5X5 or this "other" workout for a newb?

[djeclipse]

I don't care what program you are on or whether it's rubbing a frog on your nuts followed by intense prayer while sitting on a 45lbs plate - if it is allowing you to increase your squat, row, press, and pull (dead/clean/etc..) on a consistent basis, you do it until it stops working.

Where can I get this magical frog? Do you sell them on your website? I tried rubbing a frog on my nuts and all it did was make a mess and give me warts and got me kicked out of the gym...

I like how they dedicate 2 whole days a week to arms and then throw back/shoulders together for no apairent reason.

ngates0516, just becasue you are going to the gym with your buddies doesn't mean you have to do the same program as them. Years back I had a good training buddy, we'd always go to the gym together, but it was very rare that we'd actually do any lifts together, we did our own thing at the gym.

Let your buddies do their program and you stick with the 5x5. Chances are your buddies will get discouraged with the ammount of work they'r doing on a daily basis and the lack of result they're getting. They'll either quit after a few weeks or join you in your program.

 

[asdfzxcv]

Here is a alternative workout to the 5x5 that Mark Rippetoe gave me when I e-mailed him a few weeks back.It is well suited for newer lifters and Mark told me it can last quite a while if you eat enough.

Workout A

3x5 Squat
3x5 Bench Press
1x5 Deadlift/5x3 Power clean,alternate every workout ''A''

Workout B

3x5 Squat
3x5 Military Press
3x5 Chins
3x8 Weighted hypers/Goodmornings

Warm up using several sets before doing the 3 work sets (or 1 for the deadlift). If you're using 175, for example, it would look like this:

Warm up sets

2x5xbar (sets x reps x weight)
1x5x85
1x3x125
1x2x155

Work sets

3x5x175


You alternate workout A and B, 3 non-consecutive days per week. So you might do:

Week 1

M

Workout A

W

Workout B

F

Workout A

Week 2

M

Workout B

W

Workout A

F

Workout B


Add weight to the bar whenever possible. If you're very new to lifting weights, or if most of your lifting has focused on curls and other isolation movements, you'll probably be able to add some weight each workout. Maybe 5-10 lbs each time in the squat and deadlift, and about 5 lbs in the other three lifts. Eventually you won't be able to sustain such progress, and you'll have to get microplates so you can increase by smaller increments. Or you could make them out of chain:

http://davedraper.com/forum/showflat...3/Main/126754/

And eat a lot of food. A whole lot.

It's fine to add some assistance work such as abs, hypers, or maybe some direct biceps and triceps work, but don't overdo it. For direct arm work, 3 sets of 8 of one lift for each muscle at the end of your last workout of the week will be plenty. Your arms are getting hit hard all week on this routine, so you don't want to blast them with iso stuff as well.

The part about food is important. You MUST eat big to get big. Rippetoe recommends 4 meals per day, plus a gallon of milk spread throughout the day.

Whichever you choose to do will yeild good results.
Good luck

 

[BiggT]

Here is a alternative workout to the 5x5 that Mark Rippetoe gave me when I e-mailed him a few weeks back.It is well suited for newer lifters and Mark told me it can last quite a while if you eat enough.

Workout A

3x5 Squat
3x5 Bench Press
1x5 Deadlift

Workout B

3x5 Squat
3x5 Military Press
3x5 Power Clean

Warm up using several sets before doing the 3 work sets (or 1 for the deadlift). If you're using 175, for example, it would look like this:

Warm up sets

2x5xbar (sets x reps x weight)
1x5x85
1x3x125
1x2x155

Work sets

3x5x175


You alternate workout A and B, 3 non-consecutive days per week. So you might do:

Week 1

M

Workout A

W

Workout B

F

Workout A

Week 2

M

Workout B

W

Workout A

F

Workout B


Add weight to the bar whenever possible. If you're very new to lifting weights, or if most of your lifting has focused on curls and other isolation movements, you'll probably be able to add some weight each workout. Maybe 5-10 lbs each time in the squat and deadlift, and about 5 lbs in the other three lifts. Eventually you won't be able to sustain such progress, and you'll have to get microplates so you can increase by smaller increments. Or you could make them out of chain:

http://davedraper.com/forum/showflat...3/Main/126754/

And eat a lot of food. A whole lot.

It's fine to add some assistance work such as abs, hypers, or maybe some direct biceps and triceps work, but don't overdo it. For direct arm work, 3 sets of 8 of one lift for each muscle at the end of your last workout of the week will be plenty. Your arms are getting hit hard all week on this routine, so you don't want to blast them with iso stuff as well.

The part about food is important. You MUST eat big to get big. Rippetoe recommends 4 meals per day, plus a gallon of milk spread throughout the day.

Whichever you choose to do will yeild good results.
Good luck

Great stuff.....so many times guys who are just starting out get way too scientific and start to worry about loading/deloading, working with %'s when it is just as simple as adding weight to the bar each time and making your prescribed sets and reps in good form with something left in the tank.

The eating is important, and if anybody has never tried the gallon of milk a day, you NEED to try it, milk is a very anabolic substance and is like an insurance policy to guarantee progress.

 

[asdfzxcv]

Corrected some mistakes I made while typing,sorry about that.

 

[anotherbutters]

madcow, the workout asdf posted above is probably what should go in the beginner's workout section of the new 5x5 description, i.e. before the SF. I've seen it before from Ripp, but could never remember where. Good post asdf.

 

[asdfzxcv]

Basically when I talked to Mark the impression I got was just focus on raising the squat,everything else is secondary to that.I was a bit skeptical about the whole ''gallon of milk'' type diet,but he said that if you put on 40lb of muscle weight and 10lb of fat,No-one is going to call you fat thats for sure.He told me ''focus on getting strong,not on looking better'' which I think is sound advice for begginers trying to build a foundation.

Mark said that the above program works for 6-12months before he has to switch them over to the single factor 5x5,provided they eat lots and re-ramp the weights when nessercary to continue gains.

I am actually going to start the begginer program by Mark Rippetoe in a few days as I will finally have access to a bench and hopefully this damn flu will be gone.

 

[Madcow2]

madcow, the workout asdf posted above is probably what should go in the beginner's workout section of the new 5x5 description, i.e. before the SF. I've seen it before from Ripp, but could never remember where. Good post asdf.

There's kind of a line there that I'd rather not cross unless he specifically wanted it. The beauty of a book like Starting Strength is that you get very detailed instruction on the lifts along with other basics including programing. Now let's face it, most of these nimrods would be unlikely to buy the book for just the exercises. These are guys who would rather spend $30 on a month's worth of some bullshit supplement than really learn to do something right from the beginning. And this is why several years down the road, they still suck but current popular culture seems to push in this direction. So what I'll probably do is put up something basic (and it'll probably wind up being a good bit like Ripp's since we both favor simplicity) and advise anyone to just buy Rippetoe's book and be done with it which is really going to be the best move for any beginner.

 

[ngates0516]

yes thank you.