Thib’s 2cents:
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Living in an apartment in Manhattan, my equipment is as follows:
40-110 lbs DB pairs in 10 lbs increments
Adjustable bench (incline, decline, flat, 90 degrees)
A few heavy thick yoga mats so I don’t break my wood floor and can foam roll
Mini bands as well as thick Westside bands
Recovery equipment: heating pad, gua sha, voodoo floss, foam roller, lacrosse balls, golf balls
Please feel free to critique my program. Note these are only working sets not warm ups and everything is done with DBs.
Monday:
Flat bench: 3x12
Seated overhead press: 3x15
Chest-supported rows (pause at top): 3x12
Decline skullcrushers: 3x20
Shrugs (3 second pause at top): 3x12
Hammer Curls: 3x15
Band pull-aparts: 3x20
Tuesday:
Bulgarian Split Squats: 4x8
RDLs: 3x10
Weighted Sit-ups: 4x10
Friday:
Incline bench: 3x12
Seated single arm overhead press: 3x8
Single arm bent over rows: 3x15
Seated overhead extensions (single DB): 3x10
Shrugs (3 second pause at top): 3x12
Hammer Curls: 3x15
Band pull-aparts: 3x20
Saturday:
Bulgarian Split Squats: 4x12
RDLs: 3x15
Weighted Sit-ups: 4x20
Your feedback is appreciated in advance guys, thank you.
Strength is probably gonna drop unfortunately but if u maintain muscle it’ll come back quick. So for powerlifting we are looking at the pecs, tris, and hams, glutes and quads and pretty much everything else is stabilising.
Are you like super strong or is like 100 lb DB presses x 20 like decent progression for you? We are concerned with sufficient loading and volume to at minimum get a stimulus to hold onto gains.
I’d hit more volume depending on how much you can recover from and go closer to failure (5 or less reps from failure). If that means hitting more reps per set don’t be afraid to go up to like 20.
To your set up I’d also:
Do bilateral squats variations. If you can get as much weight to your shoulders as possible you can do twenty rep, tempo, pause, constant tension (not locking out) squats.
Add single leg hip thrusts. You can put a DB in the crease of your leg/hip to load it up.
I feel like extra work on the lower back would be useful given heavy deads are out: Swap one of the RDLs for Stiff Leg Sweeping Style Deads and turn one of the rows into a bent over dumbbell row. Back raises off your bench would be good too if u have something or someone to act as counter weight for u.
Im with piggy here. A large part of strength expression is neural pathing and movement efficiency, both of which only come from doing the specific movements with heavy weights.
While we’re all losing this during isolation it does, fortunately, come back quickly.
So what we should absolutely be focusing on is maintaining muscle mass / hypertrophy, building a foundation for bigger weights still when we get back under the bar.
On that front your two upper body days look good on the whole, though I’d probably add another 3 sets of a back exercise.
Your lower body looks like its really lacking for volume, I mean just compare it to your upper body. 3 sets of RDLs twice a week as your only hamstring / hinge is really just skimming the surface.
With DBs that heavy you should absolutely be doing DB front squats, something like 5 x 8 before your Split squats would round out the workout a bit. Some good mornings with a DB or band would probably be helpful.
Nice I’m jealous, I’d try and get some heavier work with these once or twice a week like do incline bench or Standing military press 5x5, Kroc rows etc
Do you think kroc rows are really worth the investment, though? I mean, yeah, they worked for Kroc, and Wendler advocates them for deadlift lockout. But they’re essentially just heavy DB’s for high reps with sloppy form. I really only seem them for increasing grip strength in terms of carry over.
It’s a row with leg drive. You use your hips, glutes and back to get the weight up. Similar to a deadlift. Ultimately, the reason they worked for Kroc and maybe not for others is because he believed they would work. In that belief, he got up to rowing 300 pounds single armed. That’ll boost your deadlift regardless of who you are.
TLDR: Do exercises you like that work the muscles you need and profit.
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They have got a ton of positive feedback on these boards over the years. Then again If doesnt resonate dont try them.
Thanks for your response, guinea. Yes, I’m in agreement with you on my strength probably dropping so really doing bodybuilding at this point as you can see in my routine.
So my 3x12 on flat bench is with the 110 lbs DBs, my 3x12 (now 15) on incline presses are with 90 lbs. I can probably get 3x20 flat bench with 100s, but will try to work up reps to 20 on my 110s.
I’m adding in single leg hip thrusts and maybe pull throughs with a heavy Westside band. I can do back raises if my wife holds my feet, but the bench I got doesn’t have the foot holds.
For squats I was thinking of adding Goblet squats.
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Thanks for your feedback, Pinky. I’ve just got lighter dumbells, too, so I can do my favorite upper back and rear delt exercise: chest supported rear delt flyes, paused three seconds at the top, 3x15. These are a bitch and love them! I’m going to try Goblet squats and single leg hip thrusts to add lower body volume and also increase sets on my split squats and RDLs.
My biggest concern with lower rep higher intensity overhead press is safely cleaning the dumbells to my shoulders to press overhead. I don’t want to tweak my wrists.
There are some videos of Cailer Woolam doing barbell rows that would fit this description too.
Those really strong guys definitely know how to get really strong.
Hard to argue with the results.
ok sure just get in some heavier work, whatever moves you’re comfortable with
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Actually just did heavy overhead seated DB press safely. Put on my wrist wraps ultra tight, hang cleaned with palms in, zero issues, felt great!
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Sounds like good stuff. If u can flick ur DBs up without dying high rep sets of tempo, constant tension pause squats like dis
Ok so basically… T-ransformation over, I’m based in the UK and they’re saying gyms will close until September!, I need a bodyweight workout that’s challenging and I can get the principle of progressive overload, currently I have no space to put a rack so I planned to get a pullup bar and a weight belt with some weights to help supplement progressive overload.
Does anyone know of any good plans that aren’t say “bodweight squats”, “push ups” etc. thanks.
Check out Brian Alsruhe’s YouTube channel - he’s put out a couple “Corona” programs. His most recent video details the second of the two.
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Paul Sklar put some excellent bodyweight routines on his Instagram and Youtube channel.
Also, do consider getting some bands as well.
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I second this. I also have access to one kettlebell but most of my training is just using one band, they are incredibly versatile.
A well known UK protein site recently got some fairly heavy duty bands in stock
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I have some red minibands but I just purchased an airsoft like vest, as I can wear it and it has small holes I can attach some carabiner clips to, the idea is to attach some cable ties to some engineering bricks (it is great as they weigh 2.3kg and are 70p a piece since the crisis the UK weight prices have dramatically increased 2 pairs of 25kg plates are around £180), and use carabiner clips on the bricks joining them to the vest, this way I can do push ups in the park with weight, pullups with weight and neck curls with weight.
I’m mainly wanting to add size to my serratus anterior muscles and neck as it is helpfull in Muay Thai which is what I’ve kind of drifted off to now…
I just wondered if anyone knew of any serratus anterior isolation excercises I can add some heavy load to as I feel as though some of them are just too light, they don’t have to be your mainstream exercises they could be creative, thanks.