The Bodybuilding Bible

Training Bodybuilding
381

[quote]Bricknyce wrote:

[quote]ANIMAL M0THER wrote:

[quote]Bricknyce wrote:
I haven’t been to Infinity in Farmingdale.

I train at Powerhouse Gym on Francis Lewis Boulevard in Bayside, Queens.

I live in Little Neck. [/quote]

I went into BF Powerhouse today. Thinking about becoming a member there even though it’s more expensive than where I go now. Kai Green was training there yesterday.

Obviously, I would learn a ton by training near Kai, Branch, Wolf, and Victor Martinez.[/quote]

I don’t think it’s that expensive compared to other gyms, considering NYSC and LA Fitness and Equinox charge 800 to 1,000+ bucks a year. But whatever - I don’t know people’s personal budgets.

You can learn from them if they care to talk to you. Most of those guys only train their on occasion being that none of them are from Long Island. You can talk to the ones who are there because they actually train their regularly and live in LI or northeastern Queens.

Besides, just training there is going to make you feel much better mentally, regardless of who’s there. I loved training there. [/quote]

Just signed up today and trained back and triceps while I was there. It’s an awesome place and I love the environment of it.

Obviously I’m not planning to have someone like Vic Martinez spot me on the bench, but I just want to learn by watching guys who are better than me.

MD magazine is based on LI and when those guys come out for photo shoots, they train at BF Powerhouse.

382

[quote]ANIMAL M0THER wrote:

[quote]Bricknyce wrote:

[quote]ANIMAL M0THER wrote:

[quote]Bricknyce wrote:
I haven’t been to Infinity in Farmingdale.

I train at Powerhouse Gym on Francis Lewis Boulevard in Bayside, Queens.

I live in Little Neck. [/quote]

I went into BF Powerhouse today. Thinking about becoming a member there even though it’s more expensive than where I go now. Kai Green was training there yesterday.

Obviously, I would learn a ton by training near Kai, Branch, Wolf, and Victor Martinez.[/quote]

I don’t think it’s that expensive compared to other gyms, considering NYSC and LA Fitness and Equinox charge 800 to 1,000+ bucks a year. But whatever - I don’t know people’s personal budgets.

You can learn from them if they care to talk to you. Most of those guys only train their on occasion being that none of them are from Long Island. You can talk to the ones who are there because they actually train their regularly and live in LI or northeastern Queens.

Besides, just training there is going to make you feel much better mentally, regardless of who’s there. I loved training there. [/quote]

Just signed up today and trained back and triceps while I was there. It’s an awesome place and I love the environment of it.

Obviously I’m not planning to have someone like Vic Martinez spot me on the bench, but I just want to learn by watching guys who are better than me.

MD magazine is based on LI and when those guys come out for photo shoots, they train at BF Powerhouse.[/quote]

Right!

And it’s a great think you joined!

383

[quote]Bricknyce wrote:

[quote]joebassin wrote:

[quote]Bricknyce wrote:
It’s important to change exercises, but I don’t do it as frequently as the gurus recommend, every four weeks. I think that’s ridiculous. How much can you get out of an exercise in 4 weeks?

People suspect he got injured from overuse. I don’t know. It could have been that, but he has admitted numerous times that it was from not holding back, not deloading when it was called for. He said even when he did plan a deload, he had problems with disciplining himself to hold back, even pre-contest. People blame his training style. It was not that. It was the APPLICATION of his training style that got him injured.

By the way, many powerlifters, bodybuilders, and Olympic lifters stay on the same damn program for YEARS. [/quote]

Would you keep an exercise until you stall on it and then change it? Also how many weeks without progress before you would consider that you stalled on an exercise? This would probably depend how advance you are. I would also like to learn about the strategy people use when progress with an exercise stop. [/quote]

I do an exercise for about 8 to 12 weeks before discarding it. That might be far more than what’s recommended by some of the more academically inclined trainers out there who DO know more about exercise physiology and kinesiology (eg, Eric Cressey) than I do. I just never got much out of an exercise if I stopped it before that time frame.

I THINK if you can’t add another rep or pound to an exercise in 3 or 4 weeks, then it’s time to switch things up. That is, if you’re not at your strength or size peak, which NEARLY NO ONE is, including some very experienced people.

