Critique my new routine

Bigger Stronger Leaner
21

[quote]Chris Colucci wrote:

EDIT. Important-Edit. Can’t-believe-I-overlooked-it-Edit: Xagunos, you’re not really 16 years old like your profile says, right? Because if so, your posting history raises some serious issues.[/quote]

Good catch. It looks like he’s posted about 20 different routines and just keeps starting similar threads. I read one thread he started where he did mention something about ‘having more time off from school’, so the age thing may be accurate…

That being said, if his posting history is a true reflection of what he’s done in the last year and a half, he’s done the Texas method, 5/3/1, just deadlifts and dips, the program outlined here, and a few others. I’m sensing underlying issues.

22

Ignore my above post. Misread the records.

23

[quote]flipcollar wrote:

[quote]Chris Colucci wrote:

EDIT. Important-Edit. Can’t-believe-I-overlooked-it-Edit: Xagunos, you’re not really 16 years old like your profile says, right? Because if so, your posting history raises some serious issues.[/quote]

Good catch. It looks like he’s posted about 20 different routines and just keeps starting similar threads. I read one thread he started where he did mention something about ‘having more time off from school’, so the age thing may be accurate…

That being said, if his posting history is a true reflection of what he’s done in the last year and a half, he’s done the Texas method, 5/3/1, just deadlifts and dips, the program outlined here, and a few others. I’m sensing underlying issues.[/quote]

Oh man. I did a little bit of google research… I won’t be participating in any more threads started by this screen name. Search results were not good.

Edit: and I’m convinced he’s not older than 16.

24

[quote]flipcollar wrote:
Oh man. I did a little bit of google research… I won’t be participating in any more threads started by this screen name. Search results were not good.

Edit: and I’m convinced he’s not older than 16.[/quote]
Ugh. Okay yeah, just took a look. Ditto that. Is Reddit really a better place to get lifting advice than here? C’mon son.

25

[quote]pcdude wrote:
I can see how one might dismiss the bench press as being somewhat non-functional, but the deadlift? I mean come on - it’s one of the most basic movements in the history of mankind - LIFTING A HEAVY OBJECT OFF THE GROUND.

Most people who call the deadlift non-functional are those who chose not to do them because they are HARD. Even those who are not bio-mechanically optimized to perform conventional deadlifts can find a version (snatch-grip, sumo, etc.) that works for them.

And what about all of the proven strength training programs (5/3/1, Stronglifts 5x5, Starting Strength, etc.) that utilize these lifts as part of their core programming? Are they wrong in doing so because these lifts will only help those who compete in powerlifting events that include them?[/quote]

I never once said that the deadlift is non-functional, and honestly, the bench press isn’t truly non-functional either. It has its place. The deadlift is fundamentally of course one of the most basic exercises you can perform-- but it doesn’t mean there isn’t a load of other alternatives.

My point I was trying to make in my previous two posts were that just because Jim Wendler, Mark Rippetoe, some well known program, or whoever says something or makes a statement-- doesn’t make it law. I tried to give examples (gymnasts, some military personnel, Oly lifters, etc) to show this. Wendler and the like are not wrong by any means. Jim Wendler has my upmost respect. I love the guys writing and believe he is really smart in a man-to-man no bullshit kind of way and I respect the hell out of him.

However, the last time I checked Jim Wendler is not me and my experiences, lifestyle, and goals are specific to me. The same goes for any other lifter. Not anyone else, I don’t care who it is and who is considered an “authority” of the matter. I take what I want from these great people.

I squat easily more than most regular gym goers (frequency wise, not weight) and do so probably with more interest. Why? Because it is what I personally like to do. I get more out of it than picking something off the ground and putting it back down. It doesn’t make me wrong, stupid, or a bad lifter. I’m not competing, so there is no one to tell me what I am doing is wrong. Because I do it for me and my personal reasons.

What I am trying to say is that too many people get caught up in what is current-- what becomes popular, and fail to remember that you can actually do whatever the fuck you want and amazingly enough accomplish your goals in the process(as long as you’re not hurting yourself of course).

26

[quote]Chris Colucci wrote:

[quote]pcdude wrote:
You can’t clean as much as you can deadlift, and you can’t press as much as you can bench press.[/quote]
Faulty logic. You can’t front squat as much as you can back squat or dumbbell row as much as barbell row, but that doesn’t make them inferior exercises at all.[/quote]
Sorry for the confusion. I only meant to say that the deadlift/bench could compliment the clean/press and thus should be considered. In no way are the clean/power clean or press inferior lifts, quite the contrary. I could have articulated myself a bit better. It did set off a good debate, however.

