BF2S Forums Workout Programs & Diet

I haven't been working out on mon/tue as i normally do because i pulled an all nighter on mon to welcome some friends who came back from a 3 month trip. So this week I'll do my AB workout with A on wed and B on fri. Ill continue as usual on mon.
Noticed how shit I feel if i haven't worked out in a long time. I guess exercise is like a drug.

Last edited by Kampframmer (2011-03-02 05:17:34)

Kampframmer wrote:

I guess exercise is like a drug.

Absolutely. I've seen studies that explain the euphoria you get because your body releases endorphins. Your body is literally rewarding you chemically and encouraging you to do more. Its a throw back to primal survival, when faster stronger was the only way to stay alive. The human body is amazing.

Jaekus wrote:

Still haven't worked out this week. I feel guilty. I have reasons though... too hungover on Monday, too busy today... hopefully I can do it Friday.

Thinking about starting the Stronglifts 5x5. Anyone else doing this workout got any comments? I'd be interested to hear how it's going.

I was looking into it. Either Stronglifts or Bill Starr 5x5 (Madcow version) would be my choice. After looking around a bit, and reading many opinions, I chose Bill Starr, because really, some things in Stronglifts are just beyond me.

You're supposed to 5x5 sets on Stronglifts, while this is the same with Bill Starr, the last makes you peak on the fifth set. I can't imagine doing 5 sets of my 'max' weight, while I can really push myself and give everything in the final set on Bill Starr, which looks more appealing to me.

Anyway, wrote this in a rush, so it might not be clear, so just ask if you have any other questions


Deadlifted 127.5KG x 5 today, coming from 125x5 last week and 122.5x5 the week before. My PR before exams/.. was 130x3, so should be able to do better very soon

About the 'drugs', nothing beats the feeling you have after your last set of heavy deadlifts, it's

Last edited by Jebus (2011-03-02 08:15:04)

I'm just going to cover the last couple of pages in one post response:

@ nukchebi0 -
Lock your shoulder blades backward and lie on the bench.
All other range of motion should come naturally and effectively when you do that.
Hands should be slightly further than shoulder width apart on the bar.
Inhale when lowering, exhale when powering up.
Power up, but not too much, your range of motion should remain constant. If you power upward too much all you build is muscle power and little strength.
Keep feet flat on the ground.
Never arch your back. - This becomes a more common issue with flys and incline bench press. Try as hard as you can to keep it on the bench at all times. It helps your core as well.

@ pirana6 - You shouldn't EVER be doing Triceps more than once a week, and even then, on a 3 day split (I assume you've dived into the deep end with target muscle exercises - which I do not recommend) you should be on off and targeting other parts of the body.

Fact : Your arms will get stronger with less use. There are plenty of books covering this. Your arms are used in nearly every exercise, therefore tiring them out even more with specific workouts will NOT HELP. I used to do 3 days a week biceps when I was young and stupid, and my arms failed in strength, tone and decent size. I now do them once a week and they're huge and toned.

You're also doing chest too much. Your chest will grow just fine with once a week, and maybe twice a week. But I don't recommend pushing it. I do chest twice a week but I'm on a 5 day split, which is a lot further along than yourself.

Also don't do decline bench press. There is no use for it as it builds no extra muscle and gives you less range of motion. Incline or flat, nothing else.

@ Jaekus and the rest:

I did Stronglifts 5x5 for about 2.5 months. It's a great routine, but keep in mind your muscle toning and definition on this regime will not increase significantly. Remember:
5 reps = Strength + Little size
8 Reps = Strength + Decent Size
12 reps = Little Strength + Big Size
15 reps = Endurance training

Whilst it's a great routine, Stronglifts is usually aimed at the beginner/intermediate phase where you want to lose some weight and gain a lot of strength (hence "Stronglifts"). There is little toning to be noticed on that. Whilst my strength went through the roof, you gain little else - and if you stay on for too long, you'll find yourself back at square one if you try to do more reps on a different regime and you notice your body fails. Stick at it for 6 weeks, rest for 1 and then go do 8/12 reps for your next workout.

Also, you're not doing at your max weight. He's asking for 85-95% of your max rep. Doing 5 should be hard, but possible.

It's a great guide, but there are some inaccuracies with it - most of them come from claiming Arnie did the same workout. His other workout techniques were usually 6 sets of 8 or 10. He also did pyramids and forced sets and supersets to break plateaus. Stronglifts is pretty badly informed about this, and the claims are made are pretty ridiculous. I've seen copies of old Muscle Mag magazines and his workouts were nothing like SL. So take his advice with a tiny pinch of salt. If compared to any book like Tom Venuto's you will see that they disagree on many things, but the vital one they do disagree on is sets and reps, something which I tend to look at the pro pros for tips.

Whilst the routine will work to an extent, and will work better for some people than others, I believe there are far better choices out there, even for starting out. It will increase your strength by a lot, but you will see little toning or muscle mass added to your body - especially if you've done other workout routines already.

My advice if you want to break a plateau or build bigger?
Superset
Increase your sets

Supersetting is where I'm at just now, and it's explosive. Your muscles feel incredible afterwards and my chest exploded when I started doing that (I started with dumbbell flys supersetted by push ups).

Just a few things that I wanted to cover...

Just got back to training today, man it felt good.

11 Bravo wrote:

so i really have not done ab exercises in a long time.  unsure what to do tbh.

grab your ankles, we'll do the rest . . .

Press up supersets are where its at, Liq Zim speaks da truth yo!

I was thinking back to when i first started going to the gym and i thought you had to go and do all these fancy dan exercises with wierd names. I was watching these dudes the other day and just chuckled to myself at what they were trying to achieve and basically making hard work of a simple job. It amazes me how un-educated some people are when it comes to the gym, they roll in with all this kit and drinks and food because they bought a few magazines and got told what to do... rather than experimenting and finding what works best for them and that really, providing you commit to the cardinal exercises, you're golden.

Last edited by baggs (2011-03-04 07:52:48)

baggs wrote:

Liq speaks da truth yo!

huh?

I don't recall saying anything in this thread for ... years.

Been doing 5x5 stronglifts since Early Jan and started at the beginning.
Haven't really seen much change yet, but have only just started hitting the hard weights.
A few discrepancies on the routine though, he says a lot about people insisting on doing exercises a certain way when he says they should be done his way which is right (he insists). Whoever I talk to about this says to do it the 'bad' way and not his way. Mainly on squats.

Question: Barbel rows.

On the SL 5x5 report he says they have to go back to the ground after every rep and you lift to your sternum. I was having trouble with a heavier weight today and asked the guy at my gym if he could help. His idea was that the only lift that goes to the floor after each rep is a deadlift, and that I should bring the bar along my thighs to my stomach rather than through the air to my sternum. His way was a lot easier and I felt it was more stable and I could work with bigger weights more easily on it.

Opinion?

derp

I always found it really hard to keep the posture right with the one where the bar touches the ground.
Does it make that much difference if I just do the more upright one instead because I feel more comfortable doing it?

First thing i could find on youtube that somewhat shows what i mean.
And i dont think it will make that much of a difference, so I would go with the more comfortable one

Stronglifts says to bring it to your chest, which is fucking hard to keep posture.
Guess I'm going to have to drop weights to make sure I get this right again.