On the Big Lifts

Bigger Stronger Leaner Competitive Bodybuilding
1

Hello all,

I’ve been reading here for about a month, posting for less. I’ve made a lot of changes to my diet/program thanks to you guys and improvements are steadily arriving.

I however, am slightly miffed by my current position.

I am 5’11" last time I weighed myself, I checked in at 165 lb (this is my personal heaviest).

My big three lifts look like this:

Bench: 135x4
Squat: 135x8
Deadlift: 195x8

I know how much all of you love deadlifts. To be honest, it’s definitely my favorite lift.

I haven’t been squatting all that long. Probably have only put it in my program since I joined you gentlepeople and was so compelled.

Anyway, my question is this, with numbers like those, how should I focus? Should this change the way I attack lifting?

As you can see by my height and way, I am quite thin (read: ectomorphic). I eat huge amounts of food and have been forcing in the protein calories.

My program looks something like this

(exercises not necessarily in order)
Day 1: Standing bb overhead presses, backsquats, lunges, seated db presses, lat raises, calf raises, deadlifts

Day 2: bb bench, incline bb bench, db bench, incline db flies, cable flies (I always superset these with push-ups), dips, skull crushers, close grips, tri pull downs

Day 3: Cable rows, pull downs, wide-grip chins, close grip chins, bent bb rows, some assortment of curls

Abs get thrown in as time permits/ I feel like it (generally 2-3 times a week).

My cardio consists of 20 minute (pretty intense) runs 3-4 times a week.

The bench press is the lift I have been doing the longest of the three and the one I have been having the most trouble increasing. Any advice there in particular? In general?

2

Hey, please list the exact exercises and set/reps, if possible. More specifics are needed, but if you dont have those, change your routine and find one of Waterbury’s total body mass routines to do. Also, i dont see any prehab, single leg, or external rotator work. And definitely drop most of the cardio if you want to gain weight. Good luck.

3

[quote]bruinsdmb wrote:
Hey, please list the exact exercises and set/reps, if possible. More specifics are needed, but if you dont have those, change your routine and find one of Waterbury’s total body mass routines to do. Also, i dont see any prehab, single leg, or external rotator work. And definitely drop most of the cardio if you want to gain weight. Good luck. [/quote]

Aren’t lunges single leg?

4

[quote]jedidiah wrote:
bruinsdmb wrote:
Hey, please list the exact exercises and set/reps, if possible. More specifics are needed, but if you dont have those, change your routine and find one of Waterbury’s total body mass routines to do. Also, i dont see any prehab, single leg, or external rotator work. And definitely drop most of the cardio if you want to gain weight. Good luck.

Aren’t lunges single leg?

[/quote]

Yeah, I would also suggest just finding a good pre-made program here (I’ve had nothing but great results from Waterbury). Maybe try ABBH1 and ABBH2 and move on to Waterbury Method or Hybrid Hypertrophy.

Also, the cardio might really be hindering your mass gains. If you’re an ectomorph, you really shouldn’t worry about it for now. Just concentrate on eating big (and don’t obsess about eating clean, try to eat clean a majority of the time, but you need calories!). If you are a true ectomorph, you won’t have any problem burning off a few pounds of fat.

Now, if you are mainly concerned with strength gains, then you might want to look into some of the Westside programs (WS4B, etc).

Good luck.

5

Mon: squat breather style 20 reps (and shoulder work 8 reps)

Wed: deadlift and bench

Fri: squat heavy, and calf raises (and triceps, biceps)

Add whatever exercises you like to those days. Your squat is lagging a bit and it is the best bang for buck, therefore do it twice a week. Deadlift is a great one but once a week should be enough for you.

Just start with what I listed for 2 weeks and add more exercises if you wish.

It is otherwise a good basic setup

6

In my opinion you are doing too much chest exercises in a single day. Also, your form might need critiqued. (shoulders doing most of the work). I would focus on two heavy presses consisting of four sets to failure and then some supplemental work with flyes and push ups. Form is the biggy though. Make sure you have your chest turned up with your lower back into slight extension and your scapula slightly retracted. Maybe use a smith machine so your can go to complete failure or some hammer strength equipment. Focus on some heavy negatives too. Hope this helps.

7

do not use any machine.

8

[quote]bruinsdmb wrote:
do not use any machine.[/quote]

Other than the cable flies and cable rows, I don’t see any machines on there?

9

[quote]Magarhe wrote:
Your squat is lagging a bit and it is the best bang for buck, therefore do it twice a week. Deadlift is a great one but once a week should be enough for you.
[/quote]

Definitely bring your squat up. I find when I squat more, the rest of my body responds.

