Training Philosophy and Basics
Introduction
"to be able to go to the gym and train hard is a joy and a privilege, even though the hard work necessitates driving yourself through considerable discomfort. Savor this privilege and blessing, and revel in it." -McRobert
"You never know how imporant good health is until you no longer have it" - Charles Smith
Unlike other trainers you've ever worked with, this is not simply an exercise template. When it comes to training & nutrition for performance, strength gain, physique, or general health, everything is contextual. For me to throw exercise and dietary menus at you periodically may be profiting for me but not sustainably for you. Eventually you'll have to train on your own with your own tools and knowledge to structure periodized, sound training routines in the long run.
What is covered in this program is a road map to long term success in strength and muscle development. Although this is just a sample workout routines for you to get started, ultimately you will have to sit yourself down and geek out your own ever-changing program if you ever wish to safely and productively train and move for a lifetime.
While your training should not obsess you to the detriment of your health, family and career, you have to be addicted to the iron, sights and sounds of the gym, the challenge of "one more rep," and the accumulation of small bits of iron on the bar. you need to almost worship the soreness you suffer on the days after a hard workout. you must find training to be heaven on earth and, when in the gym, live to train.
Motivation, Responsibility, and Character.
Willingness, commitment, determination - call it what you want - is a huge part of making training deliver the goods. You must stay the course and resist peer pressure and the herd instinct that push you towards comformity. If you imagine failure, dwell on it, and prepare for it, then you will fail. Be alert to your thoughts, notice how much negativity there is. Put the negative thoughts aside as soon as they appear.
World of Bodybuilding
I knew so much about that which I did not need, but knew so little about that which I needed. Therein lies the plight of most bodybuilding junkies. Bodybuliding and strength training are almost laugably simple; but simple does not mean easy. all that really matters is focus and progressive poundages in good form. There are young people who have been training for over ten years and yet still cannot squat much over their bodyweight for 20reps. Pick a handful of compound movements for you and ten devote years to getting stronger, that's all it takes.
What matters more to you? knowing all the possible alternatives to training but being way below your potentials developement, or, knowing much less but being far bigger and stronger than the average trainees? Only when you're big and strong should you explore "new" alternatives (kettlebell/intervals/crossfit/silly balancing stuff).
Gyms concerned with maximizing profit - wrappped up in sales of their various accessories, food supplements and fashion clothing - have made a mockery of the gym business. It has got to the point where the last place to look for good coaching is a modern well-equiped gym. We lets you listen to the music, employ sensual female instructors to keep you interested in renewing your membership. Training is fun and fun means lots of members, though few of them stay long term. Modern gyms depend on a constant influx of new members to make a profit. They promise they will not push you hard and you will enjoy it until you realize that the methods they promote will not help make you big and straong unless you have fantastic genetics.
Training Jargon
1. Reps - a set can consist of one rep (a single), very low reps (2-4), medium reps (5-12), high reps (13-25), or very high reps (25+). Reps can be done with a pause of a second or more. exaggerated pauses permit heavier weights to be used.
2. Sticking Point - Halfway up a rep where the resistance seems to get magnified (sometimes trainees get stuck here).
3. Sets - where an exercise is done multiple times. Warm up sets and work sets. Warm up sets are typically done with lighter weights or lower reps.
4. Concentric - pushing or pulling. the positive phase where muscle shortens like the coming up from the bottom of the squat position.
5. Eccentric - Lowering or negative phase where the muscle lengthens while under load. Lowering phase of the bench press.
6. Training to failure - taking a set to the point where you cannot move the bar any further against gravity. A similiar phrase may be 'muscular fatigue' which is more of not being able to properly perform another set of the same muscle. In practice, most people could extend their 'to failure' sets by several reps if they were well supervised and motivated.
Equipment
Free weights are the traditional and most versatile way of training. Machines reduce the need for instruction and the chance of 'acute' injury. Free weights (barbell/dumbbells) properly used are safe, but they require more expertise and skill than does a machine. Machines can be a hindrance to progress of the serious traineses especially when 'chronically' used, can lock the user into a movement pattern that may not fit individual parameters (height and limb lengths).
Compound - Multiple Joint movements. i.e., squat, deadlift. Hence involves a lot of musculature - primarily the quads, glutes, and erectors. Isolation - Involves only a single muscle per exercise, like leg extension that primarily targets the quads. To train the whole body using only isolation work means you need a lot of different exercise. But most of the body can be trained using a mere handful of compound movements. There are a lot of overlaps between compound exercise and core exercises. Each training routine should have 2-4 of these movements
Here are some compound movements that also works the core:
1. Squat
2. Bent-legged deadlift, sumo deadlift (arms held between the legs), stiff-leg deadlift (work the back more than the hamstring).
