Get 1-3 of the well-known heavy hitting movements most of us do, into your routine. Hack off the majority of the fluff movements and supplement them in as builder/assistant type movements.
The more I see threads like this, the more I think that focusing on the program/split might be the wrong way to help beginners. Even if a beginner is given a great program and eating strategy, they’re not going to build much muscle unless they get much stronger on their lifts.
I feel like giving beginners strength goals to hit might be better. Because even if their program isn’t the best, if they get stronger then they’ll get results. And they’ll naturally learns what works for them and what doesn’t along the way, both with training and diet.
What I mean is something like this:
Bench Press 225 x 10 or Incline Press 205 x 10
Squat 315 x 10 or Front Squat 275 x 10 (or maybe 2 x 5 since high rep front squats are tricky)
Deadlift (conventional or sumo) 405 x 5
Standing Military Press 155 x 10
Plus a sentence or a few detailing that assistance work should be done for these lifts and how it can be done
Something like that just for the basic lifts which are used on 90% of programs anyway. Once they reach these levels, they’ll most likely know what split works best for them and what lifts give them the best results. And even if they don’t, they’ll at least know that progression is key, so any program given to them will be that much more effective.
I’m interested to see what the stronger guys like @flipcollar@isdatnutty and others think about this. Am I completely off the mark here? Should the goals be higher or lower?
I think beginners should focus on consistency. Don’t miss a training session or a meal for 6 months straight. Doesn’t matter how shitty the program is because none of it will matter if you don’t stay consistent, work hard, and eat well.
After developing the habit of being consistent and disciplined then you can really get after it. I think any beginner should aim for a 135 OH Press, 225 Bench Press, 315 Squat, and 405 Deadlift, 225 BB Row, and the ability to do sets of 10s on pull ups. Once you get to that level then that’s a solid base to build from.
I use to change my program every single day when I first started (still sorta do haha). But I still got strong and bigger because I never missed training days and I was 80% of the time eating the meals I was supposed to. Consistency is the main thing you need in this game in my opinion.
I’m certainly not a strong guys but I’ve almost always focused programs on developping a solid base of strength for beginners (no matter if they had to lose weight or gain muscle) and that’s what has worked the best for those I trained.
Indeed they should! When I started my program was made by a strong, experienced dude I knew, but was quite shitty. Push/pull/legs/push/pull. But with an INSANE volume for a beginner. Still, I gained 25 pounds in 4 months by force feeding, doing the work all the time, and when I came back to football training my partners did not recognize me lol
I don’t think you give yourself enough credit here.
Let’s say you were having 3 meal a day, every day. 24 meals in a week. 90% of that would mean 2.4 meals a week were cheating, so with some rounding we’ll say 80% means 5 meals a week were cheat meals. That’s basically eating a cheat meal every work day.
I gotta figure you were better disciplined than that.
strength tracking, and performing lifts that lend themselves to this, is absolutely key for beginners. It’s the best way to ensure that progress is being made. It’s so hard for any of us to be completely objective about progress when looking in the mirror or even taking pictures, but the numbers don’t lie. It’s a good way to know you’re approaching things the right way and that the process is working when you’re not so sure about things.
So to me, it’s not even NECESSARILY that the big lifts are more effective for aesthetic development, but that the trackable progress is what a beginner really needs.
Not the first 6 months that’s for sure lol. But I wasn’t really eating cheat meals, I would just not eat lol. I would be 100% consistent with breakfast and dinner, but my lunches were hit and miss because I wasn’t prepping at the time. I just didn’t have an appetite naturally (still don’t really lol) That changed at like 8 months. But this was like almost 4 years ago. My discipline with training is much much much different these last 3 years.
I think my biggest issue is intensity - once I reach a certain weight on various lifts, I find it harder to progress further. For example, right before I went to Peru in July 2019, I could Bench Press 160 pounds x 3 sets x 5 reps (highest I’ve ever had that specific move). I likely could have kept going, but went on vacation.
Highest I’ve ever had Back Squat was 275 Pounds x 3 Sets x 8 Reps. Overhead Press was 115 Pounds x 3 Sets x 5 Reps. I don’t Deadlift anymore due to back pain + tight hip flexors + specific physiology with my hips, etc. Yes, I stretch daily, etc.