Hi Fellas, when it comes to the bodybuilding area of working out I am a novice. Recently I have been training for USMC Boot Camp & have focused on staying fit and doing calisthenics. I’ve found success but at 5"8 and 140 pounds Im pretty small & want to put on size before being starved at boot camp. I’d like to know a good training split before I begin bulking & basic knowledge of how I should train to get as good as the results I can . ( 5 day split is preferred )
I also have some questions
Should I pyramid sets?
Should all the exercises I do be in High rep ranges?
The most important part of “bulking” is your diet. You can get big hitting 5x5, 3x10, working up to a heavy single and then repping out, whatever… people respond differently to the same scheme because no one has the exact same genetic makeup of fast and slow- twitch fibers, so your best option until you know how you respond (aka have years of training) is hitting a wide range of rep ranges, typically compound movements respond best to lower and isolation to higher, but of course that is a gross generalization.
I know how you feel getting out of boot camp and feeling weak (Navy, so not as tough as you had it I’m sure), so here’s what I did, for whatever it’s worth. I did a full body 5x5 routine squatting 3 days a week until my strength plateaued, then I did the Westside for Skinny Bastards template which you can find on this site. I found that with 3 PT sessions a week, this program was the best choice for me as it only has one heavy day for the lower body per week. Once I was finished with A school and was responsible for my own PT I switched to 5/3/1 and have had success ever since. I gained weight at about the same rate the entire time, with my body fat fluctuating (completely dependent upon stress, alcohol consumption, and diet, conditioning was sprinting). While my goal was strength, I still went from 185 and weak out of boot camp (barely able to deadlift 315) to 220 and much stronger (dealifting 405x10 last month, I aim for 410x10 on Wednesday) and my bodyweight strength is approximately the same (89 pushups each PRT). I know this wasn’t posted in the powerlifting forum, but I will just say this: At least at first, gaining strength will bring size.
[quote]Zoro wrote:
The most important part of “bulking” is your diet. You can get big hitting 5x5, 3x10, working up to a heavy single and then repping out, whatever… people respond differently to the same scheme because no one has the exact same genetic makeup of fast and slow- twitch fibers, so your best option until you know how you respond (aka have years of training) is hitting a wide range of rep ranges, typically compound movements respond best to lower and isolation to higher, but of course that is a gross generalization.
I know how you feel getting out of boot camp and feeling weak (Navy, so not as tough as you had it I’m sure), so here’s what I did, for whatever it’s worth. I did a full body 5x5 routine squatting 3 days a week until my strength plateaued, then I did the Westside for Skinny Bastards template which you can find on this site. I found that with 3 PT sessions a week, this program was the best choice for me as it only has one heavy day for the lower body per week. Once I was finished with A school and was responsible for my own PT I switched to 5/3/1 and have had success ever since. I gained weight at about the same rate the entire time, with my body fat fluctuating (completely dependent upon stress, alcohol consumption, and diet, conditioning was sprinting). While my goal was strength, I still went from 185 and weak out of boot camp (barely able to deadlift 315) to 220 and much stronger (dealifting 405x10 last month, I aim for 410x10 on Wednesday) and my bodyweight strength is approximately the same (89 pushups each PRT). I know this wasn’t posted in the powerlifting forum, but I will just say this: At least at first, gaining strength will bring size.[/quote]
Interesting, I will try the 5x5 for the month or 2 while bulking & see what happens. Then will check out the Westside one. Thanks for the help my man.
There’s tons of 5x5 programs out there… I did the stronglifts version which is A) squat, bench, row. B) Squat, overhead press, deadlift. You alternate A and B each workout and the Deadlift is working up to one set of 5 reps instead of working up to 5x5 with the same weight with every other excercise… In my experience, It was a good program for getting comfortable with the squat, but I would do either 5 sets of pullups or a standard bent over row instead of the pendlay row the stronglifts program advocates. As long as you work on your Squat, Bench, and Deadlift, and get the form down for those, any program including those is probably fine for a novice
Beginner gains are like crack, we’re all chasing that same high of getting stronger every session and growing every time we look in the mirror that we had when we first started.
As a beginner it doesn’t take much weight or volume to grow, assuming adequate calories, beginners will increase muscle mass from low intensity and low volume sessions which can be quickly recovered from and repeated.
To take the best advantage of beginners gains, beginners need to do just enough to illicit adaptation, and do it frequently.
This is why a beginner such as yourself should always do a low volume full body program such as Starting Strength, Greyskull LP or Pendlay’s 5x5 for beginners.
As someone advances they need to increase volume and/or intensity to continue to progress. Eventually, the time needed to recover from that volume and/or intensity increases beyond their ability to recover by the next session. Which is why training is ‘split’ in various different ways as people advance.
By doing a split routine too soon you would be limiting the speed of your development (one or two bouts of growth per muscle group as opposed two three). By using more volume or intensity than you need you would also be giving yourself nowhere to go as you advance, like emptying all of your bullets to kill the first enemy you meet; when just one would do. Do something simple and proven to work for beginners now, save splits and higher volumes for when you need them.