I’ve posted a couple times here before about training, since i’m new to it. You guys were very helpful and i thank you all, i trust t-mag in giving all of us great info, and helping us reach our goal in bodybuilding, if they could just lift for us too, hehe kidding. To recap, i’m strictly an at home trainer, i don’t bother with the gyms cause i feel you can setup your own just as good if not better, and nobody will bug you or no waiting on machines etc… my goal is to train for size and strength, if its possible to train for the best of both worlds, i just bought muscle milk from a supplement store, i don’t know if its good for me to already start with supplements this early, but soon i might want to try tribex 500 and other products.
Right now i just want to build up some good mass and strength, then work on definition when i’m at a good size. I’m only about 5’9 or 5’10 and weigh in at 135-145 lbs., skinny. The thing is i want to the best results, faster results then most people, cause i’m going to eat right, follow the “get big diet” if that’s good, and train hard. I really want abs, nice solid ones that stick out, bigger ones, i’ve read the articles on the abs here, but i want to work my way up to the maximal strength, strength endurace, basically the best you can get for you abs, strong abs. Can anyone here give me a good program to kick start my training, to give me good mass and strength, so i can start the super strength and volume programs, i’m soon going to buy get buffed too, along with this program can anyone throw in a good ab one, just built up from both those articles, so i can work my way up to my goal? thank you guys.
If you just want to build up some general mass and strength you may simply want to base a 4 day per week split around the 4 key excercises. The benchpress, pullup, squat and deadlift - focusing a day on each with some subsidiary isolation movements tacked on at the end.
Check out Ian King's ab article "The thinking man's guide to ab training". It explains how to create great ab workouts. The "evolution of ab training" is another good article, and shows you some 'special' excercises, though I still can't seem to make Janda situps work. If anyone knows how to do them so that they work, feel free to let me know. Those stomach rolling things are amazing, though.
Just type "abs" in the Previous Issues search engine and those two articles will pop up.
A tip: you’ve gotta look at things in terms of phases (PERIODIZATION). I’m taking this from Tudor O Bompa’s books:
1.Atanomical adaptation-If your starting out, you have to lift light for at least 3-6 weeks to give you're connective tissue time to catch up to the rapidly adapting muscle and nervous systems. If you skip this phase, you're setting yourself up for an injury, and you may set back your training for a while. Besides, you only really need to do it once in a blue moon after this.
2.Hypertrophy-once you completed the first phase you can go heavier and use things like slow negatives and high volume (ex. german volume program, etc) to gain mass for about 3-6 weeks.
3. Limit strength-now you (and your body) are ready to build pure strength. Use heavy wieght (80% of 1rm or more)and low reps (over 2 but under 6, any for maximal wieghts would be good). Do this for about 6 weeks.
5-Take a week off, then come back to the hypertrophy phase. You will see a good gain in mass now that you can handle higher weight after the l.s. phase.
6-After a few cycles of these two phases, you may want to strip off some fat. A program like the german body composition would be perfect
(Note:all of the programs I mentioned are at t-mag). A low carb-high protein diet would be in order.
The get big diet would be appropriate for all other phases. Remember, you can't gain muscle and loose fat at the same time. This is why periodization works.
thanks guys, the thing is i worked out around march before, a bit after christmas 99’, thats when i first started, and i followed that york barbell programs, was a good one, but i didnt even complete the first course, its a 9 week program, it had all the core lifts to start you off in the first course, then in the next 3 it would get you in advanced stuff, more reps, you know. I gained well, in fact i went from curling like only 30 lbs, to about 70lbs in about 4 weeks, i was lifting light the whole time to avoid injury and just to be safe, then i started getting all hyped up and reading magazines, anf ofcourse i change my program like the idiot i was, messed around with that for a week, then i started to work too much, and quit weight training. Now i want to get back into it and do it right and stay with it, i have a feeling i’m gifted in gaining strength easily, don’t know about size yet, please take a look at the workout i created on the next page, i dont kno why t-mag posts stuff all the way at the end of the list, anyways thanks, ajv that looks to be like an excellent periodization, what about king’s 12 weeks to super strength??
johnny, king’s program is ok. Don’t be too dazzled over the york barbell program. You see, as a begginer, ANY program you do will give some results simply due to the motor development (your body learing how to use muscle fibers properly to perform a movement) that will occur. This doesn’t make it the best choice. Periodization will take you a lot farther, is more specific to your personal goals, takes into account the need for time off, etc…
But you are right on the basic exercises part. Right now, until you get a fair amount of strength, all you need is squats, deads, pull-ups, bench press, etc.You don’t really need machines either. Free weights are better for practical, or sport related strength.
ps.I misspelt the word anatomical (I accidentally put ‘atanomical’)