Total body training is the only way to go.
First I’d recommend bench pressing. Every time you go to the gym. Thats your pushing exercise. After you done with that, do barbell curls. Barbell curls double as a lower body exercise too, if you make sure you do them in the squat rack. Thats all there is to it.
[quote]spc.stewart30 wrote:
Total body training is the only way to go.
First I’d recommend bench pressing. Every time you go to the gym. Thats your pushing exercise. After you done with that, do barbell curls. Barbell curls double as a lower body exercise too, if you make sure you do them in the squat rack. Thats all there is to it. [/quote]
x2. Good Advice.
I like both. Bedsides, hard to argue that a Bill Starr type routine does not work.
[quote]jimg21 wrote:
I like both. Bedsides, hard to argue that a Bill Starr type routine does not work. [/quote]
Nearly all routines “work”. That doesn’t mean they are the best way to gain the most muscle mass.
[quote]Professor X wrote:
jimg21 wrote:
I like both. Bedsides, hard to argue that a Bill Starr type routine does not work.
Nearly all routines “work”. That doesn’t mean they are the best way to gain the most muscle mass.[/quote]
Good point. I get more strength gains v. size gains from TBW. Still, I have known a few guys put on some tremdous mass with TBW
[quote]jimg21 wrote:
Professor X wrote:
jimg21 wrote:
I like both. Bedsides, hard to argue that a Bill Starr type routine does not work.
Nearly all routines “work”. That doesn’t mean they are the best way to gain the most muscle mass.
Good point. I get more strength gains v. size gains from TBW. Still, I have known a few guys put on some tremdous mass with TBW
[/quote]
I haven’t seen anyone make “tremendous” progress yet. Maybe your idea of “tremendous” is a little less than mine.
[quote]Professor X wrote:
jimg21 wrote:
Professor X wrote:
jimg21 wrote:
I like both. Bedsides, hard to argue that a Bill Starr type routine does not work.
Nearly all routines “work”. That doesn’t mean they are the best way to gain the most muscle mass.
Good point. I get more strength gains v. size gains from TBW. Still, I have known a few guys put on some tremdous mass with TBW
I haven’t seen anyone make “tremendous” progress yet. Maybe your idea of “tremendous” is a little less than mine.[/quote].
My idea of progress for gaining muscle mass probably is less then yours but that is beside the point. I am just trying to say that TBW is just one of many ways to train and to resort back to one on occasion, as I do, can be a good way to get out of a rut.
The best way? Doubtful. Useful? Certainly. The individuals I am referring to seemed to have a better overall quality of muscle mass then people I have known that used splits. They used a combo of Olympic lifts and powerlifts. Lifts of 600 + deads and 300 to 350 push presses were common so they obviously trained hard. Maybe they were the exceptions and not the rule.
And yes, I do agree that sticking with basic lifts like rows, squats, benches, power cleans, deadlifts, etc. can build a some good mass on a split routine
I think part of the resistance to TBW is due to lack of variety/intensity from some people that try it. There is a misconception that TBW is about high reps with lower weights, little rest between exercises, same exercises every day, etc. It doesn’t have to be that way.
I don’t really practice TBW, more of a hybrid approach where I work different forms of chest/back every day but vary the other muscle groups from one workout to the next.
I find that I can actually go more intense with each workout, because I put everything I have into my 3 sets of chest and 3 sets of back every day. By the end of the week, I have pushed a lot more iron with chest and back than would have been the case if I had limited it to one or two days per week.
TBW v. Splits will always be debated…like volume v. HIT, train to failure v. non-failure, etc…
[quote]jimg21 wrote:
TBW v. Splits will always be debated…like volume v. HIT, train to failure v. non-failure, etc…[/quote]
And none of that shit is what truly matters, that’s the saddest part about these debates…
[quote]Cephalic_Carnage wrote:
jimg21 wrote:
TBW v. Splits will always be debated…like volume v. HIT, train to failure v. non-failure, etc…
And none of that shit is what truly matters, that’s the saddest part about these debates…
[/quote]
Exactly, do whatever the hell you want. It’s your body. If you’re pleased with your results, great. But, don’t get pissy if you post pictures and the rest of us are less enthusiastic about your progress.
[quote]Vanilla-Gorilla wrote:
Cephalic_Carnage wrote:
jimg21 wrote:
TBW v. Splits will always be debated…like volume v. HIT, train to failure v. non-failure, etc…
And none of that shit is what truly matters, that’s the saddest part about these debates…
Exactly, do whatever the hell you want. It’s your body. If you’re pleased with your results, great. But, don’t get pissy if you post pictures and the rest of us are less enthusiastic about your progress.[/quote]
I was actually talking more about how people will get hung up on whether this or that is better…
Example failure vs. non-failure. Firstly this obviously depends on tons of other parameters and whatnot, but it’s also not what’s getting you bigger.
Splits vs. TBT… Just by doing one or the other you won’t simply magically get big just like that.
Pull-ups vs rack chins or pulldowns… None of them will give you a wide back just because you simply do them.
You have to get significantly better at doing them! A lot more weight than what you used to use, a better stretch, more reps, whatever.
The strength gains for a decent amount of reps on your top-set (or on several sets if you use very low reps as a base-range) are what makes you big.
Those strength-gains/structural adaption in turn aren’t possible to achieve if you eat 1500 calories a day unless you’re the world’s smallest midget.
And so it goes.
The rest is all just flavoring…
How you achieve those strength gains makes a difference in joint-health/injury risk and such, time spent training etc etc and how fast you gain strength…
But it’s still all just flavoring, not the main, important aspect of training.
Totally depends on what the individual wants/likes/responds to/whatever.
CC–
I feel ya.
People need to look for the markers of succes within a sample of individuals who have already achieved what they desire. Those who have made tremendous strides–although their paths may initially seem different–ultimately travelled many of the same roads towards success.