New Cycle New Routine

I’m starting my next test/deca/dbol/proviron cycle on 8/1. The dosages, pct and diet are pretty much mapped out, this part seems to come very easy for me.

My issue is, I have no idea how I want to train for this cycle. I have done westside, classic bodybuilding, TBT, antagonists, you name it I have tried it for a way of training and while being fun and producing results none of them are what I wish to do for this cycle. I personally enjoy heavy training the most but I know I need to get some other things in there.

I really train just for my own pleasure, I do not compete in bodybuilding or powerlifting. I like being big and being strong, but not extremely zealous to either discipline.

So gentlemen of the Nation, what do you think I should do for this 16 weeks? Give me your opinions.

For those who don’t know me I weighed in this morning at 221 lbs at 6’0. Last time I tested body fat it was in the low 8% range.

This probably isn’t what you are looking for but I’ve been toying with the idea of rotating two routines at the same time. It might be something to think about if you can’t find a new routine. I was thinking of doing the usual high volume BB routine along with a westside style routine.

I was thinking something like doing a 3 day BB split so day 1,2,3 would be the BB routine, day 4 off, 5 and 6 would be ME upper and lower respectively, 7-off, 8 and 9 RE (or DE) upper and lower. Then start over.

Any thoughts or anyone tried something simmilar?

just wing it.

Everyone knows that steroids are magic and don’t require any planning to see results. So just lift a couple days a week if you feel like it, eat cupcakes and pizza, then just sit back and watch the muscle pile on.

[quote]RoidRager1 wrote:
just wing it.

Everyone knows that steroids are magic and don’t require any planning to see results. So just lift a couple days a week if you feel like it, eat cupcakes and pizza, then just sit back and watch the muscle pile on.[/quote]

lol
that looks familiar
I was being sarcastic in case you didn’t pick up on that.

If heavy is what you like, I would say Bill Starr 5x5, or DoggCrapp.

About your suggestion in your first post? Because I was just about to tell you why that wouldn’t work.
:slight_smile:

Try crossfit for a few months. Add a heavy lift along with the wod, such as squat, dl and oh press. Work on your cleans and learn how to snatch. Could be fun.

[quote]Whoa! wrote:
I was being sarcastic in case you didn’t pick up on that.

About your suggestion in your first post? Because I was just about to tell you why that wouldn’t work.
:)[/quote]

No
I was serious about that. I’d like to hear your thoughts on it.

Actually there is an old routine from Dave Drapper that is exactly like you mentioned.

Basically the routine is like this

Mon-Chest, Shoulders, tri
Tue-Legs
Wed-Back, Biceps
Thur-off
Fri-Upper (a la 5x5 heavy)
Sat-Lower (again 5x5)
Sun-off

I did this one like 6 years ago. and at that time I was not on supersups so I had to do a 3 week rotation 1 week light and after 4 months called it quits. I did gain quite a good deal of strenght and the volume on the start of the week was good for me since I was at the university at the time.

I think if you are in tune with your body and know the amount of work you can handle this would be good to go.

[quote]firestanggt wrote:
This probably isn’t what you are looking for but I’ve been toying with the idea of rotating two routines at the same time. It might be something to think about if you can’t find a new routine. I was thinking of doing the usual high volume BB routine along with a westside style routine.

I was thinking something like doing a 3 day BB split so day 1,2,3 would be the BB routine, day 4 off, 5 and 6 would be ME upper and lower respectively, 7-off, 8 and 9 RE (or DE) upper and lower. Then start over.

Any thoughts or anyone tried something simmilar?
[/quote]

[quote]sawadeekrob wrote:
Mon-Chest, Shoulders, tri
Tue-Legs
Wed-Back, Biceps
Thur-off
Fri-Upper (a la 5x5 heavy)
Sat-Lower (again 5x5)
Sun-off
[/quote]

I’m actually really liking this idea. What volume would you be using to complete this? I’m gonna try and work out the balance of this in my breaks from work today and see if I can write it out in something that looks good.

