In Fitness and in Health
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I can't get on with home gyms. I need to get out and into an appropriate place. I also struggle with the large commercial gyms (and the morons that frequent them). Luckily I have a newish, small place not far from my home. It has a decent amount of kit, no windows and it's dead in the daytime. Winning. The only downside is no PT's or even staff to get tips help from. It's all CCTV security monitored.
Here's my back-to-basics lifting program. It's basically a beginners 3 day a week fullbody split I found online:
Workout A
Warm up: 10-15min cardio rowing, Reverse cable flyes 2x15 (v. low volume, just warming up and strengthening my buggered up shoulders)1. Barbell Squats 3x10
2. Barbell Bench Press 3x10
3. T-bar Bent Over Row 3x10
4. Calf Raises 2x15
5. Tricep Pull-downs 2x15
6. Decline Ab Crunches 2x15Workout B
Warm-up: 10-15min cardio rowing, Rotator Cuff Extensions 2x15 for shoulder1. Barbell Deadlift 3x10
2. Lat Pulldown (Wide grip) 3x10
3. Seated Dumbbell Shoulder Press 2x15
4. Dumbbell Bicep Curls 2x15
5. Rotation abs 2x15Week one:
Monday: Workout ATuesday: Mountain walk w/dog
Wednesday: Workout B
Thursday: Mountain walk w/dog
Friday: Workout A
Week two:
Monday: Workout BTuesday: Mountain walk w/dog
Wednesday: Workout A
Thursday: Mountain walk w/dog
Friday: Workout B
Then rinse and repeat.
Sometimes I think it's too basic. I miss some of my faves (Romanian deadlifts, Incline dumbell bench press etc) and I miss doubling down on muscle groups (I actually love leg day) but that'll come when I get my strength back. I'm not sure what to do about diet though, should I actively cultivate a calorific deficit? Use supplements? Not sure yet. The important thing now will be getting in the gym and working hard 3 days a week.
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@TrickHell:
My goal is basically to be able to carry beer barrels up flights of stairs without breaking a sweat.
I'm only really interested in moving more weight. If I complicate the program it'll be with big compound exercises that focus on back, hams and quads.
My attitude is that if you do the big ass moves with free weights then all the shit that I thought was important when I was 12 takes care of itself. And unless my diet really sucks, that should include the extra lbs I'm carrying.
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Sounds like a Solid Plan @neph93 - keeping a consistent program helps not only your body adapt but also lets you easily track your progress. If you goal is overall strength, a squat program (Hatch, Smolov, Starting Strength) can give you the results you are looking for, but you will be pretty wore out for much else. I always ensure to have a cardio vascular component with every session I put people through. That might be a 40 minute conditioning piece or it would be 3 sets of alternating accessory movements for 10-15 reps. Anything over 20-40 seconds would start being cardiovascular in my book.
A good day for overall strength + conditioning looks like this for me:
10 Minute warm up - row, bike, run, mobility, pull ups, ring dips and some GHD work.
A. 18 Minutes to Build to a tough Tounch N Go 3 rep power clean. (no more than 7 sets)
B. 5 sets of 5 back or front squats increasing until unable to add more weight.
C1: 3 sets of 10 rep weighted GHD Barbell Rows
C2: 3 Sets of 10 seated DB press
*Alternate C1 and C2
D. 7-15 minute conditioning piece, either wok capacity based or single modality (ie. running, rowing, biking)@TrickHell - glad to hear you have made the home gym work for you and I'm glad to hear you are enjoying your powerlifting training. Good thinkg about compound movements such as deadlifts, squats and bench press, you don;t have to worry about getting big bulky "vanity muscles." You may find that you shirts fit a bit tighter in the chest or your pants are a bit more snug in the seat, but you won't but on massive amounts of muscle unless you are eating 2-3x what you did prior to strength training.
Keep it up guys!
Adam
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nice bump on this thread.
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^ Agreed. I'm more of a runner, but could carry on about fitness and exercise all day.
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^ Agreed. I'm more of a runner, but could carry on about fitness and exercise all day.
Ah, running. I'm really not built for running physically or mentally. In fact I'm hilariously bad at it unless its over very short distances and there is a ball for me to hit, kick or catch at the other end. I'm a little jealous of those that enjoy it actually.
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Haha! You're not alone. You have to be a bit crazy to really enjoy it. Been running seriously since I was about 15 (29 now) and has provided me with some opportunities (paid for my college, etc.) I otherwise would have never had, but can be a bit of an abusive relationship in more ways than one that's for sure.
It definitely gives you a lot of bang for your buck though….. If you can manage to stay healthy for long periods of time.
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And revived it you have @Appfaff ! Here comes dumbass question nr.1. Don't say you weren't warned
If I wanted to up the frequency of my above schedule from three workouts a week to four like this:
Mon - A
Tues - B
Weds - rest day
Thurs - A
Fri - B
Sat - rest day
Sun - rest dayDo you think it would be a bad idea? I'm thinking specifically about the questionable wisdom of doing deadlifts the day after squats. Any input appreciated.
(Also, creatine or no creatine? OK, that was dumbass question nr.2
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@neph93 - there are no dumb questions! Doing deadlifts the day after squats should be no issue, but if you are sore in the hamstrings/low back from squats, be light on deadlifts the following day. I would alternate loading as you see fit, meaning Mon: heavy Squat / Tues Light Dead / Thurs Light squat / Fri Heavy Dead, etc.
I don't take creatine regularly, but I used to. I have found it puts on unwanted weight without much benefit. Some people love it, and I do take a pre-workout once every couple of weeks that has a bit in it, but I have played with cycling it, taking it pre-workout and taking it after and I never saw much result.
Hope that helps!
Also, since you are looking to work in power lifts as well as isolated accoessory movements, check out Louie Simmons' Westside Barbell method. He works intensity/volume and dynamic days into training and his athletes stay relatively safe per the norm within the sport of power lifting.
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Great! The IH fitness thread. Maybe you can help me on my way back into sports and fitness.
Next stop : Rowing
I`ll keep you posted. -
Alrighty guys, sorry for slacking the last week
And a half or so… But here is a fun workout you can do at a gym, in your garage or with a tree at a Park!7 Rounds of
7 Push Jerks (you can substitute push ups if you don't have a barbell or dumbells/KBs)
7 Pull Ups (can sub 7 calories on a row erg or even 7 jump squats if you would like)
7 BurpeesHave fun!
And thanks to Neph asking about creatine, I figured I would give it a shot again. I'm on a "losing" phase with weight right now, so I'll take it and look to see if I still can drop some pounds and if I see an increase in my
Lifts or recovery.
Enjoy!
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It has been a really nice day at the not-lake. There's a lot more going on compared to the rower.
@Appfaff
Jumping squats? Last time I did them, Pukie paid me a visit… -
@Chruschtschow - jealous that you get to do some actual rowing! Closest thing we have around is kayaking… Rowing clubs and lakes are a bit far away from us sadly.
I agree - jumping squats might not be fun, but they are effective! haha
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Spent 52 minutes of my evening yesterday sitting on the rowing erg.
10,000m down. Can't say I enjoyed it, but it felt good to just move for a long period of time. I've been focusing on my "top end" conditioning power, so working some long slow distance training I to the mix was a must.
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The only thing creatine did for ME was add water weight. The pushup/pullup/burpie workout sounds good. I try to do a day of body weight exercises a week to mix up my regular routine.
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