T Nation

Q for Joel Marion

Bodybuilding
#1

I’m really confused here. I looked through the Meltdown and EDT threads, and am even more confused what to do. Ok, a little background info. I am almost 24, 6’ 255 lbs. ~19% bf. I am looking to drop 20 lbs of fat, while maintaining my lbm of 207 lbs. Your posts on 5x5 make sense, and am planning a routine as follows:
Mon- Posterior chain
Tue- Pressing/pushing movements
Wed- Off
Thurs- rowing/pulling movements
Fri- Quads/ Anterior chain

I am incorporating mainly compound power movements- Squats, deads, cleans, push presses, and so forth. At the end of the 5x5’s, I also incorporate Paul Chek-like core movements (Wood choppers, standing russian twists) and back extensions. Anyhow, I was wondering if this makes sense to you. As for diet, I am following the T-Dawg diet, and am using surge post wo. I also use plenty of grow, AP, old T2, and old MD6. My goal is to accomplish this fat loss by the end of June. Do you have any more advise on how to structure a 5x5 plan? Thanks, -The Starkdog

#2

I’d go with the routine that I have posted on the Alessi thread. A number of people are currently doing the program with great results; I’ve gotten nothing but good feedback so far.

With 5x5, It's better to mix up the split, this way you'll be sure to incorporate some secondary work for most muscle groups in the subsequent workouts. The key is to have some overlap, but not too much...I think the program on the Alessi thread accomplishes this quite well.

I don't see any reason to train Ab's more frequently than the other muscles; once a week should suffice, provided that you are training them heavy with the 5x5 protocol.

Since you are going to be doing this rather long-term (more than 2 weeks anyway), I would start off with moderate intensity cardio (3-4 sessions a week), and then switch over to HIIT sprinting (2-3 sessions a week) once fat-loss hits a wall. The sprinting will be a good way to shock your system and to once again initiate fat-loss. If you were only going to diet for a two week period, then I would just start with sprints, but I think the above approach will give you the best results in the long run. You can check out a couple of sample sprinting routines on my page at:

http://www.tcnj.edu/~marion4/cardio.html

That section of the site is still pretty current, however, I need to update the rest so that it coincides with my present knowledge...have been very busy with school latly.

Hope this recommedations help. If you have any further questions, feel free to contact me here.

#3

Thanks Joel. I’ll give your routine a try. Just a question, though. With the A1, and A2 designations for the exercises, do you suggest to superset these, or just do them in that particular order? Also, I forgot to say that I only do the Paul Chek core movements on Thursdays, and back extensions on Tuesdays. The way I typed it, it read everyday. Thanks again, -The Starkdog

#4

You can read about the A1/A2 movements on the Alessi thread…it’s on the same post that the outline of the program is on.

#5

You can go either way. You can superset or not superset. If the gym is not crowded, I’ll swich between A1 and A2 (but rest between every set). If the gym is crowded, I’ll run through A1 and then do A2. It is really up to you.

#6

The term “superset” would imply that you are not resting between sets. For time’s sake, I recommend doing what I said on the Alessi post…casually alternating between A1 and A2…do not superset. Do exercise A1…rest a minute or so…move on to A2…rest a minute or so…back to A1…and so on. Continue alternating A1 and A2 until you complete 5 sets of each.

#7

Good call on superset terminology, Joel. What should we call a “set” involving 2 exercises where you rest between each work set? I know superset is generally back to back with no rest, but I’ll use it (for lack of a better word) to describe alternating between 2 exercises.

#8

Well, it definitely needs a name, and I think I’m going to make one up and coin it for the BB community. :slight_smile: