fits

Hello.

I am currently following a routine set out by Mr OSC for improving my four big lifts....

Shoulder press, Bench press, Dead lift and squat.

My journal is here if your interested http://onesmartcookie.co.uk/forum/vi...37922606e0d211 But my lifts are poo so be kind if you do read it

any way, basically im doing 3x3 for all four lifts five times per week (although this is changing due to adding cardio sessions at lunch times)

Im following cookies way (one of many ideas he has, or shoudl that be many many many many ideas!)

just wanted opinions from others and ideas for routines to improve these lifts as fast as possible. all ideas welcome :-)

big

To improve a lift:

- If you're beginner/intermediate, do the lift regularly in a low rep range. Lots of sets NONE to failure.
- If you're advanced, do variations of the lift with high intensity (% of 1RM) and blast the weaknesses that are causing you to fail on the lift with lots of assistance sets NOT to failure.

I can't see cookie's board as it's asking me to log on, but assuming he is getting you to deload correctly (and I would guess he is), what he's telling you to do is probably going to be very good for you.

Just make sure you're eating enough, especially protein, to support your training.

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Truewarrior1

bump to big's reply

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nick500

Why not to failure?

big pete

looking thru fits, what do you do for PWO? i see you didnt get on with the 'EXPAND' stuff, lol. il be honest the CEE on its own makes me a little dicky.

your general food intake seems very low for gaining strenght and losing fat all at the same time!

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'there is greatness inside all of us, how deep are you willing to dig? '

fits

Thanks for reply's lads.

I set myself the target of being able to lift certain weights as i have never done this. I have mostly lifted weights along with dieting to reduce bf% all my training life (10/11 years on and off) so i have never really lifted big weights.

I feel that once i reach my targets, ill be happy and i will then be able to train for size and get better results as ill be lifting decent weight.

I set myself a goal of achieving my targets, weighing between 15st and 16st. I was just over 15st at the time and was looking forward to a clean bulking diet for the first time in my life. Alas i started meeting up with people i have not seen for over a year (i worked abroad) and started enjoying london life again) so now im roughly 16st so really need to loose a little weiight, maybe 8 to 10lbs. nothing majour.

i am known for changing my mind...one minute...bulk...next minute...im too fat so diet diet diet...but am set on reaching my target lifts for the first time in my life. i was down to 13st 4lbs two years ago, but looking back at photos i looked too skinny so i wont want to go below 15st. So no majour dieting, just a steady diet to get half a stone or so off.

I was thinking of doing atkins just for a week from tomorrow and hope to just maintain my lifts this week....what do u recon?

LOL Expand...no i didnt take to it but it was my first go.. i felt sick the next day too. ill try it again, The other prob with it is that it says not to take 4 hours before bed, but the second drink, post workout there is no was i can do that. i was up all night last time

big

Because you're doing lots of sets in order to improve and practice the lift. Trying to go to failure on multiple sets is why 95% of people fail miserably at bodybuilding/powerlifting/etc. The other 5% either have incredible genetics, or are doing a sensible training routine.

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Crazy Mick

So Big, if a guy is benching a certain weight for 2 reps, and he wants to go higher rep up to say a 5 x 5 routine, what sort of percentage of the max would be a good range for the workout? Or do you reckon a mix of rep ranges for the 5 sets? Or reccomend more than 5 sets anyway if your intermediate? :confused:

big pete

about 75% of 1RM isnt far off, once you master the 5x5, up the weight by 2.5% then complete the 5x5 and again add 2.5% and attain 5x5.

peridisation is also something to consider, you cant bust your a$$ all year long with no breaks, you gotta coast once and a while.

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'there is greatness inside all of us, how deep are you willing to dig? '

big

Everyone is different here. Some people can comfortably bench 85% of their max for 5x5, others struggle with 70%. It depends how good of a repper you are. You'll need to experiment.

What Pete is saying is a pretty accurate starting point - 75%.

Add 2.5kg to the bar each week, and as soon as you stall, drop to 3x3 and keep adding the 2.5kg each week. Once the 3x3 starts to become difficult, try for a new 1RM the following week. Take a week off and then start the 5x5 again with 75% of your new max. That's about the simplest form of periodisation.

As far as the required loading volume goes, that's on an individual basis. 5x5 is a good start at the 75% intensity level for most people, as it's comfortable to recover from assuming you're not adding loads of other stuff.

I've got a couple of people on 5x5 routines at the moment, both are gaining well - but in order to get them to gain well, one of them is benching 5x5 once a week, the other is benching 5x5 3x/week (1 heavy session, 1 light, 1 close-grip) with a few assistance exercises thrown in as he has specific weaknesses. When I had the 3x/week guy on 1x/week, he wasn't making as good gains as he should have done, whereas I know the recovery of the 1x/week guy is not good enough to add much extra stuff. You have to experiment here, but when you dial in the correct loading parameters, you WILL know it

It's actually surprising how much volume and frequency you can handle IF you're prepared to back off the intensity somewhat. However, too many guys (usually beginners and intermediates), go into the gym with the intention of killing themselves each session. Trying to do 5x5 or more volume with that attitude is a primary reason why most people fail to gain and is a one-way ticket to overtraining. This is why for beginners I usually recommend low volume - as it lets them get away with the higher intensity that they're going to do anyway regardless of what you tell them. For beginners that REALLY listen, I'll put them on a higher volume, higher frequency full or half-body routines with very limited intensity so that they can work on form and getting used to the movements. And 9 times out of 10, they get better results overall. This is what most olympic lifters do, and it's no surprise that they're putting up OVERHEAD more than most bodybuilders on "standard" bodybuilding routines can deadlift!

One of the hardest parts of training for many people is the psychological aspect of going into the gym, doing a sub-maximal workout and coming out KNOWING you could have gone harder. But in order to get in the volume and frequency that gives you the REALLY good gains, it has to be done.

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big pete

AMEN!

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'there is greatness inside all of us, how deep are you willing to dig? '

Crazy Mick

Thanks dudes, ok i will start the 5x5 at 75% of max and start to experiment. I wanted my lifts to go faster and they were at a snail pace - this looks good to go for me