Your last inquiry is VERY broad, as not progressing in exercises might mean that a) you have some structural problem, b) your whole program is off, c) you’re weak in some other area that’s preventing progress in another area, or d) you simply can’t get more out of that exercise. [/quote]

Ok I see what you mean regarding why someone may not progress on an exercise. Was asking because lets say I do
Week 1 : 200 x 6
Week 2 : 200 x 7
Week 3: 200 x 8
Week 4 : 200 x 8
Week 5 : 200 x 8 so now Iâ??m not progressing much

What I have try in this situation to keep progressing on the exercise is to go back in weight so week 6, I will max out on 190 then week 7, 195. After this I will continue with 195 for 1-2 week to then go back to 200. It has worked to some extent but sometimes I will stall again after 2-3 week. May be it’s better to just switch exercise instead of doing all this.

Also it seems its hard to start with a weight I can do only a few reps with, lets 3-4 reps and then bring that up to 10 reps. I think going too heavy like that on my max set makes me stall. Just wondering if you or someone else have similar experience or any thoughts on this.

384

Hey Brick how is Defrancos program so far? Are u ramping the the assistance work or doing straight sets with it?
btw- thanks for starting such an informative thread

385

I tried it for about a month, but then went to two full-body sessions because I wanted to spend four to five days per week swimming and running. I’m back to three sessions per week, but not on a Defranco-style program. It’s my own program.

I ramp ALL work except speed work. Straight sets are BORING and for beginners and nearly impossible for intermediates and advanced that train hard.

My program now is like this (this is NOT - repeat NOT - bodybuilding). It’s a program of a guy who just wants to be in shape and athletic and have some degree of strength and size.

Day 1: ME - upper body, 15 to 20 minutes incline walking on treadmill or jogging
Day 2: 30 minutes jogging
Day 3: ME - lower body, 15 to 20 minutes incline walking on treadmill or jogging
Day 4: 30 minutes jogging
Day 5: DE - upper body, 15 to 30 minutes incline walking on treadmill or jogging
Day 6: 30 minutes jogging
Day 7: Off or walk for 60 minutes

Upper body day:

  1. Work up to 3 to 5 rep max in bench press variation
  2. Row
  3. Shoulder press
  4. Close-grip bench press or dips
  5. Curls
  6. External rotations and lying trap raises

Lower body - max effort

  1. Work up to 3 to 5 rep max in deadlift or squat variation.
  2. Stiff-legged deadlifts or good mornings
  3. Lunges or stepups
  4. Leg curl variation
  5. Abs

DE - upper body

  1. Speed bench press or plyo pushups
  2. Chinups
  3. Dumbbell bench press variation
  4. Rows
  5. Tricep extensions
  6. Grip

I’m soon going to implement intervals instead of straight jogging, especially since warm weather is coming and in which I can exercise at an outdoor track. I can also play handball or raquetball instead of running or intervals. I’m concerned with getting 3 weight training sessions and a total of 6 to 7 hours of physical activity per week.

386

Brick,

In your opinion, what goal do you feel the upper/lower split is best for?

What do you think it’s pros/cons are?

387

It’s best for powerlifting, ordinary people who want to keep in shape, and off-season strength and conditioning.

I don’t see cons to it because anyone well-informed wouldn’t use it for purposes not suitable for what it’s intended for.

I use it because I’m an ordinary person who wants to keep in shape.

388

What in the hell is a “lying trap raise” can’t say I’ve ever heard of that before.

389

Trap raises.

390

Brick I didn’t see this in your nutrition bible yet so if you posted this already you can ignore it.
I think a great addition to the nutrition bible would be a way to estimate an approximate amount of calories one needs to bulk or cut in general and I got this from caveman’s thread. About 15 or more calories per pound of body weight to bulk, to cut 12 or less calories per pound of body weight and to maintain somewhere between 12 and 15 calories per pound of body weight. You can adjust the numbers as you see fit.

391

The Trap raises are called Y’s in some circles, which is what you might know them as Braunbeck.

392

[quote]Bricknyce wrote:
It’s best for powerlifting, ordinary people who want to keep in shape, and off-season strength and conditioning.

I don’t see cons to it because anyone well-informed wouldn’t use it for purposes not suitable for what it’s intended for.