I agree with everything else you said.

27

[quote]Evolv wrote:
I never once said that the deadlift is non-functional, and honestly, the bench press isn’t truly non-functional either. It has its place. The deadlift is fundamentally of course one of the most basic exercises you can perform-- but it doesn’t mean there isn’t a load of other alternatives.[/quote]
Sorry if I went off on a rant. My issue was the implication that the deadlift only makes you stronger at the deadlift, and thus is non-functional. And I actually don’t think it was you that said this, but another poster. I agree with what you are saying, as you make some very good points.

28

[quote]pcdude wrote:

[quote]Evolv wrote:
I never once said that the deadlift is non-functional, and honestly, the bench press isn’t truly non-functional either. It has its place. The deadlift is fundamentally of course one of the most basic exercises you can perform-- but it doesn’t mean there isn’t a load of other alternatives.[/quote]
Sorry if I went off on a rant. My issue was the implication that the deadlift only makes you stronger at the deadlift, and thus is non-functional. And I actually don’t think it was you that said this, but another poster. I agree with what you are saying, as you make some very good points.[/quote]

I don´t remember who said that but I remember that poster saying he wouldn´t need to practice deadlift to get better at it.
Quite a point. I´ve heard that a lot, many think the dead is merely a strength tester rather than builder and they would construct their power with squats. Later after not practicing the deadlift in a while they would find the lift going up, putting the squat as a reason.

It is very interesting to me that a lot of PLers have way bigger squats than deadlifts and this doesn´t happen with non PLers that often.

29

[quote]Salpinx wrote:

[quote]pcdude wrote:

[quote]Evolv wrote:
I never once said that the deadlift is non-functional, and honestly, the bench press isn’t truly non-functional either. It has its place. The deadlift is fundamentally of course one of the most basic exercises you can perform-- but it doesn’t mean there isn’t a load of other alternatives.[/quote]
Sorry if I went off on a rant. My issue was the implication that the deadlift only makes you stronger at the deadlift, and thus is non-functional. And I actually don’t think it was you that said this, but another poster. I agree with what you are saying, as you make some very good points.[/quote]

I don�´t remember who said that but I remember that poster saying he wouldn�´t need to practice deadlift to get better at it.
Quite a point. I�´ve heard that a lot, many think the dead is merely a strength tester rather than builder and they would construct their power with squats. Later after not practicing the deadlift in a while they would find the lift going up, putting the squat as a reason.

It is very interesting to me that a lot of PLers have way bigger squats than deadlifts and this doesn�´t happen with non PLers that often.[/quote]
PCDude, no worries bud. I knew what you were saying, I was just sharing some thoughts too.

Salpinx, that was me. Generally speaking the deadlift is not a movement I need to really train all that much. Whereas the squat and bench are two that I have to hit pretty frequently to get better at. Also, there was a period of time I didn’t bench press at all, I was still strong (for me at least) but the bench press has certainly added upper body mass to my physique. Something I’ve had a hard time growing doing other things. So for that, the bench has been a great movement for me.

An interesting thing though for this topic I think, I had to take a PT test at work and of course had to perform push-ups. A year prior to taking the test I was not benching at all. For this past test I had put about 60-70 pounds on my bench press and I had scored the EXACT same on my push-ups!!! So despite getting stronger bench pressing, my push-up strength/endurance remained the same. Just an interesting thing that has happened to me to add to this discussion.

30

[quote]Evolv wrote:

[quote]Salpinx wrote:

[quote]pcdude wrote:

[quote]Evolv wrote:
I never once said that the deadlift is non-functional, and honestly, the bench press isn’t truly non-functional either. It has its place. The deadlift is fundamentally of course one of the most basic exercises you can perform-- but it doesn’t mean there isn’t a load of other alternatives.[/quote]
Sorry if I went off on a rant. My issue was the implication that the deadlift only makes you stronger at the deadlift, and thus is non-functional. And I actually don’t think it was you that said this, but another poster. I agree with what you are saying, as you make some very good points.[/quote]

I don�?�´t remember who said that but I remember that poster saying he wouldn�?�´t need to practice deadlift to get better at it.
Quite a point. I�?�´ve heard that a lot, many think the dead is merely a strength tester rather than builder and they would construct their power with squats. Later after not practicing the deadlift in a while they would find the lift going up, putting the squat as a reason.

