Rate my programme-be gentle!

brianthebard

So I'm 6ft, about 90-95 kilos, dunno bf but its at least over 15%. A quick recap on what I've been doing previous to this plan;
5 weeks of a TBT 3x8 plan, three times a week. A rough guide to where my lifts are(all listed as what I can lift for 3 sets of 8);
Shoulder press went from 30kg to 40kg
Bench went from 35 to 45kg
Front squat went from 30 to 50kg
Deadlift went from 55 to 70kg.

Aims of new programme are to continue to improve lifts, hypertrophy and fat loss. I'm coming up to final year exams in about 6 weeks so I don't know how much I'll be in the gym then, so this is really laying the groundwork for this summer.
I liked the TBT plan so this is largely the same but I'm changing from 3x8 to 5x5, I hope this will be enough of a change to make a difference.
I also intend to do cardio on the days I'm not lifting, but this is contingent on college work.

So this is what I'm thinking so far. Its not set in stone so please if you have any ideas on improving it speak up!

Day One;
Widegrip pull downs
Dumbell rows(lying on bench)
Incline bench
Flyes
Front Squat
One leg calf raise
Cuban press
Shrugs
Broken curls
Tri pull downs

Day Two;
Bent over rows
Deadlift
Bench press
Decline Bench
Lunge
Calf raise
Military press
Lateral raise
Hammer curls
Dips/Tri pressups

Day Three;
Cable row
Close supinated pulldown
Dumbell bench
Pullover
Back Squat
Good morning
Front raise
Cuban rotation
Cable curls
Tri pullover

Occaisonally I will get a fourth day of weight training. Atm I'm thinking of dropping arm work to one day a week and adding an extra back and chest exercise to the mix.

Diet will ideally look something like this;
Brekfast, Porridge. Shake with two pieces of fruit and milk.
Snack, piece of fruit or two.
Afternoon meal, Chicken with some brown pasta, pesto, broccoli or other veg.
Afternoon shake
Dinner, fish, cauliflower+turnips/beans/other veg.
Night shake w/milk and flax seed.

So that's the plan, is it workable?

Leon11

thats a lot to be doing for a 3 day total body w/o. There's a link on this forum somewhere for Chad Waterburys 5x5 program. this is it basically:

Day 1

Bench Press BB
Squat
Bent Over Rows

Throw in one or two isolation exercises like weighted situps 4x8 and maybe hyperextensions think it's 2 sets

Day 2

Incline Press BB
Deadlift
Squat

3 sets of sit ups

Day 3

Bench Press BB 4x5, 1x3 (you add on say 2.5k to your 5rm) 1x5
Squat (same as bench press)
Bent Over Rows (same as bench press)

3 Sets of Weighted Dips x 5-8 reps
3 Sets of Barbell Curls x 8 reps
3 Sets of Triceps Extensions x 8 reps

When I used this program i always did triceps on a mon n fri and did some face pulls on a wednesday. I'm gonna give this another lash for the next 10 weeks up to a week or two after my exams to get some more bulk in time for pre season in july.

If you concentrate on giving yourself enough rest time and doing shorter reps you'll notice that you'll have increased your strength greatly over the 10-12 weeks it takes.

another thing on the diet front, it's pretty much bang on imo, being in college also you sometimes 4get to prepare meals, my best advice is just pick 2 days a week say a mon n thurs where you can cook all your meat for dinner n lunch if possible, throw your porridge together night before if like me your always rushing to class first thing in the morning and if not try eating some eggs for b'fast they're great:D

brianthebard

Thanks for the comments. I must stress my diet at the minute isn't that good, very carb heavy but I'm trying to cut down on that. Your definitely right about preparing food in advance, once I don't have something planned for dinner it goes to sh!t.

Tbh I've already done the tbt for 4-6 weeks and I didn't feel it was too much. Since its a new programme I won't know til I try it out though.

Hanley

CW's 5x5 looks ridiculously similar to Bill Starr's original 5x5

Brian, I think because of t-nation alot of people have jumped on this TBT buzz. While I don't doubt that it's a valid approach, the bread and butter of both strength and size training is still body part splits.

Have you ever considere doing seperate leg/back/chest/shoulders+tri's days??

As for the program you outlined, I think the way the squats come mid session on day 1 and 3 isn'ta great idea. You really need to be coming into them fresh.

I'm a powerlifter, so I maybe biased, but I think the most important thing for gaining size (apart from the knife and fork) is pushing up your squat, bench and deadlift. Others may disagree, but I've yet to see a skinny powerlifter.

brianthebard

hey Hanley thanks for the input. I've thought about splits, but I'm still pretty much a noob, and I feel that working each muscle group three times a week is better than killing it once a week. Perhaps after this programme I'll try a split. I will try to put the heaviest lifts like the squats at the start of the day. I've seen your bebo and you know your stuff! I agree totally about getting the big three up. Tbh even though I'm looking for hypertrophy I feel that fat loss is the most important goal at the minute. I understand that it is kind of a result of combined hypertrophy, good diet and cardio, so that's what I'm trying to achieve.