I use it because I’m an ordinary person who wants to keep in shape. [/quote]

Would you recommend it for a person looking to add more size without having any weaknesses?

Or is this just another subjective thing? Might work well for some, might not work as well for others.

393

I don’t know what you mean. What kind of weaknesses? Considering that most strength and conditioning programs employ an upper-lower split, there’s no reason why you should develop or not be able to treat weaknesses, considering the strength and conditioning camp is the most conscious of those problems. Eric Cressey, one of the guys MOST concerned about structural weaknesses believes nothing beats upper-lower splits for strength and conditioning.

If you’re talking about physique weakness by bodybuilding standards, upper-lower is NOT the way to go for most people. Then you need a bodypart split.

So I say upper-lower splits don’t work for getting as big and symmetrical as possible (bodybuilding) for most people. Of course the DC squad and its defendants will come and chime in again, “But all of the DC crew and Dante use an upper-lower or A-B split.” But for every DC proponent, there are hundreds, if not thousands, of successful bodybuilders not using those splits.

394

[quote]JoabSonOfZeruiah wrote:
Brick I didn’t see this in your nutrition bible yet so if you posted this already you can ignore it.
I think a great addition to the nutrition bible would be a way to estimate an approximate amount of calories one needs to bulk or cut in general and I got this from caveman’s thread. About 15 or more calories per pound of body weight to bulk, to cut 12 or less calories per pound of body weight and to maintain somewhere between 12 and 15 calories per pound of body weight. You can adjust the numbers as you see fit.[/quote]

Yes, that’s what some people do, but you’ll most likely wind up having to adjust along the line, and at that point those numbers no longer apply.

395

[quote]joebassin wrote:

[quote]Bricknyce wrote:

[quote]joebassin wrote:

[quote]Bricknyce wrote:
It’s important to change exercises, but I don’t do it as frequently as the gurus recommend, every four weeks. I think that’s ridiculous. How much can you get out of an exercise in 4 weeks?

People suspect he got injured from overuse. I don’t know. It could have been that, but he has admitted numerous times that it was from not holding back, not deloading when it was called for. He said even when he did plan a deload, he had problems with disciplining himself to hold back, even pre-contest. People blame his training style. It was not that. It was the APPLICATION of his training style that got him injured.

By the way, many powerlifters, bodybuilders, and Olympic lifters stay on the same damn program for YEARS. [/quote]

Would you keep an exercise until you stall on it and then change it? Also how many weeks without progress before you would consider that you stalled on an exercise? This would probably depend how advance you are. I would also like to learn about the strategy people use when progress with an exercise stop. [/quote]

I do an exercise for about 8 to 12 weeks before discarding it. That might be far more than what’s recommended by some of the more academically inclined trainers out there who DO know more about exercise physiology and kinesiology (eg, Eric Cressey) than I do. I just never got much out of an exercise if I stopped it before that time frame.

I THINK if you can’t add another rep or pound to an exercise in 3 or 4 weeks, then it’s time to switch things up. That is, if you’re not at your strength or size peak, which NEARLY NO ONE is, including some very experienced people.

Your last inquiry is VERY broad, as not progressing in exercises might mean that a) you have some structural problem, b) your whole program is off, c) you’re weak in some other area that’s preventing progress in another area, or d) you simply can’t get more out of that exercise. [/quote]

Ok I see what you mean regarding why someone may not progress on an exercise. Was asking because lets say I do
Week 1 : 200 x 6
Week 2 : 200 x 7
Week 3: 200 x 8
Week 4 : 200 x 8
Week 5 : 200 x 8 so now Iâ??m not progressing much

What I have try in this situation to keep progressing on the exercise is to go back in weight so week 6, I will max out on 190 then week 7, 195. After this I will continue with 195 for 1-2 week to then go back to 200. It has worked to some extent but sometimes I will stall again after 2-3 week. May be it’s better to just switch exercise instead of doing all this.

Also it seems its hard to start with a weight I can do only a few reps with, lets 3-4 reps and then bring that up to 10 reps. I think going too heavy like that on my max set makes me stall. Just wondering if you or someone else have similar experience or any thoughts on this.
[/quote]

I don’t have experience with that because it’s not the way I do things. I showed how I ramp up and progress and back off. I still implement that in my plan above now too.

