible to do scapular retraction etc when going so heavy that you only manage 2 reps.

Rows are more of a mid to high rep exercise.

Yea I figured those rows out after trying the 185 haha. Felt it a lot less.

Thanks for the compliment.

1A
Alt. DB Curls, offset grip
Squat
Deadlift

2A
Incline
Pullups
Dead Stop Extensions. : Jason Wojo lying tricep extensions - YouTube Well, you still have no overhead work in there etc… We can just make a different routine so that you can train all major muscle-groups if you want…
Chest-supported 1-arm rows

1B
Pinwheel Curls with straps.
Leg Press (or front-squat)
Good morning

2B
CGP,PL setup, elbows tucked at the bottom (grip as wide as necessary)
Rack Chins
Low-Incline DB Presses
Kroc Rows or Yates Rows

Could I get some direct arm work in there also? Maybe on a seperate day or add it in with the upper body days? something like that you think?

Oh, that routine was just a suggestion on how to modify your existing routine with a double-rotation…
You had no arm work in there, so I figured you didn’t want any (though CGP’s are an arm exercise).

[/quote]

Ahh I see. Yea I think I could use some direct arm work, especially after not really doing any in the summer.
Yea I might be better off going away from the 2 way split, it seems like I would have a ton of work on the upper body days to cover everything.
Maybe the 4 way split. Sorta like the one I mentioned earlier, and you mentioned a couple in the thread as well. Such as.
Day 1 Chest+Tris
Day 2 Back+Bis
Day 3 Legs+Abs
Day 4 Shoulders+Traps

[The_Mentalist]

Hey C_C!

I appreciate there are already a lot of people asking for advice and so there’s no rush on my question.

I’ll try give you all the stuff you need to be able to try give me some advice if you could.

[Wall of Text]

I’ve been training for around 6 and a 1/2 months now. I’m 5’10 and have gone from 135lbs to 170lbs and I want to get to 200lb and see what I think when I get there. I don’t know the BF% of either but to my knowledge it hasn’t increased too much. Maybe from about 9-10 to 12-13 MAYBE. As I said that’s just a guess.

My main lifts are 225lbs x 1 on Bench, 315lb x 1 on Deads and 270 x 2 on squat. Up until the past 4 weeks, progress was great and numbers were increasing across the board every workout. However the for the past 4 weeks, progress has stalled. I thought I’d wait a while before I changed anything because it could of been just a few off weeks. I wasn’t sure when to admit progress has stopped on my lifts, but I think 4 weeks is plenty right?

Now, I don’t think this is because my diet (It could be though, after all what do I know, I’m a rank beginner still). It’s far from great I’ll admit, but because I’m poor right now (no job) I have to live with what my mother buys. I still manage to get about 3500-4000kcal a day in me and 200-250g protein. (also is this a bit too surplus for my weight?

My days are pretty unactive at the moment as I said, no job, when I get one, it will no doubt be office based too. Occasionally I play a few 1 on 1 pickup games of basketball, so that and gym is the stretch of my physical exertion)

Maybe it’s the routine (I think I saw someone say to exhaust a routine till no more progress then change it, is this correct?). This routine is what I’ve done practically the whole 6 and a 1/2 months with just a few exercise swaps. For most things I’ll use a weight I can get 6 reps for, then progress on it till I can get 12 and up it.

The weight listed is roughly what I’ve been stuck on for the 4 weeks. The gym I’m at uses KG so sorry if the conversions are a bit terrible. I started writing ramping to on everything but realised it would be easier to say I ramp it on every exercise and leave it out.

Saturday - Chest:
BB Bench Press, 3 sets ramping to 187lb x 6-7
DB Incline, 3 sets ramping to 79lb x 7
Machine Incline, 3 sets ramping to 213lb x 6 (I don’t know how accurate the 97kg it is listed as, probably not very)
Pec Deck, 3 sets up to 169lbs x 8 (Same as above)

Sunday - Legs:
BB Squats, 4 sets to 242lb x 5
Horizontal Hack Machine, 3 sets to 253lb x 5
SLDL, 3 sets to 225 x 6
Single Leg Curl, 3 sets to 154lb x 7
Calf Raise on leg press machine, 395lb x 6

Monday - Arms:
CGBP, 165lb x 8
Standing Overhead Dumbell Press, 70lb x 9
Tricep Pulldown, 176lb x 11
BB Curl, 88lb x 10
Seated DB Curl 40lb x 7
EZ Bar Preacher 77lb x 8

Tuesday - Shoulders:
Seated DB Press, 66lb x 7
Lateral Raise Machine, 135lb x 8
Smith BTN, 100lb x 8
Seated Lateral Raise 26lb x 8

Wednesday - Back:
Wide Grip Pullups, 3 sets to failure, today I got 10, 6, 5
T-Bar Row, 154lb x 8
One Arm DB Row, 92lb x 6
Deadlift, 265 x 5

Thursday and Friday are off then Saturday it starts again.

I constructed that routine myself so fee free to tell me how god aweful it is

So again, I just wanted to know if it’s the routine or something that has made my progress stall and if I should move onto some other routine.

Oh and one more thing, I have this stupid habit and obsession of weighing myself twice a week and taking measurements like every 2. It was fine in the beginning with the easy early gains and seeing everything move everytime I looked.

Now I’m getting no more of that it was fuckin with my head for a little while when I didn’t see the scale show anything different every 3 days. I’d start eating more and more just to try and get the needle to move. I’ve stopped trying to eat dumb amounts to get it to move now, but still weigh myself far too much.