3. Leg press.
4. Bench press (flat, incline, and decline).
5. Parallel bar dip.
6. shrug variations (arguably an isolation exercise)
7. pulldown (targeting lats)
8 row variations
9. pullup (pronated grip)
10. chinup (supinated grip)
11. Pullover (lats and chest)
I do not care for secondary exercises (calf raise, crunch situp, shoulder external rotator work, neck and grip work) but that's just my preference. Obviously if you need specialized work for performance/physique reasons on specific body parts, be my guest. I see compound and secondary exercises as builders and refiners. If you only started training and largely for size and strength, stick to the primary movements. Only advanced bodybuilders will benefit from secondary movements and even then, during contest/fat loss and drug-free conditions, they cut out the refiners as well. General speaking, the detail exercises distract you from what you should focus on in you want to get big and strong.
Also, about two thirds of your body's total muscle mass is in your thigh, buttocks, and back. The shoulders, chest, abdominals and arms only make up about a third of your muscle mass, so do not go giving those areas in total any more than one third of your total weight-training attention
Some people are simply not design to become very strong. Bodybuilding is about selecting exercieses that are best for you. Focus on the big basic exercises, it does not mean a rigid adherence to a fixed prescription of exerciese. Never lock yourself into using an exercise that does not suite you. Your prioirty for any exercise is that it does you no harm.
Routines
Training routines are comprised of groups of exercises. They can be either full-body or split routines. A split routine divides the body into two or three parts and each part trained twice every 6-8days.
Muscular potential and Goal Setting
No matter where you are now - big or small, strong or weak, young or not so young - you need only compete with yourself. It is you, against you. Progress is measurable, and concrete. It can be as little as just one more rep than last week in a given exercise. All of those small doses of progress are little thrills you will never tire of. rate exercise high in your priorities. Resolve, now, to give your exercise program and dietary discipline the prioirty they deserve. Keep your bodyfat level to below 15% (or below 10% if you want an appearance that is stunning - assuming that you have some muscle). 20% for female, or 15% to be stunning.
It will not be smooth sailing, but if you want it badly enough you will get there. We care concentrating on an area where genetic restraints have great influence. Keep your goals very challenging but realistic.
Genetics
Genetics matter a heck of a lot - big time! Legitimate hard gainers have a battle to get to 250 pounds in the bench press. A 300 pound bench press by a genuine hard gainer is a far greater achiement than a 400-pound one by an easy gainer. but the easy gainer can never understand this because he can never understand the plight of the hard gainer. and knowing how to successfully train easy gainers does not provide the experience and know-how for being able to successfully instruct hard gainers. This program is meant for hard gainers like you.
The biggest champion of the training world are not the drug-enhanced genetically blessed competitive elit. The biggest champions are the unsung heroes who applied years of dogged determination in order to build themselves up against the odds, without ever using drugs, without seeking or finding publicity, and without devorcing themselves from the rigors and responbilities of everyday working and family life.
Generally speaking, the training world focuses on the achievements and training styles of the competitive minority (genetically gifted, drug-enhanced, smear with sponsors). Even when appropriate instructions were given to the masses, it is usually downright misunderstood. Of course, the lack of adequate application and persistence accounts for part of the failure of the masses experience with weight training but it is the lack of consistent, practical and effective information for the typical people that is mostly to blame.
Recovery
During "down" time you will prepare yourself for getting back into training with greater zeal and organization than ever before. If you cannot stand alone and deliver the goods by yourself, you are never going to rezlize your potential for muscle and might. The deseire has got to be so intense that your body and soul are steeped in it for the long haul. Once you know what to do, you need reply on no one. Things you should consider for optimal recover – proper nutrition, myofascia release (foam roll, tennis ball, deep massage), 8hr sleep, 1hr sun/day, supplements, and reduced physical stressor (chronic cardio) or emotional stressors (damage relationships).
Warm Up
You will warm up on the treadmill (3-5mins under 130bpm on HR) before each session or perform some dynamic stretching on the muscles you will use before lifting. The best whole body warm up would be bodyweight or barbell (no plate) squats, burpees, or a barbell complex involving compound movements like squat, rows, push press, swings, and snatches.
You will always use 2 warm-up sets for the first exercise you do and at least 1 warm-up set for each new movement thereafter.
A warm-up set would be simply lifting the bar itself or about 50% of your 1 rep max of the exercise movement you are doing.
Then take your 2nd warm-up to 75% of your 1RM.
A good warm up rep range should be half of what your workset targeted rep range should be. Ex: If you plan on benching 150lb for 10 reps that day, your warm up should be 75lb for 5reps. You should not feel fatigue after your warm up sets.
Use this link to calculate your 1RM
plug in your rep range and weight to find your 1RM. Then click on the chart below to find out what your 75%, 80%, 85%, and 90% of your 1RM weight is and lift according to those weights and reps.
Programming
Optimal training frequency would be 3-4x a week or consider hit each muscle group 2-3x a week. Just follow the program I will gave you.
If you decide to throw out some exercises you do not enjoy/compliment your current training approach or having physical limitation issues, you can free them up where you see fit. Just keep in mind that every workout should have 1 or 2 compound movements to tax the whole body or at least some movements that engage multiple muscle groups at a time. Overall, you want to get at least 12 work sets (not including warm-up) per training session but don't go over 20 sets total unless you’re eating for mass gain.
