New Member, Need Help With TBT

Bigger Stronger Leaner Competitive Bodybuilding
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Hi, I’ve been lifting for around 7 months seriously and i have decided to try out Chad Waterbury’s 3 day a week full body training program

http://www.T-Nation.com/readTopic.do?id=508031

I am just putting together my first week of exercises, but im a bit unsure of a few things

My first week is looking like this

Workout 1

Chest
Back
Delts
Quads
Triceps
Biceps

Workout 2

Back
Delts
Quads
Lower Back
Delts
Hamstrings

Workout 3

Delts
Quads
Lower back
Chest
Calves
Triceps

Right, so now im choosing the exercises to do for each body part, do i do the same exercise for that body part for the whole week? e.g If i was doing horizontal rows for back, would i stick with that for the whole week and then change it to another exercsise for the next week, or change it every workout?

Do you think this program would be good for me to do, im 19 and about 190lbs at 6’1 and 10% bodyfat

Thanks dudes.

2

I would stick with the same exercises for a couple of months of TBT. Then change it up down the road with different exercises.
That’s my opinion. TBT has always been the way to go for me.
I haven’t seen this article and look forward to reading it now…

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[quote]PhilD wrote:
Hi, I’ve been lifting for around 7 months seriously and i have decided to try out Chad Waterbury’s 3 day a week full body training program

http://www.T-Nation.com/readTopic.do?id=508031

I am just putting together my first week of exercises, but im a bit unsure of a few things

My first week is looking like this

Workout 1

Chest
Back
Delts
Quads
Triceps
Biceps

Workout 2

Back
Delts
Quads
Lower Back
Delts
Hamstrings

Workout 3

Delts
Quads
Lower back
Chest
Calves
Triceps

Right, so now im choosing the exercises to do for each body part, do i do the same exercise for that body part for the whole week? e.g If i was doing horizontal rows for back, would i stick with that for the whole week and then change it to another exercsise for the next week, or change it every workout?

Do you think this program would be good for me to do, im 19 and about 190lbs at 6’1 and 10% bodyfat

Thanks dudes.

[/quote]

PhilD,
You may want to read the article again. Your questions are actually answered within the text:

  1. Choose four exercises under the list of compound exercises. Choose two exercises under the single-joint exercise list. Don’t leave out any major muscle groups.

  2. Constantly rotate exercises from each category. In other words, don�??t always start your session with a chest/back pairing. You must keep rotating the body parts and exercises you begin each session with.

  3. Don�??t perform the same exercise for more than two weeks in a row. For example, if you performed a flat barbell bench press as your chest exercise for Weeks 1 and 2, you must switch to either incline, decline or dumbbell bench presses for another two weeks before switching again.

  4. Increase the load 1.25 to 2.5% with each subsequent workout.

  5. Perform all three workouts within a seven-day timeframe with 48-72 hours rest between workouts.

  6. Be creative! I�??m giving you endless options. Just be sure to pick four compound exercises and two single-joint exercises with each session. You can rotate exercises as much as you desire. All you have to do is follow the prescribed parameters.

I believe CW mentions TBT to be an beginning/intermidiate program so it should work well for you.

Good luck with the program.

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[quote]Arioch wrote:
5) Don�??t perform the same exercise for more than two weeks in a row. For example, if you performed a flat barbell bench press as your chest exercise for Weeks 1 and 2, you must switch to either incline, decline or dumbbell bench presses for another two weeks before switching again.[/quote]

Yeah, this is what confused me, It says ‘Don’t perform the same exercise for more than two weeks in a row’ So does this mean I should be doing the same exercise for a certain muscle group throughout the week?

5

[quote]PhilD wrote:
Arioch wrote:
5) Don�??t perform the same exercise for more than two weeks in a row. For example, if you performed a flat barbell bench press as your chest exercise for Weeks 1 and 2, you must switch to either incline, decline or dumbbell bench presses for another two weeks before switching again.

