First off, thanks to all who posted in my ‘what defines a good workout’ thread. Great stuff in there.
So I’ve held off having anyone outside of my gym take a look at this because to be honest, I’ve been shying away from the possibility that someone might tell me it’s shit and I’d have to accept that I’m not a mastermind and my ego would be hurt.
But fuck my ego.
My aim was to simply ensure that every part of my body is being worked over the course of the week so that I could keep or gain muscle while I am losing fat. I understand that there’s some controversy over the ability to do that, but I think you understand what I’m getting at.
Remember I’m technically a beginner so gains come pretty easy at the moment .
The information below follows the order in which I do the exercises as well.
Day 1
CHEST & ARMS
Bench Press
Chin Ups
(alternate)
Dips
Incline Flies
Cable Pull Down ‘Flies’
Cable ‘Curls’
(alternate)
Cable Pull Down (Triceps)
Day 2
LEGS
Squat
Leg Press
Glute Ham Extension
Bulgarian Split Squats
Calf Extensions
Day 3
BACK & SHOULDERS
Deadlifts
Pull-Ups
Military Press
Bent-Over Rows
Standing Lateral Raise
Bent-Over Lateral Raise
Shrugs
All Exercises are 4 Sets
All Sets are 6 Reps
All Sets aim for 45-60 seconds rest
I finish all workouts with 3 ‘to-failure’ farmer’s walks.
It’s not bad.
You’re squatting, deadlifting, and pressing. The work seems more or less balanced.
But…
Honestly man, why don’t you pick up a cookie cutter program and work it? If you do what you’ve posted, you’ll get good results. The organization could be improved, and you’ll find that out when you actually try it, but why bother? Why not pick up the tried and true?
Maybe it’s because every beginner thinks they’re special. Maybe it’s because every beginner thinks they need to earn their stripes and figure things out for themselves. Maybe it’s because all the big boys do it. Maybe it’s because the rest of the boards talk so much shit about the cookie cutter programs that come out of M&F and FLEX that all pre-made programs get spattered the same shade of shit. But really, if you haven’t been training that long, pick a goal (fat loss/build muscle + strength) and pick a ready made program for it (I recommend WSP/ Rippetoes respectively), compliment it with solid diet and gusto and you’re practically guaranteed to see incredible results in a very short amount of time.
So why bother with your own at this stage in the game?
You know before, I was going to write a pre-emptive response in line with what you said, but I thought ‘no one gives a crap about that right now’
I don’t know if every beginner feels the need to develop their own program. I only know what I know.
I went about a few months ago looking for the ‘perfect’ exercises (as I think all newbies do) and the ‘perfect’ sequence, ‘perfect’ rest times, ‘perfect’ sets and reps… so I could get the fundamentals in and not need to rely on something else. You know that mentality of wanting to know the ‘why’ something works so you can apply it anywhere rather than just following blindly?
And also, I want to do this kind of thing for a living in the next few months. I love it and everything about it. So I designed the program originally and in practice I had to change a lot, fine tuning things so that I could get the most out of it.
For example, I had pull ups and chins at the end of my workouts… I did chest and back on one day and shoulders and arms on another. Things like that.
Finally… I’m writing this program actually for my brothers for xmas. They’re young (I’ve got to read up about teenage bb’ing now!) and I’ve been urging them to train and now they want to. I’m buying them an EZ curl bar and some weights and I want to design a program for them, the personal touch you know?
As for me… I’m actually stopping my program and will start up on a cookie cutter program as soon as I find one I like!!
I hope that explains my motivations better.
Thanks, Otep for making the effort to respond. Very cool.
BUT - Now I’m fascinated… How would you improve the organisation further?
When I first started I tried the “create a program for your self thing” and it was a waste of time. Unless you really know what you are doing through experience you should trust an expert. That being said I have seen great gains with Defranco’s WSFSB program, but it will depend on your goals. BB probably not a good program. If you want to be a strong well round athlete then ya it should be good. Power lifting? You will probably have to tweak it a bit, but the basics are there. Deads, Squats, and Presses as they say are golden after that it’s gravy.
Plus you can get a lot of good info in the forum just try and get through the BS for the good stuff it is definitely there.
Yeah I agree with all of the above, I tried my own program, and it worked only because I was so new to it all. When I started working on an actual program that was specifcally designed for my goals (explosive strength & max strength) I was able to get better WAYYY faster then I ever thought possible. There are a million programs out there, but I would look no further then T-Nation for AT LEAST 8-12 Months. Besides, it gives you less of free play to pussy out of shit or make yourself work too hard or too easy. Would you make yourself cookies from scratch if you had no ideas how to? Use a recipe for a good body.