Rest Intervals
Rest at least 1 min between all work sets. 2mins for heavy compound movements. Active rest - dynamic stretching can help keep your body warm during longer rest periods like between deadlift/squat sets.
Progression:
For all exercises that you can perform for more than 8 repetitions (or whatever rep range I gave you) across 2 work sets with good forms, increase the weight by 10%. Don't be afraid of adding more plates on the bar. If you're currently benching 65lbs and you've reached 8 reps for 2 sets with good forms even into your last few reps, add 10% of 65lb (6.5lbs) to the bar which will be around 70lb with 2 additional 2.5lb plates.
When you add weight, your rep range will surely drop but that's ok, this is part of getting stronger. In the next few workouts, you will begin to increase your reps. When you reach the 8 repetitions again, add more plates to the bar. Whenever you feel that your form begins to suffer going into new territories, make sure the increase in weight isn't too much/sudden, had proper warm up, sleep/diet is good, rest plenty between your reps and sets.
The 8 rep progression is only one way of tracking and making progress. For beginner lifters, a progression of 8-12rep per set can be properly implemented as well. Just depends on your preference. After a solid year of training with little to no weight increase on the bar anymore, going lower on the rep down to 4 or 5 reps per set may help breaking the stall.
Few exceptions to the8rep progression.
Some exercises like the deadlift, when taken repetition higher than 4 reps at 90% of your 1RM, your grip and your forearm will begin to tire out before your back and your back (at around 6reps) before your legs. So to properly train for deadlift and tax the whole system, I recommend a lower rep range around 2-3 reps per set. This way every rep is in good form, you lift heavier, your grip and back won't suffer. Since you will be working in the lower rep range, feel free to increase sets up to 5-6 sets for this movements. The lower the rep, the more sets you can afford to increase. But as an beginner who need to practice form by keep in it around 5-6rep is still good.
This is the same with squat for those who are strong in their legs but weak with their back. Lower back will give out at 6reps or so when their legs can take it up to 10 reps. If you shoot for the 10 reps at 80% 1RM, you will get bad form (tilting forward with weight on your leg) towards the end of that set. To prevent this from happening, taking heavy squat down to 4-5reps per set is a good idea..
Smaller muscle groups (ex: shoulder/calves) will need higher reps to truly stimulate them since they lift less weight, therefore less volume and get fatigue slower. Taking shrugs or calf raises up to 15 or 20 reps isn't uncommon. In general, a 6 to 10 rep progression is a good start for anybody on any movement. Your program will mainly base on this rep range.
Assistance/accessory movements
They are not necessary as part of a complete training program for a beginner weightlifter but can be help for those in need of changing things up and play catch ups on specific weaker body parts. When you feel like a certain parts of your body is preventing from making gains in a movement (like squat, deadlift, chin, or bench press), it's time to think about using assistant movements to help you with the main/compound movements if you wish to keep making gains on the big 4.
When you feel like a certain muscle group is un-proportional to the rest of the body, you can also try adding some accessory movements as well. Assistance/accessory movements are basically isolation movements where only one joint/muscle moves to resist the weight. ex: would be a leg curl, triceps kickback. There are tons. Just search on line and add them to your program
Strength Goals
3 out of 4 of the following goals should be reached within five years
Bench press: body weight x 1.5,
Chin-ups or pull-ups: body weight x 1.5 or 15 reps with body weight.
Squat: body weight x 2
Deadlift: body weight x 2.5
For the ladies:
Chin or pullup 6 reps body weight
Bench bodyweight x 1.2
Squat 1.5bw
Dead 2xbw
The targets above are all for 1RM, not 6-8reps.
Use this link to calculate your 1RM (that correlates with multiple rep ranges)
These numbers are for a raw (no straps, belt or knee wraps) single repetition (1RM). The progress should be fairly linear, meaning that there should be no plateaus that cannot be solved in an uncomplicated manner. By "consistent" training I do not mean never missing a training day, nor do I consider taking 2-3 months off from training consistent. By "decent training routine", I mean "not doing blatantly stupid shit" (training 5-6 days/week, 20-25 sets for chest and arms, etc.).
Lifestyle and physical changes will come at you in the most ridiculous (and sooner than you expect) way and will throw you off your feet. By having essential and time-tested formulas provided in this program will allow you to make adjustments to counteract the unsuspected variables when the time comes.
"Regardless of genetics, gender or age, each of us has tremendous power to improve physique, fitness and health; but very few people fully exploit this power because so few people train in a way that is truly appropriate to them. Circumstance of life make some decision more likely than others; each person is responsible for his or her own exercise program's results. You decide which exercises you use, how you perform them, and how often you train. You decide when you quit a set, when you go to sleep, how well you eat. You alone are responsible for your progress in the gym, accept responsibility for having created the current state of your physique and fitness. Then assume the responsibility for changing what you do not like." - Stuart McRobert
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