Yeah, this is what confused me, It says ‘Don’t perform the same exercise for more than two weeks in a row’ So does this mean I should be doing the same exercise for a certain muscle group throughout the week?[/quote]

Well, I’m currently doing TBT and what I found works for me is to change the exercise each session. As an example, I may do flat bench day 1, incline day 2 and the decline day 3. Then, in two weeks, I change the rep ranges I’m working with on those exercises.

In my above example, I would have done flat bench day one with heavy weight low reps for week 1. So, week 3, I would do flat bench for either high reps, low weight or the middle ground, moderate weight with moderate reps.

As CW says, be creative and change things up so you aren’t doing the same thing. I could even change from doing barbell, flat bench to dumbell, flat bench AND change up the weights and reps. It all works out according to CW’s program design.

Hope that helps.

6

[quote]Arioch wrote:
Well, I’m currently doing TBT and what I found works for me is to change the exercise each session. As an example, I may do flat bench day 1, incline day 2 and the decline day 3. Then, in two weeks, I change the rep ranges I’m working with on those exercises.

In my above example, I would have done flat bench day one with heavy weight low reps for week 1. So, week 3, I would do flat bench for either high reps, low weight or the middle ground, moderate weight with moderate reps.

As CW says, be creative and change things up so you aren’t doing the same thing. I could even change from doing barbell, flat bench to dumbell, flat bench AND change up the weights and reps. It all works out according to CW’s program design.

Hope that helps.[/quote]

Yeh, thanks for your help

7

2 more quick questions:-

For each exercise should i choose a weight which will bring me to near failure on my last rep of my last set, or should i increase the weight for each set?

The gym i go to doesnt have a free bar (sucks i know…) They have a smith machine, so should i use that or stick with dumbbells, or mix it up with both?

Thanks

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Im starting this program tomorrow, so itd be great if i could get some responses…

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[quote]PhilD wrote:
2 more quick questions:-

For each exercise should i choose a weight which will bring me to near failure on my last rep of my last set, or should i increase the weight for each set?

The gym i go to doesnt have a free bar (sucks i know…) They have a smith machine, so should i use that or stick with dumbbells, or mix it up with both?

Thanks[/quote]

You want a weight that will bring you near failure on the last rep. It will be tough with the high rep sets since you, obviously, want to pick a weight that you can use. However, you can adjust from one week to the next. For the heavy weight work, you should have a good idea of what you can do.

If it was me, I would do dumbbell work rather than smith machine work.

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Great advice folks. Thanx.

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Good luck with the progam. I loved it when I did it.

I used to think about it as 4 main groups and then 2 isolation exercises. So I would do a bench variation, a squat variation, a deadlift variation (or good-mornings), and a pullup or row variation every workout.

Once or twice a week I would switch shoulders in for squat or deadlifts, normally a military press variation. I know some people recommend against doing all that every workout, but it worked for me.

Then I would chose two more exercises, normally a bi curl variation, a tri pushdown variation, a calf variation. I also found I HAD TO do rotator cuff work every workout (normally external rotations). I always used very little weight.

I would pick different exercises for the week (so monday, wed, and saturday would all be completely different exercises), keep those for two weeks, then switch things up.

I’m trying to look at your questions, but I think they are all answered in the original article…

Yes you want to go to near failure on all lifts. Practically speaking I ended up going to failure a few times because I didn’t know my body so well at that time. Its okay if that happens. If you go to failure on set #2, then just lower the weight for set #2. If it felt waaaay too light on set #1, add some weight.

With no free bar I would do a lot of DB stuff… but I would also use that smith machine, after all it’s there. It’s definately not perfect though and you’ll probably want to think about a diferent gym long term, but go through two months on TBT and you’ll have a lot of fun.

Enjoy it, eat and rest a lot, and watch as the growth happens.

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For example:

Bench variation:
Mon: flat bench (DBs)
Wed: Incline bench (dbs)
Sat: Decline bench (dbs)

follow this for two weeks then:

Mon: db flys
Wed: Flat bench (smith)
thurs: Db incline
follow this for two weeks.