I didn’t do 3 to 4 reps when bodybuilding, nor do I do it for assistance/bodybuilding-type work now.

I THINK PX used to do low reps for some exercises he stalled on and kept at it until he progressed to higher reps. Ask him.

396

Just wondering what some people have to say, but I feel that sometimes when I squat, i will be more sore in my glutes the next day than quads. although this does not happen on every leg day, it does happen every once in a while and I will have to switch something up. I was just wondering if there are any common mistakes that people do when squatting that can cause you to be glute dominant in the exercise and how to switch that to your quads.

It just kind of hit me tonight when I was walking out of a residence hall at school, and I heard a girl say, “He has a big ASS!” as I was walking out the door.

397

If you want to switch the stress to your quads, do front squats.

398

Or pre-exhaust your quads with leg extensions. Or do leg-presses. Just because I found both way effective to stress my quads more.

399

Thanks for the replies, I’ll probably try front squats because I have never done them consistently compared to back squats, so I will try them for a few weeks and see how it feels.

400

[quote]Cephalic_Carnage wrote:
its_just_me, the second split is his olympia routine, the 3-way was used before that one but done 2 on, 1 off, 2 on, 2 off I think.

I took that split and altered the amount of off-days, which resulted in the one you posted. Depending on how much you do per session, you can just train whenever you want though.

(we’ve been over these splits before though, haven’t we?)

Btw, I’d like to add to the 1/week/musclegroup type training: I think that you can give your progress a real boost by training some muscle-group (or combination thereof, like delts+traps or back+bis or whatever) twice per week… That type of specialization is sustainable for a very long time compared to thee day variant most authors here seem to favor, and not as hard on the joints/tendons.

More of a long-term thing (think half a year or a year or so per muscle-group, maybe even more for advanced guys).

Professor X is sort of the poster-child for that type of routine on here…

So for example, if you wanted to specialize in delts+traps you could do:

Day 1 Delts+Traps
-Seated High Incline Shoulder Presses from Pins set at mouth/chin height or so(or whatever press you like, I would not use standing military personally…) or Hammerstrength overhead press or whatever… Push Presses in the power squat machine or in the v-squat also work very well and are easy to progress on.
-Lateral Raise Machine or Cable Laterals
-Reverse Pec Deck or Face Pulls in the Lat Pulldown station
-DB or BB or HS machine shrugs

Day 2 Legs+Bis
-Sumo Deadlift
-EZ Bar Curls with a slight pause on the thighs, really explode it up (initiate with the bis, not the low back, though you can swing some once the lift has been initiated) but always start with somewhat bent arms.
-Hack Machine Squats (knee sleeves…) or some such
-Hammer Curls with both arms simultaneously… Or Pinwheels alternating…
-Leg Curls or Reverse Hyper or so…
-Leg Extensions if you feel the need.

Day 3 Chest+Tris+Abs
-Hammerstrength Inclines
-Flat DB Presses
-JM Presses on the Hammer incline (not the wide incline) for the tris
-Pullover+Extensions with bench setup (PJR’s)
(+ light face pulls or reverse pec deck if you want, just to make the shoulders feel good)
(+ maybe some weighted ab exercise)
-Ab Wheel or EZ roll-outs.

Day 4 off

Day 5 Delts + Traps
Same as the other day, or you can start with only the press and laterals and slowly add stuff over time…

Day 6 Back (+ abs again if you want)
-HS High Row
-T-Bar Rows
-HS Pulldown
-HS Low Row
(+ abs… Maybe just roll-outs)

Day 7 off

Just an example.
It’s not a bad idea for a beginner to start out specializing in back (or back+bis or whatever, which for me would probably then be just 2 exercises for each per session) for a few months at least so that you have a nice base for when you want to specialize in any of the pressing muscles.

[/quote]

CC that split works perfect for me. I wanted to go down to a bodypart split because i think im getting a little run down with work 3x/gym 5x/uni 4x/gf everydayx. Just so fucking busy these days its ridiculous and just getting so tired from lack of sleep.

Ill prob take your advice and hit up a back specialisation cos it needs it. Then probably shoulders because although theyre better, theyre not quite ready to get smashed more than once a week. Thanks for idea.

Any more little tweaks or suggestions as to how i could make it better?

Nyce, fucking good thread, keep it up.