I was hoping I could get some opinions on a ‘program’ I designed to make some general strength and size gains.
I tried starting strength for a while about a year ago and did okay but I got bored of it and missed doing bodybuilding work, ultimately this effected my motivation and I started missing workouts and since then I’ve not really done much productive.
My current lifts:
Deadlift 100kg x 5
Squat 72.5kg x 5 (today on this program)
Bench 55kg x 8
OHP 30kg x 5
The program is a four day one based on linear progression, I’m trying not to be rigid with how much weight I add each time as long as I add some.
Friday- Squat:
Squat 3x5
Romanian deadlift 3x8
Front squat 3x8
Leg curls 3x12
Pull ups 3x8
Abs
Saturday- Overhead press
Overhead press 3x5
Dumbell bench press 3x8
Smith machine high incline press 4x10
Close grip bench press 4x10
Lateral raises 3x10
Face pulls 3x10
Glute ham raises 4x10
Any feedback would be greatly appreciated. I wanted a program where I could train the big lifts with high frequency that also had enough variation to keep things fun.
Thanks in advance.
Why not train like a strength athlete? There are a lot of great programs out there by successful athletes; making your own seems like doing it the hardway.
Consider Westside Barbell for Skinny Bastards, 5/3/1 or the Cube Method for Strongman.
Honestly I just wanted to try it to see if I could come up with anything effective and this probably has a detrimental effect on my training. I’ve always found the programming side of weight training interesting. 5/3/1 looks like something I’d really enjoy so I think I might run my program till then end of September when I move house then give 5/3/1 a good go for several months after.
Thank you both for you inputs, is this program no good for anything really then?
It’s just not really a program; its a list of exercises, sets and reps. There is no logical or sustainable progression scheme mentioned or deload protocol or periodization or anything. It’s why a more structured approach tends to be successful.
Yeah I felt bad calling it one hence the quotation marks. I think I have a lot to learn but it’s been both interesting and humbling to see what other people that know what they’re on about think. Perhaps I should invest in the Rippetoe practical programming book.
As a side I’ve seen you mention 5/3/1 in detail several times before so presume you’re familiar with the books. If I were to buy one book am I better getting the original or the beyond book? From Amazon it’s unclear whether beyond 5/3/1 follows on or if it’s just an updated version.
I honestly don’t know of any athlete Rippetoe has ever coached. I don’t know if I would hold his opinion on the matter with high regar.
The 2nd edition of 5/3/1 covers the basics really well. Beyond assumes you already have that understanding. I would get the former before the latter, and read everything for free on Jims site.
I’ll perhaps just skip the whole trying to do my whole thing for a while then and follow a tried and tested program instead.
I’ll buy the 2nd edition of 5/3/1 for now then and buy beyond after if I feel the need.
Final thing, when you say his website do you mean his blog on jimwendler.com?
Thanks again both of you.
Shrugs I don’t see why it wouldn’t work, I mean on the one hand your sets & reps are maybe a bit random in some cases, example: You are only doing 1 set of deadlifts + you are going for higher reps on bb rows than you are for curls, other than that & a few other things it should work.
I own copies of Rippetoe’s Practical Programming and Starting Strength, as well as all of Wendler’s 5/3/1 books.
In my opinion, 5/3/1 is much simpler to read, understand and run than anything you will find in Practical Programming. All things being equal, it is probably a better choice to attain your objective of “general strength gains” as well.
If you find the programming side of training interesting you will learn a lot about it from Jim Wendler and his books. He spends a lot of time talking about teaching basic programming principles to the everyday man who wants to be more awesome.
Good luck with your training.
Thank you. It’s interesting you mentioned a log, I was thinking about it yesterday but wasn’t sure if there would be any interest in reading about me deadlift everyone else’s overhead press. It would probably be worth doing just as an extra incentive to log my training which I struggle with if anything. Do you think it might be worth it?
Of course it’ll be worth it! Take a look through the logs here. At least half of them are by people who are just starting out. You’ll get great feedback.