[quote]TrainerinDC wrote:
sawadeekrob wrote:
Mon-Chest, Shoulders, tri
Tue-Legs
Wed-Back, Biceps
Thur-off
Fri-Upper (a la 5x5 heavy)
Sat-Lower (again 5x5)
Sun-off

I’m actually really liking this idea. What volume would you be using to complete this? I’m gonna try and work out the balance of this in my breaks from work today and see if I can write it out in something that looks good. [/quote]

Coincidentally, that’s almost my exact same routine at the moment with my own current cycle. The only difference is that I throw in shoulders on the same day I do back/biceps. I honestly don’t know why, but I do see great results with this routine. I’m a big fan of blasting away at 90% for starters and burning out to about 60%.

[quote]firestanggt wrote:
Whoa! wrote:
I was being sarcastic in case you didn’t pick up on that.

About your suggestion in your first post? Because I was just about to tell you why that wouldn’t work.
:slight_smile:

No
I was serious about that. I’d like to hear your thoughts on it.[/quote]

3 Things:

1-Westside already has quite a bit of RE, (AKA bodybuilding,) work designed into it, so the three bodybuilding days you outlined might end up pretty redundant. Just running numbers in my head, about 60% of my repetitions are RE, 20% DE, and 20% ME. Others may be different of course, but what I’m doing is working well for my purposes.

2-Recovery. Your body will be trying to recover from those three bodybuilding days and then BAM! you hit it with some dedicated strength training. And vice versa.

3-The training week is too long. There’s just too much time from when you do one workout until you do that same workout again.

Here’s what you’ve got: lets start with Westside. Westside is really two separate training paradigms in the way they rotate ME and DE sessions, but the two support each other, and experience has shown that there is ample time in a week to recover from both.

Then you’ve got this third paradigm coming in which is different enough that it may or may not support what you’re doing in the ‘Westside’ part of the week, (trying to gain strength in the Squat, bench, and DL,) but similar enough that it will interrupt how your body recovers and ultimately, adapts. You could try it, and you may very well prove me wrong, but I think you’d just spin your wheels.

[quote]Contrl wrote:
Coincidentally, that’s almost my exact same routine at the moment with my own current cycle. The only difference is that I throw in shoulders on the same day I do back/biceps. I honestly don’t know why, but I do see great results with this routine. I’m a big fan of blasting away at 90% for starters and burning out to about 60%.[/quote]

If you don’t mind, via here or PM, give me an idea of your volume and number of sets.

I do truly appreciate being able to exchange ideas and opinions with others as knowledgeable or even moreso than me.

[quote]Whoa! wrote:

3 Things:

1-Westside already has quite a bit of RE, (AKA bodybuilding,) work designed into it, so the three bodybuilding days you outlined might end up pretty redundant. Just running numbers in my head, about 60% of my repetitions are RE, 20% DE, and 20% ME. Others may be different of course, but what I’m doing is working well for my purposes.

2-Recovery. Your body will be trying to recover from those three bodybuilding days and then BAM! you hit it with some dedicated strength training. And vice versa.

3-The training week is too long. There’s just too much time from when you do one workout until you do that same workout again.

Here’s what you’ve got: lets start with Westside. Westside is really two separate training paradigms in the way they rotate ME and DE sessions, but the two support each other, and experience has shown that there is ample time in a week to recover from both.

Then you’ve got this third paradigm coming in which is different enough that it may or may not support what you’re doing in the ‘Westside’ part of the week, (trying to gain strength in the Squat, bench, and DL,) but similar enough that it will interrupt how your body recovers and ultimately, adapts. You could try it, and you may very well prove me wrong, but I think you’d just spin your wheels.[/quote]

I would agree if we were talking natural training.
The recovery isn’t going to be an issue while using steroids.
I do see your point on the RE/DE days.
Maybe the 3 day split, a day off, ME upper/lower, day off then start over would be the way to go. That would bring it back to 7 days.
I also like the idea if the 3 day split then 5x5 for an upper/lower split.

[quote]TrainerinDC wrote:

If you don’t mind, via here or PM, give me an idea of your volume and number of sets.
[/quote]

I’d also be interested to hear this, if you don’t mind posting it.

Ok remember this is the volume that I could handle and the exercises that I liked. The Idea is not to go directly ala westside (1RM) but to use the first 3 sessions as volume and the last 2 as strenght. Not that much overlap if you choose your exercises wisely, and if you have as much recovery as I do (plus the gear) there should be no problem. This is from my logbook back in 2000.

MONDAY - Chest, Shoulders, Tri
Incline Press (3-5x12, 10, 8, 8, 6)
Cable Flyes (4-5x12, 10, 8, 8, 6)

Dumbbell Press (4-5x12, 10, 8, 8, 6)
Standing Bentover Lateral Raises (3-5x6-8)

Dips (3-5x12-15)
Triceps Rope Pulldowns (5x8, 30sec rest)

TUESDAY - Legs
Leg Extensions (3-5x10-12)
Leg Curls (3-5x8-12)
and
Calf Raises (3-5x15-20)
Squats (5-7x15, 15, 12, 10, 8, 6, 6)
Partial Deadlifts (5x10, 8, 6, 6, 6)

WEDNESDAY - Back, Biceps
Wide Grip Pulldowns (3-5x12, 10, 8, 8, 8)
Seated Lat Row (4-5x12, 10, 8, 8, 6)
Hammer curls (3-5x10, 8, 8, 8, 6)
Dumbbell Alternate Curls (3-5x6-8)

THURSDAY - Off

FRIDAY - Upper Body
Chins (Max Set of 5)
Bench Press (5x5 heavy, sets across)

SATURDAY - Lower Body
Front Squats (5x5 heavy, sets across)
Progressive Pulls (Need explanation below)

OK the important point of this routine is to not go to failure on the first 3 days. The most important thing is the pump. Having 30 secs between sets and getting that concentration into the muscle. This is why you can not be wiped out.

The progressive pulls need a little bit of clarification. At the time I was doing this routine My main focus was on getting my back as big and wide as possible. This is an old olympic training exercise that I learned while I was young and training with O’lifters. You start with power cleans for sets of 3. Start light and work up the poundages.

When you can’t make the 3 reps you move to High pulls (pulling up to your shoulders). When you can’t pull to the bottom of the sternum you switch to clean pulls. When you can no longer pull to the belt line, you switch to deadlifts. Then you finish off with power shrugs on the rack.

Trust me after this you will understand why the next 3 days is only flexing the weight.

Questions?

[quote]InTheZone wrote:
firestanggt wrote:
TrainerinDC wrote:
If you don’t mind, via here or PM, give me an idea of your volume and number of sets.

I’d also be interested to hear this, if you don’t mind posting it.

        Ditto that.[/quote]

I would also like to see it and maybe exchange some questions??

[quote]sawadeekrob wrote:
SATURDAY - Lower Body
Front Squats (5x5 heavy, sets across)
Progressive Pulls (Need explanation below)

OK the important point of this routine is to not go to failure on the first 3 days. The most important thing is the pump. Having 30 secs between sets and getting that concentration into the muscle. This is why you can not be wiped out.

The progressive pulls need a little bit of clarification. At the time I was doing this routine My main focus was on getting my back as big and wide as possible. This is an old olympic training exercise that I learned while I was young and training with O’lifters. You start with power cleans for sets of 3. Start light and work up the poundages.

When you can’t make the 3 reps you move to High pulls (pulling up to your shoulders). When you can’t pull to the bottom of the sternum you switch to clean pulls. When you can no longer pull to the belt line, you switch to deadlifts. Then you finish off with power shrugs on the rack.

Trust me after this you will understand why the next 3 days is only flexing the weight.

Questions?[/quote]

I’m hurting just reading this much less doing it. =)

This is getting done this week.