HELP w/ Training

Training Bodybuilding
1

Hi guys, I have been a long time lurker (about 3 years) and I have decided to post and ask for your help.

A little background:

I reached my top weight(since I started working out) this past Feb,196 at a height of 5’9’'. I was not lean by any means but I could bench 225 for 5 and squat 315 for 10. Deads were at 365 for 5, w/ straps.
Since then I have dropped a lot of BF. I was at 170, 8% this June benching 200x5 and squatting 300x9. Deads were at 340x5 with straps.
I went home for 5 weeks and my diet and training were not optimal.
I am 169 at about 9% and my strength is down about 5% (Bench 190-195x5 depending on day and squat 290x6-7).

I am looking to add strength and size at this point…obviously I want to minimize fat gain b/c I know first hand how hard it can be to get rid of it.

GOALS:
-Bench 240x5
-Squat 350x8

Gain 6-7lb of muscle

TIME FRAME: 12 weeks

School is going to be pretty demanding this semester, so here’s what I have come up with, to maximize recovery and meet my goals. Let me know what you think:

Day 1
-V-bar rows 5x6, 1 set of 15 reps
-Weighted chins 5x6, 1 set of max reps w/bodyweight
-EZ-bar bicep curls 3x6, 1 set of 21’s
-Barbel shrugs 2x12

Day 2
OFF, maybe cardio

Day 3
-Flat Bench 5x5, 1 set of max reps with 135
-Weighted Dips 5x6, 1 set of max reps with bodyweight
-Upright rows (wide grip) 3x6
-Abs: 3 supersets of 15+15 reps

Day 4
OFF

Day 5
Squats 5x5, 1 set of 20
Stiff legged deads 5x6, 1 set of 15
Calves: 3 supersets of 15+15 reps
Abs: 3 supersets of 15+15 reps

Day 6
OFF

Day 7
OFF or repeat cycle

Cardio will be about 60min/week, low intensity whenever I can

3 things I have learned from experience:
1)HIIT fucks up with my ability to recover, so I will opt not to do it
2) I use 5x6 in some exercises b/c I find “I feel it better” when I go up to 6 reps
3) I will not be doing deads initially b/c my lower back cannot take both heavy squats and deads. Might switch to deads later on.

Diet will start at 2200 kcal where I am right now and will go up to 3200 in about 8 weeks. I will be following JBs recommendation of P+F before training and P+C during and after.

I can post more on my diet if you want but I need to have my training figured out 1st, as I believe that to be weaker point.

Thanks in advance.

2

I know that I am not a regular but I see that a lot of people have looked at my thread but none has offered any feedback…
What do you guys think?

3

Thanos, My first comment is that the volume looks low if you are really trying to go for hypertrophy gains. I would look at
1)the OVT program CT posted, OR
2) the ABBH program by CW

They both contains a good focus on mass building with limit strength sets that would help you reach your goals on size and strength. As far as diet goes, while I think you staring point seems low, you have the right idea of building up as you stop to see progress…

4

I have one concern, and that is what is your logic in this routine. Why 5x5 squats but 5x6 SL Deads? Also why the 1 set of 20/15?

You could try wave-loading your sets, I.e. 1x8, 1x5, 1x3, 1x8, 1x5, 1x3.

That might work better for you than 5x5…

RIT Jared

5

"2) I use 5x6 in some exercises b/c I find “I feel it better” when I go up to 6 reps ".

My logic behind the high rep sets is what Ian king calls the back-off set,or something, where you go from low reps to high reps. It helps with hypertrophy and also the weight feels lighter.

ABBH did not give me great results and OVT killed my strength completely.

6

I like the training split, it’s pretty good. Lots of compound movements. The DL thing you can work around, though. Take the SLDL’s off of squat day, and put them on day 1 – after all, that’s your “pull day”, right? Which brings me to another idea: why not take the upright rows off of bench day and stick them in day 1, too? It’s a “pull” exercise, too. You could switch it with the curls and superset the curls with your dips on bench day. I’ve had great results with that. Otherwise, I’d echo what someone else said about the Kcals being a little low. You might recover better with some more energy running through you. Oh, one more thing about the training: don’t forget to explode up on the concentric part of the lift and bring it back down nice and slow on the negative. Every rep. You might not be able to do a lot of weight in the beginning, but it’ll pay off big time after a few weeks. Especially on the bench press. Good luck!!

7

[quote]lothario1132 wrote:
I like the training split, it’s pretty good. Lots of compound movements. The DL thing you can work around, though. Take the SLDL’s off of squat day, and put them on day 1 – after all, that’s your “pull day”, right? Which brings me to another idea: why not take the upright rows off of bench day and stick them in day 1, too? It’s a “pull” exercise, too. You could switch it with the curls and superset the curls with your dips on bench day.[/quote]

I think you should keep the SLDLs right where they are. A back squat with good form is a primarily hip dominant exercise, and the SLDL is also a hip dominant exercise, it is not a pulling exercise.

RIT Jared

8

There’s always Defranco’s Westside for skinny bastard…

9

RIT’s right, but I meant to put DL’s on day one, not SLDL’s. That was the workaround I proposed because thanos said his lower back recovery would be an issue if he did heavy DL’s and heavy squats. My bad.