It is very interesting to me that a lot of PLers have way bigger squats than deadlifts and this doesn�?�´t happen with non PLers that often.[/quote]
PCDude, no worries bud. I knew what you were saying, I was just sharing some thoughts too.

Salpinx, that was me. Generally speaking the deadlift is not a movement I need to really train all that much. Whereas the squat and bench are two that I have to hit pretty frequently to get better at. Also, there was a period of time I didn’t bench press at all, I was still strong (for me at least) but the bench press has certainly added upper body mass to my physique. Something I’ve had a hard time growing doing other things. So for that, the bench has been a great movement for me.

An interesting thing though for this topic I think, I had to take a PT test at work and of course had to perform push-ups. A year prior to taking the test I was not benching at all. For this past test I had put about 60-70 pounds on my bench press and I had scored the EXACT same on my push-ups!!! So despite getting stronger bench pressing, my push-up strength/endurance remained the same. Just an interesting thing that has happened to me to add to this discussion.[/quote]
I do understand that among the big lifts the deadlift is not exactly the best at building mass. Still it puzzles me how many have bigger squats that DLs. Mechanic advantage perhaps?

Regarding the bench/push-ups I had an interesting experience as well. Last year I took a long lay off from weigth training. During that time I developed the ability to go from 0 to barely 1 to 5 solid 1 arm push ups (among other BW exercises). Interesting thing is that when I got back to benching I did not add a single pound to the bar when I was supposed to now be able to produce more force.

On a similar trend…I learned first how to deadlift and the squat was one hell of a technical mess to me (it still is but I keep working on it), so much that I would DL over 200 punds before even adding any weigth to the squat. As a result I started with a much bigger squat than anyone would (to be more acurrate I tried front squats as they were easier) and my quads were never a limiting factor. Deads hit them pretty well for me back then

31

Salpinx, there are a couple potential answers to your question about some powerlifters having higher squats than deadlifts.

Here’s the most likely answer. If we’re talking about geared lifting, then squat suits give considerably more advantage to the lifter than deadlift suits. Keep in mind, the multiply squat record is over 1200, and the multiply deadlift record is just over 1000. In raw lifting, however, the world record for squats is 993 (I think), and the deadlift record is still just over 1000. This basically means that you’re probably talking about geared lifters. Raw lifters should, for the most part, still deadlift more than they can squat.

The examples of raw lifters who DO squat more than they deadlift are generally fatter lifters. The lighter weight classes have some tremendous deadlift numbers, and significantly lower squat numbers. Having a big belly does not benefit a deadlifter. It has the potential to benefit a squatter.

32

[quote]Salpinx wrote:

[quote]pcdude wrote:

[quote]Evolv wrote:
I never once said that the deadlift is non-functional, and honestly, the bench press isn’t truly non-functional either. It has its place. The deadlift is fundamentally of course one of the most basic exercises you can perform-- but it doesn’t mean there isn’t a load of other alternatives.[/quote]
Sorry if I went off on a rant. My issue was the implication that the deadlift only makes you stronger at the deadlift, and thus is non-functional. And I actually don’t think it was you that said this, but another poster. I agree with what you are saying, as you make some very good points.[/quote]

I don�´t remember who said that but I remember that poster saying he wouldn�´t need to practice deadlift to get better at it.
Quite a point. I�´ve heard that a lot, many think the dead is merely a strength tester rather than builder and they would construct their power with squats. Later after not practicing the deadlift in a while they would find the lift going up, putting the squat as a reason.

It is very interesting to me that a lot of PLers have way bigger squats than deadlifts and this doesn�´t happen with non PLers that often.[/quote]

The squat has the bar in a more mechanically advantageous position, and if you’re an avide squatter, you’ll know how to best use the stretch reflex at the bottom to give you momentum to get out of the whole. Not to mention how wraps and knee sleeves affect that, and not so much in the deadlift. Many Powerlifters also squat much wider than they deadlift, perhaps actually making the squat have a shorter range of motion for the deadlift.

I haven’t noticed many raw lifters with higher squats than deadlifts, but I know there are a few. They are probably built to squat, and love the squat. The geared lifters have squat suits, wraps, etc. So, not too unexpected when you factor all that stuff in

33

I have not considered squat suits and wraps. Thanks for pointing that out, I completely forgot about that point.
Anyway I think the OP is gone from the thread anyway, it is pretty much a discussion between the rest of us :slight_smile: