Workout Help

Kleenex

Hi, long time reader first time poster.

I have been doing starting strength along with Gomad for the last 7/8 weeks and have gained around 20lb.

I have seen an increase in my overall size and strength gains but as expected with GOMAD I have put on a bit of fat too, especially around the belly. But overall I am delighted with the size and strength increases.

I now plan to cut out gradually GOMAD and am also looking at doing a 3/4 day split routine instead of SS.

However if I do legs one day a week, that will be the only day I will be doing squats as a pose to 3 times a week at present and bench press, shoulder press,deadlift are being done 3 times over 2 weeks at present but would now all only be done once a week.

I feel I shouldn't probably reduce the core compound exercises but at the same time I want to focus more on individual body parts as part of the 3/4 day split routine.

I am aware that my diet(after all that milk abuse ) and more cardio needs to be done and that is fine.

Anybody any suggestions on what to do or sample programmes that would suit? As ideally I am going to look to lose some weight/fat and tone the muscles more.

Thanks

ray jay

I'm going to assume you're a beginner. If that's not the case then ignore the rest of this post

has your progress stalled on starting strength yet? Most people would get a lot more than 8 weeks out of it before they'd have to change their program, and a split routine wouldn't typically be the change they'd make. Keep in mind that the reason people move to split routines is because the amount of stimulus they need has reached the point where they just can't fit enough volume into their gym time on a full body routine. Beginners don't need a huge quantity of training on a single body part to make good gains. That's why they will get the most bang for their training buck out of the basic large compound lifts

as a matter of interest, did you read the starting strength book or were you just using the SS wiki? The book explains why the program is set up the way it is and why focusing on individual muscle groups is pretty pointless early in your training. Someone is selling a copy of it if you want to check it out

Kleenex

ray jay wrote: »

I'm going to assume you're a beginner. If that's not the case then ignore the rest of this post

has your progress stalled on starting strength yet? Most people would get a lot more than 8 weeks out of it before they'd have to change their program, and a split routine wouldn't typically be the change they'd make. Keep in mind that the reason people move to split routines is because the amount of stimulus they need has reached the point where they just can't fit enough volume into their gym time on a full body routine. Beginners don't need a huge quantity of training on a single body part to make good gains. That's why they will get the most bang for their training buck out of the basic large compound lifts

as a matter of interest, did you read the starting strength book or were you just using the SS wiki? The book explains why the program is set up the way it is and why focusing on individual muscle groups is pretty pointless early in your training. Someone is selling a copy of it if you want to check it out

Thanks for your response.

I have read SS the book and have it at home, but I read it and didn't start SS till around a month later.

I would be a relative beginner from the point of view, that I have only used the gym for around 5 months prior to doing SS and I previously did circuits (at an intense rate and always increasing the weight where possible before I found I stalled on a lot of the machines and barbell/dumbell lifts).

I have started to stall on SS, the last two weeks I have really struggled on all my lifts (btw I can't do power cleans in my gym so do barbell rows instead http://stronglifts.com/how-to-perform-the-barbell-row-with-proper-technique/).

It's just that I feel I have bulked up and got stronger and heavier and fatter that I now want to get a more toned look. I think cutting out the GOMAD will certainly help and also increasing my cardio excercise, my food diet is generally good, mostly high protein,low carb,good mix of fruit and veg.

So would I be better off just cutting out the GOMAD and sticking with SS despite probably not going to increase any of my lifts? I don't actually care about increasing my lifts anymore, it is not the be all and end all for me and I am always willing to push myself in the gym.

I had the gym instructor look at my form for the different lifts a few weeks ago and there was a couple of minor changes made but I feel based on the last week or two I have really struggled with the lifts and my form is suffering because.

Weight - 79kg
Height 5ft 10

Squat - 105kg
Bench - 62.5kg
Deadlift - 145kg
Shoulder Press - 40kg