Most consistent program

I was wondering what the general consensus was on everybody’s program that they stuck to the best. I have a friend that wants to work out with me. The problem is he was on one of those 3 on 4 off programs. You know three days of working out then 4 weeks off.He really wants to come to the gym, but I can’t just start him on one of CP’s or Ian King’s programs. So I was wondering what programs seem to be the easiest to stick to while still making some gains ?

Well, easiest to stick to with some gains
would I think be a two days per week program
with say 12 sets per workout.

For example:


Monday:


Chins or lat pulldown: 2 sets (if lat pulldown, may move this to being last exercise not first).


Deadlift, 2 sets (after warmup - warming up by doing singles in strict form starting with about 1/3 your max weight, adding 20-30 lb,
resting 20 seconds, then doing next single,
until up to working weight or if training
light – e.g. 60% 1RM – go up to 80% 1RM
then drop weight and do work sets. Also,
allow up to 2 minutes rest not 20 seconds
towards the last few warmup singles. This
same warmup approach can apply to other
exercises as well, but not too many, because
it is time consuming.)


Bench press, 2 sets


Yates (bent) barbell row, 2 sets


DB Incline Bench, 2 sets

Friday:


Seated DB Overhead Press, 2 sets (seated on bench, not with any seatback that is leaned against)


Squats, 2 sets
Smith Overhead Press, 2 sets (this time with a seatback, tipped back maybe 20 degrees, use
wide grip, e.g. middle fingers on “rings”)


Leg Curl, 2 sets


Calves, 2 sets


Abs, 2 sets

This will not take yuo as far as you can go, but it can take you a heck of a long way and certainly is an easy program to adhere to. I recommed using training cycles, starting weights at 60% 1RM and then ending at about
90% 1RM; for example, say the starting weight
of 60% 1RM is 200 lb, you might increase
weights by 20 lb every workout until reps
drop to three or four. However, the increase
should be based on being apparently equally
difficult to get one less rep; or if you can
get a lot of reps like 14 reps with 60% 1RM,
then two less reps.

Dominic, I have that same problem kind of. I’ve been training solo for 5 years now. I’ve had a few different partners here and there but they either quit because my workouts are too intense, got lazy, or went to another college. Anyway, now my older brother wants to start lifting. He’s not like pumped to do it but he’ll do it if I do it with him. He is 21 years old and I’m 19 but he has no training experience. I’ve tried training with him but I it’s just too much of a hassle. My training suffers big time. If you’re going to work out with your friend then I recommend meeting his goals and not yours, otherwise you will just be frustrated the entire time. Try a M,W,F rolling program. Beginners can usually handle that and you can still make some progress. Teach him weight room etiquette and everything you know. I did this a few years back and had my friend almost as strong as me in just 3 months. Good luck!! If you need more help, just ask me.

The best programme is…well, none.

Though I’ve used the 5% solution three times and have always managed to take my lifts and pulls up consistently. A few variations were needed though, but it works grrrrrrrrrreat!

AMIR

I’ve always found that a 3 day a week (m,w,f) with weekends off to be the most favorable. You can do Chest/Shoulder/Tri on mon., Back and Bi on wed., and legs/calf on fri. Once he is steady, I would bump him to a tougher workout, but still only three days. Chest/back on mon., legs/calf on wed., and arms on friday. You alternated between bodyparts. Do one set of bench for example, rest 1-2 minutes and so a set of chins, rest, repeat. Same for quads/hams and bi/tri. The second program is harder for the first two days, but lets you have a fun day on friday. Something to look forward to. I would do the first program for four weeks and the second program for four weeks. then assess. Do approx. 10-15 sets total to start him out. Make it fun and don’t push him to complete failure till the second or third week.

there are a couple of things that you could try, the first is doing pushing movements on mon legs wed and pulling fri. Or you could do a total body work out twice a week. All multi-joint movements with short rest and do 3 sets of 10 with 2 min in between exersises. Or some type of circut training.Just try to keep the total work sets to like 20 or so

I know this is going against the grain of what everybody else is going to say, but I really have strong feelings about this…
I think if your friend really wants to stick with a program, he needs to make training and deiting a lifestyle. I hate sounding like Bill Phillips, but it’s really the truth. If he’s only training twice a week, which would be considered “easy” by most, I don’t think he’ll stick with it. Training needs to become a HABIT. And when it’s only done twice a week, it becomes a chore rather than an enjoyable habit. Here’s why… It is a known fact that the body works in rhythms… Circadian or whatever you want to call them. The point is that people work best when they get into routines. I guarantee you this applies to you too. You have a routine you do every day. You go to bed at X time, get up at X time, do your morning stuff, go to work, come back, work out, etc… Notice the “work out” part. If it’s not part of your EVERY DAY routine, it’s hard to stick with. This is why I recommend light aerobics and stretching during off days to every person who consults me about training. It keeps you in the routine. So what I’m trying to tell you is that if you put him on a twice per week program, training will not become part of his routine, and he won’t stick with it. He’ll approach whatever days he’s supposed to work out in dread, because he knows he has to work out that day. And I have examples to back this theory up:


I started training this girl who was a personal friend of mine… who also happened to weigh a solid 200 lbs. She wanted to lose weight and gain strength, but said she couldn’t stick to any of the programs she’d tried before. So, I made up a VERY easy to follow, twice per week weight training, twice per week aerobics program for her. The diet strategy was simple also… six small meals per day, stay away from refined carbs, etc… Well, she stuck to that for about 3 days. I asked her why she quit on the program (I was pretty pissed naturally), and she told me she couldn’t get motivated to do it when she was supposed to train…


So I got PISSED. I was literally screaming at this poor girl who came to me for help and motivation. I went and drew up a MILITANT program that I told her she had to follow or I would never help her again. It was a strict ketogenic diet, 1000 calories below maintenance, 4 weight sessions per week, 2 aerobic sessions. AND SHE DID IT! She lost 30 lbs in just shy of 2 months. And she’s still going. This is a very recent “client” of mine (no money involved), and I talked with her about this no more than 2 days ago. I asked her how it was going. She replied “It’s great. I don’t even think about it any more. I just come back from class and go and get my exercise done.”


You simply can’t half ass it… it doesn’t work like that. If you’re excited and you want to do it, you do it all the way. Then after a while, it becomes a habit, a lifestyle. Or even better, something you love!

Sorry, I forgot to add something. I think gains have a HUGE impact on how likely a person is to stay on a program. Most people I know can in fact stick to a program for at least a few weeks… And if they see progress, it makes it that much harder for them to quit. So make sure whatever program you decide to put your friend on isn’t so wimpy that he doesn’t see some significant progress. And make sure he keeps a log of his training, so he can see his poundages going up.

Thanks EVERYONE !! I just got done talking to my friend and I think we are going to do a three day split M/W/F. As far as exercise I think I will stick to bench press, squat, and dumbell rows for about 4 sets of each. Hopefully this will add some muscle fairly quickly and will " get the ball rolling ". One thing I forgot to mention is that he is also wanting to do some cardio, but I told him to forget about that right now because this will be to hard on his body.

Dominic, let him do some light cardio on his off days. I agree with what doug said about consistency. I think if you let him do 30 min. of light cardio (110-130 bpm) and abs/stretching on his “off” days, he will get more motivated. Cardio is not he villain people are making it. It is the intense/lengthy aerobics that are.