Long story short, how often should you be weighing and measuring yourself to see progression?

Thanks in advance for nay advice!

[/Wall of Text]

[ALKoHoLiK]

Hey Ceph

I was wondering when it is Squat week, I only do one set of DL 8-10?

[Cephalic_Carnage]

[quote]ALKoHoLiK wrote:
Hey Ceph

I was wondering when it is Squat week, I only do one set of DL 8-10? [/quote]

Yeah, or make it 2 non-failure sets (so it’ll be easier to keep your form good) of 5 reps each or so, something like that. It’s just for keeping your strength up and giving your hamstrings a bit of a workout.

To the other guys: I’ll answer you tomorrow/as soon as I can hunt down some spare time, sorry

[csjesse]

Just post it here

---

Day 1- Chest and back- reps are done 4010 (lowered in 4, up in 1)

*2 minutes rest between set, alternating A1 and A2 (bench, 2 min rest. Then pull ups. rest. back to bench, etc)

A1. Incline barbell bench (5, 4, 3, 2, 1) *i.e. 185, 195, 205, 210, 215.
A2. Wide Grip Pull-Ups (weighted) (5, 4, 3, 2, 1) *same idea

2 minutes rest between set.
B1. Flat dumb-bell bench- 3x10
B2. Chest supported row, or cable row- 3x10

1 Minute Rest.
C1. Parallel bar dips (lean forward to emphasize chest)- 2x10
C2. Chin-ups- 2x10 (or as many as you can)

Day 2- legs (same rules as above)
A1. Barbell Squats (NO smith)- (5, 4, 3, 2, 1)(Below parallel)
A2. Leg curl machine- (5, 4, 3, 2, 1)

B1. Traditional Deadlift- 3x8-10
B2. Standing barbell good mornings- 3x10

C1. Leg press feet placed high up- 3x15
C2. Barbell lunges- 3x10 (each leg)

Day 3- arms, and light shoulders

A1. Close-grip bench press- (5, 4, 3, 2, 1)
A2. Standing bar-bell curls- (5, 4, 3, 2, 1)

B1. Dips (stay upright to place more emphasis on tri’s)- 3x5 (heavy)
B2. Seated dumb-bell curls on 45 degree incline- 3x5 (heavy)

C1. Standing lateral dumbell raises- 2x10
C2. Shrugs- 2x10

I thow abs in after arms/shoulders, and calves after legs.

Whatcha think?

[ajweins]

CC-

Just wanted to say I am loving 5/3/1. After skipping the deload my reps per percentage have actually increased. Now it is making me tempting to run 3 cycles before a deload…

[Sagat]

This is one of most informative threads here. I only found it recently because i have not been following the BB forum much. I’ve been doing the 5/3/1 program for a while and i will use some of your ideas for assistance work, great stuff. Thanks for sharing your knowledge man.

[ALKoHoLiK]

Hey Ceph…

I’ve notice that I squat a lot better with a low bar squat. I was wondering is low bar squatting going to impede or get me as much muscle growth as high bar?

Thanks

[GrindOverMatter]

Cephalic Carnage,

Is any variation of 531 worth doing if you can’t include a bilateral squat movement with your excercise rotation? i have some injury issues and i think im going to have to focuss on single leg work for the next LONG TIME before it ever gets balanced out. Im interested in checking out one of your variations on 531, but i wonder if there’s any point if i can only do single leg work. (id probably do the single leg barbell squat movement decribed in that recent article on here…the one with the back leg elavated on a bench) What do you think?

[UFgator11]

Hey CC, i talked to you a little over a month ago about a poorly designed program from a magazinei had been doing. i’m doing a 3 day split now 6 days a week- chest/back, shoulders/arms, legs/calves, repeat. bench rep weight is up 20 lbs, deadlift is up 30 lbs, military bb is up 30 lbs, squat is up 20 lbs. i just wanted to say thanks for the input

[300andabove]

[quote]ajweins wrote:
CC-

Just wanted to say I am loving 5/3/1. After skipping the deload my reps per percentage have actually increased. Now it is making me tempting to run 3 cycles before a deload… [/quote]

Do not do that, don’t even joke about it

Wendler will kick your ass.

[300andabove]

[quote]ALKoHoLiK wrote:
Hey Ceph…

I’ve notice that I squat a lot better with a low bar squat. I was wondering is low bar squatting going to impede or get me as much muscle growth as high bar?

Thanks[/quote]

Whatever works for you works for you, let no one tell you otherwise.

If your

A) Getting Stronger

B) Getting Bigger

C) Enjoying the movement.

Then go with it.

[300andabove]

[quote]GrindOverMatter wrote:
Cephalic Carnage,

Is any variation of 531 worth doing if you can’t include a bilateral squat movement with your excercise rotation? i have some injury issues and i think im going to have to focuss on single leg work for the next LONG TIME before it ever gets balanced out. Im interested in checking out one of your variations on 531, but i wonder if there’s any point if i can only do single leg work. (id probably do the single leg barbell squat movement decribed in that recent article on here…the one with the back leg elavated on a bench) What do you think?[/quote]

The ski squat - bulgarian squat or whatever people are calling it these days, has limited room for advancement in regards to using a barbell.

Would you REALLY want to load up alot of weight then try get one leg behind the other ?

Use Dumbells if you wish to do it, get masking tape or some rope and tie DB’s together to keep going. using a Barbell is a little bit suicidal.

As for using 5/3/1 go with it, won’t HURT you to do it and if you like the program then run it.