10

Give the Westside for Skinny Bastards program a try, it will definitely help your numbers go up. Also, you said you eat a lot of food, would you mind listing a sample of what you eat daily and how many calories? If you aren’t eating enough your strength and size won’t change much.

11

What is your goal? To get bigger? Increase your squat? Those are great goals but they are vague.

It always helps me if I have a specific concrete goal and write it down. Example gain 25 pounds to my squat by 7/31. It is a measurable goal and has a specific time to be achieved. When you do achieve your goal be sure to reward yourself.

I just see so many people in life with vague goals (i.e. increase my bench, lose weight, make more money etc.) and they never reach those goals. Good luck.

12

You squat less than your bodyweight and barely more than you bench. You need to fix that. The other stuff is important, but I doubt there are many guys with half-way decent physiques who can’t at least squat bodyweight.

13

[quote]jedidiah wrote:
bruinsdmb wrote:
do not use any machine.

Other than the cable flies and cable rows, I don’t see any machines on there?[/quote]

Your exercise list does only just list the exercise- all of which they make a machine for. Bruinsdmb was just making the comment to not use machines in the event you were using them.

It’s good to hear you’re not. They can really be a time waster.

As for upping your lifts. Easy. Train harder. Make yourself lift heavier. I’m guessing you can probably lift much more than you think you can, most newbies can. You just need to learn to lift heavier. Your form could be your problem. I would spend a little time with a decent trainer to make sure your form is on par.

14

[quote]Drew0786 wrote:
What is your goal? To get bigger? Increase your squat? Those are great goals but they are vague.

It always helps me if I have a specific concrete goal and write it down. Example gain 25 pounds to my squat by 7/31. It is a measurable goal and has a specific time to be achieved. When you do achieve your goal be sure to reward yourself.

I just see so many people in life with vague goals (i.e. increase my bench, lose weight, make more money etc.) and they never reach those goals. Good luck. [/quote]

That’s a fair statement. Is squatting my bodyweight 8 times by the end of the summer too low? too high? or a good goal?

In a given day I eat something like this:

Breakfast: Protein shake (with milk), cereal or toast w/peanut butter, orange juice, yogurt

I go to my office and have a jar of peanuts I eat liberally from while there.

Lunch: usually something I concoct involving three egg whites/pepporoni/cheese maybe with bread, an apple, some carrots

Probably more peanuts/sunflower seeds

I come back from work and have another protein shake 1/2-1 hour before working out.

Post workout, I have a protein shake and a banana.

Dinner is late, usually a chicken breast and some veggies

Usually some cottage cheese right before bed

15

[quote]jedidiah wrote:

That’s a fair statement. Is squatting my bodyweight 8 times by the end of the summer too low? too high? or a good goal?

In a given day I eat something like this:

Breakfast: Protein shake (with milk), cereal or toast w/peanut butter, orange juice, yogurt

I go to my office and have a jar of peanuts I eat liberally from while there.

Lunch: usually something I concoct involving three egg whites/pepporoni/cheese maybe with bread, an apple, some carrots

Probably more peanuts/sunflower seeds

I come back from work and have another protein shake 1/2-1 hour before working out.

Post workout, I have a protein shake and a banana.

Dinner is late, usually a chicken breast and some veggies

Usually some cottage cheese right before bed[/quote]

Well, here goes the standard “you don’t eat enough” response:

YOU DON’T EAT ENOUGH! I bet if you add up those calories, its around 2k or so.

Seriously. Read Lowery’s latest article about breakfast. Eat up!

Also, your post-workout meal (not your PWO shake) should be a P+C meal. If you’re worried about carbs, its okay to eat them in the 2-hour window after a workout (actually, its necessary to eat them!).

Read Berardi articles, and I would also suggest taking a look at Scrawny to Brawny. It worked for me: I gained 20 lbs in about four months (probably 15 or so was lean mass).

Good luck.

16

sorry i was referring to biggerrob’s statement.

17

[quote]jtrinsey wrote:
You squat less than your bodyweight and barely more than you bench. You need to fix that. The other stuff is important, but I doubt there are many guys with half-way decent physiques who can’t at least squat bodyweight.[/quote]

Alright, with all of this motivation behind me, I hit the gym today with a different attitude towards my squats.

I decided I would definitely shoot heavier. At any rate, I did 115 x 10, 125 x 8, 145 x 6, 165 x 4

On the last two sets, I was dangerously close to collapsing on each of the last reps. Is that a good squatting routine?

18

Linear progression be damned. Read into wave loading:

http://www.T-Nation.com/readTopic.do?id=579577

Just a thought, that’s all.