Hanley

The fat loss will come thru your diet. When you're in the gym, concentrate on getting stronger.

You don't have to "kill" the muscles everytime you're in the gym. I back squat heavy once a week, and then use moderate front squats as a warm up to my deadlifts. I go hang clean, front squat, deadlift. It's not like I'm going to total failure on every set.

The more experienced I get, the more I've come to realise that going to failure isn't all that neccessary, and to be honest probably isn't optimal (imo).

I train chest 2x a week. Once will be an incline/decline/flat 3x6-10 or a 6rm and the other is ultra wide grip benches or dumbbelss about 3 days later for 8-10. Neither of these days are to failure. I'm a firm believer that the more you can train a lift the faster it will go up. So you're definately right in that respect.

HammerHeadGym

Hey Brian,
Critique on your workout as requested.

Firstly as much as I hate to agree with anyone younger than me, Hanley is right. Muscle hypertrophy occurs not during the exercise but during the rest after said exercise. The level of repair will depend on the quallity of food that the body has to use. I used to train each body part 3 times a week, on a two day split (like Arnie, my hero at the time) when I started and I made some great gains. When I switched to one day a week per body part, I made some astronomical gains in size, strength, endurance and fat loss. So much so, that many people in the gym asked what steroids I was on, and could I get them some next time I was going down? For the record, I have never juiced.
I now train most body parts twice a week as my goals are now fitness orientated, rather than size or aesthetics. But lifting heavy, 3 times a week per muscle group will definitely lead to overtraining in anyone except Arnie and the five most juiced guys on earth.
If muscular hypertrophy is your main aim and time is a factor, or will sone become one, you should focus on the big three (bench, deadlift and squat) and the two olympic lifts (clean and jerk, snatch) though you will need coaching in the two olympic lifts. So maybe wait till your exams are over. Outside of these you should focus on heavy compound lifts, like dips, chins, bent over rows, etc. and leave the isolation work till your bigger.
As Hanley alluded to, do you biggest, hardet lifts first in your workout, and let them get easier as you get more tired. This will help greatly with your size issues.
Now, I notice your main issue right now is fat loss, so I would say, lift half the weights, then do some High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) with whatever juice you have left. That would be energy as opposed to roids, mind

So here is my revised workout for you.
Day One
Weights
Squats
Lunges
Hamsring Curls
Quad extension
Standing calves
Seated calves
HIIT
5 rounds for time
Row 500 metres
5 dips
5 plyometric push ups (aka clapping push ups)
Alt HIIT Do every other week
3 rounds for time of
Run 800 metres
30 sit ups
30 Back extensions on machine

Day Two
Weights
Flat bench
Incline/Decline bench (swap each week)
Flyes (swap level each week)
Barbell curl superset with skull crushers
Seated dumbell curls on incline bench superset with tricep pushdowns
3 x 40 Situps
3 x 40 leg raise
HIIT
5 rounds for time
10 chins
40 air squats
Alt HIIT Do every other week
3 rounds for time
Run 500 metres
12 burpees

Day Three
Weights
Deadlift
Chins
Bent over rows
Upright rows
Seated pulley rows
Front raise
Lateral raise
Bent over raise
HIIT
6 x 100 metre sprints, jog back to start. No walking
Alt HIIT Do every other week
3 rounds for time
Run 800 metres
15 push ups
30 sit ups
45 air squats

Except where otherwise stated, weight set are 1 x 10, 2 x 8. The Hiit is done with no rest between sets. You vill obey, Tommy Englander. Obviously you will have to stop now and again, but try and do it as little as possible. Definitely don't get in the habit of stopping between exercises. These workouts are relatively short and brutal, but are ideally suited to fat loss, hypertrophy and short time available for training. Don't forget to have a good strecth afterwards and if your gym has it I would definitely recommend a few rounds of 90 seconds in the plunge pool. *Ahem*.. Enjoy

cowzerp

As a basic rule i think muscles should be hit 2 times per week-normal recovery time for muscles is-
legs 5 days
chest and back 4 days
shoulders 3 days
biceps and triceps 2 days this can be a useful tool for planning workouts while avoiding burnout...

Leon11

hanley,

your right about it being similar to bill stars 5x5, cw had a downloadable spreadsheet that worked out the weights you are to lift for the duration of the programme thats why i quoted his version:D

Hanley

I really like the 5x5 layout but I'd make the following changes;

Day 1 OR 3: replace the rows with pull ups
Day 2: front squat after the deadlifts instead of back squats

Transform

Too many exercises and not enough cardio if you want to drop fat.

Drop it to 6 exercises per session and build it up however move between exercises quicker and pair them off for better results for your goal

Hanley

Another advantage of heavy training is that your RMR remains elevated for 24-48 hours post workout so you get fat burning benefits then too.