Help Me Find A Program For Strength

Bigger Stronger Leaner
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1

Hi

I’m quite a beginner and I think I need help with getting the most bang for the buck out of the time I spend in the gym. In other words, I need programming help.

My history is that I’ve been doing bodyweight fitness for about a year at home, and 3 months ago I joined a gym and started lifting weights, starting with some bench pressing, squats and dumbbell work just because I thought that was something you needed to do, to now really liking bench press, squats, deadlift, OHP, bend over rows and pull ups because it’s intoxicating.

I’m 179 cm tall and I weigh 93 kg. I’m not sure what my 1RM is, but my 5x5 numbers as of today are:

  • Bench Press: 90kg
  • Squats: 95kg
  • Deadlift: 120kg
  • OHP: 57,5kg.

The program I have been doing is simply a full body workout I have come up with myself as I have seen what has worked and what hasn’t. When I can do the number of reps listed per set with proper form, I add weight. Simple as that. In it’s abbreviated form it’s:

  • PRIMARY
  • Bench Press 5x5
  • Squats 5x5
  • Deadlift 5x5
  • OHP 5x5
  • SECONDARY
  • Bend Over Rows 5x5
  • Pull-Ups 5x5
  • ASSISTANCE
  • Dumbbell Shoulder Shrugs 4 x 12
  • Lying Dumbbell Triceps Extensions 4 x 12
  • Lateral Raises 4 x 12
  • Lat Pulldowns 4 x 12
  • Cable Crossovers 4 x 12
  • 21’s 3 sets

As you can see, it’s quite something since it’s a fullbody program that grew from taking 1.5 hour to 3 hours. I do this every other day and I spend ~2 hours on the primary and secondary group and ~1 hour on the assistance group, so a total of 3 hours, which has led to me bringing a banana and protein bar with me to eat after the primary group to have enough energy to keep going hard, which is one of the reason I think something is not quite as it should be if we consider the saying “you can either work long or hard”. Now, it’s not like it’s not working. I’m gaining strength consistently, going up in weight every week, but I’m just thinking I could be gaining even more if I used a proper program.

So back to my main question: I’m looking for a program that focuses on strength. I currently train every other day (3.5 times a week) but I would have no problem with 4, 5, 6 or 7 times a week, whatever would be the most optimal for me to gain as much as possible as efficiently as possible.

I hope some of you can help me, thanks.

2

No reason for that… i can honestly say very few guys actually train that long.

again no need for that either.

plenty of options on this site that are more optimal that what you are currently doing.

3

Hmm…

I’m not sure you should trust what you’ve seen.

1 Like
4

just do this…

5

DAMN BRO that’s an incredible amount of volume. If I were to recommend anything, I would say to decrease the amount of sets that you do each day, and increase the frequency of training. For example, still complete full body workouts three days a week, but on the other days do body weight training and workout smaller exercises. By doing this, I bet you will see your numbers sky rocket because your muscles are not being beat to a pulp every day and you wont be risking the negative of overtraining (WHICH IS SUPER POSSIBLE!!!).
An example of a workout like this would be
Monday: 4x4-6 front squat, 3x4-6 Barbell row, 3x15-20 Bulgarian split squat, 3x4-6 DB flat bench (superset) 3x6-8 DB single arm row, 4xmax dips & pull ups, ab circuit
Tuesday: 5x10 pull-ups, pushups, air squats. Mobility, olympic lift progression/drills etc. (Easy stuff)
Wednesday: mix and match exercises you enjoy similar to Mondays workout
Thursday: weightless
Friday: same as Monday and Wednesday
Saturday/Sunday: Body weight

I started to follow a program like this after months of exhausting my body and on the verge of overtraining, and the gains I have made are incredible. I am stronger than ever and feel full of energy throughout the entire day!

6

I don’t know about anyone else, but I don’t really think you can go wrong with 5/3/1 if strength is your goal. You’re going to have to dial back on some of that volume. No need for that amount of time at the gym. I’m a total volume junkie. Had to cut some of it out myself and it’s done me a world of good for gains and general well being. Best of luck.

7

I have looked at 5/3/1, but as far as I can see, it’s (and Wendler is) very much about steady and sure progress balanced with “life”, whereas right now and for the next couple of months, I don’t really have to balance anything, and can focus as much as needed on training until at least august. I might have misunderstood 5/3/1, though, so correct me if I’m wrong.

8

You have sorely misunderstood the program. It will raise the numbers on all of your lifts. Steady progress doesn’t mean slower than everything else - all progress in lifting is and should be slow, and there’s no fast track program to success in a few months. Less volume and tracked progression will help you. Otherwise, there are only like a thousand other programs on here to try. 5/3/1 is just my suggestion.

9

Thank you, I’ll give it a shot!

10

I think your original approach using 5x5 was great. I personally wouldn’t do all that in one day. But 5/3/1 would be great too. In my opinion, 5/3/1 lacks volume for upperbody stuff, so my personal input would be to add volume or follow the BBB approach. Ignore the rest of the message if you choose to do BBB.

I really like the secondary and assistance work you got listed - I would personally do frequent Bent Over Row and Pull-Ups and alternate them each session.

As for assistance, I’d keep it light and mostly pump shit so you can focus on the main lifts. I would rather do hammer curls instead of 21s, and I think rear delt flies/swings/face pulls/band pull aparts would be more critical than lateral raises and cable crossovers. Rather than doing these every session, I think it would be better to split these up across the week. Contrary to what I just said, I love doing light 8x8 with 30 second rest of lat pulldowns at the end of every session.