Oh, how are you going to do squats and deadlifts and whatnot? Do you have a bar you can use and just no bench? You can do squats on the smith, but if you don’t have a bar you can use at all you probably just want a new gym

13

[quote]Gambit_Lost wrote:
For example:

Bench variation:
Mon: flat bench (DBs)
Wed: Incline bench (dbs)
Sat: Decline bench (dbs)

follow this for two weeks then:

Mon: db flys
Wed: Flat bench (smith)
thurs: Db incline
follow this for two weeks.

Oh, how are you going to do squats and deadlifts and whatnot? Do you have a bar you can use and just no bench? You can do squats on the smith, but if you don’t have a bar you can use at all you probably just want a new gym[/quote]

Thanks for your help man! So let me just make sure imabsolutely clear on this, im doing chest 3 times thins week, so each workout il use a different exrcise to hit the chest and also vary the reps/sets for each workout.

Yeh i have to do squats and DLs on the smith :frowning: I only use this gym becuase i work there part time and have free access to everything in the leisure centre.

Theres another gym about the same distance away from me where i also work which has a free bar but no squat rack or anything, i suppose this would be a solution for deadlifts, but i still wont be ably to use this for squats or bench.

Im off to uni in about 8 weeks though, and they have a huge brand new 3 million pound sports complex there which will be pretty sweet, i guess il just have to put up with what i got for now.

14

I hear you. I’m scraping by with almost no equipment before I become a student again too.

The sets and reps are spelled out for you in the article. I suggest you re-read it and then quote from it here for parts you don’t understand. It explicitly tells you what sets and reps to do, so follow the directions.

Yeah, I always changed the exercises and yeah, I normally did a chest variation 3x/week. You don’t have to though.

You can do squats and Deads with DBs. I like “stiff leg, 1-legged deads” a lot myself (stand on one leg with either 2 dumbbells, or one db in either hand, bend over keeping proper form, stand up).

squats you could probably do some kind of overhead or front squat variation. I would try that if I was you.

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I don’t know how to load pics, but on the bottom of this thread there’s a picture of a DB deadlift, there’s also a picture of a single leg squat (another nice variation, you might like a lot on the days with a lot of reps).

good luck

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oops, here it is

http://www.T-Nation.com/readArticle.do?id=1596243&cr=

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[quote]Gambit_Lost wrote:
I hear you. I’m scraping by with almost no equipment before I become a student again too.

The sets and reps are spelled out for you in the article. I suggest you re-read it and then quote from it here for parts you don’t understand. It explicitly tells you what sets and reps to do, so follow the directions.

Yeah, I always changed the exercises and yeah, I normally did a chest variation 3x/week. You don’t have to though.

You can do squats and Deads with DBs. I like “stiff leg, 1-legged deads” a lot myself (stand on one leg with either 2 dumbbells, or one db in either hand, bend over keeping proper form, stand up).

squats you could probably do some kind of overhead or front squat variation. I would try that if I was you. [/quote]

I that your set up in your picture? That is one ghetto bench!
Yeh im going to try front squats on the smith nexst workout and see how that goes.

18

I tried this program and never really liked it. I lifted more weight throughout the whole process because I wasn’t focusing on one major muscle group but didn’t feel quite as fulfilled as I did with my other exercises. I haven’t noticed any real results through it. Plus it was difficult to do antagonist training at my gym somedays because it was so busy.

I’m not trying to sound negative but it didn’t work well with me. I much prefer training traditionally.

19

I do not know if I did it correctly but I tried to attach a pdf file with Chad’s programs.

In it you will find that the superstar who created it :slight_smile: filled in the exercises for us.

Hopefully that will help.

If I did it wrong and you are interested, PM me with your e-mail address and I will send you the pdf and the excell sheet with most of his programs.

You can also search for them on this site via search bar…

Good luck,

Marc

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no matter, here is the link. It was created by one of the members!

http://216.17.22.84/uploads/CW_Programs.zip