New to WS4SB + Military Training

Training Bodybuilding
1

ok, so im joining a british regiment which is 9 years min service. which includes numerous tours of afghan, belize, the falklands and some time in nevada let alone the 3rd hardest training in the british military after sas and royal marines its goin to be tough.

So the point is ive been training for hypertophy, form before weight and always in the 8-10 rep range so my strength has never realy come on and my cardio fitness is pretty bleak at the moment.

My goals have changed to a physique which is more practical - strong and fit, yet hopefully still gain some lean mass.

so my question is, with a routine like this, based on westside for skinny bastards 1, is this routine looking ok? my main doubts with this routine are only one exercise per week for biceps, triceps and many more depending on what you do on the upper body ME and Repetition days.

MONDAY - MAX EFFORT UPPER BODY

A. 9 sets of 3 reps, building up to 1 max effort set of 3 (10x3 - Flat Bench)
B. 4 sets of 8 reps, Incline press or incline db press
C. 4 sets of 10 reps, bent over rows
D. 3 sets of 12-15 reps, cable face pulls/seated machine face pulls

TUESDAY - CARDIO 2miles+

WEDNESDAY - LOWER BODY MAX EFFORT

A. 4 sets of 5 reps, building up to 1 max effort set of 3 (5x5 - Deadlift or Squat)
B. 4 sets of 8 reps, lunges or squats if deads were performed
C. 4 sets of 10 reps, hamstring curls
D. Grip training, 3 sets of timed heavy dumbell holds or plate pinches

Thursday - CARDIO 2miles+

FRIDAY - UPPER BODY - REPETITION

A. 3 sets of max reps, Bench or DB press (i dont understand how many reps i should be aiminf for here which will determine what weight i choose?)

B. 4 sets of 8-10, skull crushers/rope extensions
C. 4 sets of 8-10, Pull ups/lat pull downs
D. 3 sets of 10-15, shrugs/lat raises
E. 3 sets of 8-10, Curls/preachers

sat and sunday rest. Maybe light cardio like swimming etc

its gonna take a while to convince myself thaat less could be better (i previously did 5 day muscle group split)

2

I don’t get your inquiry. You posted the routine that Joe Defranco wrote, and then asked us for our opinion. It’s like asking our opinion on his article.

3

yeh i see your point but ive added 10x3 at the start of the max effort and his routine template looks different if you are near a conditioning phase where as ive just added cardio to what should be my complete rest days.

so my enquiry is: is the exercise selction and added cardio looking ok? ive never used a defranco template before so just seeing if the exercise selctions are the wisest choice realy

4
  1. If you’re at a decent strength level, you’ll most likely need 8 to 10 sets to work up to a 3 rep max. For example, if you work up to a 300 in the bench press, this is how it looks:

45
75
105
135
165
195
225
255
285
300

That’s 10 sets.

  1. I don’t know how you’re put together and what your weaknesses are, so I don’t know if you picked the best exercises FOR YOU.

  2. Unless you were as rank beginner or someone severely undertrained, only 3 days per week of activity isn’t recommended for anyone looking to get in top shape. So 2 runs per week is fine, and really not much in the grand scheme of things considering that Defranco’s clients–like all serious athletes–have 20+ hours per week of activity.

5

yeh ide probs be aiming for a 220 in my first week and set a good bench mark for myself. I knwo nobody can judge if an exercise selcetion is perfect for me but in general if i did 10 sets of bench leading up to 3 rep max on monday and then did repetition sets for flat db press is this better for bumping up the bench and aso size or should i pick an exercise that isnt so diect on the chest such as dips?

6

ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh myyyyyyy gooooooooooood. every single time i post a new thread or post it doesnt appear for ages then randomly shows up so i end up repeating myself :smiley:

7

Repost this in the War Room forum. Personally I think you should do a program focusing on upping your pullup and pressup numbers and endurance

8

You said: “… is this better for bumping up the bench and aso size or should i pick an exercise that isnt so diect on the chest such as dips?”

Again, I’m not you, so I don’t know how much carryover those exercises have to your bench and what your chest responds to best.

I also think you’re asking, “Are dumbbell bench presses ‘good’?” This is usually the type of question that leads me to STOP giving advice to people because it indicates to me that they actually think or are asking if an experienced strength coach–Joe Defranco in this case–would actually write a program that was ‘bad’. It also reminds me of when people on here ask questions about programs just for the sake of it.

9

WS4SB is a good program. If you are young and eat a shitload of protein, you’ll be fine. People are always worried about pushup and situp numbers. You get nothing extra for doing more than everybody else.

Get big, go hard and run like a deer. Eat, sleep, relax.
I was in the Army and I went to OCS for the Navy. It is freakin easy as long as you’re not a fat guy.

And to everyone else…he asked a question. Just because you’re not smart enough to read it and understand it ro think you’re smart cause you’ve read DeFranco before doesn’t give you the right to TEACH anyone anything.

10

[quote]wher0001 wrote:

And to everyone else…he asked a question. Just because you’re not smart enough to read it and understand it ro think you’re smart cause you’ve read DeFranco before doesn’t give you the right to TEACH anyone anything.[/quote]

HUH?!

11

And considering that I’ve attended one of DeFranco’s seminars/workshops outlining his program, have more than half a brain, read everyone of his articles on here and TMUSCLE, and actually used two of his programs, I believe I’m in the position to offer my advice - WHICH I DID and what he asked for!

12

And not only do I THINK I’m smart, I AM smart.

13

Before this thread gets hijacked by the clown parade I’ll tell you this. You have to ask yourself what you want out of your program. Do you want to be a bodybuilder or do you want to kick arse in the army? I’ve seen many people attend barrier testing looking big and strong but can’t do five chin ups.

I remember getting a few programs from stewsmith.com and followed them from start to finish. Whilst they may seem too much volume wise they helped me a lot over the course of barrier testing. I agree this should be posted in the war room section.

Re the program you posted. Three days per week of running is kidding yourself!

I’d do this:

2 days per week of total body training focusing on compound movements then add in a lot of bodyweight movements. I don’t think shit like skull crushers are going to help. At least 5 days per week of running plus swimming and pack marches.

14

haha. ok. ile post in the war room.

but in the mean time.

GOALS - to have a more pratical level of strength and fitness BUT still maintain mass and definition for reasons like vanity, pride and all the others that people workout for.

A workout like this would be performed for the rest of the months i have before my joining date is clarified so i will gradualy increase the cardio, at the moment 2/3 days a week increasing the distance each week slightly seems to be bringing my fitness up consistantly.